jC's holidays- ep9: Travelling around Ankara and back to Istanbul

SO, I have a good rest in Hilton? I bet not. I kept wake up in the midnight. Now I know every hotel is the same no matter how many stars it owned or how famous it is. LOL! Branded doesnt mean the best. Okay, after had a enjoyable breakfast, we were ready to depart for the next station again. When I out from the hotel, I found that it Snowed last night! Too bad I didnt realise it :(

The small snowball made by my aunt. LOL xD

Then, we went to Ankara Castle. It wasnt a castle larrr, just an old town of Ankara. Ankara was just a small town in 19th century and merely 50 thousands people staying here. But now, it had turned out to be the Turkish capital. Thus, the Turkish government ordered the people staying in the old town moved out and made it as a travelling spot.

This was the only chance I played snow in Turkey! :X
The old town of Ankara :)

From here, we could see the whole town view in Ankara. Candid.

We were just given 45 minutes to walk around the old town and browsed through some old houses. After taking photo, we went for shopping again. A MUST for the ladies. Everybody was keen to buy nuts, almonds and so in the stall outside. There were so many stalls and choices there. I was sorry that I am not a nuts lover.

With the stalls :D

The next station we were going to stop was the mausoleum of Antaturk. He was the Turkey's greatest leader in modern times. All the Turks respect him so much. He is the father of Turkey, just like Sun Yat Sen is the father of China in the China history.

The 20 members in our group and I'm the youngest :)

We again! I like the building behind.

With the soldier. He stood so straight that made you think he was a patung :P

*JUMPPP!* It was a tough task to snap the jumping scene. :X

Acting emo again :)
With the kids there. They were cute!!! It is hard to find me out @@
My tour leader - Enzy, my aunt and I =)

Really envy that he had already travelled 10++ countries in his age of 25,6 and earn money at the same time. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, sambil playing sambil earn money. Somehow, he said it wasnt enjoyable to travel himself and it is a job, not as easy as I thought. :(

With plants agaaain :P
With Iraqs tourists.

These were the only two places we visited in Ankara. After that, we had another 4-5 hours drive back to Istanbul. The snowy view at the roadside made me reluctant to close my eyes and slept. It was amazing and beautiful!!! The mountains beside were all covered by a thick layer of snow. WOAH! :O

Arent they looked great? :)

Reaching Istanbul. Heading to Europe part after crossing this bridge. =D

We reached Istanbul at around 5pm. It was much more earlier than we expected 'coz there was no traffic jam today! So, we had our early dinner in a Chinese Restaurant. The dishes there were quite nice, much much better than the chinese dishes in the Shanghai Restaurant we had in Jordan.

There was only one old man serving us in the restaurant. He was so old until his hands shaked when he took the dishes. We all felt pity for him T_T and thus I helped him to serve. HA! I love the old man and sincerely respect him from the core of my heart. He looked like my idol -Dato Sim Mow Yu who had just passed away 2years ago. The hardworking spirit and his determination. The old man made me think of my grandpa who had also passed away too :"( My aunt and I nearly shed a tear there. This old man was 81 years old but he did not want to pass his lifetime like that. Though he might be weak and even trembled when serving us, though he might feel difficult when walking to and fro the kitchen and the tables, but through his satisfying amiable smile, we all knew he loves this work and enjoyed working!! How could I stop loving this old man? I LOVE HIM!!! And when I'm typing this post now after 10 days of my trip, I could still recall his actions vividly. I am going to cry missing him, missing my grandpa and missing my idol. :(((

Taking photo with the old man. I sent my most respectful salute to him. I would always remember him. His working spirit. :")

We were staying in Hotel Sheraton again. I like this hotel because there were four computers there for me :P Since we got nothing to do at night, we followed Enzy to go strolling in Taksim Square again. We went there by taking MRT. I enjoyed visiting places this way than taking our travelling bus and rushing from place to place 'coz I could experience the local life this way.

Boon Kian Teacher and me. In the MRT Station. ;)
Posing! xP

Posing again :P

The mural in the MRT Station is impressive!!

The MRT is just like the LRT in Singapore. Nothing special. We paid 1.75 lira per way no matter how many stations you stop in the token exchange machine. In the MRT, we met a pair of couple from Switzerland and talking with them in CHINESE! They learnt Chinese in Shanghai. They travel around the world with bike. Cool right? Those European can just leave their work for travelling after earn enough money and back to work after they finished it. How relax are their lifestyle. Jealous :P

Reach Taksim Square!!! It seemed like more bustling at night. We went strolling and shopping along the street while Enzy went for alcohol again. LOL!

Fulled of Christmas decoration.

We back hotel by taking MRT again at around 10pm. It was tiring. Tomorrow will be the last day in Turkey.

-TO BE CONTINUED-