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Postcards Sent! :)
January 26, 2015
Alhamdulillah, I managed to send all postcards this morning!
The post officer was quite shock to see so many postcards but she was really nice to deal with it. :) Including to paste the stamps, haha, I guess.
I'm sorry it took a week since 19th January, but I received the last address on Friday, so need to wait for the next working day (which is today) to send them :) Alhamdulillah!
P?eji vám v?echno nejlep?í a abyste byl/a zdravy/á a ?t´astny/á
Mějte se!
It means;
Wish you all the best and be healthy and happy. Take care!
Fuhhh, I feel so relieved; like a heavy duty on my shoulders taken away. No more debt, insyAllah! :) Yeay. They were sent with priority label, so, hopefully all of them will arrive at the written address as soon as possible. I even received a receipt for posting them. :D My first time actually as I haven't get any receipt before. Haha.
Do inform me when you get them yea. ^_^
I hope by these postcards; they will be able to make your day even more brighter. :)
Smile :D
v CrossCafe V Kopecku,
150126
- Maher Zain, Open Your Eyes
Look around yourselves
Can’t you see this wonder
Spreaded infront of you
The clouds floating by
The skies are clear and blue
Planets in the orbits
The moon and the sun
Such perfect harmony
Let’s start question in ourselves
Isn’t this proof enough for us
Or are we so blind
To push it all aside..
No..
We just have to
Open our eyes, our hearts, and minds
If we just look bright to see the signs
We can’t keep hiding from the truth
Let it take us by surprise
Take us in the best way
(Allah..)
Guide us every single day..
(Allah..)
Keep us close to You
Until the end of time..
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| 5/4/14 - Hiking trip to the highest mountain in Czech. Walking-hiking on thick snow is beyond my expectation, but it was great! | Snezka, Czech |
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| 12/4/14 - Volunteering for nature reserve. That Phantom is not mine, for sure. :) | Na Plachte, Hradec Kralove, Czech |
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| 12/4/14 - Another picture of nature reserve - Basically it was more to protect the non-ordinary species so that they still alive in Czech. Well, even frogs and snakes are not so frequently found here. :) | Na Plachte, Hradec Kralove, Czech |
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| 16/4/14 - New town with Czech flag. | Masarykovo Namesti, Hradec Kralove, Czech |
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| 18/4/14 - Easter's Day, while joining introduction to volunteering programme by MERCY Malaysia. | Krakow, Poland |
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| 20/4/14 - Somewhere near the castle of Krakow | Krakow, Poland |
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| 20/4/14 - Getting ready to go back home by train. Beautiful train station! | Krakow, Poland |
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| 9/5/14 - On train to Prague, for my first interlocality usrah :) | Lysa Nad Labem, Czech |
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| 15/5/14 - Money, time spent almost every 2 days in Cross Cafe, preparing for Finals. | Heyrovskeho, Hradec Kralove, Czech |
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| 21/5/14 - I can't recall this :| |
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| 14/6/14 - Cycling trip with my senior around HK | Hradec Kralove, Czech |
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| 19/6/14 - Relaxing. | Hradec Kralove, Czech |
Have faith in God is about how we feel :)
How we feel we belong to Him.
How we feel we need Him.
How we feel we can depend fully on Him.
And also, the place we ask to get something in life.
Even though maybe He didn't give us something the way we want or maybe we just will not get everything we want. But, by having a faith on Him, we will know and understand He has a better plan for us. In which, we can't see it/feel it at the mean time. But soon, we will realize it and thank Him for giving us the way we got before.
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. - 'Ali-Imran 3:190
Sesungguhnya pada kejadian langit dan bumi, dan pada pertukaran malam dan siang, ada tanda-tanda (kekuasaan, kebijaksanaan, dan keluasan rahmat Allah) bagi orang-orang yang berakal; - 'Ali-Imran 3:190
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Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. - 'Ali-Imran 3:191
(Iaitu) orang-orang yang menyebut dan mengingati Allah semasa mereka berdiri dan duduk dan semasa mereka berbaring mengiring, dan mereka pula memikirkan tentang kejadian langit dan bumi (sambil berkata): "Wahai Tuhan kami! Tidaklah Engkau menjadikan benda-benda ini dengan sia-sia, Maha Suci Engkau, maka peliharalah kami dari azab neraka. - 'Ali-Imran 3:191
There was something playing in my head while I was thinking about my life. And really, I thank Allah for guiding me the other way around; on a path that costs me a lot of money and took most of my time. But, Alhamdulillah, I am on my way to be a better me. Ameen.
Fuh, living far away from family make your life mature enough, huh?
v Khaulah,
150125
[Roadtrip] WEMW : Istanbul, Turkey - Part 2
January 22, 2015
Blue Mosque;
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| Rainy day. Picture credit to Maryam |
It is an historical mosque in Istanbul, built between 1609 - 1616 and alhamdulillah, of course open for prayers and visitors. Although it is said to be closed to non-Muslim during 5 daily prayers, we can still see non-Muslim sit there in the mosque.
So, I must state that it is a great place for tourists to witness themselves how Muslim perform prayers and insyAllah, may they get hidayah from Allah to know more about Islam :) There is information room in the mosque for those who would like to learn Islam too. MashaAllah!
Called as Sultanahmet Camii, and why it is known as Blue Mosque?
It is because of the interior design that is made with many blue tiles. :) Art work!
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| The dome. |
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| Islamic designs. |
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| The chandelier. |
I thought the chandelier will be high up at the dome. :D Hihi. It is safe enough to make it lower, I guess.
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| Aha, the praying area for men is restricted only for men who want to pray. So, they have the advantage to see the front side of mosque :) |
By the way, there is no charge to enter Blue Mosque and it provides us with free plastic bags to put our shoes in and bring it inside. And since it is a mosque, women need to cover their head and don't worry, there are head coverings available too, still for free!
I think I found it awkward here with the mixed entrance for men and women. I mean, like there is less barrier between both genders to enter the praying area. Be careful to keep the wudu'. T_T Ahaa, places for wudu' for men, is when you enter the mosque. It was cold back then. ;p What we did was, just use bottled waters. Well, nowadays, people know it is enough to use a bottle of water for wudu' right? . :)
Done with praying, it was time to fill the stomach. Alhamdulillah, there was no problem to find halal food! Most Turkish are Muslim and they served halal food. even KFC. Wohoooo.
We went to this restaurant (I can't recall the name), and the main reason was that, it is once TripAdvisor's choice! Haha. Located close to Blue Mosque and we don't have that strength to find any other restaurant. :p We need energy! ^_^
Breads are free in restaurants in Istanbul, I think. And the soup was delicious. I was searching for the spices to make the soup, but no luck :p
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| Most of the customers are foreigners, and unexpectedly, we were in between 2 tables with Korean tourists. And the rest, mostly Asians. Haha. :D |
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| One of street close to the restaurant. New Year in Istanbul! |
So, what's next? Let's go to Taksim Square! We took metro from Vezneciler station. The token costs about 4 L per ride. Not that reasonable :(
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| Metro crossing river :) |
I used to think metro = subway = underground. But when I reach Istanbul, the metro here can be underground and can also be on ground. Similar to Munich, if I'm not mistaken.
And I should not underestimate the depth of metro station in Istanbul! There was a lift (going down) on top of Vezneciler metro station and escalators just beside it. I wonder why people use lifts, and they even wait for another trip when the lift was full. But, we just use the short escalators and thought we already arrived at the ticket machine.
Ya Allah, there was at least 3 - 4 floors down there, connected by escalators. Fuhh, it was really mental torturing as we were expecting the entrance to the metro on each floor we went. T__T
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| Black coats; most of them I can say. And we; colorful clothes :) |
And as we get out of the metro station, we can see this; the Taksim Square.
In the center, stands the Monument of the Republic; to remember the formation of Turkish Republic. Hmmm, suddenly I feel awkward knowing this. The monument portray the founder of the Republic, Kamal Ataturk. Hmm, his pictures were everywhere, even in most shops that we went. I can feel the strong influence he brought to Turkey T_T.
But still...... hmmm.
Maybe because it was night, I can't really see how big was the square. From my reading, this place is famous with public events like parades, protests and festivals. Basically, Taksim Square is the gateway to Istiklal street; which surrounded with many branded shops, restaurants, malls, and hotels.
One thing that I remember from this square was; I saw a policeman threw used tissue to the ground. T_T There were many other polices so I don't have the gut to pick it up as it was quite close to him. I feel sorry for him and myself.
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| Istiklal street; crowded with people shopping with New Year's discounts. |
The streets in Istanbul, literally NEVER sleep; especially this one - Istiklal street. For those who love nightlife and shopping, this street is really suitable for you.
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| Mussels - Kupang? |
There were many street food; like Turkish chicken rice, roasted chestnut, roasted/steamed corn. My friend and I tried this! Mussels with lemon. It looks scary to eat at first and I thought it was still alive. 1 Lira for two mussels. Just say how much you want, the hawker will serve it for you. After finished eating, only then you pay. There were few people who can't stop eating it and he spent nearly 10 Lira for this (20 mussels!) . :)
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| For me the lemon covered the real taste of mussels, but it was really okay. I cannot imaging myself eating it without lemon. :) |
Actually, there was another reason why we was so excited to go there. We want KFC for late dinner! We used to have a halal fast-food restaurant in Hradec Kralove, Czech, called CFC - California Fried Chicken but we don't know why it is still closed till now. T_T Other than this, NONE.
Memories in KFC were kind of memorable too. Greeted with dirty tables; full with uneaten food left by the customers. There were fries on the floor, some ketchup too! T_T It was heart-breaking to see this.
Ordering the menu was not that easy too. :0 All menu were written in Turkish language, and of course the menu was not the same like in Malaysia; so we didn't really know what to order. But, the cashier was being good to ask us, what do you want to buy? How many wings, how many drumsticks and only then he suggested the menu that was suitable for us. :)
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| From metro to funicular |
Getting back to the apartment was another interesting story. Since we would like to reach closer to the apartment, we changed to tram. But, there was no direct tram from Taksim to Sultanahmet (maybe). So, we need to take funicular to Kabatas, then by tram to Sultanahmet.
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| Changed from funicular to tramvaj |
The funicular was a bit frustrating. Haha. I thought I can see the view of a part of Istanbul from the funicular like when I went up Penang Hill or Buda Castle of Budapest.
But, none! Ouchhh, the route of the funicular was NOT transparent. And it just feel like moving downwards in a building. T_T And to make it more frustrating, funicular and tram needed 2 tokens! Haha,
I took it as experience; to forget about the frustration. :D
At least, the public transportation here is efficient enough with no delay and clean. :)
After reaching the tram stop, we walked to the apartment. The funny thing was, we didn't know the way home!
But, none! Ouchhh, the route of the funicular was NOT transparent. And it just feel like moving downwards in a building. T_T And to make it more frustrating, funicular and tram needed 2 tokens! Haha,
I took it as experience; to forget about the frustration. :D
At least, the public transportation here is efficient enough with no delay and clean. :)
After reaching the tram stop, we walked to the apartment. The funny thing was, we didn't know the way home!
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| Still remember this picture in one of the previous posts? |
We stopped at one Kebab shop, trying to ask direction. He asked about the business card of the apartment. Ouch, we forgot to bring it. Fortunately, I have the picture above in my phone. It was a bit risky to show the phone to a stranger, But, we surrounded him against the shop, just to make it secured T_T
There was another sentences written between the red and blue-green part - Kucuk Ayasofea. Only then, he said he know it :) And he gave us the right direction, and we saw our car! Alhamdulillah.
Weird thing about parking here. Since the area is not that big to have a proper parking area, Turkish people said you can park anywhere, as long it doesn't affect other cars to use the road. Polices can warn you but they will not give you penalty. :D And we were already in Istanbul for 2 public holidays - New Year's Eve and New Year - making it confirmed to have free parking! Wohooo.
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| This is another place to park the car. just, it is not free. And risky thing is you need to give your car key to the guard. Like you can see in the picture, they park the car blocking one another to save space, so, they need the car key to move the car. |
As I mentioned earlier, most streets in Istanbul never sleep. We can still see many people around but the scary thing was, majority of them were male. T___T I wonder where were Turkish's women. So, I think, if you are a girl/woman, take this into account and think to go to Istanbul with at least a friend to accompany you. :)
We reached the apartment near midnight, had KFC for supper, had a tablet of Ibalgin (like Panadol), and prepare to have a good sleep for tomorrow's adventure!
p/s - I tried to use the same chronology like I had there, so, sorry if you can't understand the transition of one place to another. T_T
Part 3 next, :)
Assalamualaikum.
v Khaulah,
150121
[Roadtrip] WEMW : Istanbul, Turkey - Part 1
January 21, 2015
Wohoo, more posts about the trip will be coming soon :) I'll try to write few posts before get back preparing for final exam of next subject.
Teaser
Teheee. :D
When time was limited for us, we tried to get back to our target destination by walking along the road beside the sea. Fortunately, we found a couple who were heading to the same direction and actually at that time, we can easily see lots of tourist buses, vans and taxis heading the same way as us. :)
Tourist attractions spotted!
We walked along Arasta Bazaar to reach Blue Mosque. I will cover Blue Mosque later, yea.
One of interesting architecture is this;
The Milion Stone
I just knew that this stone used to be a starting point of all roads to reach Constantinople in Ancient Rome. And it was used to calculate distance from cities all around the world to Istanbul.
View from the Milion Stone. You can see distances from some cities on the signboards. :)
Not just that, there was a wooden floor (pelantar kayu?) with more cities and the distances. So, generally, distance from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur is 11300 km
After walking for few more meters, we arrived Topkapi Palace! Alhamdulillah.
So far I remember, for previous post, we finally arrived Istanbul and slept soundly. Fantastic sleep! Haha.
Now, let's explore Istanbul!
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Teaser
Teheee. :D
We started our day in the afternoon (I guess, we were so tired back then. :p). After having 'breakfast', we planned to cover Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia for the first day. So, we walked out from the apartment then, suddenly we reached the sea. What? Why sea? Oh man, we were walking to the opposite direction from the center! T_T *facepalm*
Tourist attractions spotted!
We walked along Arasta Bazaar to reach Blue Mosque. I will cover Blue Mosque later, yea.
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| Arasta Bazaar - we can go shopping here, but there are more places to do so; we just skip pass it through :) |
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| Roadtrip buddies! <3 |
The first thing we should do that time was to change some money. How can we buy the tickets or food if we don't have Turkish Lira? haha. The currency was 1 Euro = 2.70 Lira. More better currency rate when you walk along the main straight road of Sultanahmet (along the tram).
My friend bought some Turkish Delight - to eat while we walk. They are very sweet to me. Phewww, but I can't resist them, they are tasty!
While walking to Topkapi Palace, there were so many interesting places to stop by and of course for taking few pictures of memories :D
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| Sweet Turkish delight! - picture credit to Maryam |
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| Baklava! - Special for people with sweet tooth. hehe. picture - credit to Maryam |
My friend bought some Turkish Delight - to eat while we walk. They are very sweet to me. Phewww, but I can't resist them, they are tasty!
Turkish Delight (like hard jelly of starch and sugar - with many flavours!)
Baklava (sweet pastry with many layers - filled with nuts, and sweetened by syrup/honey)
While walking to Topkapi Palace, there were so many interesting places to stop by and of course for taking few pictures of memories :D
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| We-fie with Turkish-tourists. Supposedly, we just asked a guy to take our picture, but, just realised he was in a group of this!. Loud group. Haha. :p |
One of interesting architecture is this;
The Milion Stone
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| The Milion Stone |
I just knew that this stone used to be a starting point of all roads to reach Constantinople in Ancient Rome. And it was used to calculate distance from cities all around the world to Istanbul.
View from the Milion Stone. You can see distances from some cities on the signboards. :)
Not just that, there was a wooden floor (pelantar kayu?) with more cities and the distances. So, generally, distance from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur is 11300 km
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| Missing home. T_T |
After walking for few more meters, we arrived Topkapi Palace! Alhamdulillah.
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| Here we are! |
It is a really nice historical place, especially to learn and see the era of Ottoman Empire. With 30 Lira, I think you can cover basic areas of Topkapi and if you more money and time, please, buy the tickets for whole Topkapi. During winter, it is closed quite early, about 4.45 pm if I'm not mistaken. T_T
Refer this website for more details.
It is a very big place to walk in, so I suggest to spend a day / half a day here. And come early morning on weekdays, when it is not yet crowded. So, you can cover the whole exhibits and rooms. We didn't take the audio tour guide - it is quite expensive but we were mesmerized enough with what have been exhibited to us :).
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| Large Gate of Salutation (Babus Salam) |
This is Gate of Salutation known as Middle Gate; leads into the palace and the Second Courtyard. The tower looks more like - Byzantine style than Ottoman.You can enter Topkapi after buying tickets at the booth around here. :) Long queue of course!
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| The garden inside. |
Topkapi is full of Ottoman's architecture. There are large collections of stuffs used in that era. Like porcelains, jewelries, weapons, shields, armors, calligraphic manuscripts, treasures. What I can say, as time goes by, most of the items are more well decorated. :)
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| One of the exhibition room in Topkapi. |
Some exhibitions do not allow tourists to take pictures, maybe due to fragility of the items. Maybe. Or their exclusiveness. No worries, just enjoy all of them by your own eyes!
Since we only have few hours in Topkapi, we needed to make the tour memorable. The first building we went was enough to make me happy. What did I see? :D
This!
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| picture credit here |
The Sword of Fatih / Mehmed II / Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror! I'm sure you know who is he. A guy at the age of 21 who conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. It was like battling against the strong empire that time!
I love all calligraphy on all swords - how it inspired them to go on battles with hearts remembering Allah. And this one quoted from Fatih's sword.
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| picture credit here |
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“Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (in the name of Allah, the most beneficient, the most merciful). Praise be to Allah Almighty who blessed religious faith with lustrous & lucid verses and sharp & shining swords. Salat and salam upon our noble Prophet Muhammad and his household who are attributed with the most exquisite, lucent words.
Bless and strengthen Mehmed II, son of Murad II, the poignant sword that is drawn in the name of jihad; the Sultan of ghazis and mujahideen that strive to glorif the holy men of Allah; may the necks of enemies of Shariat become the scabbard of his sword; shed your grace on the ink of his pen.
Son of Osman, son of Orhan, son of Murad, son of Beyazit, son of Mehmed; may Allah cleanse them with the heavenly waters (zulal) that streamed by the swords of ghazis and place the under the shadow of swords in heaven. Amen ya rabbelalemin (God of all universes).
Strong words; smile with tears.
Another corner of the palace, it has beautiful view of Bosphorus. Bosphorus is basically the strait that form the boundary between Europe and Asia which make the place we stand here as the 'European' side of Turkey :) It is a narrow strait, with metro and roads connecting both sides.
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| Behind there, the 'Asia' side of Turkey. |
After feeling wish-to come-again-but-satisfied with Topkapi, we went to Blue Mosque to perform prayers. :) Oh, have I mentioned, we can hear Adzan here all over Istanbul from the mosques. Alhamdulillah, the feeling was just peaceful. :) Smile smile smile!
InsyAllah, I'll continue soon in Part 2.
Assalamualaikum.
v Khaulah,
150120
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