#TravelTalk : Orang-Orang yang Tak Terlupakan

Ketika kita travelling / jalan2, selain kita menikmati pemandangan yg breathtaking dan kuliner yang tidak ada habisnya, pasti banyak ketemu orang2 local asli yang berkesan – baik atau buruk.

Nah tiba-tiba kepikiran aja nih untuk nulis soal orang-orang yang tak terlupakan pas gw travelling, yang indirectly mengajarkan gw sesuatu di dalam kehidupan ini. #eaaa haha

1. The Palestinian Guy 

Kira-kira 2-3 tahun yang lalu, gw dan beberapa temen ke Israel untuk ziarah. Tapi trip ziarah ini agak berbeda dengan trip-trip ziarah orang indonesia lainnya. Kenapa? Karena kita ga ikut tour dari gereja.. tapi kita ikut private tour sendiri yang ga ada pendetanya..

Hotel pertama kita terletak di Bethlehem, Palestina. (Iya, Bethlehem itu bukan di Israel). Karena kebetulan hotel kita deket perbatasan Palestina dan Israel, setelah day-tour selesai kita pun foto-foto di tembok perbatasan. Sempet di teriakin orang local juga dari mobil pas foto2 disana, ga tau apa gw yg ge-er di teriakin, apa emang beneran di teriak-in.. haha. tapi anyway, ga ngerti juga dia teriak apa..

Pas pulang ke hotel untuk dinner, ternyata yg dinner saat itu tuhh cuman gw sama temen2 aja.. jadi ga ada orang lain lagi.. Akhirnya temen gw yg cowok pun iseng ajak ngobrol waiter yg lagi serve kita. ‘Do you play Basketball?’ kata temen gw.. Dan dari sana, langsung aja dongg kita ngobrol luamaa sama dia..

Ceritanya doi orang Palestina asli, dia sempet tinggal di luar (kalo ga salah Amrik) – lupa juga kenapa dia bisa keluar dari sana. Setelah dia tinggal cukup lama di luar, karena ada 1 family issue dia pun harus balik ke Palestina.. dan setelah dia balik ke negaranya, dia ga pernah bisa balik lagi atau jalan2 ke luar negri lainnya. Kita pun kepo deh.. Nanya2 kenapa doi ga bisa pergi jalan2?

Pemerintah Palestina itu katanya ribet bngt, somehow rakyatnya di buat susah untuk keluar negara mereka sendiri.. Setelah itu, Israel juga super strict untuk nerima orang2 Palestina untuk masuk ke negara mereka. Sempet bingung apa hubungannya dia mau kluar negri sama Israel. Ternyata, cerita punya cerita.. Palestina tuh ga punya airport. Jadi keluar masuk harus lewat Israel. ~~

Untuk orang Palestina ke Israel sendiri, mereka harus apply jauh2 hari untuk visanya. dan apply visa Israel ini ga tentu dapet walopun udah nunggu lama. Dan ketika dapet-pun, biasanya ga akan di kasih lama. Perbatasan Palestina-Israel pun di jaga super strict, ada ruangan jeruji yang hanya bisa di lewatin satu orang (ini keliatan pas mobil van kita lagi di periksa sama polisi2 ganteng Israel). Miris banget denger cerita dia. Karena dia bilang di palestina ga gt bisa kerjain banyak hal, sepertinya istilah ‘gapailah cita-citamu setinggi langit’ terbunuh di kota ini.. (kalo dari ceritanya doi yaa.. hoho)

Moral : Dari sini gw belajar, kita sebagai orang Indo harus banyak2 bersyukurrr.. karena mau jalan2 gampang. Indonesia punya banyak hal yang bisa di explore.. Gunung yg keren, Laut yang indah, padang2 yang luas..  Kalo mau kluar negri pun, sesusah-susahnya visa.. Kemungkinan dapet kita pun sangatlahh besarrr. Dan ga perlu visa juga kalo mau jalan2 seputar SE Asia. Dan Kalo kita punya cita2, masih ada harapan untuk menggapai dan merealisasikan cita2 kita..

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2. The Grand Bazaar Guy

Kalo lu ke Istanbul, Turkey. Lu ga boleh ngelewatin yang namanya The Grand Bazaar (the oldest and the largest covered market in the world). Banyak banget yang jualan disini, kalo ga ingetin jalan masuk, gw yakin lu bisa tersesat di dalem sini.. Kebanyakan jual barang2 souvenir sih (sejauh mata gw memandang ya) kayak shawl scarf, karpet, pajangan2, sampe lampu2 kyk lampu aladdin. Banyak banget mas2 turki yang senyum2in kita, yang panggil2 kita, pokoknya mrk berusaha jualan barang mrk dehh, atau at least buat liat2 barang mereka. Tapi kita cukup ignorant, karena waktu itu udah ga gt mau lihat2 lagi.

Tiba2, ada yg teriak ke gw, ‘Mammm, you dropped something!’

Gw denger dia ngomong gt, tapi gw ga nengok, karena gw pikir mungkin aja itu bukan gw. Eh, terus dia teriak lagi hal yg sama.. Terus gw mikir, ‘ahh.. ga mungkin gw drop something. Kan gw pake tas selempang, dan tasnya gw taroh depan’

Dan dia pun teriak lagi untuk ke3 kali.nyaa.. dan akhirnya gw pun nengokk ke orang itu, dan nengok ke bawahh. And do you know what he did??

Dia nunjukin tangannya ke lantai..  lalu mengarahkan tangannya itu perlahan2 ke toko dia.. dan dia pun tersenyum sama gw.

Dan gw sama 2 temen cewek gw langsung sontak ketawa terbahak2.. Ide yang super creative bngt buat menarik perhatian orang untuk berkunjung or at least liat barang apa yg lu jual (dari pada cuman triak2 kayak mba2 di mangga dua) hahaha. Walopun akhirnya kita ga mampir juga sih ke toko itu..

Moral : Do something out of the box to grab attention for your business. di saat yang lain cuman panggil2 atau nanya ‘where do you come from?’ which is overrated question di turki menurut gw. ahhaha. Daya juang si mas2 di grand bazaar ini perlu di acungin jempol, karena gw yakin kalo jualan di grand bazaar itu pasti susah bngt. Yaaa. Sama-lah kyk hidup kitaa.. Kadang susah banget rasanya buat people to notice our business atau potensi yg ada dlm diri kita.. Tapi dia ngajarin gw buat jangan nyerah di tengah beratnya bersaing di ibukota..

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3. The Chef

Ketika gw jalan-jalan ke Jepang, gw mampir ke koya Kyoto. Kota geisha yang indah yang lu harus visit ketika main ke Jepang. Trip gw ke jepang, fulll dengan makannn.. makann dan makann.. haha.. Jadi ketika gw main ke Kyoto, gw udah ngincer salah satu restorant jepang yang namanya Kichi-Kichi Kyoto.. Omurice yang super sensational menurut gw..

Karena temen cowok gw bisa dikit2 bahasa Jepang waktu itu.. akhirnya mereka pun ngobrol, dan yg lainnya pun menjadi pendengar yang baik. Jadi ternyata si bapak chef ini ketemu inspirasi dan belajar bikin omurice itu pas dia lagi berkunjung ke Indonesia lohh..

Gw yg kyk? What? Nemu inspirasi makanan Jepang di indoo.. ga nyambung bngt ga sih? haha.. Kalo nemu cabe ulek enakk di Indoo.. Nahh.. itu baru ga anehh.. haha..

Moral : Dont limit the place where you can get your inspiration from. Gw sering dnger deh kalo orng2 cari inspirasi di tempat2 tertentu, contohnya kalo mau dapet inspirasi fashion, harus ke fashion2 events.. siapa tau kan di pasar pun kamu bisa dapet fashion inspiration. kalo mau terinspirasi buat bikin lagu, harus di tempat2 yang tenang.. siapa tau kan lu dapet inspirasi lagu lu dari hingar bingarnya suatu tempat. haha.. Dan tentunyaa, jangan pernah berenti belajar.. and you never too old to learn something new. A note to myself too that im not too old to learn Chinese Language as well. hahaha.. *walopun orng2 ngomong lebih susah jauh buat blajar bahasa pas lu udah lewat umur 20* #kibasrambut #shakeitoff #doakanakulancar hahaha

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Keukenhof – The Most Beautiful Spring Garden in The World

I just ended my 12 days of Europe trip. Time indeed fly so quickly when you are having a good time, isnt it?

I can still remember how cold the morning breeze was when i first touched down in Amsterdam. It was about 18 degree in the morning. Not so cold actually, but the strong wind really gave me a chill when i came out from the Schiphol airport.

We immediately hopped on to the tour bus right after we went out from the airport. The tour guide greeted us that morning, and  explained to us where we will be going for the whole 12 days of the trip. i was thinking the first day will be so shagged. The flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam took about 13 hrs,  we did not have any proper sleep on board, and go for the city tour right after we touched down. but maybe we are all excited for the trip, no one was having a jet-lag when we reached. haha

So, our first stop was Keukenhof. It’s one of the world’s largest garden located at Lisse, Netherland. It’s just about 45 mins from the city of Amsterdam, and about 20 minutes from Schiphol airport.

The entrance fee was about EUR 16 for adults, an EUR 8 for kids. This garden have their own opening time, so better check first when you want to go there. But normally, the best season to go there is when spring season is coming (around March – May), because it is the time where most of the flowers bloom!

and what to do over there?

Just enjoy the pretty tulips and other flowers like daffodils, roses and other flowers that i dont even know whats the name is. haha..  Enjoy the lovely scents from each of the flowers, enjoy the fresh air, and of course, take pictures! Pleasee.. you are in the middle of 7 millions pretty flowers, how can you not take pretty pictures with the pretty flowers? haha

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SONY DSCTalking about flowers, especially tulips, most of us know that this special flower is from the Netherland. even Trio Kwek-Kwek (Indonesian kids singer) sang about it. But, do you really know where this tulips originally came from?

It’s from Turkey!

i was really shocked when i knew that, it feels like ive been deceived all this while. hahaha. *lebayy**

Story said that this flower’s true origin is from Turkey in Ottoman Empire, and starts spreading to western Europe by 1550ish.

Another fascinating story is, one of Turkish Sultan gave tulips as a gift to Austria kingdom, whom the gardener was from Holland. because the Holland gardener thought tulips are so pretty, so he started to plant the tulips in that kingdom, and brought back so to Holland to be breed. haha. I dont know how true the story is. Please do share with me if you know what the real story is.

okay, enough talking. Please just enjoy the pretty flowersss..

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**My mom who can stand the cold breeze, and the daughter who is still freezing even with long sleeve and shawl. haha**

Besides the gardens, they also have some buildings to put some of the rare flowers, and they have some cute photobooth as well..

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**my cute aunt and uncle**

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**dream room to have all fresh flowers inside my room! hahaha*SONY DSC

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Super pretty isnt it?? too bad we only have 1,5 hrs to get around here.. i think we can spend whole day to explore this 32 hectares of garden.

P.S : all pictures are taken with Sony Nex-C3 with no edit! it’s just preetiehh.. haha..

3 Best Restaurants in Goreme, Cappadocia

3. Cafe Safak.

Muze Cadessi no 28 | (On the way to the Goreme open air museum), Goreme 50180, Turkey. +90 384 271 2597

It’s a family owned cafe, whereby you can sit there the whole day to just enjoy the afternoon breeze, and to avoid the strong sun at noon times. Most of the meals are homemade by the owner’s mom.

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They said the most favorite menus are Latte,  The Lentils Soup and the Gözleme. so went to try it out :

Gözleme – savory traditional Turkish Pastry dish.

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It’s something like Indian Prata that you can filled with various types.  we Ordered Cheese and Mushroom that time, and it was not bad at all. it’s rather dry compared to Prata.

Baklava – Turkish dessert, a Turkish sweet pastry with nuts and fillings. 

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It feels like eating Bollen Bandung from Indonesia with Ice cream. The texture is Crispy outside, sofy and chewy inside. 
2. Cappadocian Cuisine
Uzundere Caddesi NO:5/B, Goreme 50180, Turkey. +90 536 964 62 25
Dont judge the book by it’s cover. The restaurant banner may not be as nice as the others, and maybe the place doesnt look fancy at all. But all I can say is, they have the most reasonable price and size for a great local taste! 
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Appetizer
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Lentils Soup
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SONY DSCMost meals come with free Salad, and the rice smells so nice, and very soft like Japanese rice. It looks like they are using same gravy as well for most of the meals. so, it’s like changing the meats only. 
Chicken Casserole
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 Turkish Pasta
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 And Highlight of the Day is : Pottery Chicken Kebab!
SONY DSC The way they present the meal is very fascinating. The bowl above was already opened. So, before they open it, it looks like a giant egg. After that, they are turning the ‘big egg’ and stated knocking the spoon around the pot, until you can hear a ‘pop’ sound. and there you go, Pottery Kebab is ready to enjoy.
1. TopDeck Cave Restaurant
Hafiz Abdullah Efendi Sokak 15, Goreme 50180, Turkey. 90 384 271 2474
All i can say is, this is a must visit restaurant when you are coming to Goreme. A lovely place up in the hill and inside a cave. Yes, a cave! Cappadocia is famous for it’s cave hotel. If you want to feel how it feels like to eat in a cave restaurant, Topdeck is a right place to go.
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SONY DSCA very traditional settings and lovely ambiance like we are dining in middle east countries. haha.  This place is rather small, so i suggest you to make a reservation first before coming. That time we came quite late for our dinner,and just nice they have a place to sit for 5 of us.
Chicken Kebab , Kofte (Meatballs) , and a free salad
SONY DSCAll the meals here are pretty the same with other restaurants, but what makes the different is the spices that they are using. it’s feels very rich and different from the others. Same goes with the rice as well, it’s like they are putting some spices as well, not just a normal plain rice.
Lamb Shank
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And Highlights Meals for the day is Lamb Borek – Lamb springroll filled with cheese. They said it’s one of the most authentic Turkish dish ever.
SONY DSCIt feels like eating ‘Lumpia’, an Indonesian eggroll snack, but in a whole new level. Definitely, a must try!
 

Museum Hopping in Istanbul

If Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be it’s capital – Napoleon Bonaparte

 

We started our Istanbul trip with Museum Hopping.

knowing that Istanbul have a very rich cultural history, i am not surprised that they have sooo many museums in it. 

there’s a card called MUZE – Museum Pass Istanbul that you can purchase if you are a museum lovers.. haha..

but we decided not to buy one, since we just want to visit 4 museums, and unfortunately not all museums are included in the Museum Pass.

 

Museum pass cost about 85 TL (Turkish Lira) = about SGD 50

and for the 4 museums that we about to visit cost us about 60 TL = about SGD 35

 

1. Blue Mosque – free entrance.

The blue tiles that surround the walls made it called Blue Mosque. 

They say Ahmed The First wanted to build something that can beat Hagia Sophia (previously was a church)

so yeahh.. so here we are in the Blue Mosque.. 

 Mad Queue with sun-kissed-skin

*ini cewek kecil centil bngt gaya.nya.. ahhaha.. sampe akhirnya gw voto juga dehh.. mungkin busana kyk doi harus di balut semua kali yah pas masuk mosque.nya..

tapi gw kurang paham juga sihh ada peraturan lain ga buat anak kecill.. hoho*

 Super Exquisite details for the interior. 

 oh ya, for ladies..

please bring your shawl or scarf to enter this mosque..

because you need to cover your hair..

no singlet and shorts too.. hehe..

well. if you dont wear one.. they will lend you some blue cloth to cover you up.

 

owhh.. they will ask you to take off your shoes as well..

so you will be given a plastic bag to put your shoes.. so cute yahh.. hehe..

but because of that..

the mosque become a bit smelly.. =(

the Mosque is super hugeeee.

i dont know how many people it can fit.

Our visit there was quite short because too many people inside..

just take a few pictures there and take a short look.

ohh.. we also met many many Indonesian here.. haha..

ohh.. and they are using carpet for the floor.

cannot imagine when it comes to cleaning. hauhaua.. 

Blue Mosque Located at Sultan Ahmed.. 

and it opens everyday..

but you cant enter the mosque if the are having their prayer *the 5 times a day prayer / Shalat. 

 

2. Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya) – 25 TL

Hagia Sophia which means ‘Holy Wisdom’ is not far from Blue Mosque.

to be exact, its just the opposite of Blue Mosque..

see my last pictures above..

behind us is Blue Mosque..

and in front of us – not far from there is Hagia Sophia.. haha..

the Q here is worse than blue mosque.. ~.~`

*terik.nya matahari disana tuh bener2 menghujam jantung bngt*

 

we went there during summer time.. (June 2013)

so it is very very recommended for you to bring a hat / scarf to cover your head.

i think you can faint soon if you Q there without a hat.. 

ohh.. do bring water everywhere too to keep yourself hydrated too..


Hagia sophia was formerly a Church. then it became a Mosque.. then now it becomes a Museum..

dont asked me on the historical side on how exactly it changes from time to time.. haha..

i just knew that when the Byzantine period ended.. then the Ottoman made it as a mosque.. haha.. 

again. another jaw-dropping interior design..

the dome, the hemisphere, the mozaic, the decoration.. all just fall in the right place that makes Hagia Sophia beautiful.

hahaha.. *im talking as if i know architecture* hahaha..

*above picture taken from livescience.com*

i forgot to take the front look of the bulding.. =(

 

anyway.. it’s how it looks like in the inside.. hehe

too bad some construction are in progress when we were there. 

but nevertheless.. it’s still looks great.. hehe.. 


3. Basilica Cistern – 10 TL

The Museum that somehow i like the most among the 4 Museums.. 

and luckily for this one.. the Q was not that long.. 


It’s the Medusa’s Crib. haha..

well.. not really Medusa’s crib..

it was actually a place to store water during Byzantine’s period.. 

and they found some big stone / sculpture that resembles Medusa’s face.. 

i quite like some Greek mythology.. so that’s why i like this place the most. haha..


the place is so cooling.. you can feel water dripping from above as well.

many pillars / columns over there..

and they set the lighting quite dark that makes a bit of eerie atmosphere.. haha.. 

owh.. above is some stories about Medussa..

so the Greek Myth said that Medusa was a very beautiful lady.

she has long black hair, beautiful black eyes, gorgeous body and she was very proud of it.

Perseu, the son of Zeus fell in love with Medusa.

but at the same time Athene, one of the goddess likes Perseus.

 

and here comes the drama..

Athene used her power to turned Medusa’s black hair to horrible snakes,

and everyone will turned into stone IF they see into Medusa’s eyes..

when Perseus knows that, he beheaded Medusa.

*im not so sure why he did this to the one he love.. ~.~`*

after the ‘murder’. Perseus used Medusa’s head to stoned all his enemies and won many wars after that..

what a story, huh? 

here, i can imagine like how Medusa will ‘play’ with you in the midst of the pillars and waters. haha.. 

*scaryyy*

 

Ci Gill said the famous thriller-ficton writer-Dan Brown makes this place as the last destination to solved the mystery.

after visited this place, it makes me want to read the book.

im sure there will be some ‘goosebumps moments’ when you read that. haha..

Basicila Cistern is not very far from Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia as well.. 

these 3 Museums located nearby each other..

you will see a lot of  people queuing here and there.. hehe..

 

4. Topkapi Palace. – 25 TL

This is the largest Museum of all..

well.. it was a Palace of Ottoman Sultans in the first place.. so, what do you expect? haha..

it is freaking huge until we dont know where to go already. ahhaha..

they have several courts and many many rooms.. like the king’s dressing rooms / tea room / accessories room / gifts room / entertainment room / etc etc..  

all the rooms are nice.. all are build with expensive materials i assume. haha..

some are coated by gold too ! 

ohh.. if you dont want to Queue, they have an automatic ticket machine just beside the counter..

we figured it out when 3 of them are queuing.

me and amel tried out the ticket machine..

we thought it was out of order because no one is using..  

but it worked ! hahaha.. so we ended up to buy the tix from the machine. and people start using it after our turn. haha.

basically that all for our Museum Hopping.. hehe..

just dressed properly and enjoy the history ! hehe..