After all the chaotic delays in the airport, we finally reached Ataturk, airport in Istanbul from Santorini. We touched down around 12.30am and rushed to meet our driver. The same way, we have arranged with our Airbnb host for transportation so that it's easier.
We were surprised when our driver came with an 8 seater Mercedes SUV! Then we found out, all Uber driver drives the exact same car LOL Uber here quite #atas
We finally reached our cozy place in Cemberlitas. The place we chose is a strategic location, nearby all famous and touristy spots. Our photographer flew in from Santorini so we did not have a local photographer and by staying near the touristy place that we wanted to photoshoot, it is easier to just walk as we did not have any mode of transport. I also learnt my lesson from Santorini. I thought Santorini was hilly and rocky and my mistake of not putting a spare slippers in the car. But Istanbul is even more hilly and this time around, I made sure I had my slippers on and heels in our backpack HAHA
As we only checked in around 1.30am, jet lagged, tired and the other half was falling sick, we thought we might not be able to get up at 6am the next day LOL But thanks to adrenaline, we managed to get up and I did my own hair and make up this time. We took our breakfast provided by our airbnb and met our photographer. We then walked to our first spot, the Blue Mosque-which was not blue hahaha
We did not enter into the mosque and just took pictures outside because firstly, I was not appropriately dressed and secondly the queue was long.
Behind the scenes hehe #testshot
We then went to Topkapi and luckily we were still a bit early and didn't have to queue much. But when we went out, the queue was superr long! So, we took most shots inside the compound. A bit shy also coz it was a touristy place and mostly crowded and people were staring at us hahaha
After that, we were tired and wrapped our photoshoot with a cup of Starbucks!
Blueberry cheesecake yummy goodness.
Pre wedding photoshoot done and dusted yo! Like finally! 5 hours in Santorini and another 5 hours in Istanbul and we are done! I cannot walk and smile anymore LOL We are superrr pleased with our pictures and I really promise to write a post on our whole pre wedding photoshoot process and budget and it's so affordable, anyone can do it =)
Lunch at this place was so good that we decided to go back again before we flew back.
Every meal comes with bread. Bread all day err dayy...
Finally! Some sauce, spice and closer to Malaysian food. Kebab!!
We enjoyed Turkey food the most! We missed our sauces hehe
Then we walked around and went to the Grand Bazaar.
Superr big and super crowded. But erm..mostly fake goods? So we were not interested and left and walked back to our room. We were dead tired and KO-ed half of that day.
Woke up at 9.30pm and decided to go to Beyoglu, which is the other side of Istanbul more happening at night. It is like a Bukit Bintang. Took an Uber and went across the bridge to Beyoglu.
We shisha-ed
And had some Turkish tea. Cute right?
We were enjoying the live music band there but was a bit shocked that they charged us for the music! Like seriously? So we were a bit more careful thereafter.
More kebab for late dinner! Super yummy. I miss the kebabs there.
The next day, we intended to go for the Bosphorus cruise. However, we googled a lot and realised that a private Bosphorus cruise was not worth it. So we just went along with the public one which was wayyy cheaper. We reached the port but the counter was not opened yet.
So, we had brekkie first!
Curry chicken chop.
Some tomato Turkish egg recipe.
We took the shortest cruise route and it was just cruising along the Bosphorus river. Nothing much really and it was slightly drizzling also. Luckily we didn't pay a hefty sum for the private cruise otherwise we would have regretted it. The public cruise is only 12 Lira and I suggest you go with this.
Since we have visited most touristy places during the photoshoot, we decided to research what other things to do. After researching, we decided that a Turkish bath and massage is something we needed to do in Istanbul so we went for it.
We went to this Sifa Hamami which was near our hotel with quite good reviews.
This is my first time ever experiencing Hamam. And this is my 'journey' hehehe
The first step was to be in a steam room, lying on a marble platform to sweat. When this was happening, we saw a therapist bathing another guy in the next room. I saw his sarong was on, so at least there’s some decency LOL. Okay, then came my turn in a separate ladies shower. My therapist asked me to fully open my sarong LOL I thought sarong should be on. I was a bit uncomfortable but did it anyway. So I was fully naked while waiting for her to bathe me. To my surprise, she started taking off her clothes and then her bra. So erm, she was half naked and her boobs were staring at me >.<
I was like hurmm this is quite funny but just continued with it while she bathed me. She acted as if she has been going naked the 500th time that day. She scrubbed me and boy can I see all the dirt coming off like those eraser residues and then foamed me up and bathed me. I am pretty sure I only had my mom bathed me when I was younger and no one else. So, this was a bit outwardly.
Then came the aromatherapy massage. The therapist oiled me up (still naked) and started massaging me in a room. But the doors were open and it was like open air and I could hear guys talking outside and passing by (may not be peeping me lah since they probably seen so many naked people in one day LOL). I thought wahhh, this is such an open concept and probably some people may not be able to accept this openness.
But it was an eye opening experience for me. I thought it was weird, funny and was a bit shy but overall it was quite a nice experience people scrubbing and bathing me. I knew roughly what were the procedures of a Turkish bath from google but didn’t know intimacy to this extend. I must say though this is a once in a lifetime experience and a super memorable one!
Coming out from Hamam, we were hungry for dinner. More kebab. Hahaha We could eat kebab all dayyy in Istanbul.
The next day, we had breakfast around our area. One thing great about Cemberlitas is that it was nearby everywhere; touristy spots, restaurants, train etc
Another Turkish egg recipe. More chilli flakes. We miss our chilli!
We also tried Kunefe- a cheese based dessert. Quite sweet though.
We saw vendors selling this thing which looked like bagel all around the city and wanted to try one. But ermm..no taste one.
Went into a mosque and had to cover up.
Back to Faros where we lunched on our first day. Very good food! And yes, kebab again hehehe
Gelato to end our journey in Turkey.
Turkey was definitely easier on our wallet than the other countries because we were also quite lucky we travelled when the Turkish Lira dropped. Things were much more reasonably priced than in Switzerland. Architecturally wise, there were a lot of mosques so if mosques are your thing, then Istanbul is your place haha. We actually saw a few Malaysians! We were short of time, if not, we would have definitely visited Cappadocia but that would need an additional day or two. However, we really enjoyed our food in Turkey. Til' the next time.
Well, we thought our preweddingmoon journey was over. But we sneaked in some time in Dubai and that'll be in the next post!
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