Day 4: Identity Crisis at the Mosques

Michael and I don't spend too much time sightseeing during our travels (we prefer spending our days eating and drinking :) but we do try to make a small effort to at least see the main sights (usually towards the end of our trip), even if its from a distance! So on the 4th day, we headed to an area called Sultanahmet, which was the heart of the Ottoman Empire and as such, was where the emperors and sultans lived and built these grand places of worship (called mosques) and thus, became a major hot spot for tourists.

As we flew into Istanbul the first day, we noticed many mosques (large and small)... but the most impressive of them all, is the Blue Mosque (pictured above and below), which was built by Sultan Ahmet I between 1603-1617 that would surpass its rival Aya Sofya (above right).

Aya Sofya (below)

Out of all the monuments, we actually went into this one here - the Basilica Cistern (right & below). Built in 532 AD, it's the largest surviving cistern and at one point, held 80,000 cubic meters of water, delivered via 20km of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea!


Hey, lookie what I had to pee in at the mosques!... just like Vietnam!!! AND I had to pay!

In a previous entry, I mentioned that most Turks figured we were Japanese. I discovered on this trip that I had an identity crisis. When I lived in New York and people asked where I was from, I could easily say I was from Portland. When I traveled out of the country from New York, I just said I was from New York (to avoid having to explain, "... Portland... Oregon?... you know, on the West Coast of the U.S?... above California?... no? How about below Washington?!"). Although I did feel guilty at times for not giving props to Portland. Then when I moved to London, the answer (to colleagues mainly) was, "Yea, I just recently moved from New York, but I'm really from Oregon." More blank stares, but ehh.

But now that I travel from London and people ask "Where you from?" I almost want to be like, "What do you mean where am I from? Where am I from most recently? Or where am I originally from? Could you please be more specific? Or better yet, be more politically correct?!!" Initially, I would answer simply, "I'm from the states," but they're never happy with that answer and would insist, "Really? No, I mean, where are you frooooom?" Experience tells me now that most people mean, "What's your background?" If they had asked it like that, I'd be happy to answer, "Vietnamese!" but they don't! Nonetheless, to avoid useless banter, Michael and I have recently resorted to just responding to the question of, "Where are you from?" with a simple, "Vietnam." It's just easier!

Man, if we tell enough people during our travels that were actually from Vietnam, they'd probably think everyone from Vietnam spoke American! So here's a funny story (this actually also happened to me, Tram, & Lydia while were in Rome last year, but we never really figured out why :)

So while Michael was taking pictures of the mosques, I sat down on a step to rest. Before my butt even hit the marble, 15 or 20 early-teenage school kids gathered around and asked to have their picture taken with me! They asked me to take off my sunglasses, then one by one, they took turns having their picture taken with me. They wanted Michael in it too, but he was shy and ducked away. Unsure of what was going on, I felt flattered at first (like a movie star!... or Mickey Mouse :) but then I realized they must have thought I was Japanese! So I said to a girl, "Where are you guys from?" I figured they were on a field-trip from some really far away country with little tourism and thus, little chance of seeing tourists. Do you know what she replied? "My name is Elif... And I'm from Turkey!"

TURKEY???!!!

Then she said, "You can speak English???!!" OMG. I felt like an imposter! So I got up, thanked them and walked off. But they managed to find Michael and started swarming around him, asking him to take his sunglasses off too (to see his almond-shaped eyes, I bet :) and once more, they all took turns taking pictures with him as well!

Ok, so I just went on a tangent... but what's a blog for if I can't even go off on one of my tangents? :)

KFC Hot Wings... All Around the World

Many of you may know that I am a huge, huge fan of fried chicken... not neccessarily at KFC (I prefer Popeyes). In fact, KFC sometimes skeeves me out, but I do love their hot wings!

Michael and I don't typically like to eat at American chains when we travel, but over the years, we've made an exception for KFC. It all started when we were in St. Martin during our first vacation together in May 2007. We rented a car to drive around the island, and I got hungry (as expected) but we just had lunch! All of a sudden, KFC appeared out of nowhere!... and it had a drive-thru! It was like KFC heard my dilemma... and it was the perfect thing to hold me over until dinner.

Then my first time in Germany that same year, as we were driving to Michael's cousin's house in Nuremburg from the airport, the first familiar thing I saw was KFC!... but we didn't have time to stop over. I am still kicking myself for not speaking up that day. Luckily, when we were in Prague a few nights later, the opportunity came again when KFC was the only thing opened when we arrived late. Anh La, Kathy, & Duong (Michael goes without saying :) were all down for KFC, so I think we bought at least 40 wings :) maybe even 60!

It was sooooooo yummy and (as always) hit the spot... that the next morning, while waiting for everyone to get ready, Anh La, Michael and I settled for cold, left over hot wings!..

... and would you believe, it was still just as good as the night before!?? lol

From then on, it became a tradition for us when we traveled - if we saw a KFC, we'd stop by at some point to try their hot wings. The chicken is different in every country, ya know?! Below is Michael (with his chicken claws) testing it out in Ibiza, Spain last year...

And if I remember correctly, none of these countries had KFC hot sauce - wth??!! But the best KFC hot wings we have ever had, hands-down (so far), was more recently in Istanbul. It was seasoned so well already, it didn't even need hot sauce!

Funny thing we just realized... we've never had KFC hot wings together in Portland, New York, or London! I guess we never thought of it... we'll just have to check London off our list this weekend! We'll keep you guys posted :)

Day 3 On the Bosphorus + Snacks & Tea

The Bosphorus (the narrowest straight in the world that's used for international navigation - whatever that means - I got it off Wiki again :), is the body of water that separates the European and Asian side of Istanbul. We had planned on taking a day-long excursion, which would mean getting off on the other side for some exploring, but we couldn't be bothered to wake up early enough since that particular ferry leaves at 10:35 AM!... hey, we're on vacation!!!

So instead, we slept in, grabbed a quick coffee and simit (yummy sesame-encrusted bread ring, which tastes like Vietnamese banh tieu) and jumped on the 1PM ferry, which took us for a quick 2-hour cruise to soak in the sights. The docks at Eminonu, are famous for its fish sandwiches cooked on these crazily-bobbing boats tied to the quay (just looking at the boat would make you sea sick - I don't know how they cooked on there)!

Yea! Fish sammy! "Seeeeeeaafood!"

Off the boat for some grilled corn... which turned out really stale =P

Then back to our neighborhood to chill out at a cool shisha bar. But before that, a pit stop at the nearby seafood joint for some deep fried mussels (on a stick)! YUUUUUM. I love deep fried (anything, really) MUSSELS!!!

We made friends with the guys who served us... after they too, spent 10 minutes guessing which country we were from :)

I thought it'd be fun to play chess, but Michael kicked my butt in about 2 minutes and 4 moves.

Hookah!!!

Afterwards, we swung by KFC for our tradition of international hot wings (stay tuned for that)!

Quick nap at the hotel... and off to dinner! But first, drinks at a lovely outdoor bar. Our guidebook said to keep a look-out for vendors who sold almonds-on-ice, so I thought were the luckiest couple in the world when a guy wandered by our table selling them. Feeling tipsy, I excitedly bought some without asking how much, ended up getting ripped off... but eh, it's vacation!!!

Day 2: Bazaar District

Home to 2 world famous bazaars - the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar, we started off our 2nd day at the Grand Bazaar, which reminded me very much of Saigon's (Cho) Ben Thanh Market. It was bustling with people, and aisle after aisle contained the same knick knacks - ceramics, handicrafts, glassware, rugs, jewelery, silk, leather, etc. They say that you're not to buy anything at the Bazaar without bargaining first! After awhile, I got pretty tired of haggling though, especially since I knew no matter how clever I thought I was, I was still going to end up paying more than what the item was worth! On top of that, every stand we walked by would try to grab our attention by saying, "Ni Hao Ma!!!" or "Konnichiwa!!!" It was amusing at first, then annoying, and soon after, we had no choice but to humor them. I think I now know the Turkish word for "Chinese" and "Japanese" since I heard so many of them whispering it to each other. They weren't being rude by any means - more intrigued than anything, but you would think that they saw enough Japanese / Chinese tourists to know the difference! Or maybe that was the reason why they were so mystified with us since we didn't look like the others? I should have written on Michael's forehead, "we're neither." But as we pretended not to hear most of the bored vendors who tried strike a conversation with us by speaking "Asian" :) we did let some of the them take a gander as to where we were originally from - and boy did they love to guess!... every east Asian country under the sun, except Vietnam! They ended up spending more time guessing our ethnicity, then bargaining. One guy even guessed as far as Holland and another guy actually said Madagascar.

MADAGASCAR!!! Has any of you even met anyone from Madagascar??? What do they even look like?



I was really on the lookout for a cool Turkish charm bracelet (with an evil eye - muahaha), since Istanbul is supposedly a great place to buy jewelery, but after just 2 shops, I couldn't be bothered to haggle anymore.




Now the Spice Bazaar (below) is great for spices, tea, herbs and sweets with huge displays of turkish delights and large color pyramids of spices!




I saw a super long line of people queuing for fresh ground Turkish coffee. It turned out to be Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Maddumlari (say that 3 times fast), Istanbul's most famous coffee supplier. Of course I had to get my hands on some!

I use to buy so many knick knacks when I travel, but over the years, I just decided to refrain from accumulating useless... well, knick knacks! But being in Istanbul, I kinda' wish we bought a magic carpet and lamp so we could come back anytime we wanted :)