Smoking Nargilehs: Naughty but Nice

Commonly known as Shisha back in Singapore, we noticed that these water-pipes are widely sold at the Grand Bazaar and most market-places. While friends have brought home these water-pipes to serve as decor pieces in their homes, we weren’t interested in doing so. We were however interested in smoking one of these in Istanbul since Nargilehs cafes are a plenty, after-all it’s part of the Turkish institution (which is comprised of the Nargilehs, the Turkish Tea and the Turkish Coffee).

We went in search of a local cafe where we could try our hand in smoking the Nargilehs. Nice, we found a row of local cafes serving these and since it started to snow, we ran inside one of the cafes to seek for cover and keep warm with some Turkish tea.

The average price to smoke the Nargileh is approximately TL 12 – 15. There are many flavours that you could choose from – apple, mint, strawberry, etc – we weren’t feeling very adventurous so we stuck with apple. It was bliss just drawing back and enjoying the apple scent as we puffed away while watching the snow fall outside.

Turkish Viagra

I knew this would get you excited and your heart pumping!!!  For I did when I saw that they are widely sold at the Spice Bazaar.  The Turkish Viagra is actually a spiced candy commonly sold here at the Spice Bazaar, the candy has an effect similar to the real Viagra because it restores potency and even youth and health.  Incidentally, if you are in need of a love potion or some ‘magic’ spell, this is THE place to go. I had initially plan to skip the Spice Bazaar thinking that it was going to be the same as the Grand Bazaar but thank goodness, the Man insisted on going.  I would have kicked myself in the butt for I actually preferred this Bazaar so much more for it has so much to see.

It’s a little smaller in scale compared to the Grand Bazaar but the offerings from the stalls were simply mind-boggling.  Safe to say, you could get just about anything imaginable here at the Spice Bazaar.

We had to artfully dodge the sellers trying to peddle spices to us but we succumbed to one whom we eventually got our Turkish delights and some pre-mixed floral and herbal tea from.

There had different types of floral and herbal tea available.  We brought back with us herbal tea to boost our immunity/memory/digestion and general well-being.  Be warned, they don’t come cheap, so don’t get too happy adding just about everything you see into the shopping bag.  We don’t know if we got ‘fleeced’ but well, I guess it’s definitely an experience.

I was so tempted to bag some nuts back too but the Man was giving me the eye.  Well, I guess they aren’t exactly special nuts, we probably could get them back home too.

The spices here looked so good that I wished I could pack them back with us but I know I probably will be hanging up my apron when we head back to Singers.  So for now, I’m happy to sip the floral teas and pinch a bite of those Turkish delights that we had brought back from our travels.

Spice Bazaar

Address: Missir Carsisi, Egyptian Market

Opening Hours: 8.30am – 6.30pm (Mon – Sat)

Nearest Train Station: Eminonu

 

The Grand ‘Bizarre’

Before you visit one of the world’s most famous souq (market), you must be mentally prepared to fend off and banter with the hundreds of shopkeepers who will attempt to lure you into their shops.  We’ve been told that it is very likely that we will end up purchasing a carpet here for the carpet salesperson tend to be very persuasive in getting you to part with your money.   A couple of friends ended up with carpets from Turkey.  I’m not sure if these were purchased at the Grand Bazaar but there are several of these carpet stalls scattered all over the marketplace.

Well, a carpet was certainly not a souvenir item that we had any desire of purchasing and bringing it back to Singapore.  Sparky will probably end up destroying it plus we weren’t interested in maintaining the carpet.  So before entering the Bazaar, we actually did our homework and armed ourselves with a list of excuses to counter any argument that the carpet-seller may throw at us.

With over 4,000 shops and several kilometers of lanes, the Grand Bazaar is like a covered city of its own catering to every conceivable shopping need.  I thought it was more like a labyrinth.  Getting lost in its maze of lane-ways is obligatory for first-time visitors and we often found ourselves at the start before attempting to turn into another lane-way.

You could get just about everything and anything you need here at the Grand Bazaar from antiques, Turkish ceramics, gold/silver/precious stones jewellery, carpets, lamps, spices, etc – just to name a few.  We steered clear of shopkeepers trying to sell anything that resembled a carpet or a rug.  The only thing I got was 2 bracelets.  I think we didn’t do a very good job of bargaining, I probably could get it for much lesser outside if I looked hard enough for a similar piece.  Arh well, at least it was an experience.

There are several places that make good coffee and tea-stops within the Bazaar.  We decided to take a break from all that window-shopping for some Turkish tea and snacks.  The Man ordered a trio of Turkish pastries which turned out to be really sweet for the pistachio pastry was simply soaked in honey.  That little nibble that I took of the pastry gave me the much-needed energy boost as I was really tired out from the day’s walking plus the lunch we had wasn’t too satisfying for me.

I must say that it was rather enjoyable getting ‘lost in this labyrinth’ of shops for a couple of hours.  During this time, I also managed to fool around with my camera and the above are some of the shots that I took which I’m really pleased with.  What do you think?

My first Turkish Bath!

While sightseeing is the activity that you want to indulge in most in Istanbul,  I say it’s worth foregoing the sights for just 1-2 hours and surrender your body to a steamy hamam experience.

What’s the concept?  The idea of the steam bath was passed from the Romans to the Byzantines and then on to the Turks who named it the hamam.  This concept was later exported throughout the world and it’s commonly known as ‘Turkish Bath’.  Until recent decades, many Istanbul homes didn’t have bathroom facilities and due to Islam’s emphasis on personal cleanliness, the community relied on hundreds of hamams that were constructed throughout the city.  Now that most people have bathrooms in Istanbul, hamams are not as popular as before but some have gone on to become popular tourist attractions.

Which ones to visit?  According to our trusty Lonely Planet guidebook, the city’s hamams are enormous.  There are some where you may come out dirtier than you went in (eew… definitely don’t want that to happen to us) while others are plain and clean but servicing a local clientele.  The book recommended two popular hamams - Cağaloğlu Hamam (incidentally, it made to the list of 1000 places to see before you die.  Darn, I should have done my homework beforehand!) and Çemberlitaş Hamam.

We walked pass the later hamam  and the exterior kinda freaked me out, was worried about the ‘germs’.  So we ran off and asked our concierge for help and he recommended the recently renovated and posh Ayasofya Hurrem Sultan Bath. We went with his suggestion instead for we thought it would be a safer bet.

Photo credit: Aya Sofya Hurren Sultan Hamam

What to expect at a Turkish bath?  I honestly had no clue.  I knew that it involves a thorough scrub-down and one would emerge out of the bath with baby-soft skin.  I’ve also heard that the scrubbing process might involve a little screaming if your masseur choose to be hard-handed.  Sounds pretty scary if you ask me.  Armed with little knowledge and expectations, we set for our very first Hamam experience.

*Spoiler alert: Read only if you wish to know what happens under the steam (hehe)

Istanbul 101 (part deux)

Okie on to the other remaining sights that we visited in Istanbul.

Facing the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (meaning “Divine Wisdom” in ancient Greek) is a remarkable structure and an important monument for the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.  I learned that it was once a church and then it became a mosque and now a museum which houses a collection of Christian and Islamic art, Byzantine mosaics, holy relics, and extraordinary examples of iconography.

Here are some facts about the building, with its immense dome that soars to a height of 56 meters.  Interestingly, the dome was built in only five years by about 10,000 workers and 100 master craftsmen.  I thought it was rather impressive to see different religious symbols co-existing together.

 One of the most impressive aspects of Hagia Sophia is the plethora of mosaics with their glittering gold surfaces. Restorations are still ongoing; in 2009, a painting of a six-winged seraph, thought to date to the 14th century, was rediscovered. Another remarkable feature is the “weeping column”, which by popular superstition is believed to cure people with eye infections and boost fertility.  Hmm, I only found out about the “weeping column” while doing research for this post.  No wonder there was a long queue of people waiting to touch a column.

Now that I’ve been trying to get my fitness levels up, the Man decided to venture off a little further from the Bazaar district by taking a nice walk to check out the Süleymaniye Mosque.  The Süleymaniye crowns one of the seven hills and dominates the Golden Horn, providing a landmark for the entire city.

Though it’s not the largest of the Ottoman mosques, it still is one of the grandest. Inside the mosque’s setting and plan are particularly pleasing in its simplicity.  Again, you’re required to remove footwear and ladies are required to put on a headscarf before entering the mosque.

Outside, it was interesting to wander around and get lost in the breath-taking landscape on day with clear blue skies.  We’re thankful that the weather cleared up and the sun came out on the third day that we were in Istanbul.  The weather forecast for our stay didn’t bode well so we were pleasantly surprise by the change in weather.

Well, this concludes some of the sights that we did in Istanbul.  We missed out Hippodrome completely because we didn’t have enough time.  If you’ve been there, perhaps you could share with me what we’ve missed?

I’ve still got more to share on Istanbul.. the Bazaar and some of the traditional Turkish things we did during our trip.  So check on in soon. 

Istanbul 101

It’s said that many visitors to Istanbul never really make it out of Sultanahmet.  While it may sound like a shame, but it’s hardly a surprise.  This neat little area is at the tip of the historic peninsula where the city sprang to life.  It’s also the area where majority of the must-see attractions can be found: Topkapı Palace, Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia), the Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque, the Aya Sofya Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, the Yerebatan (Basilica) Cistern, the Hippodrome, and many more.

As ambitious as we tried to be, we didn’t have enough time to finish them all during our 3D/3N stay in Istanbul.  Here are the sights that we managed to squeeze in during our trip:

The Blue Mosque was completed in 1616 by Sultan Ahmet I, and is famous for being the first mosque in Turkey to have six minarets. Facing Hagia Sophia, from which it borrows certain stylistic elements, the Blue Mosque combines the two great influences of Byzantine and Ottoman religious architecture.

The mosque was built on Sultan Ahmet’s orders by the architect Sedefkâr Mehmet Ağa, and dramatically changed the city’s skyline. The exterior is built of beautiful grey stone and consists of a series of semi-domes leading up to the huge central dome and six minarets.  The reason why the mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque is because of the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

The mosque is such a popular tourist sight that admission is controlled so as to preserve its scared atmosphere.  We didn’t get to go through to the main door as worshipers were making their way into the mosque for prayers (there is an approximate 10 minute wait to enter the mosque during prayer time).

Please be advised of the dress-code when making a visit to the Blue Mosque: Visitors are asked to wear relatively conservative clothes (no bare shoulders, shorts, or short skirts).  Women will be given a scarf to cover their hair if they haven’t brought their own. Shoes will also need to be removed at the entrance.

Tokapi Palace became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 but it’s the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world’s museums put together.  It was the home of Selim the Sot, who drowned in the bath after drinking too much champagne, Ibrahim the Crazy, who lost his reason after being locked up for four years in the infamous palace kafes; and many more.

The first and most famous of the Ottoman Sultans’ residences and administrative centers in Istanbul, Topkapı Palace was built in 1465 during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II and was in use for approximately 400 years of the 624 years of Ottoman rule. Topkapı’s heyday ended in 1852, when Sultan Abdülmecid moved to the newly-built Dolmabahçe Palace; Topkapı itself was converted into a museum in the 1920s, and contains various Islamic relics which have made it a place of pilgrimage for the devout.  We saw some pretty cool relics including the staff of Moses.

The weather was pretty dreary then so I didn’t bother with taking too many photos, plus most of the areas restricted photography so we pretty much just explored the vicinity.

As the saying goes ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ so don’t miss checking out the Imperial Treasury which features an incredible collection of precious objects made from or decorated with gold, silver, rubies, emeralds, jade, pearls and diamonds.  I couldn’t resist gawking at the Kasikci (Spoonmaker’s) Diamond, a tear-drop shaped 86-carat rock surrounded by dozens of smaller stones.  The reason why it’s called the Spoonmaker’s Diamond because it was originally found at a rubbish dump and purchased from a street-peddler for three spoons.

I say we probably needed to set aside at least half a day to see all of Topkapı instead of skimming through most of the attractions.  There’s a separate admission fee for the Harem, which we skipped for we didn’t have enough time.  But I hear it’s well worth it, being one of the most fascinating parts of the palace for the Harem was a place where the Sultan could engage at debauchery at will.

Part 2 of our adventures in Sultanahmet to be followed.  Stay tuned.

Turkish delights

Well, we couldn’t possibly leave Istanbul without getting some Turkish delights.

Turkish delight is a family of confections made primarily on a gel of starch and sugar.  There are many varieties but the premium ones consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel.  Apparently, the cheapest ones are mostly flavoured rosewater, mastic, or lemon gels. The sweets are often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing sugar to prevent them from clinging.

This famed sweet as it is known today was invented by Bekir Effendi, who moved from his hometown Kastamonu to Istanbul and opened his confectionery shop in 1776.  Originally, honey and molasses were its sweeteners, and water and flour were the binding agents, with rosewater, lemon peel and bitter orange as the most common flavors (red, yellow and green).

The sweet was later  introduced to Western Europe sometime in the 19th century.  An unknown Briton reputedly became very fond of this sweet delicacy during his travels to Istanbul and shipped cases of this back to Britain under the name Turkish delight.

Some of these candied treats were really too sweet for our taste-buds but during our brief stay in Istanbul, I actually developed a liking for the pomegranate gel-based sweets filled with pistachios.  The Man liked the nougat ones and we realised that these go so much better with a hot cuppa of Turkish tea or freshly brewed Turkish coffee than having it on its own.

Have you tried the Turkish delight?  What’s your take on this sweet treat?