Merhaba!
That's 'Hi!' in Turkish.
As some of you may know, I was in Turkey for my holidays. Yes, I ate Turkey in Turkey! HAHAHA. Spending time in Turkey has definitely broaden my horizons, yet again, I think it made me older. Everywhere I went, it was a historic place! That even includes the shopping markets where almost every other stall sells the same thing! The whole of Turkey is like filled with Mosques, Churches, Museums and Cities from past Civilizations. Oh, not forgetting the famous blue eye. Everywhere you go, you see blue eyes! But cities there are rather far apart and so, bus rides to get from one place to another are reeeeaaaallllllyyyy long. It made my butt sore. D;
The City of Troy
Pamukale - Castle of Cotton
(Don't judge me! I was lazy to fold my jeans up properly.)
The Cartoon Hotel
The Water from Hotels' Taps
(Caused me an outbreak! D;)
Viagra Market
Another Viagra Market
(Tells you so much about them uh!)
The part I love most about Turkey, definitely not the Viagra, is the people. The people there are really interesting! Here are 4 reasons for my previous statement.
1. Being an Asian in Turkey, you're like the odd one out. Really an odd one out, you hardly see any Asians there. You walk on the streets, even in museums (which I expect many tourists to be in), the people there with their big bulgy eyes just stares at you. Even after you walked past them, they turn their heads, and they are still staring at you. It makes you feel as if you're an alien, from an unknown world. Because you're an alien, good things happen to you! I was in one of the hotels using the free wifi on my own, when this group of Turkish guys just approached me and asked if they could have a picture with me. The feeling of that is great, but the stares are definitely not.
2. The people in Turkey, though it may not seem like it, are really IT savvy. They managed to track me down, like really. There was this guy who sent me a friend request on Facebook, together with a message. Curious as to who this person was, I viewed his profile and many of his pictures are really Turkish-like - That includes his looks and the background too. I opened the message, only to find out that he saw me loitering in some hotel and so he added me! But I never notice him at all. And the best part of it all that still puzzles me, was how he managed to find my profile when I never used any of the hotels' computer at all! HAHAHA. It's scary!
3. Turkish people working in the shopping streets and alleys are really cool! Their shopping area is like .. Bugis Village, just neater. But different from Singapore, the people there just try as hard as they can to attract as many customers possible - Shouting, screaming, praising. So they do what they're best at, talking nonsense.
a. There was this guy on the streets selling top toys for a dollar. You know, top's like guys toy, so I was pretty uninterested in it. So, he approached me and told me, "Hey, this is for you. Free.". I knew he was kidding, so I just played along with him and I took the top toy from him. He then came over to my ear, and whispered, "Free to touch.". WHATTTT! LOOOL.
b. Another guy who was selling nuts in one of the shopping street tried to get me into his shop. He was really full of nonsense. He started by saying, "Lady, come in. Don't break my heart.". As my family had already bought nuts from another store, there was no point going into that store. So I walked away and the guy should, "Oh, you broke my heart! You bad!". WHATTTT! LOOOL!
c. My family bought Turkish delights from this shop from this guy. As we bought quite a bit from him, he was really happy and said that he liked us. And out of the blue, he asked my dad for my name and my dad told him. And so, when I was about to leave the shop, he suddenly shouted, "Sir, give me Jessica!". WHATTTT! LOOOL! I had nothing to say but smiled at him.
4. Some Turkish guys, different from those selling stuff on the shopping streets, are nice people. It just makes you look at the people in other countries, including yourself, differently. It's like, you never knew these people existed.
a. There was this waiter who was clearing up the table. He had to carry like pots and piles of plates to the kitchen. I thought I was seated in a place that was in his way, and so I moved my chair in such a way that would not block him when he was approaching. He saw me doing it, and came over and thank me. How many waiters do that! So, I just smiled at him. And each time when I was looking about at the restaurant, he would be looking at me, and smile. If I needed help, he would be the first one to arrive. I know, it's a little creepy, but I thought his actions were nice.
b. There was this Turkish guy sitting in front of me in the plane, together with this Singaporean wife, and a son. The whole time, the Turkish guy was taking care of his son, attending to him, listen to him blabber away about the clouds, followed him to the restroom, played hangman with him, made sure he had his meals, talk to him, adjusted the seat for the him. It swear that lasted for like more than 3 hours before the son fell asleep, and only then did the Turkish guy plug in his earpiece and started watching his movies. And when the son woke up, he would entertain the son again. All these while, the wife just kept calling for the cabin crew's assistance over 10 times just for her food snacks. Burh! Not only that, there was this 62 year old Turkish woman beside me in the plane, who did not understand a single English word. She needed help to get through immigrations and stuff. So whatever the cabin crew told her, this Turkish guy offered his help in translating so that she understands! And he stayed back in the plane with her to guide her, until she crosses the customs! I think he's really sweet! ;D
HAHHA.
I think Turkey's awesome! It's even better when you have a guide that looks like Fred Flintstone! And he knows it!
;D
