Team flights n the last one.. sobS~

Like they always say... All good things must come to an end...

Team flying has stopped for good.. or so we r told now...


so.... sighhhhhhh....


Our last team flight was to Dubai n Istanbul!! N my first time to Istanbul lei!!!


Ya... I did mention I was damn sick of the icky poo food in Ist...
And I think I'm done with the place....
Bloody cut throat prices in the baazaar (they think we damn stupid or wat), expensive stuff as well...



No more Turkey for me next time...



But here are the pics...

Taksim Square...
the centre of Istanbul..

Damn lucky us... our hotel jus walking distance away from this bustling town area...

Somehow they had like 2 Swatch chains, 3-4 Diesel branches n like 2 McDonald's n 3 Gloria Jean coffee joints along this not-so-long stretch lei...

Turkish Delight!!
Remember those melty gooey looking stuff the stupid boy in Narnia was craving for n sold out to the High Witch?? hee hee


Fresh fresh fish...

Their people like fishing along the road over the bridge lor...
Imagine it's like seeing people fishing off Nicoll Highway... hmmm...

The really fugly looking flat fish with the VD-like bumps on one side is turbot or something...

The assortment of cold starter dishes available..
can't remember wat they call it though...

Wouldn't say it looks particularly appetizing...
Unless one likes cold fishy stuff I think...

Maybe i had enough of those starters included in airplane food... *shudder*

Those little turkish tea sets...
oooh so cute...

Close up on the cup...
I think the best thing I had in Ist was Turkish tea...

Thick...full bodied, fragrant... yummy...
I take it w 2 cubes of sugar...

Day 2 we went on the river cruise..
The river which separates Asia n Europe...

Bosphorus bridge (hope i got the spelling correct!)
The bridge that connects Asia n Europe...

SO boring.... Jer fell asleep...

I would advise people to take the proper boat cruise w guided tour...
Would cost approx 40 euros (from hotel concierge should have)

We cheap skates took the 10 lira boat ticket....
the boat like that kind u take to go Batam kind... jus bit bigger...

n no guided tour... so damn sian... half the time we were shivering in the cold or falling asleep in the cabin...

Anyhoo.... 1 turkish lira = 1.32 USD...

1 Mcdees value meal = bout 7.50 lira...
quite high the standard of living... not cheap oh..

My gorgeous indian team girl from Delhi...

She got lotsa attention from the Turkish men...
Many tot she was a local... or mixed... cos of her sharp n pretty features...

Wah lan.. they kept following her around...n kept asking us...
"Where uuu from??" like X10 times... til we sick of answering the question...

We quickly ditched the boat n headed to the Grand Bazaar...

Shereen say it's supposed to be the biggest bazaar in the world..

After awhile quite sian... cos they all quote rubbish prices...
n most shopkeepers r impossible to bargain w...
not like China... where u walk off they will give it to u.. albeit bit unwillingly...
In Ist.. they jus shake their head n say "i cannot" n let u go off..

I dun understand that at all.. no room for compromise?

But they have got some very pretty n nice lamps..

Water fountain...
mural nice hor...

Check out the taps... so pretty..

Turkish delight!!
I bought the pistachio ones made w honey..

N turkish tea!! I bought flavoured ones... (Apple n pomegranate)
The dude said Turko brand is usually the good one..

Bazaar close at 7.30 local time... so we go look for the Blue Mosque...

Not very nice wat.. I expected it to be whole thing blue...
But it's the same as all the mosques scattered round the island.. jus that this is bigger n grander...

disappointing...

Still wondering if we got the rite one though.... (yeah it's that bad)..
But we took a pic of the signboard on the entrance la... jus to be sure...

Never mind... heh...

found at our hotel lobby...

After a long day's walk....

I gave my ah jie's shoe a lil polish... ;D

That's my Istanbul experience...
I brought home a couple of the cute blue Evil Eyes...
N I'm happy I been there once...

But I missed ang mo food so much when I was there....

I was begging the gang to go for pasta n international food while we were trekking around looking for the Blue Mosque...

And there was temporary relief among all while waiting for orders of creamy pasta n my fried eggs... (had craving since breakfast time...)

The ham n salami pasta came without salami ("oh the menu say have but actually... not suppose to have. Some stupid Turkish man put it in wrongly. Our chef is an Italian.. he's very professional.." was the response.)

The cream sauce was like I feared it would be... tasteless...
Like they jus added the whipping cream n that's it...

we poured salt over it to make it that slightly more palatable...

Prob the last straw was when my fried sunny-side-ups came...
i was ecstatic... dug into my whites like I usually would...

n then..... when I popped the yolks in last like I always do...

I almost gagged n screamed...

It was COLD!!!!!!!

Mani n I touched the other yolk n it was chilly too!!!!! eeeeekkkkksssss~ ;(

Gave it back to them n din want them anymore....
Gross...~

i wondered how could perfect looking sunny-ups have cold centres... sigh...

So sad...

So yes... I really dun wanna go out anymore next time I have to do an Ist...

................................................................................................

Well.. since I'm at it I'm just gonna put in the Frankfurt n New York I did w the team in Jan...

It was our last Complete team flight with all the team members lor...

Everyone minus 3

I had a really difficult time with the boyfriend during the flight.... chasing the blues...

At the Hershey's choc factory in Times Square!
Thank god they were with me...

Hearing me go on n on...
Beared with me when I was sighing n moving as if without a soul...
Forcing me to go out so I won't kill myself in the room...

Was I hallucinating or really going mad w depression??
Or is that really a .... Hershey kiss?!?!

Eeepps! really cute pillow... :D

World's Largest Kiss it says it is...
Filled with many more little kisses...

New frenz...

I always liked the blue n orange dudes btw... ;p
Their expressions always the most koo-koo; one damn smug... one damn paranoid...


Guess who's who lar!? hee hee

Wah lan eh!!!
All filled with real m&ms!!!!!

The color combi ones got names...
like Hannukah, Christmas... blah blah..

Capitalising on merchandise...

Fraternizing w food in m&m land...

Damnnnnn cold lar in New York...
every block we like ran into a store for warmth cos we were all freezing..

Had dinner at Bubbagump n co. cos it was the closest place then...

Cute concept...

To get the wait staff to stop n serve u...

.... when u no longer need anything....

In Frankfurt...

At the Opera House
The Alte Oper...

Fooling around in the Maggi Cafe!!

Can eat there... else got WIDE variety of instant foods like soups n mashed potatoes n noodles n rice for drystore stock up!

Giant teddy..
"No touch" it says...

Such a pretty colourful chandelier!!

Now chandeliers back in fashion hor...
I went to Bkk n saw lotsa gothic black n white ones which r gorgeous...
But this is the first colour-colour one I see neh!!
I want please?!?!?

hmmm.. not very pretty...
But compared to Istanbul...
at least got nice pasta n ooohhh to-die-for choc crepes...

.........................

So yes...
As team flying comes to an end... like Jerry says...
"Every flight will be a mystery..."

No more being able to reach control a lil later cos one dun really know wat or who to expect...
n
personally... i feel that it's one more step further from being able to foster enduring friendships in this line of work...

....
hmmmmm....

which makes cabin crew pretty lonely people doesn't it? bleahg~

alritey... now I only owe the Stonehenge n Bkk trip pics only liao...
Took super long to blog this...
it's ZZzzzZZ time!

Time for a milkshake at my favourite diner in LaaLaa LAnd.. hee~