Turkey: Our shopping spree

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah, my family and I managed to pull ourselves out from daily routine of work and escaped to the land of Baklava.

As for my parents, they both are so crazy for olives. They started to like olive (known as 'zaitun' in Arabic), when their Arabs friends introduced it to them when they still in the States. They could eat olives with almost everything, sandwich, spaghetti, pizza, pasta , fried noodles, pita bread etc. So going to Turkey has served them way right as the Turkey has Mediterranean climate zone. So, this kind of climate of relatively mild winter and very warm summer produces olives, figs, walnuts, grapes and fragrant herbs of rosemary, thyme and lavender etc. So they have bought kg's of green olives from the spice bazaar (also known as Egyptian bazaar) in Istanbul.

I had no idea olives could come in so many colour. Thought only green and black. hehe

Since mom is so much into this fruits and spices, so she bought dried figs, walnuts, pistachios, apricots, some Turkish spices for chicken marination, olive oil for skin care, and chili.

See the signage at the entrance. Misir Carsisi  mean Egyptian bazaar or market.

As for me, I know what I would be looking for. When I was in Bosnia, I always checked on Bosnian girls, especially how the Muslim Bosnian dress up. Since I saw them mostly in winter, so my observations is that most of them wear wide leg pants or jeans with a long winter coat and plain colour shawls to cover the head. Sometimes they go for skirts. For younger generations, they wear pleated jeans skirt which I find it stylish yet modest.  In Malaysia, it's hard to find jeans skirt which I like. Mostly they are too curvy or too tight at thigh area. So, I decided to get one for myself and was hoping that they have my size. The thing is that I realized when I shopped for skirts or pants, most of them are made in Turkey. And I was told by a Turkish friend that they could get those in Turkey with cheaper price. All this while I had been wondering where to get a pair of nice skirt and loose jeans pant. From that moment, I made an conclusion that is where the source is. Turkey! :)

You can witness below when I said Istanbul is one of the shopping heaven for Muslim women! ;)

You can get everything from top to bottom.

Skirts/ Pants

Pardesu ( A long garment worn by Muslim women. In Malaysia we called them 'jubbah'. In the middle east, it is 'abaya')

Love the colour!

Shawls, pashminas & scarfs

Pashmina

Scarfs and shawls retail store. They only take if you want to buy in bulk.

For dad, he looked for office shirts and suit jackets. We stumbled across a complex where you can find most of men's wear. So, it's dad turn after so many ours. hehe. The price is reasonable too. Okay, guys! Don't you worry because you have shopping spot too! :)

Sisters finding ways to fill up the gap while waiting for dad.

Their significant welcome treat. Free tea!

So, I guess what makes each trip different from others is what we managed to find and bring home. Things which is not available at home or if there is, would costs us more. Therefore, a reminder to all, always make a research on your travel destination on what they specialized at and what is plentiful there, so that you won't miss getting something worthy. And worth the flight ticket! :)

Turkey: Magical World of Turkey

Bismillah.

It took me nearly half an hour to figure out where to begin. Mom has done an excellent job writing on about 90% of our trip to Turkey. So, I am going to let you have the 'tour' with her. You may do so by clicking below links which is listed sequentially:

- Istanbul Aku Datang 1

- The Turkey Trip Summary Part 1

- Marmara Region: Canakkale- Troy- Asklepion

- Aegean Region: Kusadasi- Pamukkale

- Central Anatolia: Konya-Cappadocia

- Central Anatolia: Cappadocia, land of natural wonders

- Central Anatolia: Ankara

- The Turkey Trip Summary Part 11: On our own in Huge Istanbul

                                                                              ....

Once I set my foot outside the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, it was early, about 7am in the morning. As it was mid of November, the weather was cold and occasionally windy. Fairly low temperature at 15 degree. Looking at the grey sky, the cool air that I breathe, the mixed smell of au de parfum and tobacco, tall people in dark colours of winter wear, Caucasian women wearing hijabs and head scarfs, all of these brought back my memories in Bosnia. I know it is not fair to compare Bosnia from Turkey. But someone even told me that Sarajevo is like a piece of Istanbul. So, the blame cannot be put completely on me. ;)

Anyway, I would love to highlights on couple of things that I found them remarkable and worth of notice in Turkey. These are the things I personally fall in love with and keep saying to myself not to forget them. They are:

a) nature beauty and ancient historical place

b) shopping focal point,

c) food 

d) language. 

Today let me start off with what Turkey has to offer in regards to nature beauty. And the rest bullet points will come later, okay? :)

If you are looking for a place that could give you a wide-eyed gaze and cause jaw dropping, there are two places that will fit the bills. They are Pamukkale and Cappadocia.

Pamukkale in Turkish means cotton castle. Pamuk is cotton, and kale is castle. From the name itself I believe we can imagine how this place looks like. Well, it is not exactly a castle. It is actually a city which has travertines and terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing hot water spring. Pamukkale was also an ancient city which is called Hierapolis.

View from our moving bus to Pamukkale.

We went there just in time, an hour before sunset. So the view was magical with the sun shone on the white castle-like cascades and makes everything look glittering. Subhanallah!

Cappadocia is located in the central Anatolia. Apart from Istanbul, this was the only place we stayed for two days. Other place was just a night. The reason being that this place has got more to see that we need more time. We visited underground city which largely used by Christians as hiding place during Romans occupation and Gerome park, a fairy chimneys rock formation (historical site under protection of UNESCO). Breathtaking!

Shop in caves. Reminds me of the "Conehead" movies.hehe

The staircase leads to a small chapel built in the cave during Romans period

According to our tour guide, the sci fi movies of Star Wars were filmed here. Hmm.. what do you think of that? ;)

Mom and dad.. awww <3 font="font">

You can ride on the hot air balloon which is available everyday here (if the weather permits). The charges is USD200 per person with a certificate! hehe. 

The hot air balloon started to make its way to the sky..

Soooo excited! Look at countless balloons floating!

So, those are the places that I remember I had to take a deep breathe looking at them. Subhanallah! Wondering how amazing and magnificent these creations are. Lets ask ourselves back.. " How magnificent and great the Creator is, then?" God is the greatest. 

Up next: What to shop in Turkey?

An Introductory: Turkey

Bismillah.

Dear readers,

Think I owe you big. Have been skipping posting since mid of November. I'm gonna write something on my recent trip. Went to Turkey for about 14 days, exploring the well known land of the Ottoman Empire. MashaAllah! What a wonderful land. Turkey is situated at the bridge of European region and Asian region. Therefore, I could say they have the best of both world. So much to see trip. And so much to tell. Hope to be your storyteller soon. ;)