Happy Chinese New Year

To celebrate another CNY away from our families, we went to this thai restaurant for our 'reunion' dinner. Had lovely food...anything beats my cooking these days. I miss the kiam chai teng and the jiu hu char that I always have for CNY. But most significantly, I miss celebrating it with my family (two years in a row) and collecting my angpows! With our full stomachs, we then went to this place called 'The Lockup' which was very entertaining because of its decor (from the name you can sort of guess how it looks like) for drinks.



Then after drinks, only the three of us were still up for some coffee and we went to this old coffee shop somewhere along Sanjo and Shijo. The owner is this 90 years old lady who inherited the shop from her mother.



The inside of the coffee shop, as my friend had said, looked like time had stood still while everything else around it had changed. I loved the chairs with their bright red cushions and the cozy little fireplace. We had cocoa and chatted for quite a while because er, it took some time before we were served. Then we departed, each to their own homes, in the falling snow.

Happy CNY again guys!

Göreme Open Air Museum, Cappadocia, Turkey

On our way to Cappadocia

On our way to Cappadocia, we past by this vast expense of encrusted salt lake called Tuz Golu. During every summer, the salt percipitates and the salt is harvested, contributing to about 60% of Turkey's salt production. The salinity of the lake is among the highest in the world, around 33%.



Isn't it gorgeous? The beautiful scenery. So different from what I am used too. Lush greenery and all that.



I forgot the name of this rock cave dwellings perched on a hill. It was the first stop of our journey in Cappadocia. There is an entrance fee to climb this rock castle and the view from the top was fantastic.



And this is the breathtaking scenery from the top. Look at it! Isn't it absolutely beautiful? I was awed.


Göreme National Park

Göreme Open Air Museum is one Cappadocia's famous places. Unfortunately, when we arrived there, a couple of tour groups just arrived too and we had to wait our turns before we can enter into the small churches. The gorgeous Byzantine churches with its wall to wall religious frescos are the main highlights of the park.


Emali (Apple) Church

This was the first of many churches that we went into in the park. Frescos of scenes of navity, baptism, the last supper, the crucifixion - among others- covered the interior of the church, from top to bottom.



Flash photography is strictly forbidden inside the churches because of its damage to the invaluable frescos. Since the churches are only dimly lit and many had small entrances, taking pictures without the aid of the flash was difficult.



The church had been dated back to the mid 11th century. I do not know why it is called Apple Church. It would have been interesting to know why.



The scene of the crucifixion. Gorgeous frescos but the best is yet to come.....

Anatolian Civilizations Museum, Ankara, Turkey

View of the museum from a restaurant. I love the architecture of the building.

I miss Turkey, I miss the vacation I had. I was looking through the hundreds of pics I took of Turkey last summer and man, I wished I had the time and most importantly, the money to go there again. But back to the topic...



The Anatolian Civilizations Museum is located in the area of Ankara Castle and is housed in two Ottoman buildings. As you can see in the first picture, there are ten domes that formed the rooftop. Made for a nice picture. The museum was established in 1921 and expanded to its present structure by 1968 in order to house all the Anatolian archaeological artefacts, from the Palaeotithic age to the present.



One of my favourite section of the museum has to be the ancient jewellery section. Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with jewellery.



After visiting the museum, we went to have dinner at one of the restaurants situated nearby. You can see Basak, Oyabu-san and Shiori-san at the table next to the family. This restaurant was in a restored traditional Turkish house. Many of the old houses here had reinvented themselves as restaurants or trendy cafes. This restaurant has a nice view of the city and the sun was setting. Plus, it also still maintained some of the rooms with furnishings, to let us have a peek into the past.



Oh, this was yummy. Does it not look yummy?And I have no idea what it is called. I really should write all these things down.



Comes with the rice. It was a meal for two person. I am getting hungry again.



And the view of the setting sun.....



Okay, you can see the sun in this picture and Oyabu-san's profile illuminated by the evening glow.

The many faces of Ethan

The blur portrait look


The laughing look


The cheeky look


The stunned look


The crying look


The intense look


The side profile look

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Mausoleum - Anitkabir, Ankara, Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the leader of the Turkish Independence War and the founder of the Turkish Republic. He was also the republic's first president. Needless to say, he is revered, till this day, by his people. Anitkabir reflects his people's abiding respect and love for the man who had led their country to full independence.



The construction of the Anitkabir took 9 years to built and is divided into two sections, the Peace Park and the Monument Block. Anitkabir covers approximately 750 000 square meters.





The changing of guards. We were there in time to see the changing of guards. I have to admit that it was a bit unnerving to see them stand so still and staring straight ahead at only he knows what, while people are staring at him and taking pictures with/of him. The first guard we saw, his eyes were so blue and serious.



The vast ceremonial ground which can accomodate around 15 000 people. The ground is decorated with rug and kilim patterns.





Inside the mausoleum. The symbolic tomb is situated on the first floor of the mausoleum and Atatürk's body is buried beneath the symbolic tomb on the mausoleum's ground floor. The second President of the Turkish Republic, who was also Atatürk's closest friend, Ismet Inönü, is also buried in Anitkabir.



I like this picture the best. The guard standing so still against the gold gilded letterings of Atatürk's speech. On the museum's facade, on the right side is the inscription of Atatürk's speech on the X anniversary of the Turkish Republic and on the left, is Atatürk's address to the Turkish Youth.



The Lion's Road. This long pedestrian road has 24 seated lion statues on both sides; the lions symbolizes power and peace and was made after Hittite style. At the end of this road is the ceremonial ground and the mausoleum.

For more information about Anitkabir, please go to Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture's site on Anitkabir and of course, the ever helpful Wikipedia. And for more information about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, please visit Ataturk.com