4th day/night here in Turkey, and I'm recovering from food poisoning. Last night was utter hell. I felt largely alright, bloated yes, until the end of Woman in Black (HM and Shu were really really freaked, lol), then suddenly everything started hurting and that's when I knew I was in trouble. Fail. Silly thing is, last night the 3 of us ate at a place called the Ottoman Kitchen, and we shared all our food. It was one of those point-at-ready-made-food places, so the food was actually kinda cold (red flag?) but it was insanely popular/crowded and located in a high tourist area. Waiters spoke English and all. But then again, Shu and HM were fine and I was not. I guess I have a very weak stomach.
But yes, last night was hell. All cold sweats, prayers, and multiple runs to the bathroom to puke (9 times?). On the 7-8 time I was thinking of asking the other two to bring me to a hospital. But then somehow in between vomiting, I googled my symptoms and they said not to go to a hospital unless it's more than 24 hours of non-stop puking. WTF? I think I'd have died after 12 hours of non-stop puking, much less 24. Somehow around 3am local time I managed to drift off to sleep, after about 4 hours of feeling utterly wretched. Pffft.
As a result, our planned day trip to Bursa today was postponed. We ended up waking late. Instead we went to see Galata Tower and the Istanbul Modern (Museum of Art). At the Galata Tower, Shu and I were talking when an American guy overheard and excitedly asked us where we came from. When we replied 'Singapore', his face immediately fell and in a disappointed voice he said 'I would never have guessed that'. I guess my pseudo-American accent broke his heart. After that he started ignoring us. LOL. Reminded me of how I was in Spain recently and confused all the travellers I met. One South African woman thought I was Australian though, which was funny. At the Galata Tower too, we met a second group of Turkish people who wanted to take a photo of us. A few days ago, a little girl came up to us and wanted to take a photo with us at the Spice Bazar, but HM vetoed the idea. Without HM however (she'd seen the Galata Tower before), Shu and I consented. It was rather queer.
On the second day we saw the Sultanahmet Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. At Hagia Sofia I lost my temper because of multiple rude tourists/tour guides. Also a woman accidentally stepped on my toes with the heel of her high heels. I don't think I've been so pissed in such a long time. I still feel annoyed now, thinking of it. After that we saw the Byzantine Cistern, and ended up walking all over the place. We stumbled across the Spice Bazar, and ended up finding out way to the seaside where we hung out for a good hour. HM bought nuts, I bought an apple (the boy had a cute apple peeling-cutting contraption!). I also played 2 shooting games, hitting 2/4 ballons each time, oho. At 4 shots for a lira, it was great fun. While sitting by the beach too, we saw a guy clear the entire 2 rows of ballons, and cheered when he was done. Later however, he and his friends came to try and pick us up, so we pretended to speak only Mandarin. We left shortly after. We topped off the day by having an awesome dinner nearby of Testi Kebab, which is meat stewed in a clay pot.
Yesterday/the third day, we woke late. We went to see the Tokapi Palace and the Archaeological Museum. Then we were real tired, and it was already evening, so we went to eat dinner at the fated place D: Tokapi Palace had a great view, and was quite nice, but I feel the experience was kind of ruined because of how many people were there. There were queues to see certain sections, and even then it was a mess inside. We ate a bite at the cafe there, and of course it cost a bomb too. The Archaeological Museum would have been far more gratifying if I wasn't so tired though. The amount of well preserved sarcophagi there was mind bogging. Saw a few mummies too.
Barely ate anything at all today, so my tummy's feeling a bit weird now as it seems to be getting better. Even eating Lentil Soup for dinner today made me feel real sick. Tomorrow we're going on the Bosporus ferry to see the surrounding areas, and watch a Dervish show at night. Hopefully I feel fine!
But yes, last night was hell. All cold sweats, prayers, and multiple runs to the bathroom to puke (9 times?). On the 7-8 time I was thinking of asking the other two to bring me to a hospital. But then somehow in between vomiting, I googled my symptoms and they said not to go to a hospital unless it's more than 24 hours of non-stop puking. WTF? I think I'd have died after 12 hours of non-stop puking, much less 24. Somehow around 3am local time I managed to drift off to sleep, after about 4 hours of feeling utterly wretched. Pffft.
As a result, our planned day trip to Bursa today was postponed. We ended up waking late. Instead we went to see Galata Tower and the Istanbul Modern (Museum of Art). At the Galata Tower, Shu and I were talking when an American guy overheard and excitedly asked us where we came from. When we replied 'Singapore', his face immediately fell and in a disappointed voice he said 'I would never have guessed that'. I guess my pseudo-American accent broke his heart. After that he started ignoring us. LOL. Reminded me of how I was in Spain recently and confused all the travellers I met. One South African woman thought I was Australian though, which was funny. At the Galata Tower too, we met a second group of Turkish people who wanted to take a photo of us. A few days ago, a little girl came up to us and wanted to take a photo with us at the Spice Bazar, but HM vetoed the idea. Without HM however (she'd seen the Galata Tower before), Shu and I consented. It was rather queer.
On the second day we saw the Sultanahmet Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. At Hagia Sofia I lost my temper because of multiple rude tourists/tour guides. Also a woman accidentally stepped on my toes with the heel of her high heels. I don't think I've been so pissed in such a long time. I still feel annoyed now, thinking of it. After that we saw the Byzantine Cistern, and ended up walking all over the place. We stumbled across the Spice Bazar, and ended up finding out way to the seaside where we hung out for a good hour. HM bought nuts, I bought an apple (the boy had a cute apple peeling-cutting contraption!). I also played 2 shooting games, hitting 2/4 ballons each time, oho. At 4 shots for a lira, it was great fun. While sitting by the beach too, we saw a guy clear the entire 2 rows of ballons, and cheered when he was done. Later however, he and his friends came to try and pick us up, so we pretended to speak only Mandarin. We left shortly after. We topped off the day by having an awesome dinner nearby of Testi Kebab, which is meat stewed in a clay pot.
Yesterday/the third day, we woke late. We went to see the Tokapi Palace and the Archaeological Museum. Then we were real tired, and it was already evening, so we went to eat dinner at the fated place D: Tokapi Palace had a great view, and was quite nice, but I feel the experience was kind of ruined because of how many people were there. There were queues to see certain sections, and even then it was a mess inside. We ate a bite at the cafe there, and of course it cost a bomb too. The Archaeological Museum would have been far more gratifying if I wasn't so tired though. The amount of well preserved sarcophagi there was mind bogging. Saw a few mummies too.
Barely ate anything at all today, so my tummy's feeling a bit weird now as it seems to be getting better. Even eating Lentil Soup for dinner today made me feel real sick. Tomorrow we're going on the Bosporus ferry to see the surrounding areas, and watch a Dervish show at night. Hopefully I feel fine!
