We were sent to KLIA by my parents in law and my mom on Friday 6th March 2009. At KLIA, Haji Yaacob (a representative from Andalusia Travel and Tours) was waiting for everyone at the check-in counter. After all check-in processes were done, baca doa, ect.... 26 of us in the group were so happy and excited to begin this journey :) The 26 ppl includes -
1. me and hubby (of course!)
2. Hj Mat Som, wife (Kak Fauziah), daughter (Aqilah) and their auntie (Makcik Aminah)
3. Dr Arifah, Dr Ban, their son (Farhan Hamimi) and the parents (Pakcik Musa and wife Makcik Jaz).
4. Kak Puziah and hubby, Brother Bukhari.
5. A family from Taman Tun (alamak! Lupa lak nama diorang 4 beranak!)
6. Hj Ibrahim and wife Kak Yati.
7. Hj Othman and wife (Aunty Laila Mariam) and daughter (Siti Rabieah)
8. Abang Said and wife (Kak Sarimah) and his mother-in-law.
9. Our representative from Andalusia - Haji Yaacob.
We reached the Jeddah airport about Maghrib time.... then while other ppl sibuk check out kat kastam Arab tu... we all 26 orang ni... terperuk dlm airport kat Jeddah tu for 16 HOURS (RECORD BABE!!)... tak pernah rasa transit selama ni!! We were told about this earlier... so I dah prepare lah beli a book at KLIA airport sebelum bertolak tu... I read this book...
Quite nice laa the book.... at least tak la boring menunggu... 16 jam tuuuhhh!!!!! :P We were told earlier that Andalusia Travel and Tours would not supply food or anything sepanjang 16 jam tu... but alhamdulillah.... we were given nasi ayam and a tin of pepsi!!! Yeay!! Syukur Alhamdulillah. Thanks to Pakcik Hj Yaacob... for taking care of us :) We all melepak and spent time like tido kat kerusi la... surau laa... like this one...
Anak sapa la tido sepah kat krusi nih?? Homeless ke apa?? :D A candid pic by hubby... I was sleeping on one of the waiting chairs @ Jeddah airport! :)
Lama giler 16 hours tu rasanya... sampai Pak Arab yg sapu area tu risau.. or rather rimas kot nenguk we all tido and melepak area tu and keep asking "when are you leaving??" You guys should see his expression.... cam tak puas hati je dia ngan we all!! hahahaha!! :D Anyway, bila our flight to Istanbul was annouced.... lega giler everyone!!! :D
Istanbul is as beautiful as before!! We all disambut by a local tourist guide - Cem (pronouced 'Jem'). Sampai2 je we all naik bas and brought to Bursa. Naik ferry for about 1 hour crossing the Marmara Sea (very beautiful!). On the way, stopped by at a local small mosque to jamak our Dzuhur and Asar. It was just a small mosque but quite nice lah! So different from the Malaysian mosques! Once we reached Bursa, we dropped by at the Grand Mosque. Built at the end of the 14th century, the Bursa's Grand Mosque is an interesting example of the period before the classical Ottoman architecture... quite interesting... I must say!
Istanbul is as beautiful as before!! We all disambut by a local tourist guide - Cem (pronouced 'Jem'). Sampai2 je we all naik bas and brought to Bursa. Naik ferry for about 1 hour crossing the Marmara Sea (very beautiful!). On the way, stopped by at a local small mosque to jamak our Dzuhur and Asar. It was just a small mosque but quite nice lah! So different from the Malaysian mosques! Once we reached Bursa, we dropped by at the Grand Mosque. Built at the end of the 14th century, the Bursa's Grand Mosque is an interesting example of the period before the classical Ottoman architecture... quite interesting... I must say!
Interior of the Grand Mosque, Bursa... impressively beautiful!!
After Grand Mosque.... check-in kat hotel... masing2 pun dah kepenatan... hari pun dah gelap :)
The very next day, we all ronda2 kat Bursa... visited the Green Mosque, Green Tomb and the Silk Market. Green Mosque is named that way sebab tiles kat dalam dia byk warna green. The interior of the mosque is beautiful!! We all naik sampai ke atas masjid tu exploring the mosque... sangat2 cantik :) Not far away from the Green mosque is the Green Tomb.... under renovation.. so we could not see much lah. And right beside the Green Tomb is Silk Market... this one I like! :) Very, very nice place to shop... Nampak dari luar cam kecik je... tapi masuk dalam... wahhh... bertingkat2 rupanya! And nicely decorated!! But well.... since budget kureng.... tak de lah beli apa2.... nengok yo lah! :P
The very next day, we all ronda2 kat Bursa... visited the Green Mosque, Green Tomb and the Silk Market. Green Mosque is named that way sebab tiles kat dalam dia byk warna green. The interior of the mosque is beautiful!! We all naik sampai ke atas masjid tu exploring the mosque... sangat2 cantik :) Not far away from the Green mosque is the Green Tomb.... under renovation.. so we could not see much lah. And right beside the Green Tomb is Silk Market... this one I like! :) Very, very nice place to shop... Nampak dari luar cam kecik je... tapi masuk dalam... wahhh... bertingkat2 rupanya! And nicely decorated!! But well.... since budget kureng.... tak de lah beli apa2.... nengok yo lah! :P
Interiors of the Green Mosque in Bursa is very, very impressive... cantik giler!
Tenguk je orang shopping kat Silk Market... tak de budget lah nak beli... :(
While waiting the others abis shopping, we bought some 'simid' (am not sure lak the correct spelling) sesame bread ring at a nearby bakery. Little Farhan and his Atuk ronda2 kat area Bursa tu and found a museum.... quite interesting katanya... somemore... masuk pun FOC!! Aisay.. pesal lah we all tak terjumpa lak museum nih!! :P
Later, we left Bursa and went back to Istanbul.. (naik ferry lagi sekali).
Having fun with Rabeah feeding the seaguls atas ferry at Marmara sea.
Once in Istanbul, we had lunch - local food.. boleh laa.. tapi bila hari2 makan the same thing... bosan la pulak..hehe
Nasi pun ada... tapi kering je... takde kuah... terkulat2 kami makan :D
Later, we visited the famous Hagia Sophia (wah... dah berapa tahun tunggu nak visit tempat ni! When we visited Istanbul back in 2001, tak dapat visit Hagia Sofea cause we did not know it would be closed on Monday... tersilap buat schedule lah dulu lah... pastu gigit cari tak sempat ke sana... really regretted it! Tu yg berazam nak datang Istanbul lagi nih! :) Alhamdulillah.. sampai gak hajat sampai ke sini :) It was as impressive as we expected! Hagia Sophia which was accepted as the greatest and most sacred piece of the city during the Byzantine age is today a museum. Used as a church for 916 years since the date it was constructed.. but later turned into a mosque for 481 years after Istanbul was conquered by Islam.
Hubby with Hagia Sophia at the back.
Inside Hagia Sophia... can see kat dinding.. nama Allah and Mohammad... but on top ada pulak gambar Virgin Mary...
After Hagia Sophia... we went to the Ayyub Al Ansari Mosque. Ayyub AL Ansari was believed to be a close friend and great follower of Rasulallah saw. Kebetulan pulak hari tu hari Maulidur Rasul... so macam hari raya lah kat masjid ni... sangat2 penuh dan meriah! Apparently the turkish selalu pergi masjid ni for any special occasion like the eids, weddings, maulidul rasul, majlis khatan, ect. Quite happening jugak lah masjid ni on that day... sampai nak masuk pun susah! (tak dapat masuk dalam masjid... we just visited outside area je).
Outside the Ayyub Al Ansari Mosque
Many locals came to celebrate the Maulidul Rasul celebration. Rasa macam suasana sembahyang raya je bila sampai sini... :)
A couple of bride and groom... came to this mosque on their special day.
Later... we went for the Bosphrus cruise. The Bosphorus strait joins the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea, and separates the continents of Europe and Asia. Back in 2001, we all lepak je kat tepi Bosphorus strait ni... cuci2 mata sambil pekena sandwich ikan bakar (which was soooo delicious!). But this time around... merasa lah kami cruising along the strait... enjoying the beautiful scenary along it and the cold wind :)
With Dr Arifah and Dr Ban's cheeky son - Farhan Hamimi :)
3rd day... visited the famous Blue Mosque (also known as Sultanahmed Mosque by the Turkish). Hmmm.... tak yah citer laa.... mmg sangat, sangat, sangat cantik!!! Kononnya... the Blue Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I as a rival to Hagia Sophia. It's located right the opposite of Hagya Sofia pun.... sesuai lah tu :)
Inside the Blue Mosque
Everyone - posing kat Dataran Sultan Ahmet... Blue Mosque as background.
With Makcik Jaz... cantik bunga kat depan Blue Mosque ni... :)
After Blue Mosque.... kami ke Topkapi Palace pulak. The last time we visited Topkapi Palace.. punya lah berpusing2 nak cari entrance... sampai sesat barat and bergaduh2 (me and hubby lah nih!). Maklumlah.. pergi sendiri tanpa guide.... :) This time with a local guide... rasa dekat nye la Topkapi Palace ni... rupanya Topkapi palace ni ada byk entrance. Just jalan sket je ke arah belakang Hagia Sophia tu ada one of the entrances... hahaha! :D Terasa kelakar lah pulak bila kenang gaduh2 dulu tu!! :D
At one of the Topkapi entrances.
Topkapi Palace is as grand as before. This time around... we did not visit the The Harem (nasib baik dah pegi dulu... cantik tempat ni.. rugi lah gang2 satu group ni tak rasa pegi!). BUT... kalau dulu we did not manage to visit the Imperial Treasury building.... (masa tu closed for renovation)... kali ni dapat... YESS!!! We finally managed to see the infamous topkapi dagger and the spoonmaker's diamond... kelasss!! So many beautiful, expensive jewellaries in this building!!! Ada byk lagi lah historical things kat Topkapi Palace ni.. like janggut Nabi Mohammad (saw), tongkat Nabi Musa, dan banyak lagi lah. In case you are wondering if those things are for real? Yeah... I also wonder... wallahualam! :)
The spoonmaker's diamond..... berkilau2 you!!! Cerita disebalik diamond ni... kononnya a poor fisherman found the diamond kat kawasan sampah aje... then carry it in his pocket for a few days before jual kat a jewellers dengan harga 3 sudu buruk aje... alahai.. sian fisherman tu kena tipu agaknya!! :(
The infamous topkapi dagger
After Topkapi Palace... we went for lunch at a local restaurant and later.... shopping time!!! Went to a leather factory... tenguk fashion... fullamak.. cantik2 giler leather jacket diorang nih! Tapi harganya.... nak tanya pun takut! hahahaha :D Something funny happened during the fashion show... one of the models... tiba2 turun from the stage and tarik I to join her up to the stage.. huh? Hellooo?? Saya ni nak gi umrah ni... tak sedap la nak suka2 posing jadi model nih!! :D Beriya2 dia pujuk suruh naik... tapi I suruh minah yg dok sebelah I tu je naik... cik adik Rabeah kita :) Well, she's younger and still single... tak pe lah enjoy naik stage tu bermodel2 :) Tak rasa guilty sangat I hope.. compared to me yg lagi setahun nak reach 40 nih! :D I thought none of us end up buying anything sebab giler punya mahal price dia... ribu raban duit kita! But to my surprise, Rabeah and her mom did buy something..... peh! One jacket for Rabeah.. and one for her mom... Pergh!! Caya lah!!! Cantik giler!! Jealous tenguk!! ;)
Rabeah dengan bergaya nya doing catwalk on the stage... way to go gal! :)
Later baru la kami ke grand bazaar. There are over 4000+ shops kat sini.. sib baik tak sesat!! We did not buy much.. just shirts for the kids and FIL and hubby kemaruk nak beli the beautiful Turkish tiles... berat siut... tapi minat punya pasal.. sanggup dia mengangkut natang tu.. hahaha! :D
Pusing2 at the grand bazaar... 
Hubby was having a hard time choosing a set of decor tiles for our lovely home
On our last day in Istanbul... we visited the Rustam Pasha mosque and the Spice Bazaar. Rustam Pasha mosque is located on the 2nd floor of a bazaar. Kononnya... so that orang yg nak beribadat kat situ tak terganggu lah dengan noises kat bazaar tu. Quite nice lah inside the mosque..
The Rustam Pasha Mosque
Admiring the tiles in Rustam Pasha Mosque... memang cantik!
Peminat tiles #1 macam hubby I ni tak kan lepas peluang posing kat beautiful tiles like this one :) This one is called 'The Tree of Life'... very2 beautiful :)
Then we walked to the Spice Bazaar... dekat je dengan Rustam Pasha mosque tu. Dulu back in 2001, sempat visit tempat ni kejap aje.... (again setelah sesat barat mencari tempat nih!). So kali ni we all really enjoyed this place. Menarik jugak tempat ni... lots of food, spices jual kat sini.
Hubby bought another set of decor tiles... ni macam 'Tree of life' punya tiles yg we ada kat Rustam Pasha Mosque tu... Cantik! Tapi aduduuu... berat lah nak ngangkut balik Malaysia nih... 
All kind of teas are sold here... very, very interesting ;)
Lots of Turkish delight on sales... menarik sangat nampak :)
With Aunty Yam and her daughter - Rabeah shopping for the blue eyes souvenirs :)Then we left Turkey for Saudi Arabia. Bye Istanbul... may be we'll come again next time....
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