Turkiye

We came back from Turkiye last week. We went to Sapporo, Japan last January and I did not even write anything about it. 1 reel on instagram and that was it. Went to Jakarta in February. No reel at all. No blog post. I am doing my best.

I am not planning to write about Turkiye but I think it is important for me to note it somewhere that this trip happens. I may forget. I want to preserve the feelings not really the trip itself. After awhile, all these foreign soil we are visiting, they look nice simply because they are new and far away from our homeland. What is more important to me is that realising, after each trip that Malaysia is still the place you choose to call home and it is the best country in the world for you.

This time, we utilize Nuh Travel as our tour operator. We arrived in Istanbul on 28 May and head straight to Ankara. We stayed in a nice hotel with nice dinner and breakfast. The hotel reminded me of the Royal Belum resort because it is located in an area surrounded by forest and very close to Abant Lake. We also visited the Salt Lake before making our way to Cappadocia. 

In Cappadocia, we stayed at a cave hotel. It was an interesting experience, one that I may not want to repeat. The cave room made all of our clothes damp. It was dimly lit. Rather romantic but we were too tired to do any other things than sleep. We went to see the hot air balloon. Standing in the cold just to watch hot air balloon is something I will not repeat again. Don't get me wrong, it was such a beautiful sight but there has to be a much enjoyable way to watch the hot air balloon.

We also went on a sunset ATV ride and visited the famous fairy chimneys sites. The weather in Cappadocia was cool so it was such a pleasant walk around. I love looking at all the wild flowers. I am so used to winter sights. Being able to experience spring and summer in this gorgeous country is such a blessing.

After spending 2 short nights in Cappadocia, we made our way to Izmir to visit the ancient city of Ephesus. We spent some time exploring the ruin under the hot sun and then we went to Pumakkale.

It was quite a journey. The thermal pool was beautiful. The tour guide made the best decision to visit the site at sunset. We stayed in a Thermal Pool hotel. Too bad we did not have time to enjoy the thermal pool facility they have onsite.

The next day, we went to Bursa. It was another long journey. Made a few uneventful stops for lunch and prayers. We also went on a quick sightseeing at Tophane Clocktower. That is where the tomb of Osman Ghazi, the founder of Ottoman empire is located.

We reached our hotel in the evening and decided to walk to a nearby mall. We had a quick look around, bought some coffee and snacks from the grocer and then call it a night.

After spending 1 night in Bursa, we head to Istanbul which is our final base for this trip. We stayed at G Hotel Istanbul and the aircond in our room was not functional. We had to opened the windows to cool down the room a little. The weather in Istanbul was rather harsh. Seems like it was hotter and more humid than Malaysia. We did a a lot of walking to visit the famous sites like the 2 main mosque, Hagia Sophea and the Blue Mosque. We also walked to the Grand Bazaar. It was to hot and we were not in the mood to do any shopping. So we just walk around savouring the vibes.

We went on the famous Bosphorus Cruise and afterwards went to a local restaurant to have fish for dinner. This is where we celebrated Eddy's birthday.

Before we depart to the airport, we went to visit Fatih Mosque and the tomb of Muhammad al-Fatih. It is a beautiful mosque. We arrived at the airport quite early so we went to browsing and bought a few last minutes souvenier.

Even though the itinerary was rather rushed, I think it was a good thing because we managed to see a lot of places in a short period of time. All the hotels that we stayed at were satisfactory. The cave hotel was very unique. The rest of the participants are all very friendly and punctual. It made the whole experience very pleasant for me.

The best activity that I did in Istanbul was to say hello to all the local cats. They are soooooooo..... cute! I will repeat Istanbul again just for the cats.

Weekend

Had quite a productive weekend. Manage to make breakfast on Saturday with Eddy. It was grilled cheese sandwiches, french toast and tomato soup. Watched a spy movie on TV with him afterwards. Went to a coffee festival. Too many people. Too hot. Spent too much on not so nice coffee. 

Eddy had to work in the evening so I was at home, rotting. He came back before dusk and we decided to go bowling. Bowling was fun, as usual.

On Sunday, i finally made the viral waterless chicken soup with fried rice. Was very pleased with myself. Before that, we went to One Utama to get a few things and had a very nice coffee at Lovns. Their dirty dream Latte is truly a dream. After lunch I remembered that I had to buy balloons for my boss. Went out again. Eddy went to work, again so... I was left at home, rotting. 

I found an interesting Pokemon channel on Youtube - Deep Pocket Monster. Learned a little bit about Pokemon cards. I binge on that until Eddy came back around midnight. I spent less time rotting than i normally would on a weekend. That is a worthy of a post kind of weekend I guess.

Ceasefire

After 5 weeks of non-stop bombardment between Israel and Iran, they are now negotiating for a ceasefire. Not too sure if either parties are really serious on the ceasefire or they are merely taking a break replenishing their stockpile or what. Whatever it may be, this ceasefire is very much welcomed. 

As far as Malaysia is concerned, everything other than the share market and petrol/diesel prices, everything else remains very much the same. 

Today is Friday. I am looking forward for the weekend. Hopefully a restful one. There are chores to attend to. Laundry and such. There is also a coffee event taking place over the weekend. Hope Eddy is not too busy. 

 Last weekend was a bit too hectic for me. My parents came over. We went for a wedding ceremony and met many family members. On Monday, I woke up early and helped my mom to cook roti jala for my office raya makan. It was super tiring. My mom's roti jala was a big hit, so.. that went well. 

2026 So Far

This post started as a manifesting post for 2026. I started the para with just a summary about our trip to Japan in January. Now that feels like a distant memory happened a million years ago.

Today, we are in April. We had Chinese New Year, Ramadan and Hari Raya. In the middle of all these festivities, we have a war in the middle east. Started by Israel, joined by US against Iran. Israel is also wrecking havoc in Lebanon but that's old news. 

The attack on Iran has resulted in the closing of the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow waterway near Iran, As a result of that closure, the whole world is experiencing energy crisis. let me repeat that again, THE WHOLE WORLD!

I have been feeling rather overwhelm. Firstly, I am wondering if I am financially prepared for these uncertain time. Our share prices tumbled. Petrol prices increased. Thanks to our fuel subsidy, we still can afford to fill up petrol. Many neighbouring countries like Cambodia, Indonesia and Philippines are in chaos due to riots. Some countries even face power cuts.

Yesterday, PMX reintroduced Work From Home for government and GLCs in the effort to reduce petrol usage. Many leaders of other countries gave the same recommendation/advice to their citizens. Trump announced yesterday that the war will continue indefinitely and insist on bombing Iran into the stone age.

There are a lot of speculations flooding the internet and being a naturally curios and somewhat anxious, I read and watched a lot of news channels. This causes further anxiety. The same feeling I had at the start of pandemic. The feeling of uncertainty, insecurity.

I can no longer do the one thing that I like to do when i have spare time - planning a trip. We do have a trip to Turkey in the middle of this month. I am praying that it will get postponed. We were planning to visit Hokkaido in the summer. that is postponed as we foresee that Japan will faced a severe energy crisis resulting in higher fuel prices.

We have to be resilient. Energetic and resilient to be exact. The world economy is out of our control so we should focus on things that are within our control. Have a budget, stick to it. Write more. Focus on the now and what we can do to help our community to stay resilient. 

I hope to share a more positive writing in my next post. Let us pray.  

Ramadhan 2026

Its Friday, the second day of Ramadan. This year, we are sharing the blessed month with Chinese New Year. The 3rd day of Chinese New was the day we start fasting. When most Chinese restaurant and eateries are still closed for celebration, the streets are filled with food stalls. 

The closest Bazaar Ramadan for us is TTDI. It is one of the most popular ones in Klang Valley. I am not sure why. I feel like the food there are not rare or unusual. I rather go to smaller bazaars. Maybe today I find a smaller bazaar to visit. Somewhere nearby. Kota Damansara maybe.