Traversing Istanbul
June 4th, 2010
don’t you think, life has a funny way of assaulting you over and over again with a recurrent theme, or pattern, or any thing – as if afraid you’re just not getting it? i’m getting it, okay, i really am. these things all hover over me like some dark shroud, how could i not? they manifest themselves in books, photos, behind posters, and even in back-up vocals when i’m not really listening to the song. but i’ve been having these out-of-body experiences lately. it’s like a bad dream where i keep watching myself intrude this holy space and dirty it with my feet, and i can’t say anything or stop myself, because it’s too late. i’m a frequent hearer of the overbearing phrase, there’s nothing you can do about it, but i always disbelieve it, because i i think it is always possible to do something about anything. if you look hard enough, there will most definitely be a sliver of a space for you to edge your fingers through, or breathe into. creativity and relentless amounts of determination is the answer. but because i’m so lazy i often think it’s not worth the work. if it’s meant to be, it will be easy. but then, i’m a frequent hearer of the overbearing phrase, there’s nothing you can do about it, and i always disbelieve it…
anyway i just realized i’m turning 22 this year. how very old! i’m inclined to believe that my life before i turned 19 was an illusion, and that the beautiful world i lived in with all those kind and loving people so long ago is merely some fluttering veil cut out from the fabric of my imagination. because lately it seems that everyone is breaking away from the system that i (once) understood. so either the world is going renegade, or i misunderstood everything for 19 years. either way, i’m horribly left behind, and i must catch up. so i’ll take the red pill for now.
more photos from Istanbul follow!:
#1 tourists at the Topkapi Palace
#2 haha i love this photo! timtam looks like he belongs in a cologne ad
#3 that must be one emotional audio guide
#4 adorable, camera-friendly children!
#5 awww they all loved timtam!
#6 obligatory tunnel shot
#7 obligatory tunnel shot II
#8 conned a group of ladies into taking a picture with me! i was, by the way, dressed so uncharacteristically ‘decent’ because timtam (practically) forced me to, for fear that we wouldn’t be allowed into the palace grounds -_- (like i couldn’t enter the sistine chapel in Rome because i was wearing a short summer dress……………. )
#9 <3
#10 americano
#11 cemetery in sultanahmet, that housed a little tea garden in its shadows!
#12 one of many fresh orange juice vendors on the streets of istanbul. they don’t make a lot of money at all
#13 after getting his permission to take a photo, i waited so long for the flag to unfurl so that i could get my shot. but it never did :( hence this is the photo that never was.
#14 lamp shop! where we did The Forbidden according to SATC2 – followed the salesman into a hidden room in the back, where he showed us… more lamps. but he was the ONLY vendor in all of istanbul to correctly guess that we were Malaysian on first attempt! we were getting so annoyed at being called singaporean -_-
#15 on the periphery of the Grand Bazaar
#16 genie lamps at the Grand Bazaar
#17 istanbul is littered with wash basins like this one. at first i thought it was for pre-prayer ritual (actually, it just may be), but i think turks just really like their washing. they’re so clean with everything!
#18 tamtimtamtimtimtam
#19 a funny sight- watermelon vendor that plopped his stand right in the middle of a street that cars frequently went through. so each time a car came by, he’d have to pick up his stand, move aside, and then return to his spot after the car had driven by. ???? but that watermelon looks so good…
#20 a little dustbin vendor
#21 HAHAHA this is the most poser photo ever!!!!!! hat + tshirt combo, check. posing for photo while exhaling smoke, check. reading book on existentialism, check check check! but i still <3 u timtam!
#22 blue mosque at sunset
#23 overfriendly ice cream vendor!
#24 fat cat
22 Comments Add your own
1. Lisa Cheah | June 4th, 2010 at 3:57 am
Pictures are so lovely! :D
2. KY | June 4th, 2010 at 4:39 am
22? old? shut up su ann!
3. KY | June 4th, 2010 at 4:39 am
22? old? shut up su ann!
4. Michelle Chin | June 4th, 2010 at 4:43 am
in the past 10 minutes, I was transported to Istanbul. I can smell rosewater all over me for ten minutes. I can smell the raspberry emerging from the shisha smoke for ten minutes. I can see the pots and pans, the colourful lamps… I caught a glimpse of Istanbul for 10 minutes.
Now I am back to the USSR in 1941 with Hitler, Himmler and Heydrich. :(
5. flory | June 4th, 2010 at 5:12 am
you’re such a meliorist :) i’m tempted to bring all readings of Pinter here about the Ineluctable Condition That Is Life but i’ll refrain. the photos are gorgeous. i want to visit Istanbul. AND YOU ARE NOT OLD
6. amber | June 4th, 2010 at 6:00 am
i totally get what u mean by old. when i was 13, i thought when i’m 16, i’ll be a big girl and can act like an adult like what i saw on american shows.
and now, i wanna go back to being a little girl and be childish without people thinking i’m weird, ’sort sort dei’ and conform to society’s growing up. i’m so dreading my 22 this year too.. before u do.
i agree with Michelle Chin. i could literally smell the shisha smoke, which i dislike; reminds me of turning into the corner at BB street (heading towards lowyat) after the cheery turkish man selling my fav turk ice cream.
7. Jun | June 4th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
if u haven’t, u have to read orhan pamuk’s “Istanbul: Memories and the City”. I fell in love with the city after finishing the book :) Currently engrossed with Elif Safak’s “The Bastard of Istanbul”– makes for good, light summer reading :)
btw, 22 is so not very the old. pfftt!
8. Bolehland.net | June 4th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Ahhh….looks so fun! I’m liking the second tunnel shot!
9. kehrole | June 4th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
fat cat? meow.
eh was the turkish ice cream good..!!
10. biopolymath | June 4th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
omg istanbul is such a cultural place! feel like going there, buy some lamps back home for display.
how long is your degree course?
11. sarah | June 5th, 2010 at 2:32 am
pinkpau, your pictures always always always make me want to travel to wherever it is you are blogging about!
12. Tesia | June 5th, 2010 at 8:34 am
What!!! Singaporean very diu lian meh?
Love the mosque photo though.
13. Andrewhedgehogging | June 5th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Timtam reminds me of Inspector Gadget. Even has the earphone thingy hanging. And that watch and hat…….
14. suanie | June 5th, 2010 at 11:00 am
i was going to say nice things about your photos, then i re-read your blog post to see you moaning about feeling old at 22. then i just wanted to bitch smack you lah!
15. ront | June 5th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
i thought the ladies in pix#3 are watching lion dance with firecrackers going off nearby
by the way……you were denied entry into Sistine Chapel???
16. sheon | June 5th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
i was 22 7 years ago…so shut up.
i love a town that has many street vendors…there’s always something interesting to look at, to eat…
you’ve got to lemme try shisha sometime….
17. quaintly | June 5th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
you all shaddup also la, i bet you felt old too when you were turning 22!!!!!!!!!!! :(((((
18. sheon | June 6th, 2010 at 1:23 am
you cant stop time…the trick is try to age gracefully… hahahaha…
wisdom grows with age…so cheer up, you’re getting wiser by the day!!
19. ShaolinTiger | June 7th, 2010 at 6:55 am
That cat looks ANGRY.
20. Khek | June 14th, 2010 at 3:14 am
hey…
very nice pics!! I was in Syria..much much cheaper than Turkey from what I’ve heard, and I just missed out on a hammam!!.. :(
Gosh, I’m sure you did enjoy urself there yeah? :)
21. Nikki | June 15th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Don’t scare me!! 22 isn’t old, everything is still just beginning!
I know what you mean though I do feel that life before Uni was but a hazy dream.
Love the photos, especially all the scenic ones. Pssst I want to kidnap fat cat :D xx
22. university student | June 21st, 2010 at 10:30 am
Well, so good you could make yourself a trip to Istanbul. I believe it must be a meaningful trip for you.
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