What We Like -Singapore

The "Man" things we do Part2

2010-03-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Joanne's done her post on guy things she does, now it's my turn. Here's the list of guyish things I do:

1. Attending IT shows
Well I used to do that when the deals were good. Now there are so many traps to scam people and prices are sometimes cheaper outside so I don't visit it. I also avoid the Suntec Convention Hall exhibitions because the escalators sway from the human traffic stomping up and down them. I'll write a post next time about things to buy and scams to watch out for.

2. Krav Maga
It's an Israeli form of self defense that I used to train for but I had to stop when university started. Krav Maga isn't a martial art so it concentrates on survival rather than discipline, which is good for me because I hate running and burpees. Along with my friend, I took lessons at Revenue House (CPF building) opposite Novena Square and it was quite cheap. We didn't take it as seriously as the others but we still did learn many techniques (mostly involving blows to the family jewels). Frankly I wouldn't have a chance if a big strong guy tries to attack me, but at least I can kick the asses of skinny ones:D

left: the shirt we wore during training, it got quite a few stares on the Mrt

3. Gaming
I don't have many games but one of my favourites is Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. It's a role-playing game and there's so much to customise and explore, I haven't even finished the game! Not to mention the awesome graphics (I'm a sucker for graphics). Also top on my list is Civilisation 4, the soundtrack is terrfic and it was used in accompaniment with the Dubai fountain:

I'll end here for today, be back next time with some geeky tips!

The "Man" things we do

2010-03-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,Joanne here on the "man" things I do! Yiwei, will be doing a post on the "man" things she does as well!

Right, so I honestly have a real great interest in cars.Kinda weird I know, cos I do go to the hair salon and they pass me a whole stack of Her World, Style, Fashion Magazines...and then I ask them whether I can have some car magazines instead. During which, they just give me a weird awkward expression.

Well, I think my love for cars started when I had my first crush when I was 14. Right, stupid reason to start liking cars! But oh well, the things you'll do to try to get your crush interested in you right? He was very interested in a car brand, which I thought was kinda AH BENG ISH. But,I decided to learn all about that brand , just so that I could have a topic to talk to him about. But, yes after 5 long years I finally gave up on that stupid boy. But my love for cars grew stronger!

Oh yes, one thing I really love to do. Spot Fake LEXUS RX 300S. Well, I dont know whether they have that in other countries. But in Singapore, we do have car workshops who modify the cars to look like Lexus RX 300S. So, whilst I didn't have my license yet I really enjoyed looking out on the road for those "I wanna be a Lexus cos its so much cooler" cars. So for those of you in Singapore, here's Jojo's guide on how to spot a fake lexus.

credits to: zerotohundred.com

so now now, lets all pay attention to the little mirror on the left handside. Toyota Harriers have a little mirror. Lexus RX300S:DONT.

Other methods of course is looking inside at their steering wheel and etc.

So that used to be my favourite past time,spotting these cars and going FAKEFAKEFAKE. I actually remembered that when I was a little girl , my friend had one of those lexus-harrier thingys. And I stupidly asked her EH WHY IS IT THAT THERES A TOYOTA SIGN INSIDE YOUR CAR. and she said: ITS A LEXUS OK LEXUS OK. "liar liar pants on fire". and to think her father is one of the wealthiest developers in Singapore.

Signing up for driving:

So, moving on years passed and while waiting to enroll for my driving I was really upset that I ws a december baby and used to complain to my parents about how I couldnt enroll for driving any earlier. So the day finally came, when I turned 18 all all my friends knew that the first thing I was going to do was to : REGISTER FOR MY DRIVING. So.. in the end I registered on the 12th of december at Bukit Batok driving centre. And before taking lessons, I used to think driving would be so much fun and I would be driving in my little car very soon! So my best friends and I enrolled and we got our basic theory dates and we decided to go for the school instructors cos people used to say that the pass rates are higher and so on.

So it was time for my first driving lesson, and I had a female instructor who looked like Phua Chu Kang. During my first lesson, I SUCKED AT DRIVING. RIGHT. I SUCKED. she said I sucked, cos I used to oversteer until she had to emergency brake all the time! AND SHE OFFICIALLY HATED ME. HATED ME. HATED ME and I remember thinking to myself that my friends were so lucky, cos their instructors were so NICE! and I had Cruella. gah. But, I decided to take it in my stride and go for my next driving lesson. Since, instructors were randomly assigned I prayed so hard that I wouldn't get her again.If not, I was really gonna KILL MYSELF. and TA DAH WHEN I PRINTED OUT MY SLIP. guess who's name was on it? HERS. oh dear me. I honestly wanted to shoot myself in the head.

So, I went for lessons again. Note: I DO NOT WORK WELL UNDER PRESSURE. So, the lesson went worse this time! How so? Imagine going up the curb 5 times. and then she told to me in chinese, that I was gonna spoil the cars tyres and she didn't understand why I couldn't drive properly. Gah. Double crushed. Poor JOJO. I OFFICIALLY HATED DRIVING.

So, that was it. I decided to quit the school and go for a private instructor, with the hope that this instructor would be a nicer and more patient instructor. I had an instructor called Mr Lim, who was actually really nice. However, he did get angry with me sometimes. However, they both still thought I sucked at driving. gah. Stupid Parallel Parking. And I actually had Parallel Parking notes.The bad thing was that Mr Tan,his boss refuseddddd to give me anymore lessons despite my test being closer and in the end... I took my test with 15 pathetic lessons.Usually,people take about 20? So the day before my test I was really REALLY prepared to fail.OH YES, DID I MENTION I TOOK MY FINAL THEORY TEST TWICE. That aside, when I told my instructors that my test was like the next week, they were like UHHH.0___0. hahaa. oh wells, so I decided to give it a shot anyways. Before, I took my test one of my family members got into a car accident the week before as well. So i thought to myself:"God, really doesn't want me to take my test eh?"

Anyhoo, I garnered up all my courage and decided to go with the " hoping to pass,prepared to fail"attitude. It was warmup time and during parallel parking, I KNOCKED DOWN THE POLE. MAJOR SERIOUS. SAY IT WITH ME EVERYONE. MAJOR.SERIOUS. ahahaa. weirdphrase. haha. and i kept on sliding down the ramp. BLEAGH.

So, I was in the waiting room and my instructor said to me... uhhh.. you try your best luh. *THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT!!!* NOT!!!!

So... to make the long story short. I passed! yes i did! ON MY FIRST TRY. and suprisingly, I got 8 points! whooooo!!! Haha and everyone told me:" WOAH. YOU PASSED?". After I passed, and my dad saw me drive. He said:"YOU PASSED?". hahaha, I honestly don't know how I did it. But, haha maybe the tester was a tad bit sleepy. Oh yes, as I was prepared to fail I didn't prepare any passport size photo and looked like that cat in alice in wonderland. GAH.

So, the first thing I did was to get these little thingys! which I have to hang on my car for the next year. So I will be taking them off on august 4th! (: So yay to that!

So ever since I've passed my driving, my favourite things to do is checking sgcarmart, going to car showrooms (whoo!), I honestly love the car showrooms and going to Autobacs for my dose of car accessories. Oh yes, I check the COE prices on a regular basis too! haaha.Oh yes, I forgot to proclaim about my love for TOPGEAR. my favourite show in the whole entire world! I'm so thankful I discovered Discovery Turbo! (: whoo.

Right, summing up this post I guess many of you must be wondering what car I drive. I drive a black beetle, his name's bobby.And i bet you guys are going....What a girly car,shitty car, and as topgear calls it the "German Joke". Ha Ha. Well, and to be honest that wouldn't have been my first choice as well. But cutting the story short, it was lying around at home and it was already there when I passed, so I decided to just use it. The original owner? MY DEAREST MOTHER. WHO FOUND IT OH SO CUTE. WHY? I DONT UNDERSTAND. and she loved it so much.That she got 2! *shakes head in disbelief*.But,I'm very thankful my mother has gone past the cute car stage and has finally settled for a vw scirocco. A much better car, and one the top gear approves of.We're vw freaks. So what car do I wanna get in the future? A mini Cooper or a Tiguan. But, I'm still on the prowl for a car...

My Driving Habits:

1) I comment alot. and I really do mean alot.

2) I horn too

3) I drive pretty fast

4) Flash Flash Flash

= MEANIE ON THE ROAD.

Oh yes, I'm completely reckless as well. However,I really am trying to change my driving habits as well. Trying to drive below or at 80. I've been trying to do that recently, and it has been torture. But I am trying to change! My dad fears my driving so much that, he clings on to the head rest.

Alright, the last thing I'm going to talk about. Why people think or rather why women drivers are so terrible at driving.

We tend to be rather impatient/ impulsive.( Hence, when we find out that we're on the wrong lane, we panic and try to cut in without looking for surrounding cars)
We are indecisive.
We are aggressive creatures. (Right, we horn, scold and curse when you irritate us. Well, I do! But, a KIA PICANTO CHASED MY CAR JUST TO HORN ME AND WAVED HER FINGER IN MY FACE.JUST BECAUSE... I HORNED HER AS SHE WAS CUTTING IN MY LANE.
We have poorer spatial navigation skills ( which can be seen in the longer time needed to park, and men having higher pass rates than women.) and I say this from a scientific,anatomy of the brain view.
We are quite terrible with directions. For me, I get so confused with left and right. Don't laugh, but my mom and I are terrible with our left and right. My family friend told me that, this woman signalled right and cut in to the left lane. And horned him when he caught up to his car.

Ok,so that's my sooper lengthy post and I hope you guys had fun reading it. (:

Jo.

Rightos, moving on. My dream car used to be those SUV sorta cars. Volvo XC90S, RX300S,TOYOTA RAV4S and those huge huge cars.

Studying in a Private University

2010-03-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! Yiwei here to share our experiences studying in a private university.

We all know the reason people can't get into local universities is because there are too many foreign scholars our grades couldn't qualify. Well we're here to debunk the myth that studying in a private university means you're stupid! Studying in a private university doesn't necessarily mean the end of the road, the important thing is choosing a suitable university and the right course.

The main reason we chose our university was because it had a proper campus. Many degrees are offered by private universities but not all have their own campus. And frankly, it's depressing attending lessons in an office building.

An important thing to note in university is that you have to enjoy the subject you're taking, because you will be required to read so many articles. I would die if I had to read about molecules everyday.

As much as I would like to say that private universities are of equal standards to national universities, there is unfortunately a difference. Although we pay a premium for our education, the lecturers and tutors we get are not always ideal. We do have terrific lecturers who are very experienced and dedicated to what they do, but there are also those who don't seem to know what they're teaching. Horror stories of other institutions such as bribing the lecturer for exam answers are possible (other institutions!) but I've also heard stories about students flirting with professors in local universities for a better grade.

The thing about private universities is people end up here not because they're stupid (though it's sometimes the case), but rather time management -or the lack of it. The day before an assignment is due, my Windows Live Messenger list will be full till 3am. It's important to have the right attitude because good things will not just fall in your lap.

Expect many foreign classmates, but I enjoy talking to foreign people so it's fine with me(: The chinese students have it tough because they check every word in their assignment with their electronic dictionaries.

On a lighter note, here are some amusing observations:

The indian lecturer who insists he's from Madagascar
The girl who doesn't realise her skirt is too short and walks around flashing her v-jay-jay
The american lecturer whose belly strains against his shirt, threatening to explode in our faces

Makan Makan: High Teas (Shangrila and Goodwood Park Hotel)

2010-03-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Jo here on today's topic about High Teas in Singapore! Well, my family and I really enjoy high teas and last year my mummy and I decided to go on a high tea trail. Now, one of my top 2 favourites have always been the Goodwood Park Hotel and The Rose Veranda at Shangrila. So i paid a visit to both of them in the past 2 months. And here I am now, to review the both of them.

Here's my current list of high tea places I've been to in Singapore: Intercontinnental, Four Seasons, Equinox,Sheraton,Goodwood (English and Local),Shangrila,Fullerton,Ritz carlton (but it was more of a high tea lunch thing).Gah, I cant remember anymore.

Anyhoo, let's start off with Goodwood Park Hotel's English Hi-Tea.

So, I've always enjoyed the high tea there cos of the selection of pretty canapes and food wise, I really do think it's pretty excellent.So this round, when my sister came back we headed over there for high tea. So everything was going fine,and I had my usual favourite chicken crepes. The two little rolls on the right hand side of the picture above! I didn't feel like having a hot tea that day,so I had opted for an Ice Lemon Tea instead.Now, i had finished my second cup and by that time I had wanted to change to a hot tea instead. However, to my horror the waiter told me that:"oh each customer is only entitled to 2 cups of tea." For a hot tea, we can only offer you additional hot water. Now at this time,I was fuming mad cos it is a Buffet Hi-Tea and you would think the least the could do is to actually give you a free flow of tea? And I was drinking Ice Lemon Tea which meant that there was no tea bag. My sister told me:" Jo, nevermind just order another tea".So I did, and i got charged an additional 8 dollars. whoopee! Do note, that the high tea wasn't exactly the cheapest.I think it cost about 40 over dollars. So for a 40 dollar high tea YOU CAN ONLY GET 2 CUPS OF ICE LEMON TEA! WHOOPEEE. *waves hands in the air*. They used to give free champagne too in the past, when they decided to be more generous.From a cup of champagne and free flow of tea to TA DAH. 2 cups of ice lemon tea.

So I was really quite pissed off already, so I decided to have a little "chat" with the waiter. And to my even greater horror:"This guy was so RUDEE!!!" *BISH BASH*When you make a complaint, I guess you're kinda fired up already and you want the person to be like :"oh yes, im so sorry ma'am. I'll take you feedback to the management". Woah. But this dude here, he is one champion boy! He told me very rudely:" We don't follow Shangrila and this rule has been in place for many years". and he just kept on arguing with me. And, its amazing hwo one service staff can dampen the mood of your whole day. After that very faithful day, I've struck off Goodwood Park as a place to go for high tea.

Ok, terribly sorry about that rant. Now back to the food.

Now, my favourite thing there is the canape selection!(:so everyone zoom in on that little corner! The only thing I find rather annoying is that they have little black signs, but the font is rather scribbly and tiny so I cant really figure out which canape is which, so I end up just taking the pretty ones.The finger sandwiches are just like the usual ones you get all the time during High teas. nothing spectacular.

These pictures,were actually stolen off from my sister, so that day she had taken a fancy to the foie gras canape as well as the mozeralla cheese and sundried tomato canape. They usually have a hot food section as well, which comprises of baked pasta,samosas and I think they had like tempura thingys before. For me, I steal all the chicken crepes! (: haha. I really really love the chicken crepes there.

Next up, the dessert section! Now, theres my favourite chocolate fountain!(: The good thing about the goodwood park's chocolate fountain is that the chocolate isnt runny. Instead, its like thick and luscious. Oh gosh, did i just write luscious. Who describes chocolate was luscious. hahaa. Anyhoo, yes! Their chocolate fountain is pretty good as well as the Creme Brulee too!(: I cant really review on the cakes, cos I'm not really an English dessert person but more of a Chinese dessert person. But, they really do have a great selection of cakes and desserts. So much better than the Rose Veranda's.

Ok, so summing things up. The food here is pretty good and there's a great variety as well. So if you're not really an iced tea drinker, or you enjoy sticking to the choice of one hot tea.Then,opt for the Goodwood Park's English High Tea. For me personally, I love teas. And I really enjoy trying out new and rare teas. So, their policy at teas is really quite a turn off for me.

I'm giving Goodwood Park's high tea:

out of five jellybellys!

Now, Rose Veranda.

They have two seatings one is around 1130 i think till 230 and the other one if from 3 to closing time which is around 6pm.

My aunts and I usually frequent Rose Veranda, as Shangrila very generously gives us 2 complimentary vouchers each time. So, I actually just headed there last weekend and I was shocked as it's really changed alot as well. Food wise and Drink wise: NOT SO GOOD.

The sad thing about it is, Shangrila has a really good Japanese section, so you would actually expect or rather presume that the Japanese food served there would be from their renowned Japanese restaurant. Instead, the rice was hard and came out like little lumps.It tasted stale and kinda... EURGH. Now, if that wasn't bad enough the display was kinda horrendous as well.It's kinda hard to explain, but basically only one person could take sashimi and sushi at a time,resulting in a long queue.

Another sad thing, is that instead of it being a quaint high tea, it seemed to be a full lunch instead. And, it was kinda weird seeing things like steamed fish and things that are normally served for dinner. Weird.Weird.Weird. I can only remember stuffing myself with sashimi as the rest of the food was kinda bleagh. Oh yes,they had fishball soup which tasted like i could bounce them on the floor and they would bounce back. So rubbery. Terrible! The dim sum was kinda out of this world too! The siew mai , dear me.I dont even know what it tasted like. Just,not like a normal siew mai. For the Har Kau,which is my favourite! mushy prawns and saggy skin.

This is not the siew mai! But,its for the readers who dont know what a siew mai is.

I'm really sorry as I didnt take many photos, as I did not think I would be posting them for anyone to see. and the ones which I took, were kinda crappy as I had already eaten the goodies halfway. But nevertheless, I am gonna post them up still.

The dessert section:

There isn't much selection so I only had a bite of the creme brulee, bread and butter pudding and the pistachio marshmallow(it's greeeen in colour!) dipped in chocolate. Oh yes, and I took a bite of the vanilla ice cream which tasted like candle wax!

Now for the tea selection:

The Rose Veranda is renown for their selection of teas! In which, they have about 100 over teas in total! So yay to that! I drank alot of teas that day, Rose Tea, Yunan Pu Er, Sencha vanilla (my favourite!) as well as a few other teas! But, I think i drank a total of nine cups? So yay to the free flow and great selection of teas.At the same time, you can order any tea and opt for it either hot or cold!

That's my sencha vanilla!(: green tea with a hint of vanilla!(:

In the past, they used to have a really great selection of Iced teas which includedthe Peach Bowle and the Fruit Bowle. These were so good, as they had fruit juices and teas mixed in together. The only one they have left now is Summer Peach, but you have to pay an additional 8 dollars. So I talked to one of the waitresses, who has been at the Rose Veranda for really long! and she told me that the fruit juices were getting expensive so now they only order fruit teas.Double BOOO HOO.):

Oh yes, the service there is really good! the waitresses are ever so prompt, and all of them are really helpful!

So, the Rose Veranda wasn't as good as I had remembered it to be. But it really does have a lovely ambience,and the great service is probably the food's saving grace.

Overall rating:

That's all for today!

Signing off,

Travelogue 2 -Turkey

2010-03-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Alright Yiwei here with today's feature on Turkey!

Now I'm sure many have probably been to Turkey because the travel agencies have been promoting them like crazy but for those who haven't, this is why you should visit it.

I'm fond of travelling with tour groups because I prefer to have a guide rather than read up on the history myself -a native guide does give the journey a more local twist, no? I chose the 10+1day Turkey Special with Chan Brothers and it cost $1788 each, for 2 people. Chan Brothers was the company I went with because I've been using them all along and since so many people use them, I have more faith in their tour managers. Things like thefts, molests can happen, but more on that in my post about South Africa (not that South Africa is so dangerous!).

I had to travel alone because my friend had been quarantined with H1N1, so I spent the entire journey sleeping alone in a room with another empty bed because their rooms are all double beds.): So began the journey as I boarded the flight by Turkish Airlines. In my opinion, I still prefer Singapore Airlines, it's so much cleaner and comfortable. I got scolded by the Turkish Airlines stewardess for trying to switch off my phone too..oh well. Landing in Istanbul at 6am, we went roamed the Sultanahmet area waiting for the Blue Mosque (main picture) to open. Men selling Simit (turkish pretzel) were out early, and it really smelt so good!

After that we took a ferry to another city, Bursa to view yet another mosque, the Grand Mosque. People were selling corn on the streets, it smelt good too but I didn't dare to try it. On a side note, the turkish have really pretty eyes!

We slept at Kerevansaray Hotel in Bursa, I was really tired this day because all we had seen so far were mosques. Not wanting to leave the other bed empty, I placed my luggage on top of it so I wouldn't get freaked out at night.

I woke up the next morning to a buffet breakfast with some really nice cherries. Remember to eat the fruits in Turkey because they taste ridiculously sweet and fresh. None of the sad-looking cherries we get in Singapore! Looking at the itinerary, I found out that we were visiting...the Green Mosque hahahaha another mosque??? But this was was special, because the tiles are dark green. Really, really pretty dark green.

Thereafter, we proceeded to Kusadasi with a special surprise along the way. Because I went in July, it was Summer and the flowers were in full bloom. Because I love sunflowers so much, these get extra space in my column:D

I'm not sure if this was just a treat organised by Bülent, my Turkish tour guide, but I do suspect not all tour guides do it. Be sure to try and get Bülent as your tour guide because he really is great. He gave us the cleanest toilets possible, which I really really appreciate because it's awful sitting in a bus for 3hours and getting down to a toilet full of pee on the floors. Do note that it's common to pay for toilets in Turkey so keep your change in handy.

After the overdose of Sunflowers, we had lunch at Köfteci Ramiz, where in my opinion, served the most awesome meatballs I've ever had.

Fine, they look more like meatovals than meatballs, but they are really really awesome. Plus, got cute guy leh! (Joanne is so gonna choke on that) One thing to note is that turkish guys are quite forward, they are not shy in showing interest in you. Getting extra dessert from that cute waiter was flattering of course, but I had a strange 40year old man shake my hand, holding on to it for a loooong time.

That night we slept at a hotel own by this man:

Hahahahaha, I can't help giggling everytime I see his picture. Well frankly I didn't like the hotel, it was creepy, the food was crap and the staff was rude. It didn't help that my room was at the end of the corridor and the light didn't work. I almost started changing but noticed a turkish resident in the apartment opposite staring, and hurried over to shut the curtains.

The next day, we went to see the Virgin Mary, turqouise and jackets. I was tired that day so I don't have nice pictures to share. But the general thing to note is with tour groups is that you will always be brought to buy something. The rule of thumb is to buy it only if you really really like it and will die if you don't bring it back with you to Singapore. That's for shops which the guides bring you to see. But for things like bowls and plates which are common in Turkey, try to buy it in the countryside (like Cappadocia) where it's cheaper. In Istanbul you'll get to shop at the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, but the prices there are inflated. Well in general things are a lot more expensive in Istanbul.

After having people try and sell us jackets, we proceeded to Ephesus (pronounced as Efes-soos). See anything familiar?

The Nike swoosh was modelled after the Goddess Nike, and slaves used to sit on these latrines during winter to warm them up for their masters -poor things! The hole is quite big, so no fear of splattering if you have diarrhea.

After lunch, it was off to Pamukkale. The place is soooo pretty, too bad it's man-made.

It was funny seeing people trying to swim in 2cm-deep pools like the ones on the left.

We had barbequed sardines that night, it was quite delicious but had many bones. Don't be shy to wait though, because it really is the nicest fish you'll have throughout the trip! There was also turkey stew...in Turkey (cue cheesy jokes). The hotel we stayed in was Lycus River Hotel. Frankly, it was really creepy because the corridors had no lights. It was a good thing I usually eat quickly because I had to dash through the corridors with only the moonlight to guide me. yes, I am quite timid.

One thing about Turkey is that despite travelling less than half of it, it's still a huge area to cover. This meant having to endure long bus rides on certain days. The past few days were 3-4hour bus rides which I thought were long, but the one today was 8-10hours! Yes there are toilet stops, but things do get boring after a while. It's important to get an experienced (and humurous) tour guide because too much travel does get on my nerves. In my opinion I was lucky to get Bülent as a tour guide because the pit stops he made along the way really made the bus rides more enjoyable. Today we got a chance to taste poppy seeds.

Yogurt, honey, poppy seeds, and diluted apple tea. Opium comes from the poppy plant, but the seeds are perfectly harmless. They don't have a strong flavour, but provide give dishes with a really good texture. I kinda regret not buying some home because I didn't know then that they could be used in baking, and it's not allowed in Singapore): So please buy some just for the sake of it, or you could help me get some muwahahaha! Another thing to note is that the your guide will say apple tea is a favourite drink for the turkish. According to a turkish friend of mine, it depends on the region. It tastes like bottled apple tea to me, but hey we drink it for the experience right!

After the break, we drove for a bit and stopped in a poppy field. This was trespassing though because although the Turkish government sanctions the growing of poppy plants, the farmer has to be accountable for all his crops and he can go to jail if people steal them! The upside is they earn a lot selling it to the government for medicinal purposes. I went in July so I was packed for summer, shorts, and tees. However the weather went crazy that week and it was 16degrees celsius the day we stopped to take pictures in the poppy field and I happened to be wearing a dress! Thank goodness for the windbreaker I had packed for the plane ride, so please remember to bring a jacket wherever you travel just in case! I prefer windbreakers because I'm too lazy to bring an umbrella.

After the poppy field, we trespassed on a cherry farm. Some aunties went crazy and picked so many cherries -poor farmers! The cherries were sour and farmers grow them not for eating, but to sell them to juice companies. It's called sour cherry drink, and it was my favourite drink throughout the trip.

After stealing cherries, it was on to Sultanhani Caravanserai for lunch.

The pide there is really really good. Pide is like turkish pizza, but crispier. It was so tasty and we were so famished, I didn't get a chance to take a picture! We had turkish ice cream too, and like turkish ice cream in Singapore, the ice cream man tortures you makes fun of you before you finally get your cone. The ice cream man in my case smeared my hand with ice cream): He was also the creepy man who refused to let go of my handshake, staring deeply into my eyes. Umm thanks, but I'll just have the ice cream.

After refuelling, we went to Cappadocia's Dinler hotel for 2 nights. In Cappadocia, you can take a hot air balloon and the view is AMAZING. Well I didn't take it because I'm terrified of heights, but I got to see pictures from my tour mates. I swear, it sounds pricey at almost 200usd, but the view is really worth it. There are hot air balloon rides too in Egypt and South Africa, but in my opinion this is the best place for it. I felt that in Egypt, the view was better from the ground and looking at the hot air balloons. In South Africa, I would prefer looking at animals up close than peering at their backs from the top of a hot air balloon. One thing is that you have to get up early at 4am, but the view is absolutely worth it, you'll feel like your'e in another world!

Dinler Hotels is resort-style, so it was unfortunate that it rained because we had to dash to our blocks (another reason to bring a windbreaker!) Turn on the taps and you'll be surprised as chalky water fills your glass (sometimes, it's brown). I think it's pretty harmless for 2 days, but if you're paranoid then stock up on mineral water before going to the hotel. Mineral water is so cheap anyway, and one tip is to buy a huge 2Litre bottle and a small so you can transfer water into throughout the journey because you will be using the same bus.

So far, I had been choosing beds that didn't face the mirror and most of the mirros didn't face the beds anyway. But Dinler, oh Dinler, was special. This hotel had not only had one mirror facing the bed, it had TWO mirrors facing both beds. Nehnehpoks, like that how to sleep right! But suck it up Yiwei, people are starving in Africa! So what I did was to block the mirror with my luggage and dump my bag on the other bed.

Unfortunately for those who signed up for the hot air balloon, it was highly dependent on weather conditions. And they couldn't fly that day because it was too windy, so they had to try again the next day.

We visited the Underground City of Kaymakli, Goreme Open Air Museum and Uchisar which are rock formations that developed over the years. I won't go into detail and let the pictures speak for themselves.

After that, we were brought to a carpet factory and a pottery factory. The wares in the pottery factory were the prettiest we had seen, but they were terribly expensive.

The next morning, something strange occured.

I woke up for breakfast and had someone ask me,
Her: Hey were you outside your room this morning?
Me: No, why do you say so?
Her: The Indonesian lady and her mum said they saw you walked out of the corridor, and asked the tour guide why you weren't going for the hot air balloon.
Me: ???

Thinking it was another joke by one of my mischevious group mates, I dismissed it with a laugh. When he finally came to breakfast I laughed at him, only to have him stare seriously at me and ask what happened. Oh boy, things were not looking good. I decided to ask the Indonesian lady,

Me: Hey, I heard you saw me this morning?
Her: Yes we were going to leave when we saw you, so we remembered to change into our shoes.
Me: Are you sure you saw me? I was asleep at 4+.
Her: Yes, we saw you walk out of the corridor in your shorts and your windbreaker.

A windbreaker, which I must say nobody else will ever have because it's this horrible shade of hot pink. The strange thing was, I wasn't asleep at 4+ but I had woken up because I heard laughter in the corridor. I was creeped out, but then again it was them and not me who saw things so I tried pushing it out of my mind. The amusing thing was the tour manager from Chan Brothers grabbed my arm in the bus and asked, "You really didn't go out of your room this morning?!?!?!"

From Cappadocia, we departed for Ankara. Along the way we made fantastic pit stops, sampling melons and taking pictures at a salt lake.

The guide cutting melons:

Ankara was a fast stop, where we had lunch and visited the Ataturk Mausoleum. I met my Turkish friend, Luko there so I spent my time chatting rather than taking pictures.

It was back to Istanbul the next day and we visited the Grand Bazaar. Not many pictures here as I was busy looking for things to buy. Since the place was full of tourists, the prices were much steeper too. I did buy a few magnets, but it was after a lengthy haggle with the shopkeeper (who later issued me a marriage proposal haha!). If you really have to buy something at the Grand Bazaar, don't be ashamed to slash the price by half. From the initial price of 16liras, I managed to haggle it down to 8.75liras -and that's from someone who hasn't haggled by herself before! A useful term for haggling is "daha ucuz", pronounced as daha oo-joos. It means cheaper, and the salesmen were amused when I used it.

After shopping, we transferred to our Wow Hotel. Okay cheesy name, but the bedroom was really WOW. This was the only hotel with a single bed, but my single bed was probably king-sized, even larger than those with twin beds! The toilet was so nice and clean, and the breakfast was so awesome!

One special breakfast item is raw honeycomb. They literally have a huge slab of honeycomb for you to scoop at. Even if you don't like honey like me, do try it because this honey tastes a lot better than whatever honey you have ever tasted! (Plus it's fun to scoop at.) That night, we went to watch some belly dancing but because I'm using a small point and shoot camera, it was pointless trying to take pictures in the dim light. I didn't really enjoy the show anyway because I thought it was too commercialised. I'd much prefer watching whirling dervishes, but it wasn't part of the tour package. The food was meh.

The next day was free and easy and the group alighted in Taksim Square. We travelled to Dolmabahce Palace by subway with Luko to guide us.

The queue for tickets took us 2hours, and we still had to queue for the guided tour!! It was really beautiful, but we weren't allowed to take pictures within the palace. We also had to queue again for guided tours!! We spent ages in there. If you want to shop, I suggest staying in Taksim Square.

After Dolmahbace, it was back to Istiklal Street as we shopped like crazy. Some of the sales there are really cheap, my tour mates went crazy digging through the sales in Zara! Do note that not all goods are cheap because Turkey's import tax is higher than ours. Didn't have time to take pictures because I was so exhausted from the day's activities.

The next morning, we went to the Spice Market. In my opinion the things there are better than the Grand Bazaar's, and they sell food too. The usual things people buy home are pistachios and turkish delight. The pistachios taste a lot better than those we get in Singapore! I do suspect cheaper turkish delight can be found elsewhere but I didn't hve enough time anyway. I did buy dried figs for my mom which were marvelously vacuum sealed to retain their freshness.

We rounded off the trip with a cruise along the Bosphorus, the strait dividing Istanbul. Turkey is advertised as the place with both Europe and Asia because Istanbul is split in 2 halves, the Asian and European side. Frankly I could have taken a similar cruise myself for a lot less, but there's the hassle of getting to the airport myself.

We got off the ferry at Ortaköy, a really really romantic place.

It's quite an artsy place and there were many stalls there selling an assortment of accessories and souvenirs. I was too busy soaking in the atmosphere and stuffing my face greedily with Kumpir, which is the most ridiculously-priced piece of potato, but also the best I've ever eaten.

Omggg look at that delicious salt!! You get to choose what fillings you want, and they kinda mash the middle of the potato so it's easier to scoop. I think it cost 8liras (almost 8sgd), but it was so delicious!

So rounds up my trip to Turkey, stay tuned for more from us!

Travelogue 1 -London,Paris,Scotland (Dundee)

2010-03-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Joanne here! and to kick off the first blog post, I'll be doing our very first travelogue to Scotland, London and Paris!

The UK is probably my favouritesstttt (no such word) in the world to shop, sightsee and the weather is cool all year round. Although, the weather in the winter makes me shiver like an energizer bunny.

So I usually head down to UK, particularly Scotland , Dundee to visit my sister who's currently a doctor over there. During which, we usually use Dundee as a base to travel to the surrounding cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow,London, St Andrews, Isle of Islay and Paris.

So last june, i went up to visit her just before university started and i really had such a good time over there! So enough of my rambling, lets get started with my first stop : Scotland!

1. Scotland (Glasgow and Dundee)

Probably, one of the worst things about going over to the UK is the journey. Well, I'm a terrible traveller and by that I mean TERRIBLE. When I was a little girl, I used to throw up all the time in the plane, and up till to day I cant eat the food on the plane cos it really makes me feel like I wanna throw up. So if any of you are thinking of flying to Scotland, I usually fly by Emirates which does a stopover in Dubai. Great place to stopover cos its clean and there's so many places to shop! But, I almost got lost the last time as I was busy running from one end to the other. I strongly do not advise anyone to take KLM, I had to when I booked my ticket late. and I thought I was gonna die on the plane. Imagine: Squeezy seats, NO TELEVISION and two burly dutch men sitting next to you.

Flight time's approx: 14 -16 Hours.

And from Glasgow to Dundee, my sister usually drives but before she had a car we used to take a bus ride from Glasgow to Dundee which was approximately an hour and a half.

The best thing about Scotland is its scenery. And, Im not really a scenery person. I'm more of a "let's skip all the sights and zoom in on the shops". But... in Scotland! The scenery is really. AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. *dances around in a circle*

Dundee is such a quaint little city, and I really enjoy my trip everytime I go there! Shopping wise, there isn't much, but its sufficient I guess. They just reopened another H&M, which always makes me a happy duckie. The 2 main shopping malls there, are the Overgate and Wellgate. But I prefer the Overgate! Cos there's a PRIMARK at the overgate. Now, my sister hates PRIMARK. but I kinda love it.Everything there is so affordable. Oh ya, there's a place which kinda looks like an outlet area, and over there they have A HUGE NEXT, MATALAN, SPORTS SHOP, TK MAX and Borders!

Now for the sights in Dundee, hmm... I didn't see many sight but theres a place called Brothy Fery? where you can get some yummy Ice cream!

Food Wise: I love love love Agacan! I know its kinda weird to have Turkish food in Dundee, but that place is so great! My sister stays right opposite Agacan! Agacan is located on the Perth Road, and no one should ever miss it. (The Perth road is one of the larger main roads in Dundee and there's alot of pubs, hair salons as well as quaint shops). Another place located along the Perth road is this Burger place, called Tonic. I usually have the Surf and Turf Burger. and the hot chocolate is to DIEEE for! and theres a super cute Irish guy, with deep blue eyes there. Completely random, but hes so cute!

Sights in Scotland: I'd recommend going to the Highlands (its really quite unbelievable!), I did a tour with Rabbies Tours and they're a great tour group! (: However, they depart only from Edinburgh if I'm not wrong! I went to Lochness as well, and the highlands wins hands down!

I usually stay in Scotland for about a week, and during which my sister and I usually travel to Glasgow or Edinburgh for more mainstream shops. We usually book our bus tickets, from http://www.megabus.com/uk/

In June, I really wanted to go to Paris so enroute we stopped by London!

Stop 2: London

I love London! This is the loveliest place in the world to Shop.

But before I start on the sights and places to Shop... Before my last 2 trips to London, my mum and I often had alot of trouble finding places to stay at. Cos, in London accomodation isn't exactly cheap. And, most of the time we wanted places which were in either zones 1 or 2. And very often we stayed in Such horrible and expensive places. But until one day, I came across this little gem by the name of trip advisor. I love TRIPADVISOR.

So i searched for hotels in London, and from Tripadvisor I stayed at the base2stay, as well as the Park City London. They're both around Earl's Court and South Kensington. The best thing about these 2 lovely boutique hotels is... not only is it at a prime location but its rather affordable as well. Although, I do have to admit The ParkCity's standard has gone down slightly as compared to the first time I went there. My mum prefers the Base2stay and all the hotel rooms in the base2stay come with like a mini kitchen, which I think is pretty cool. So average price I paid for a night in each hotel is about 120 quid. But, the parkcity is more expensive than the base2stay. But here's a tip! I usually book my hotels in advance and they have these early saver deals!

Now for my favourite part of the trip:

Shopping!

My favourite shops in London include:

Uniqlo, trust me its so different from the Singapore outlets! H&M,Topshop, Anything along Oxford Circus. But my number one FAVOURITE PLACE IS:HARRODS.

I really love Harrods! Firstly, at Harrods they have such high service standards! They're so willing to help! Its like a breath of fresh air compared to the service levels in Singapore, where they "scan" you before they attend to you! (: I've got my very own Harrods card too! (: Now, what I really like about Harrods is the Duty free Claim section they have, whereby they combine all the purchases you bought into one Duty Free Claim Form, so that you can just present one form to the Tax Refund Booth at the airport! Such a Gem! Besides, the shopping, don't forget to try out the food section as well! A must for me is my LADUREE macarons. You have not tasted a Macaron until you've tasted a LADUREE one. My sister really enjoys the High tea at harrods, but to me, its not very worth it.

If you find the food at Harrods too costly, head over across the road to HARRODS 02. which offers food from Harrods but at a lower price.

Now, I had a weird craving for Sushi that day when I went to Harrods and hence we tried Yo! sushi. Well, if you love cold hard sushi! Go for it! IT WAS TEERRRIBLE. my sister and I were in utter disbelief when we tried this sushi joint. Not to mention, it wasn't very cheap either. But out meal was saved by Morelli's gelato which was at the next counter! I'm not really a ice cream person, but my sister lives and breathes ice cream! and this is one of her favourites.

Food: My sister found this place called the BOXWOOD CAFE, its by Gordon Ramsay and the food was over the moon. My other favourites in London is M&S simply food! I love the chicken tikka masala! (:

Other things to do in London:

Watch a musical, or a play!

I've watched Mama Mia in London, and it was really good! (: well, I liked it! (: and its different from the movie version as well! I watched a play at the Globe Theatre as well with my sister, which was really quite an experience.

tip: they sell these cushions before you enter the theatre, GET ONE OF THOSE! i think it's only one pound, but the benches are so hard and puny!

Sightseeing:

I didn't do much Sightseeing, but my mum forced me to go sightseeing for one day. So, we chose the Duck Tours! and I really really enjoyed it! I used to have pictures, but my com crashed! So go check out their website at

http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/

I didn't spend that much time in London, as my sister and I were planning to go to Paris. So next up, Paris!

3) Paris

We took a train from London to Paris, cos I really wanted to go to Disneyland! yupps! Disneyland. Honestly, I didn't really enjoy the shopping at Paris. Things there aren't very cheap as well.As my sister and I stayed at a Disneyland Hotel, It was quite hard for us to travel to the city as well.

We only had one day to go the Eiffel Tower and it was raining and cold! gahhh! My sister told me it looked better at night! and she insisted we go all the way up to the Eiffel tower as well. haha. I'm really not very into sightseeing.

Well, by the time we finished sightseeing, we were famished. and our feet were soaked. So we headed to one of the cafes near the Eiffel Tower, and the food wasnt that great too. ): and I think it cost us about 90 euros in total!

Now, on the other days I went to Disneyland Paris! (: so much fun! (: I recommend taking the 2 park tickets cos the 2nd park has some tour which reminded me of the universal studios tour where the water comes crashing down and the tram moves from side to side. So I love any Disneyland in the world. Although, I do think the Anaheim one is still my favourite. We sat this ride Cursh's coaster. and my sister and I thought we were gonna die. Well, we were queuing up halfway and we saw a sign which said sudden drops and sharp turns. But I told her theres 5 year olds taking this ride! How bad can it be! Gahhh. It was terrible. I guess it's cos im more of a ITS A SMALL WORLD ride person!

So thats it for today's post on Scotland, London and Paris. Stay tuned for Yiwei's post on Turkey! (:

Feel free to leave any comments or inquiries you may have!

Signing off,

Jo.

About us!

2010-03-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Some info about us!

Joanne

Currently a psychology student, who makes alot of comments whilst driving. An avid reader of blogs, who never fails to dig out the scoop on someone! Loves online shopping, and by that she does not mean shopping from blogshops.Apart from the occasional splurge, she enjoys shopping at pasar malams and Daiso. Joanne is the youngest of three girls, and has 2 sisters currently working in America and in Scotland. Her favourite travel places are the United Kingdom, America and loves Bangkok for some shopping that does not burn a hole in her pocket. She enjoys watching classic films like Singing in the rain, The sound of music as well as My Fair Lady. One of her favourite tv shows is Top Gear and fifth gear. Aside from shopping for girly clothes and things, she loves going to car accessory shops and car showrooms. Joanne also enjoys collecting tupperware, a hobby which she finds weird and granny-ish.Joanne's the type of traveller who kinda hates sightseeing, but will zoom in on every place possible that she can shop at.

Yiwei

Also a psychology student, Yiwei loves all things geeky. Whether it's gadgets or electronic music, she is addicted to them with a vengeance. She prefers quirky and whimsical styles like fashion from the Uk, and thinks that leggings should not be worn as pants. An only child, she has no siblings to play with but that just means she has none to fight with as well:D Yiwei loves travelling to exotic places, and London and South Africa and Bangkok are her favourite destinations. A total nerd, Yiwei also enjoys watching documentaries from the History Channel and Discovery. Eccentric would be a word to describe her as she shys away from social norms and conventions.