5 days in TURKEY

*******UPDATE********
-It's photo-time!!


The Blue Mosque... on a Bosphurus Cruise.... City of Istanbul... Alice, myself & David


the Aqueduct... Alice & the Grand Bazaar... checking out a carpet shop...


inside Hagia Sophia... am obelisk in Hippodrome


The remains of the City of Troy... in the first pic, all that land shown beyond the fence was once covered by sea.... the trojan horse, not the original!


at Anzac Cove... Chunkun Bair (where the NZ service was held)... David in one of the trenches



...at Lone Pine where the Australian service was held... camping in the freezing cold....

*********************

I'm baaaaaack!!!!

I came back from Turkey late last night and what can I say about the place.... it was just OK. Not so bad... not so great (the tour company we went through were mainly to be blamed). I went on a Superior 5day tour around Turkey with two friends who got me intrigued in going to check out a whole new world and in particular to celebrate Anzac Day in Gallipoli. From the moment we arrived at the Airport and saw our tour guides, all went down hill. There was no greeting of "HELLO, WELCOME TO TURKEY!!!" or the likes but a hand gesture from one guide pointing us to make our way to the right to meet some other tour guides. No smile, no nothing. Funny enough, our names weren't even on the list and they didnt know which hotel we were meant to go to!!! After waiting and waiting whilst they called the company and waiting for more Aussies to arrive, we finally got to our Hotel only to have to wait several more hours for more people to arrive. The whole journey was definitely about testing our patience with all the waiting we had to do. Waiting for our guide.... our bus... the next service.... the next site visit.... our hotel.... ahhhh!!! We spent more time travelling around (even by foot!) than getting to see the landmarks of Turkey. Oh how the tour company needs to step up on their whole tour organisation process- all was just disappointing.

ANYHOW, the site visits were beautiful, I must say. We visited the Blue Mosque, the amazing Hagia Sophia Mosque that was once a church, Hippodrome and in particular Troy where you see the Trojan Horse. We checked out a carpet shop (it's amazing how many people on the street try to sell you carpets!!!) and we camped overnight at Anzac Cove, where the Australians and NZ troops landed. It was freezing cold that night and everyone was cuddled up in their sleeping bag on the grassy site. It was unbelievably cold!!! I felt so sorry for those who came late and had to sit and sleep up in the spectator seats because there were no rooms below on the grass where we all were lying down. There were so many Aussies, it felt like I was back home!! Well, sort of anywayz. Can you believe that my two friends and I were practically the ONLY asians on the whole tour??? There were probably one or two more people from other tours but that was it! We stood out like a sore thumb. The Turkish people would often come up to us and say "Konichiwa"- hmph! At one stage I even got photographed by a local girl whilst putting on my shoes to go to the toilet at Anzac Cove! And then one guy would ask to take a photo with me! Strange ay?!! We attended the Dawn Service early next morning and slowly made our way to Lone Pine for the Australian Service before going to Chunuk Bair to have a glance at the NZ service. Oh what a long and tiring night and day it all was!!

Turkey is not as cheap as what people have told me and it's practially dollar to dollar with the Australian currency. We went to a club one night and can you believe my so-called "vodka & orange" drink was charged at 18Lira?!!! Which is more or less equivalent to $18AUD!! Sheesh!!!! They ripped us off coz initially we asked them how much and the dude wrote down 10.00TYL and we were happy with that price and went along ordering about 2 drinks each. Sheesh!!! What a mistake ay?! -Thats Turkey for ya, they just love to rip you off. A dude on the street once tried to sell me an Istanbul book for 27Lira and slowly his price dropped all the way down to 7Lira!!! I didn't buy it though. All is such a shocker for me. Turkish people aren't happy people also (well, to all those I met on this trip that is). They don't smile. Or maybe they just don't like to smile. No one seems nice at all and I really think they need some Customer Service skills taught to them. The only thing I liked about Turkey were the amazing historical sites. Wow! I took sooooooooo many pictures but will have to upload it another time.

I didn't have any expectations of Turkey and the tour (mainly because I didn't have much time to think about the whole thing) and I'm glad I didn't! I know for sure now that I am NOT a tour-kind of girl and would rather hop on a "Bus About" and travel from one place to another at my own pace than go in a tour group and feel the need to have to talk to people only because everyone else around me is talking. Hmmm... yes sadly enough, I'm definitely not a tour kind-of-girl. At least I gave it a go right?! It's all great and all, but it's just not me. I like to get to know people also, but I like to do it all at my own pace.... and with fewer people at a time ;) I'm sure my girlfriends back home know that already!!! -especially you Oanhsta!

Gosh girls, you sure know how to get a girl all teary here!! I was reading through your emails today and I'm missing you guys heaps!! Looking at the photos from Lan's websites, I could only wish that I was there to enjoy Huey and Bunnary's special moment together with the whole lot of you. AHHHH! These days I've been really wanting to have some D&Ms with you guys but thats just impossible. It's not the same but luckily I have people here who I can talk to =)

My plans for the next few weeks....
- Amsterdam for a week from Sunday 30th
- Then find work!!! I have plans to give a whole new career a go. I don't know how it will all turn out but I'm giving the job as a Carer a go. Hopefully a live-in carer where I get to live with the people who I work for. I want to look after the elderly or the young with disability and I've spoken to several people on the trip in Turkey and they told me experience is not really essential. Even some ads I've seen states EXPERIENCE NOT ESSENTIAL. TRAINING WILL BE PROVIDED. So all that gives me hope to try something I've been wanting to try for some time now. This journey i'm on is definitely an exciting one I just don't know the outcome!
- Work for several months and then I have plans to travel to Switzerland, France, Italy, Egypt and the Greek Islands. Working in London definitely gives you a better opportunity to check out Europe and make the most out of everything! I can't wait to work!

Scary thing is, people have been telling me I will definitely stay longer than I've intended, ahhhh!!! Mum's gonna kill me if that is so!!

:O

PORTOBELLO MARKET

My all time favourite movie is Notting Hill and I was so excited to be in the scene where it was all filmed!!! Bora, Irene and I met up with one of Bora's friend today and we walked through the lovely Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Ohh la la!

Me, Bora & Irene

So this is where we live.... not!!! ;)

*We're having a little drink up tonight as a small welcoming party for me -yay! BUT I hope that they will let Alice, David and myself sleep a little early tonight considering we have to leave for Turkey tomorrow at 4am!!!! Ahhh! So exciting!!!

UPDATE: Drink-up never happened- hmph!

3rd day in London

18th- TODAY:-

It's been 3 days in London and everything is getting better by the day. From being in Asia to coming over here, obviously everything from the lifestyle, to the people, to the food and more just had to be different. BUT in a positive way of course because I get to learn new things. I must admit that once I landed in London I got a little scared because I was not prepared for it. All I knew was that I was coming here to definitely travel, then work and earn money to travel again. I didn't think of how living would be like, who I'd meet, what I'd need to do to get by the day but fortunately, everything worked out well for me. Luckily I have my friend David and his 2 friends Bora and Annie from back home all here to get me settled in London. We are all staying under the same roof and I've gotten to know the 2 girls which is great! They're really nice and helpful and I'm staying in the same room with Bora and David whereas Annie has her own room. The house also consists of about 5-6 Italian guys (yes, guys!!!!) and a lovely Italian girl Irene. They are all pretty friendly which means we all can get along well and that makes staying in London even more better!! This is definitely a change for me and it's all pretty exciting!

Here is a picture taken earlier of us today just after finishing our lunch at an Italian Restaurant. Bora and I met up with the guys during their lunch break. That's David beside me, then Bora and one of their friend Abraham. Lovely lunch I must say! I better eat more over here or else David and Bora will constantly lecture me and literally force food down my throat- eeek!!! And now, they're making me learn how to cook also- double eeek!!!! =I

In the last week of Burma:-

Oh how I miss that place already!! It is a certainty that I will be back there again and again and again. I simply cannot thank my second family Naing, OhnMar & Bey Bey enough for taking me in as part of their family. I am very touched by their love and I am so fortunate to have a second family to cherish! In the last week we all went on a 14hr drive to Mandalay for a little break during the Water Festival. It was extremely hot in Mandalay and I just baked, even when I was indoors! There is such a bad supply of power over there that half the time I couldn't even use the Air-Con in the hotel! I had to resort to fans and they surely didn't help much. We all burned in Mandalay and were very happy to get back to Yangon after the 3 days of visiting their friends and many Pagodas there.

Me, Bey Bey, Dr Ohn Mar & Naing at Naing's Gem & Jewellery store in Bogyoke Market

Though not everything on the trip was bad. The Water Festival was surely an enjoyment to watch ONLY when you're in the car with all the windows up. I surely got saturated at one point on the street. All these kids saw me from afar as I walked with Ohnmar from a pagoda back to the car and were ready to pour buckets (yes, buckets!!) and lots of cups of water on me!!! I begged them not to but of course it didnt stop them because any1 who is on the street during this time of year, is expected to get wet!!! hehehe I was definitely a main target since I'm a foreigner, a girl and am usually on my own!

The other day, whilst waiting for Naing in a car, I was watching some kids throwing water on people on the street and they busted me watching them and came up to the car with their buckets and cups of water and tried to convince me to come out!!! hehe It was such a funny moment I continually shook my head and they continually used hand gestures to tell me to come out. I didn't know what to do but whip out my camera and take a pic of that lovely site:- what do you think?? =)

Other pics of the Water Festival and Mandalay:

The famous Schwedagon Pagoda in the evening; me in a longyhi!!! Can you believe I didn't pay the $5USD foreigner fee to get in here? Ahhh!

So I organised the farewell party for myself at the orphanage and the kids really enjoyed it. I bought yummy birthday-like cakes, jellies, biscuits, lollies, chips, bananas, and drinks for them to dive into and I gave them each a toy gun and mask to play during the Water Festival!! Woohoo! I took a group photo with most of them towards the end of the party and I love the pic! Oh how I miss them all already!

And finally, saying goodbye to Pyin Oo Lwin Guesthouse II, located on the 3rd floor with the red railings. The entry is through the arch door shown on the bottom left corner of the pic. I will definitely come back!!!!

1st day in London!

.. I AM STILL ALIVE!! - for all those that care of course ;)

I arrived here last night and due to a misunderstanding, I caught a 'cute' taxi to where my friend's staying and I can definitely quote that it costed me "an arm and a leg"!!!! It is extremely expensive over here that I really have to budget. Thankfully the people who I'm staying with can cook (since I can't but to compensate that I will clean hehe) and that will save us heaps rather than going out to eat. I will go on my travelling to Turkey and Holland in the next 2wks and when I get back here I will be ready to find work and settle in abit before I can make any more adventures.

Can you believe that I got confused between the weather in UK for Europe??!! Europe will warm up in the following months to come but here in the UK, it is always cold!! I lugged more shirts, singlets, skirts and dresses than I did for winter clothes and now I have to fork out money to buy a warm coat and some jumpers. Oh well, the price to pay to experience something new :)

Back in Myanmar/Burma, everything including the Internet Cafe was closed and I couldn't do any update in the last week due to the Water Festival and the Burmese New Year. There is so much to update in that last week including how saturated I got from the Water Festival but I will update it all hopefully tomorrow. I was in need of internet access prior to my arrival here in London in order to confirm all the details with my friend but that was all impossible which meant that there was great confusion last night when I arrived. Oh well, all is good now... have got my much needed rest today... will do abit of shopping tomorrow and pick up my sim-card and have my UK bank a/c all in order.

By tomorrow evening, my sim should be activated and my mobile number will be: +447900531477 (I should then finally be able to call home to let them know personally that I am well!)

I'll update the rest hopefully tomorrow

=)

KAZ'S & WILLIAM'S BDAY

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KAZ!

Sorry it's a day late but I couldn't help it. I've been quite busy over here with the preparation for the kid's party (which went extremely well today) that by the time I got back to the Guesthouse, I'm simply exhausted (mainly due to the crazy heat over here) so I'm sorry Kaz! BUT... I hope you had a lovely day yesterday and I send you lotsa hugs all the way from Asia ;)

and...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!!!

I'm sorry it's late also but please forgive me! Though I hope you celebrated this day very well with your family considering they hardly come over from Indonesia in time for your Bday!! It should be a great year for you Mr since it will start off well with you graduating!!! Yay, we all finally made it!!!! Happy Birthday again William!!

=)

=)

-- Let's pass on our smile to others --

Almost 3 weeks into Burma, ahhhhh!

Wow, time surely flies.

I've had an amazing time within the last week and I've got pics to prove it!!! =)

MON to THURS- I went to the monastery as mentioned and taught my first lessons to the kids. I was soooooooo nervous prior to the first day but all that died out when I got there and got right into the lessons. I must say, i love it!! =) The kids are extremely obedient and are very willing to learn and I can see that they enjoy it also, yay! And they are oh-so-cute too!!! So now I've taught all 70 kids. The others are older and have done their examinations and were allowed to go back home. Apparently not all are orphans- some stay at the orphanage because their family are not wealthy enough to have a home closer to the school and so therefore the kids are allowed to stay at the monastery. I am there from 11am to 4pm and I've taught them how to greet one another, say What is your name, How are you, I am good/not good/happy/sad etc., and I'm glad to meet you whilst shaking hands. I had to learn Burmese in order to translate it but it is all ok if I don't get it right because there is a teacher there who can help me out when it's needed since she can speak little English. I've taught the kids colours also and we've played games such as SNAP (but using the colours which I call out for them to snap) , something similar to "duck duck goose" which they all love and I can't help but allow all other kids to join in every time we play it hehehe. This week I spoilt the kids a little and spent more on them than I had intended. Even with the snacks I brought for each class, I still bought lotsa lil chocolates and biscuits to reward those who gets something right. A little too much money this week so a little less will be spent next week =I. I have all these other plans for the kids whilst my stay is in Myanmar and it's all very exciting!!!! But I will have to wait and see if it all pans out as I expect it.


....teaching them colours and then playing SNAP


... can you see why I just HAD to let the other kids join in? hehehe


... "I'm glad to meet you"
..... I was showing them a pic I took of them earlier on on my camera and since so many of them wanted to see, I had to put the camera up in the air so that they can all see. It was such a lovely site I had to turn the camera around and take this pic of them! They were oh-so-happy =)



FRI- I went to Aung Ko Myint's Kindergarten School to read some English books to the children. The kids are extremely adorable and are all so tiny!!! I read them SPOT =) I visited 3 classes and in every class I walked in they would all stand on their chair and say "Good Morning teacher" kekekekekke After reading to them, they came up to me one by one and introduced themselves. I introduced myself also and I shook their hands and said "nice to meet you" and surprisingly they said the same!!! Awwwwwwwwww



Yesterday the manageress and her sisters from the Guesthouse brought in a famous Myanmar dish called Moun Hin Ga from home for me to have for Breakfast!! I got to try a home-cooked meal, one of the privileges for a foreigner yay!!!! =) ------>



Well, I am going to Schwedagon Paya (the biggest monastery in Myanmar) tomorrow evening and Ohn Mar is kind enough to go with me! I will wear my longhyi and maybe apply some thanakha and hopefully I will get mistaken for a local and go in for free! -foreigners unfortunately have to pay $5USD. I will definitely take pics!!! =)

Once again, I am really liking it here!!!!! This week I have been quite tired but gladly I can rest today and tomorrow morning. Burmese New Year and it's traditional water festival is just around the corner and I'm afraid that unwillingly I will get wet!!! Nooooo!