a few bugs from Turkey

I am always fascinated by the colours and the arrangements of these colours on the insects and bugs in the many countries we have visited.

Around Istanbul and Gallipoli

We finally arrived in turkey after a long trip...with a 7 hour stopover in Colombo. I thought we had booked into a lounge to wait the hours but they wouldn't let us into it as we had to exit the airport to utilise it....a waste of money but never mind Coffee Bean had comfy chairs for a snooze.

We were met at the Airport by Jasminne Tour Company and taken to our hotel. It was a lovely boutique style hotel right in the middle of the old area (Sultanmahmet). Breakfast the next morning was yummy fresh bread, delicious cheese and some hot food too along with fresh juice, coffee and tea.

We were met and taken to meet up with the rest of the people touring for the day. First stop was the Spice Market. This was such a cool place, colours, smells, to entice everyone to buy. Never again will Cadbury's Turkish Delight be so yummy!

This is an array of Turkish Delight, made with honey not sugar, so tasty we had to buy some.
Olives....we had never seen so many different types, colours, shapes and sizes. Think Wayne thought he was in heaven.
We had heard and seen pictures of the coloured spices but were not prepared for how vibrant they actually looked.
This delicious cheese is actually wrapped in goats skin.
After this we toured around some of the older buildings. above is the Clock Tower leading into the DOLMABAHÇE PALACE, where the last Sultan lived. In here we found a bed for Logan. It slept the Sultan's brother who was a mere 2.6 metres tall. (Tried to get a photo, Logan, but couldn't fit it into the photo.)
We also visited the Hagia Sophia, which was originally a christian church but was later converted to a mosque and is now a museum. The mosaics were fascinating and incredible. As was the ceiling below.
Below is the entrance from within the courtyard of the Blue Mosque. Inside the mosaics are all blue - hence the name - it was so beautiful and serene inside. even with all the people touring.

One of our tours was down to Gallipoli. This was such a moving day. I never realised just what these people went through, both the Anzacs and the Turks. the museum really brought home the toughness of the situation when we saw there clothes, bones and even bullets etc.
This is a monument at the museum overlooking a beach.
We went down onto Anzac cove, the beach you can just see in the background. It is hard to imagine how these guys tried to climb up this steep embankment. We visited Chunuk Bair where the Turks and the Anzacs were fighting less than 8 meters apart. trenches were still visible and this made it seem even more real.
The next day was a free one so we went walkabout. Visiting many of the places/streets/buildings close to where we were staying. We found ourselves down by the Bosphorus Strait and crossed the bridge trying to get to the tower that looked a long way away. It was a steep climb up some stairs to finally reach the tower and then inside and up a lift to get the view. Once again it was incredulous. 360 views and we could pick out some landmarks from our tours the days before.
Looking up the tower was originally built in 1348 and was the high point of the city walls. Until the 1960's it was a fire lookout but is now a viewing platform for the amazing views.
One thing you have to try in Istanbul is a fish sandwich. Wayne bought one from the market and enjoyed it. I was not use to the local food and didn't attempt one. Intending to go back and have one but never did.
After the long walk it was back to a little place near our hotel for a lovely long cool drink and and early night as we had an early start the next day to Kayseri.

But one couldn't leave Istanbul without having a Turkish coffee and baklava. The coffee was good but I had an apple tea...this was my find for our holiday. It is so yummy and refreshing that we had to buy some to bring back.

Great Race 2010

Once again it was time for MAE Great Race around Singapore.

Carolyn, Bradley, Ruth, Wayne and Anna (friend of Carolyn) were our team for the day. We started at East Coast Park where we had to build a sandcastle and then pick up our next set of clues.
The Masterpiece!
While taking a photo at the local skate park, some locals asked if they could have their photo taken withus...
On a mushroom, taking a creative photo.
How many people can you get onto a footprint? We had two goes and managed to get 10!
It was a fun day of exploring and seeing some different parts of Singapore, ending up at Winebos for the prize-giving.

Reflections in Chinese Garden

After much deliberation on what to do today we caught the MRT to Chinese Gardens. It is a stunning place to walk around with many places to practice with my camera. I have put a few of the reflections I found into the slide show. While there we had to shelter from a terrific thunderstorm. It appeared to be happening right over us. Lightning strikes were happening gefore the last one had finished and thunder was continuously rolling and clapping.

Opening of Arts Festival - A Fire Garden

Bradley suggested we go down to see a fire display near the Asian Civilisation Museum on Sat night after work. We usually shy away from doing do much on a Sat night as we are up early for work the next morning but we were pleased we made the effort. Compagnie Carabosse are France's leading alchemists, they had set the area alight with many different displays of fire. It was impressive to say the least. Below are a series of pictures from the nights walk.

There were static displays as well as many moving ones. We were so impressed that we went back on the Sunday night for the show, only to be thwarted by rain. We visited the Asian Civilisation Museum for a wander till the rain stopped. Finally we went back outside and saw they had it many of the fire containers but not the moving one. It was a bit of a let down but still an enjoyable evening.

Helix Bridge

A new bridge opened in Singapore. It links Marina Centre with Marina South. It is an amazing bridge with twisted steel. At night it lights up and is beautiful. It offers a great view of the Fullerton Hotel and the river.

Wayne is pretending to be looking at what the cardboard people ar seeing. it is a very clever advertising ploy.
As you can see the bridge is very different. There were many people,of all ages, walking on the bridge. Locals as well as tourists.
This is from the base looking through to the other end. There are viewing platforms for looking at the business district skyline. We wandered back across the bridge and then went off to have a cold drink - the temperature was in the mid thirties - so it was a very welcome cold drink.
The lights came on and the view was even more spectacular. Next time we will have to go back onto the viewing platform to take photos of the business skyline.
In the background is the Singapore Flyer.

Back in Hong Kong

We arranged with the hotel to take a bus back to Hong Kong. The scene was mainly industrial but we were still enthralled and we want to go back a explore some more and go further into the wonderful country. After crossing the border in a small fan and being dropped off at the airport we finally found the bus to take us back to Lynda's. The next morning we were up and ready for breakfast and off to find the bus to Tai-O village. We went to 3 bus terminal places till we found the right one and lined up with the locals. People were going going onto the bus and then they stopped so we assumed the bus was full. The people in front of us parted and were calling us to go through and onto the bus. The bus ride was interesting going up and down valleys and getting glimpses of the sea. Then we were at the village and wandering though the market discovering all sorts of interesting things for sale.Dried whole fish, dried eggs and many other fascinating stuff. Finally we wandered down past there homes and through some trees where we saw what we thought were butterflies flying only to find that they were cicadas. They were huge!
Along another track we found this lady spreading and turning over this pink paste of shrimps.
It was such a picturesque little fishing village.
And then it was off to see the big Buddha on the hill and we were in awe of this big guy. The first view was like 'wow'...and each view afterwards was like that too.
Being advised to take the Gondola down was one of the best things we did. We queued up and bought our ticket and paid a few extra dollars to have a ride in glass bottomed car. Was worth the extra dollars not to wait for over 45 minutes.
The view was awesome. We were back into Tung Chung and thought we would take a look at Disneyland to see if it was open at night time but alas no it wasn't so we made do with the photo below.
The next morning we went caught a bus to The Peak and were amazed at the view...even though it was smoggy it was incredible. The bus ride up was interesting, going through narrow streets and winding up the hill. We caught the tram down and found our way to take a ferry across to meet up with Lester and Karen who are teaching in Hong Kong.

Then the next day it was time to fly home to Singapore that evening. There was a big question on what to do for the day...so we decided to be kids and to go to Disneyland...it was fun, doing the rides...and I even did a scary one! Well it was scary to me! Ny stomach was not right for at least 20 minutes after the ride.
On the Disneyland train.
Holding the world up at Tomorrowland.
Watch out Buzz...we on our way!
This was the ride I didn't like...felt like I was going to fall out of the car. thankfully it was only a short ride. Hong Kong Disneyland was small but it made me want to go to the big in LA....dreams do happen! I know!