Istanbul - The Cradle of Civilizations

Quiz: How well do you know Turkey? 

(1 Kit Kat for you, for every right answer). 

#1: What is the capital of Turkey? 

#2: What is the national flower of Turkey?

#3: What's the population of Istanbul? 

 a) 1-3     Million

 b) 5-8    Million

 c) 12-15 Million

 d) 20-25 Million

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guess what? If somebody were to gave me this quiz last month, I would have scored zero. haha. 

Anyway, upon arrival at the Mehmet Arkif Ersoy Park, a middle aged guy trailed me from the entrance to the fountain for a hundred metres, trying to sell me a book about Istanbul. Well, since I came to Istanbul at the spur of the moment (with invitation from 2 lively, cheerful friends), naturally I knew nothing about it. I had every intention to buy the book. Furthermore, the guy had a very unique selling point. He told me, "Ok! You buy this book, I give you postcard, free!" Then he flipped open a stack of postcards, all connected to each other, severed only by a thin perforation line. Wow... pictures of Istanbul flooded my eyes. I couldn't see anything but those glorious pictures! Being fresh and new to the city, I bought the book on the spot. The guy was so happy because I was his first customer. I knew, because his face glowed, and he expressed it verbally! Ahh.. nothing beats brightening a stranger's day! 

The next day, I passed by the same place and he tried to sell us the same book! Oh my goodness! I was shocked! I told him, "But I just bought it from you yesterday. And you were so happy I bought it from you too, because I was your first customer!" 

The guy replied, "Miss! Do you know how many customers I have every day? I don't remember every face. Come on... buy this book." 

Hahaha... I could just smile in response, and began brisk walking. Shaking my head as I sped away. 

Oh! Did I mention that the book was pretty costly too? He told me it cost 35, and I assumed it cost 35 Lira. When I proceeded to pay for it, he told me it was in Euros! 35 Euro for a 150 pages book? That's about 90 Lira, which is equivalent to 180 Dirhams or RM 150! Wow! Unbelievable! 

Of course, my simple, porous mind couldn't calculate that fast at that particular moment. I was stunned throughout the exchange of money and the book which I wanted so badly, that I paid in a trance. It is as I write this, that I find out how much I paid for the book. 

But, I have to admit. The book was pretty informative. It beats having a tour guide anytime, who rattles on without giving an inch of concern whether you're getting what he/she is saying. Whenever we forget some vital information about a certain location, we refer to the book. 

For example, when we were lost, we referred to the map in the book, which happened to be in Turkish. So, we just took one look at it, and dismissed it. 

When we forgot why we were visiting certain famous tourist locations, we looked it up in the book. There it was. The pictures and the English words! We devoured every single word and digested it from the heart. 

The book was also pretty useful too! Especially when we were waiting in line, with about 200 people, queueing up to buy tickets at major site attractions. We flipped diligently through its pages, studied about the places we were going to visit, there and then. 

November is a great time to visit Istanbul. It's cold, it's windy and there are leaves falling everywhere. It was sooooo.... romantic, sentimental and nostalgic! Some parts of the park were strikingly beautiful that I unconsciously held my breath in awe. Momentarily, I forgot to breathe. Until I gasped and realize that I had stopped inhaling air. Within seconds, I have been transported to a whole new world. 

And so, it is in this state that I travelled throughout Istanbul for four wondrous days. Entranced, enthralled. 

Sultan Ahmat Park

Unique Buildings!

Golden Leaves

________________________________________________________
Answer:

#1: Ancara
#2: Tulip
#3: C

________________________________________________________

Roads and Food

Turkish Salt Crusted Fish

Turkey is a great country to visit. Rich in culture, and a lot of innovation. One of the the things that I am most fascinated with is the tram, which runs on the same road as the cars, vans and taxis! Plus, the road is so narrow, maybe about 3-6 metres! Yet, it can accommodate vehicles from both directions! Amazing! 

Turkey also has a very interesting presentation when it comes to food. They love playing with fire, and knocking on clay jars! It makes the food more tasty. You don't even need appetizers for these sort of meals! 

Trams on the road... look at the vehicles trailing behind it!

My favourite pomegranate juice! Ooooh... the purplish-red pomegranate!

Look Look! The Innovative Juice Machine! So impressive! It can squeeze a lot of juice out of the pomegranate too! More than the modern juice blending machine!

Fiery Turkish Kebab

Soury Sweet Pierre Loti Apple Tea

Bitter, Rich Turkish Coffee

Turkish Candy. Two words: Sickening Sweet. 

Famous Testi Kebab. One word: Delicious!

Constructions for Spiritual Welfare

History books often tell us that when temples were destroyed in the past, it took ten years or sometimes even a whole generation to rebuild these places of religious worship. In my mind, I could never comprehend the reason for this long completion duration. Why! Nowadays, people construct buildings within three months. It's not a big deal. All you need are some bricks, cement, glass panels and red roof tiles, you're good to go. I thought all buildings of worship were as simple as that. 

Thus, the minute I stepped into Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, I knew I could not have been more misguided. 

Building the foundation of the church itself is a complicated maze. Housing tombs, chandeliers and wide pathways, required knowledge of precise architecture mathematics. To decorate its interior, artists were contracted to depict scenes from the Bible as accurately as possible. Unlike people who drew murals on the walls today for decoration, people in the past made every effort to ensure that these works of art were used to educate illiterate citizens on the miracles, stories and lessons of the gospel.  So, how did they do it? 

They chose to use little, minute, 1cm by 1cm, square mosaic pieces, dyed and coloured before placing them together to depict a picture. While we may have thought that the concept of pixels was created only a few decades ago, with the invention of cross-stitch and computers, it actually originated long before our great-great grandparents were born. 

Has mankind really advanced much since the passing of our ancestors? In my opinion, not really. In the pursuit of making our lives more convenient, our natural instinct to be creative has been diminished. Nowadays, to understand art, one has to read or talk with the artist to understand the concept. it depends on how well the artist presents his ideas too. In fact, it seems like child's play compared to that of our forefathers. Gone are the days when art could inspire everyone. As if sensing my desperation in expressing myself on this point, a journalist recently ran an article about his opinion on art. To put it simply, he said this, "There is no original art. Each is a copy, a work of plagiarism from one to another. People are simply putting in different pieces, different elements from various works and piecing them together. Originality, died, a long time ago." 

To think that religion played such a central role in the Roman and Ottoman Empire, is pretty amazing. They put in their whole heart and soul to ensure that these houses of worship would be more solid and sturdy than their own homes and palaces. They probably did it with a high sense of reverence and accountability. While residences may have been destroyed throughout eqrthquakes, fires, floods and droughts, these main community buildings such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Ephesus Library have stood throughout it all. Wow. God must have been pretty impressed. Perhaps he was touched, and he made sure that these structures stood the test of time. That it was not to be turned into ruins, but stayed on to serve as a reminder of the blood and sacrifices paid by the people, eons and centuries ago. 

Stained Glass in the Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque (From entrance of the Hippodrome)

Hagia Sophia

Interior Decoration of Hagia Sophia

Depiction of Mary and Baby Jesus in the middle, with the names of the Prophet Mohamad and his 4 friends on each pillar

Chandeliers hanging low to facilitate better lighting for people reading. 

(In the past, these lights had black ostrich eggs boiled with spices and herbs in it, to ward off spiders)

Stained Glass with Ottoman Designs

Observe the carefully placed pieces of mosaic, just like playing jigsaw puzzle

The Two  Thousand Lira Book (~ 4000 Dirhams) book that I yearned to buy... 

Cruise of A Lifetime!

This is the first time that I've gone on a journey without a tour guide, no plans, one friend and one stranger. Yet, it turned out to be one of my best trips ever! 

Travelling in a threes, is pretty interesting. I discovered along the way that each of us had unspoken distinctive roles. One decided where to go, one decided how to go, another provided information about the places visited (acting as an on-the-spot tour guide). The roles developed as we strolled along sidewalks and kerbs. Throwing endless questions back and forth, like a brain-teasing game, tickling our ribs the whole time!

Since all of us come from different faiths, visiting a place like Istanbul, was an added advantage. It is here, where east meets west, a splendid exemplary model of the integration of Christian and Muslim influenced arts, philosophy and architecture. As they explained about the Islamic faith, model of Mekkah, its umbrellas, I shared with them on my knowledge of the Bible, Jesus, Mary, and the angels on the walls. It was this way, our faith strengthened, our tolerance increased, our understandings deepened. 

In KL, I stayed near two mosques. During prayer times, these mosques would compete with one another, reciting the same prayers simultaneously, but unsynchronized. One could not even hear what they were saying, because the loudspeaker from another mosque, overlapped the soundwaves of another. 

In Istanbul, they have three mosques, in the same area. Not exactly side by side, but probably separated by just 500 metres. Yet, as they recite their prayers, it is tremendously harmonious. Without looking, you would have thought that the sounds originated from only one mosque. But if you looked up, you'd spot 3 mosques! Apparently, the leaders decided to harmonize these mosques, and decided to assign one alternate verse each. What a brilliant solution! No squabbling, no quarrels, no noise. Just pure melancholic voices reaching out, touching souls, far and wide. 

Hence, when we cruised and walked along the Bosphorous Straits, recitation of Quranic verses floated along the shorelines. Our hearts quietened, our minds settled. An unbroken silence precedes and quietly takes over... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scenery along Bosphorous Straits... 

Front

Houses on the Hills! Imagine if this were your house... 

Asian Side 

Asian side

It's one of our national tourist herritage

Golden Horn - Sunset from Cruise

Mosque in the night

The Power of Music

A trip to Istanbul is incomplete without attending a performance of Turkish dances. As musicians play traditional instruments on stage, lively Turkish dancers wed strangers, throw knives, spears and cart-wheels effortlessly.

The gala performance? A stunning lady in a golden dress, belting out favourite songs of each nation across the globe! The Turkish lady displayed a strong sense of confidence, identifying nationalities of the audience, fluently switching from one  lively national favourites to another,  without leaving anybody out! 

As she sang, scenes of my native home and family rushed back into my memory bank. Her strong voice moved me to tears. I am taken aback. For three months, I have successfully pushed back the dread of destitution in a foreign land. But the moment she sang, all memories resonated within every vein, and every nerve of mine. It reminded me of love that has protectively enveloped me all these years. At that particular moment, I wished my family was with me, enjoying everything for the first time together, just like the old times. Not scattered halfway across the world, not knowing when we'd meet again. 

Truly, oldies of the yesteryears will always remain an all time favourite, transcending time, space and generations. The whole room was mesmerized by her strong, melodious voice. As soon as she finished one song, she skated on to another. All of us clapped and danced along. For a while, time stopped ticking. We just couldn't wait to hear which folk song from another country she'd sing next!

As it is, life in the Middle East is filled with strife. News of Syrian revolution, Libya's struggle to liberation, Tunisian uprisings, US occupation in Iraq, Israel fencing lands, Palestine retaliating... fill the pages of local newspapers and TV news slots daily. At the rate this is going, one wonders if 'peace' is a noun or adjective.

Yet, among the audience, we saw Iraqis cheering and singing along; couples in their mid-fifties, waltzing on the dance floor, who probably found the lost spark in their marriage. If only peace processes were this simple. 

Peace talks doesn't seem to have much progress when organized across long, rectangular tables.  I think United Nations should organize music concerts and performance to unite countries. This 'star' would have been a great peace-maker. 

Music, in itself, is a very powerful tool of influence. We don't need negotiators, or peace-makers. We just need music, our lifeline and bloodline. 

I once was lost, now am found.

Being in Turkey, has jerked me back to reality. Life in Dubai, pales in comparison. It is here, how real, normal, people live everyday. Joy, sadness, happiness, hopes and desires reflected in every word and gesture. 

The touristy European part of Istanbul reminded me very much of Thailand, where there are people who struggle to make ends meet, so desperate to try to make sales that they take out every trick in the book to entice you to purchase their products. Yet, despite all these, warm, humane emotions are as real as the sun which shines steadfastly every morning. 

People greet each other with sincerity; embrace friends and strangers with tight, loving, hugs; smile with a warmth that melts freezing hearts; walk with a gaiety that livens up the streets. With the rhythm of the pedlars, pedestrians, strawberry flavoured shisha permeating your nostrils, you could almost imagine a song springing up any moment. It's spontaneous. This, is what I call - real life. 

After living in Dubai for 3 months, I have been accustomed to receptionists who speak so fast like robots, as if they have a memory script engrained in them, or how people always seem to say 'yes' to everything, but they never seem to deliver what you want.  What may have seemed surreal initially, now transgresses into reality. It is as if I have been here all this while. 

Yet, one can have all the luxuries in the whole wide world, and still feel that something is missing. Something is not quite right. What is it? I've been wondering for the past twelve weeks. I seeked and searched every corner, but I could not pin point the missing element.

Visiting Turkey, I finally know what it is - Connecting to people on a deeper level!

No doubt we do meet up from time to time with mates and colleagues. But after that, we disappear into our cocoons, engaged in a lot of alone time before emerging out in the open again. When Dubai-ans meet, we greet each other with an air of formality, that's hard to dismiss, no matter how much we wish it'd vanish. 

And so, I've decided. I will maintain my sanity and humanity by being joyful, caring and giving at all times. Perhaps, I may learn a thing or two about strategic thinking in business, economics and war, but I will stick to my roots, values, principles and beliefs. For without these, we are but empty shells without a soul. 

Thank you Turkey, for giving me a reason to live again!

(Before)                           (After)

My Life: Before and After Istanbul