Eat, drink and be married!

With the influx of online shopping, purchasing shopping vouchers has become part of the online experience as well. Buying group deals for dining, adventure and travel is passe, buying vouchers online is the way to go these days. On more than one occasion did I buy vouchers online and somehow, these occasions end up learning lessons for me.

Mail, lost in the lallang

I jumped onto the wagon when Robinsons ran a tie up with one of the leading voucher companies making the vouchers cheaper than cheap. Plus they could be used during a sale and with all the mental calculations I did, it was a deal not to be missed.

And I made a deal almost instantaneously, even faster than swiping my card totalling up to slightly under $200.

Then it never arrived. Not one week, or two or a month later. It got lost in the mail and subsequent exchanges with the voucher company, they cited that our leading mail company had gotten a signoff from "someone" who conveniently claimed the vouchers as its own.

So where did my damned vouchers go? With the wind and lallang. Thankfully I was able to dispute the payment, PHEW!

A case of being a cheapo

Yet another leading voucher decided to tempt me again with Famous Amos cookies AND concurrently run a promotion of a 10% off with a minimum purchase of $50.

The promotion went $32 for $40 worth of vouchers. In order to qualify for the 10%, I had to buy $80 worth and the whole time I was focussing on the extra 10%.

It all happened too fast and bam, the voucher code was not applicable and I was $64 richer in chocolate chip cookies.


Christmas grinch is me

Christmas ranks high in my list of favourite seasons of the year, I love to give and of course love even more being gifted. The greatest season pet peeves however belong to people who make wishlists that are...

1) Out of the listed budget
2) Give budgets that are ridiculously insincere (Tell me how does a $2 budget work?)

To point 1. I have a group of friends who are generous with their budgets so every year it's pegged at SGD 50. It is essential I point out the currency because within the same group, this friend would only wish for vouchers which in my opinion is perfectly fine because you get what you want and it will be utilised to its maximum unlike hand creams which could lie alongside 10 other hand creams in the dresser.

Then this friend points us to the website where the vouchers can be bought and on top of all the trouble trying to buy it, they are only available in USD. Minimum vouchers come in 50 and 100.

I am only thankful the currency is not in francs.

I am not about to dissuade the purchase of online vouchers because I have had alot of joy buying vouchers and the above should serve just for your reading pleasure and of course, laughter.

Our Turkish escape started with Istanbul, a city that was colourful, noisy, boisterous and somewhat a notch down from Greece. I reckon the honeymoon would have been more enjoyable if we started with Turkey and ended off in Greece.

So anyhow, we bade good bye to an island that we grew to love and flapped off to Istanbul. The story goes, I booked us a third party hotel transfer - all was fine and dandy until the driver decided to offload us by the roadside in Taksim Square district and pointed in some direction insisting our hotel was near there. He was half right.

Because we then dragged our luggages down the cobbled streets asking three separate turks where exactly it was - fast forward an hour later, I decided to entrust my fate into a turkish bookstore owner (I mean bookstores sell maps yes?) and HOORAY, he actually bothered to draw on one of his unsold book exactly where my hotel was and we found it. At last.

Turns out, the taxi driver was not exactly all wrong since the hotel was really near where he left us, but in the opposite direction.

First Turkish lesson - They really do have terrible direction sense. Another friend got lost in Grand Bazaar simply because nobody could tell her the direction out. And we all thought Forbidden City was bad enough.

Serene Hotel
http://www.serenehotelistanbul.com/

I am not sure how serene this was when the windows could barely be shut properly and even when we figured how, the honking of the cars past midnight, drunkards creating havoc and even a random travellor dragging his luggage down the path was enough to keep us awake. There were way more options in Taksim Square which we realised subsequently.

Second Turkish lesson - Being where all the action is may not be the wisest choice, especially in Turkey.




We then comforted ourselves with a meal at Mikla and a view of Istanbul. So gorgeous, I felt like the happiest honeymooner lost in a city of chaos.



Apple tea that they serve everywhere and almost anytime of the day! I grew to love this sourish-sweet beverage.

 
Get the Istanbulkart for tapping in and out when sightseeing! It is a great pity there were no free walking tours available!
 


The Blue Mosque from afar! We purchased the Museum Pass to bypass the queues and that also forced us to visit as many of the attractions listed on the pass. #kiasusingaporean



Yes, they are strict about attire like that. And for that moment, I did not care two hoots about how hygenic that was - but please, just bring a scarf to drape all over yourself. Works the same.

My first mosque visit and it was carpeted! #suaku





Second floor!



Hubba and the resident cat at Hagia Sophia.




Topkapi Palace Museum and Harem Apartments

 

 
 
Bascilica Cisterns were not inclusive in the pass. An underground and dark experience that would be great as a Halloween spot.
 




The roadside roses were SO pretty and they all bloomed. I joked with the Hubba that they resembled David Austins and I should have carted them home and sold them over Valentine's.



Mado in Istanbul is a must, they are all over and I would recommend the pistachio flavour! One thing I learnt - the annoying Turkish Icecream experience only existed in Singapore and possibly everywhere but Turkey. There was none of the dropping icecream cone and theatrics that came with it.



A trip to the Grand Bazaar saw us falling in love with these lights - so much so, they're part of our living room now.

Third Turkish Lesson - Please shop around and check prices before buying! We saw many shops selling the same and turned out they were all under the same boss. Go doing closing hours for a better deal if not, be the first deal of the day! There are heaps of replicas and do bring a map to navigate your way in and out. Asking, usually does not get you anywhere.



Off to Cappadocia for my long awaited hot air balloon flight! One major booboo I committed, I booked a 2D1N travel package with Rock Valley Travel, assuming that the transfer from Istanbul to Cappadocia was included. So it wasn't and the mad dash for tickets with a computer working on a modem. Good lord, I muttered and thankfully we still got onto the flight and made our way to Cappadocia.

As a gauge, we paid USD 390 for two inclusive of a stay at Dedek Konali. 

Rock Valley Travel
didem@rockvalleytravel.com



Devrent valley is also known as Imaginery or Pink Valley has a lunar landscape and animal shaped rocks.



Zelve open air museum is one of the oldest and most complex monastic centers of Cappadocia. In the past, the inhabitants stayed in these caves and literally scratched homes and cathedrals out of these caves.



Avanos pottery making, another of those touristy drop off points.



We fell in love with one of these table ornaments and yes, we paid for one of these. The same can be bought at Grand Bazaar for sure at a fraction of the prices.



Pigeon valley meant for hiking but we just took a look from the top.



I made sure we had a stayover at one of their cave hotels, a unique feature of Cappadocia. Dedeli Konak is 400 years old - possibly the oldest hotel I have ever stayed in but the fittings were modern and while it creeped me out thinking how old it was but we had a comfortable stay. Breakfasts were adequate and the hotel keeper was an old man - Farouz (if I remember correctly) who made sure we were well taken care off.



Hot Air Ballooning is one of the must-dos in Cappadocia. Infact, that was the ONLY reason why we even wanted a stopover there! Rise and shine at 430am to be fetched to our hot air balloon site BUT, the worst happened...the winds and rains were too strong for take off.

Under government regulations, we were not to fly that day. Imagine my disappointment....SIGH. I would reccomend Goreme Balloons, for their reliable and safe rides (or so a friend said!). Cheap is not always the safest anyhow with all the freak hot air balloon accidents I have heard...so yea, be safe than sorry.



More of the cave homes we were brought to see...the universal truth applies - see one, see all. There is no way no two monastries won't look the same if they were from the same era and country.





Kaymaklı Underground City is contained within the citadel of Kaymaklı in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. First opened to tourists in 1964, the village is about 19 km from Nevşehir, on the Nevşehir-Niğde road.



Be really slim to make it out alive - there were moments of claustrophobia and this would've rivalled Cuchi tunnel for horribly small.



These souvenirs were an eyesore throughout our Cappadocia trip - WHY did it choose to rain at 430am? It was fine and dandy thereafter.



We began our Izmir and Ephesus trip with Efendi Travel. Cash payments get you a discount off the total cost of the tour. Efendi not only provided pick ups to the airport and even sent us to our hotel after the whole trip ended.

All that for a sum of 670 Euros, inclusive of flights.



The House of the Virgin Mary is a Catholic and Muslim shrine located on Mt. Koressos in the vicinity of Ephesus, 7 kilometres from Selçuk in Turkey.



More of these dusty pinks spotted!



Off to the Archaelogical Site that reminded me of Athens' Acropolis somehow.





Kitty kitty everywhere and the strange thing is, they ALL pose for hte camera!











Leather outlet shopping that commenced with a fashion show. This had to be the most outdated of all tourist traps that we had to visit.



Kusadasi reminded me of Santorini!



The calming skies and it was just so touristy. Even in Kusadasi, the chaotic nights did not end till 4ish am.



Pammukale was the reason for taking this tour, cotton castle or so this was called. Visitors could choose to dip in the "healing waters" but I would refrain from doing that since we spotted a number of irresponsible visitors with skin problems soaking in these waters.

The Hubba was there way back when they first opened Turkey for tourism and he mentioned how commercialised it is now though.



Our final night in Turkey was spent at Seraglio Hotel, the best hotel in the three that we stayed in Istanbul. For ONCE, we slept through without the slightest disturbances and the beds were so comfy! Service incredibly warm and THE FOOD - delicious!

They were the only ones who bothered enough to give suggestions where to eat, what to avoid and that, is truly Turkish hospitality.



Up to our last dinner, we had kitty company.



Seraglio and her lovely blooms.



Turkish delights are sold everywhere and by weight! It surprised me that there was none of the tooth achingly sweet gummy treats that I was familiar with.



We even stole time to visit a market!



The last meal that was the best.



There endeth the Turkish escapade and the chapter called honeymoon.

If there is a word of advice, I'd say head to Greece from Turkey and not the other way around otherwise, the dissonance would be huge. One year on, these memories still hold dear and I'm glad I am finally done documenting it!