Beautiful Istanbul scenery from Bosphorus Cruise @ Istanbul, Turkey

The Bosphorus connects the Black sea to the Marmara sea. The length is around 30 kilometres. By taking the Bosphorus cruise, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of Istanbul on both sides of Asian and European side. On European side, you can have the view of beautiful waterside residences. The Bosphorus is the unique strategic waterway which connects the two continents Europe and Asia, so it is a bridge between European and Asian Sides that makes Istanbul unique.


Hill and waterside residences.

The boat that I took on Bosphorus cruise.

Large boat which you can walk around the boat to take photos.

A mosque at Golden Horn.

Budget stay at Nobel Hostel @ Istanbul, Turkey

Near to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Located just behind those landmark. Good breakfast, clean bedroom and wifi function well. I went there during winter and the heater is water based which is good. Around the hostel has many restaurants to hang out. However, you may watch out for narrow stairs. Need to be careful when carrying heavy luggage via the stairs in this hostel. I was lucky to get first floor which only need a short stair walk. There is also not enough power plug in the room. The room that I stayed have 4 beds but only have 3 power plugs. Due to this, I have problem to charge my electronics items as all power plug were occupied. The bathroom is limited with only one bathroom with toilet together on each floor.

Rating:8/10(Recommended. Good for budget and solo traveller. A clean room is all you need to enjoy istanbul).
Price: The price that I paid is around MYR50/EUR12 a night. Its quite reasonable as the location is good and near to many attractions and eating places.


Nobel Hostel.


Breakfast provided. Cheese are provided.

Simit or sesame bread ring provided as breakfast.

Very healthy breakfast. Olives and cucumbers. Very fresh and sweet.

Very sweet and tasty green grapes.

4 beds in a room.

Double decker bed.

Good view of Blue Mosque if you walk up to the top floor of Nobel Hostel.

Street view nearby Nobel Hostel.

Overlooking New City of Istanbul.

Be careful with the stairs.

GPS/Coordinate: 41.005163, 28.978767
Address: Mimarmehmet Aga Sk. No:16 Sultanahmet, Fatih, 34112 Istanbul, Turkey
Public transport: 10 minutes walk from Sultanahmet tram station.

Underworld of Basilica Cistern @ Istanbul, Turkey

Basilica Cistern which was built underneath the city of Istanbul is the largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul. It was constructed using 336 columns and built symmetry. Its an amazing feat to have such symmetry and built underground during the time back in 6th Century. It was built to store water delivered via 20km aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. It was closed down by the Byzantine emperors and was forgotten by city authorities until rediscovered in 1545 by scholar Petrus Gyllius. During that time, Petrus Gyllius was told by the local residents that they are able to obtain water by lowering buckets into a dark space below their basement floors. Some are even able to catch fish from there. Based on this discovery, Gyllius explored the neighbourhood and accessed the cistern through one of the basements. The cistern was cleaned and renovated in 1985 by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and opened to the public in 1987. Basilica Cistern is now one of the Istanbul most popular tourist attractions. When you walking along its raised wooden platforms, you will feel the water dripping from the vaulted ceiling and water ponds with swimming fishes below the platforms.


Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnici) dated back in 532.


Huge columns was built in symmetry. Water pond below served as a reservoir previously.

Write up about Basilica Cistern and Medusa.

Main attraction is the Medusa head. War weapon to turn enemies into stones?

90 degree rotated Medusa head. No one know exactly why the head were rotated that way. Its still a mystery until today.


Lighten up columns in Basilica Cistern.

Walking on the wooden platform.

Fishes underneath the wooden platform.

GPS/Coordinate: 41.008368, 28.977835
Address: Alemdar Mh. Yerebatan Cd 13 34410 Fatih/İstanbul
Entrance fee: 20 Turkish Lira for foreigner.
Public transport: 8 minutes walk from Sultanahmet tram station.

Beautiful Hagia Sophia @ Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia is a holy place which during the history of the building it was a church and a mosque. The architecture are impressive. Now it is converted to a museum. Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Its interior is decorated with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings of great artistic value. You can learn about the historical event by visiting here. I went there in the evening on weekday during month of December and the queue was short. The ticket cost 25 Turkish Lira. Hagia Sophia is just 5 minutes walk and easily accessible from Istanbul Tram Sultanahmet station.


Huge number of visitors in Hagia Sophia. The left section of the museum were closed for restoration work. Hagia Sophia is the second most visited museum in Turkey after Topkapi Palace.

Medallions and pendant chandeliers.

Interior view of the Hagia Sophia, showing Islamic elements.

Apse mosaic of the Theotokos (Virgin Mother and Child).

An artistic meeting of Christianity and Islam in the Hagia Sophia.

The architecture are huge and amazing.

Islamic elements on the dome.

Interior dome.

Walking thru building tunnel to second floor.


Hagia Sophia interior view from second floor.


The Deësis mosaic. This mosaic depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, who holds a scroll and makes the sign of benediction.

Another unique mosaic in the museum.

GPS/Coordinate: 41.008559, 28.980164
Address: Ayasofya Square, Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey
Public transport: Sultanahmet Istanbul Tram station.

Turkish coffee making demonstration @ Istanbul, Turkey

Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi is a famous Turkish coffee shop in Turkey. I visited their outlet in Spice Bazaar and you can see the long queue of people just to buy their coffee. Since I am not a coffee drinker, I just brought a small packet for myself to try. In order to make Turkish coffee, you need a good ground coffee powder. Then you will also need a cezve which is a small pot with long handle to heat the coffee over charcoal. Below I have snap the sequence process of making Turkish coffee and also to show how does Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi coffee shop look like.


Small pot with a long handle. Known as "Cezve" in Turkey.

Start the Turkish coffee making by mixing water and ground Turkish coffee powder.

The mixture of coffee powder and water were heated over low heat. Keep stirring the mixture.

The staff at the restaurant demonstrates the Turkish coffee making process.

My cup of strong Turkish coffee. Do notice of the foam on the coffee. Strong taste and fragrant. Never stir the coffee once it's in the cup. Make sure that you sip it gently so as not to disturb the grounds.

Long queue to buy Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi coffee in Spice Bazaar Istanbul.

Packaging of coffee were done by hand at Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi shop.

Pillow packets of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi coffee in many sizes.

Cekilmis Kahve(pricing of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi coffee by weight). Famous Turkish coffee of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi. Do try out their coffee when you visit Istanbul.

GPS/Coordinate: 41.016587, 28.970092
Address: Tahtakale Mh. 34116 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey. The shop is located in Spicy bazaar. Walk towards the Yeni Cami Mosque (New Mosque/Valide Sultan Mosque).
Public transport: Istanbul Eminonu tram station.

Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur on economy class via Malaysia Airlines

Now after spending 6 days in Istanbul, its time to go home and back to work. The last minute trip were executed smoothly although I only have around 1 week to plan it. The food was better on my flight from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur.

Rating:7/10(Moderate. The food were slightly better than the going flight food. I like the cheese and the Turkish cake provided on the first meal as its tasty).


Potato wedges and stir fry vegetables. Bun, cheese, crackers, chicken breast salad, sweet Turkish cake and tadelle chocolate.

Main course photo. The stir fry vegetables consist of broccoli, carrots, onions and zucchini.

Second meal of nasi lemak/rice infused coconut milk. The prawn paste were separated when compared to the one from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul which mixed together with the rice. Croissant, fruits and dessert were provided. The dessert is a sourish pudding which does not taste good.