Singapore has recently been plagued by weeks of unceasing wet weather. This, combined with Paris’ increasing lack of stamina and us letting the busyness of everyday life overwhelm us, meant that we have not been venturing out much with the girls. All it took was a little reminder (from a friend whose dog is losing the fight against the same cancer) that her life hangs by a thread to snap me back into reality. The very same afternoon, we were blessed with good weather. Without nary a hesitation, I brought Paris out round the neighbourhood to sniff the flowers.
Paris wasn’t interested in the flowers. ๐ She preferred sniffing the grass, lamp-posts and watching children swim and play in the pool. I let her set the pace, and spent some minutes standing by her as she stood and watched all the activities. While I have intrinsic faith that she will not venture somewhere she isn’t allowed to if I unleash her, she was kept leashed for the benefit of our neighbours (a lot of whom have inexplicable fear of large dogs, even one as friendly-looking as Paris). The mister said this is exactly the reason why he likes to walk her late at night – he could unleash her while she walks around the estate sniffing at objects/structures that interests her. I, on the other hand, prefer not to give her walks close to her bedtime. This old girl needs her sleep.
The park connector was much better; less crowded so I could unleash her to let her walk at her own pace. She didn’t walk far at all, keeping within 50 metres of our estate while concentrating on sniffing every single tree she came across. As I watched her, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness. Age and cancer have taken such a toll on her health in the most obvious ways; other than the apparent weight loss, she has also lost her appetite for adventure, preferring to stick to the familiar.
Paris does not like to be photographed. Especially by me since she was my default subject when I was first introduced to DSLR almost a decade ago. I have to confess that I used to make her pose for a long time while I fiddled with the cameral controls, thus testing her patience so. Till today, she frequently refuses to smile (or stop smiling if she was) whenever she sees a camera pointed at her. On the two days I brought her out in the afternoon, she was clearly in a good mood, blessing me with some pictures of her smiling broadly. Dogs will be dogs – they just love the outdoors too much not to smile. ๐
And now, a parting shot of Paris taken at home, just to show that she is such a gorgeous golden retriever. She may not be born to champion parents unlike Belle, but Paris possesses a very sweet face. Don’t you agree?
We have another outing scheduled for the weekend. Hoping for good weather so that we don’t have to reschedule. If there is anything I learnt from other owners of dogs having the same cancer, it’s that this cancer hits hard with no symptoms and that we should cherish every extra day we get to spend with her.
* While we love travelling, in particular to Europe and Japan, our beloved home country has much to offer too. This is the first of a series of posts we’re intending to share on this space to document our cancer-striken golden retriever’s adventures in Singapore the garden city as we countdown to her last days with gratitude.
It was a gorgeous day on my birthday, the day we both decided to take leave from work in order to bring our two golden retrievers out for a day of fun. This day was also perfect in many other ways: it was a weekday, and a non-school holiday! Singapore in general, is not dog-unfriendly. However, ignorance is still rampant so there are laws in place to address that (or vice-versa), for example dogs must be leashed at all times outdoors and certain strong breeds even have to be muzzled. I have golden retrievers, which are truly the epitome of friendly, yet we’ve had numerous strangers asking us why they were not being muzzled as required by the law when we walked them outside. This ignorance and many others, do get to us at times. We’ve resorted to bringing them out to places where we think there will not be people milling about. Which brings us back to this day. Given that it was truly a normal weekday, we had the Marina Barrage Grass Roof almost exclusively to ourselves.
But the weather was definitely too hot for a sit-down picnic that I had envisioned while packing all the necessities for one. What was I thinking! ๐ While Paris and Belle were overjoyed to have the large grass patch to roam without a single care, they were also fast heating up. Good thing that we prepared sufficient chilled water for them.
The mister watched them closely, especially Paris now that she does not have a spleen (and has cancer) – it means that she will tire out a lot more easily but as a dog, she does not know to pace herself. I was behind camera lenses almost the whole time trying to capture the beautiful moments of our furkids having fun.
A lot of coaxing was involved to get them to finally settle down and sit for the mandatory shot with a panoramic view of Marina Bay and Singapore’s city landscape as the backdrop. They were not very keen to sit for long since they would much prefer to be sniffing around. I am so glad they at least cooperated for some good pictures.
After a short respite in the shade that involved some cake-eating on our part, we decided to bring the girls to Gardens by the Bay. Weather was still gorgeous, but since it was nearing noon, the sun was also upon us mercilessly. Despite that, Paris and Belle were nice enough to let me capture the above shot. Well… Paris obviously had ran out of patience and was in the process of standing up and moving away but Belle our little sweetheart was still sitting prettily till we released her.
We tried to stick to shady areas for the rest of our walk in Gardens by the Bay. It was very hot, yes, but the heat also ensured that the group of tourists who were sneakily taking selfies while trying to fit our dogs in their pictures left quickly as soon as they came. I’m really fine with strangers wanting to take pictures with our photogenic dogs but asking us for permission would be nice.
Towards the end of the trip, Paris was back to her uncooperative self where photo taking is concerned; she repeatedly refused to look into the camera no matter how we called out to her or coaxed. I think it was indication that she has had enough and we should call it a day, which we promptly did.
Paris was exhausted when we brought her home. We realised even the 3-hour short excursion tired her out. Good thing that she recovered soon, after a long nap in the air-conditioned room. Future outings, we have to keep it to less than 2 hours.
It’s a question I’ve been asked many times. The simple answer is that everyone chooses to spend their time and money differently. We choose to travel.
But the real answer is perhaps deeper.
When we were younger, we travelled to see as much as possible. I planned every detail, filled every day, and worried about missing out. I still love planning, but I’ve learned that the best moments are often the ones not on the itineraryโslow mornings, unexpected detours, and letting my husband take the lead.
I travel because I want to see the worldโnot just the famous landmarks, but the small details that make each place unique. Perhaps, as Blake wrote, there is a world waiting to be discovered in even the smallest things, if we learn how to look. To experience different cultures, discover new perspectives, and be reminded of how vast and beautiful life can be. Most of all, travel gives us something precious: uninterrupted time together. Away from routines and responsibilities, we create new memories and simply enjoy being present.
I used to think I travelled to discover the world.
Now I think I travel to appreciate my own life a little more. Not to escape it, but to return home with clearer eyes and a fuller heart.
Wilson’s Perspective
I travel because life is too short to stay in one place, and because different destinations give me different reasons to smile. Japan is my happy place: castles, temples, the Shikoku pilgrimmage and onsen all make me feel like I am stepping into a world I truly enjoy. There is something special about being there–part history, part peace and part “I could stay here longer.”
Korea and Taipei are also meaningful because my wife goes there, so these trips are not just about the destination, but about sharing the journey together. Europe is for a bigger dream: my wife wants to see the other side of the world, and I am happy to be the travel companion on that adventure. As for the USA, that one is more serious–it is for work, so I go there with a different mindset.
In the end, I travel for a mix of love, curiosity and duty. Some trips are for the heart, some for famiy, and some for the job. And honestly, that makes life a lot more interesting.
This being a typical package tour, a lot of activities were packed into the few days we had in Turkey. Regrettably, some of these places weren’t properly document with our camera, considering how languid I was midway into the trip.
Some of the more interesting sights and scenes have been selected to be highlighted in this picture gallery, more as an attempt to remind ourselves of the happy memories we did possess of the trip rather than merely documenting for the sake of it.
At the start of our trip, as we were crossing Sea of Marmara to get from Istanbul to Bursa. Totally captivated by how the sun rays streamed through the dark clouds.
Seagulls in flight as we ferried across the sea.
An opportuned moment captured by our camera.
In the cobbled streets of Bursa, we came by a scene where Turkish women were making local naan.
It was mesmerising watching the women work.
The hard work behind weaving carpets. It’s amazinghow these women can do such intricate designs without any reference.
Another essential process of carpet making, retrieving silk strands from silkworm cocoons.
Really reminds me of cotton balls.
How the cocoons look like when the silk strands have been removed.
Panoramic view of Istanbul close to dusk.
Entrance to Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world.
Over 4,000 shops within the Grand Bazaar, but nothing we could bring home without exerting too much effort.
Hagia Sophia with its four minarets spotted in the far distance as we cruised down Bosphorus River.
Bosphorus Bridge, the suspension bridge that extends between the Asia and Europe continents.
A closer view.
Along the banks of Bosphorus River, where locals fish and mingle.
Came by this interesting little shop selling local ltos of chocolate.
I’ll admit that Turkey was not my desired vacation destination, at least not during the time we travelled. I wanted to tour Greece but the mister found the package to be costly, hence the next best option.
Despite this, the rainy weather and my bout of food poisoning that cropped up during the trip, it still was an enjoyable trip. Eye-opening and educational, especially the visit to the carpet factory and the mosques. Till today (2021, the year I’m writing this post ๐ณ ), I lament the fact that we didn’t take a balloon tour at Cappadocia. Not that we could. In the mister’s words, ‘There’s no toilet on the air balloon’. True, that. Even if I my condition had improved by then, the jitters of being in the air would have given me a tummy upset again anyway. It was a decision for the best.
Of the numerous posts I’ve written on this travel blog, I’ll say researching and writing on Turkey in particular Istanbul has been an exceedingly enjoyable and fulfilling task, in no small part contributed by my captivation with the Roman Empire. This pleasant discovery has rekindled my resolve to complete the unfinished parts of this blog before our next possible trip.
Did you get it right? Don’t fret if you did not. It’s a common misnomer to think that Istanbul is the capital of this country bridging Asia and Europe. Incidentally, it is Istanbul that straddles between these two continents. It is also Istanbul that has a long history of being the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire but no, it’s not the capital during modern times. Ankara is. Ask this question and I assure you eight out of ten persons will reply ‘Istanbul’. The ninth is either a native or has been to Turkey and knows the correct answer, while the tenth is simply good in general knowledge.
I’m no historian, and it’s virtually impossible to summarily dismiss Turkey’s entire history into a paragraph or two. I can only grasp the couple most important eras the country has been through: the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Being so strategically located, I can only say that Turkey has been through quite a bit of turmoil throughout history. Do bear with me as I try my utmost to summarise these two important periods in history.
The Byzantine Empire
The Republic of Rome was founded in 6 BC. It started expanding shortly after, but only moved out of the Italian Peninsula in 3 BC. For centuries following, the Romans were unstoppable in their quest to expand territory.
The Roman Empire was at its largest extent under Trajan in AD 117. By the 3rd century, the entire empire was deemed too large to be ruled by one single emperor. In AD 286, Diocletian split the empire into two along a northwest axis just to the east of Italy. Diocletian himself became the emperor of eastern half and made Maximian the emperor of the western half.
Fast forward to AD 324 when Constantine I was in reign. He built a new imperial residence in Byzantium (also known as Constantinople in late antiquity, and Istanbul in the modern world) and named it the new capital of the Roman Empire. That began the Byzantine Empire, which survived the fall of its western counterpart in AD 480 until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire, almost a good 1,000 years later.
The Ottoman Empire
Founded in 1299 by Osman I, the Ottoman Empire had its base just south to Constantinople. The taking of Constantinople in 1453 was the empire’s first step to growing into a powerful empire, expanding its might deep into North Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor) which comprises most of Turkey as we know today, became part of the Byzantine Empire after the split of the Roman Empire into east and west. Notably, it was one of the first places where Christianity spread wide and far. By the end of the 14th century, much of Anatolia had already fallen to various Anatolain beyliks (something equivalent to lords).
Fast forward to Nov 1918 when Constantinople was occupied by the British, French and Italian troops following the end of WWI. A much weakened Ottoman Empire had no choice but to commence the process of partitioning the empire and that eventually led to the creation of a total of 39 new countries.
Turkey gained independence on 29 Oct 1923 after the Turkish War of Independence was won, at the same time, naming Ankara as its new capital.
Anakara is historically known as Angora. With a total population of 5.6 million, Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey, coming in behind Istanbul. It is famous for several things including Angora wool from Angora rabbits and mohair from Angora goats.
Our tour of Ankara was limited to only a train station nearby our lunch location and the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatรผrk, also known as Anฤฑtkabir. After our lunch while waiting for our coach, we strolled to the nearby train station to take a look. I was genuinely surprised by how modern the station is, considering what a long history Turkey has. Train stations in Paris most certainly do not even remotely look like this.
We entered the Atatรผrk mausoleum grounds via the entrance of the Road of Lions, and were introduced to the two sets of sculptures bearing great significance as they represent the population. The group of women sculpture ‘represents the Turkish womenโs pride, solemnity and determination, even in the deepest grief of losing Atatรผrk‘ and ‘By the grievous expressions in the faces of all three statues, solemnity and power of will proper to Turkish Nation are expressed‘ in the group of men sculpture.
The country has great respect for Mustafa Kemal Atatรผrk, who was the leader that led the country to victory during the Turkish War for Independence. He also became the republic’s first president.
The solemnity of the site was acutely felt everywhere we went. We visited the mausoleum on the 10th death anniversary of Atatรผrk, six days after the actual day. There were people aplenty, especially in the building. We had no idea if the significant day ten days afore had anything to do with the crowd, but if I were to hazard a guess, I would say it probably played a part. That made our tour of the interior rather haphazard and quick since there were just too many visitors that afternoon. I think we spent more time enjoying the spacious plaza than indoors.
The only group picture we took on the entire trip.Young children having an excursion to the mausoleum with their teachers.
While waiting for our transport toward the end of our visit, a group of young Turkish children walked by, waving their flags enthusiastically. We found them cute as much as they found us… strange? ๐
Enroute and we sighted a typical Turkish dovecote with pigeon holes for the birds.
From Ankara, we headed back to Istanbul, our first and final destination the next morning. It typically takes over six hours by coach, but since we already left Ankara last evening and stayed somewhere between these two cities, we took a little over four hours to arrive at Istanbul. Where we immediately began our walking tour, to my dismay.
Our first destination: Sultanahmet Square, also known as the Hippodrome of Constantinople or Hippodrome Square. During the Byzantine Empire, it was a square where sporting events like chariot races were held and throughout the period, it was central to social activities being held in Constantinople.
Constantine I was immensely proud of Constantinople, and it was evident from the way he and his successors spared no efforts in adorning the Hippodrome, including cutting an obelisk into three parts in order to transport it all the way from Egypt. The emperor who commissioned this move was Theodosius and thus the obelisk was renamed from Obelisk of Thutmose III to Obelisk of Theodosius.
From the Hippodrome Square, we saw a tall minaret in the distance and were told that it belonged to the Blue Mosque, our next destination, followed by the inimitable Hagia Sophia. These two mosques will be covered in the next post; they are important enough to deserve a post of their own.
After the visit to Ephesus, we were whisked off to a leather apparel factory, which unfortunately took up too much of our time that we arrived at Pamukkale, our next destination, much later than planned.
Pamukkale, meaning ‘cotton castle’ in Turkish, is a town in southwestern Turkey most well-known for its mineral rich thermal waters that slowly trickle down cotton-white travertine terraces. The most pervasive image of Pamukkale most people would have has to be white terraces with numerous mini craters filled with sky blue water. This was unfortunately nothing close to what we saw when we arrived close to sundown.
At the entrance to Pamukkale.
The white travertine terraces were, to our dismay, not white at all. Not even remotely close to white, to be honest. It looked like too many visitors to this site have trampled on and dirtied the once pristine white formations.
The picture above was heavily edited. Don’t be fooled by how bright it looked; it was almost pitch dark by then. Encouraged by our tour guide, we gingerly took off our shoes and walked around in the thermal waters to have a feel of it. Given how dark it was, we didn’t venture far from the designated pathway.
Since we didn’t get to see much of the site, we were promised that we would be brought back here again next morning for a quick look before continuing on to our next destination. Reluctantly but cautiously, we made our way back to the coach that brought us to our accommodation for the night.
And that was when trouble ensued. I started having the runs the entire night, together with stomach cramps. It wouldn’t be exaggerated to say that I’ve gone to the bathroom close to 20 times before we realised that something was very wrong. The mister sought help from our tour leader, who in turn got in touch with a local doctor to come look in on me. I went to the bathroom another ten times before he arrived, and gave me an injection to alleviate the symptoms. That injection cost us 100USD. ๐ฎ At least it worked; the bathroom visits reduced sharply after the doctor left.
From there on, the trip went downhill for the both of us. For the next couple of days, I almost never got off the coach for sightseeing, sleeping my way through while nursing the bout of stomachache (which very much later my local GP told me it was for certain a bout of food poisoning) unless it wasn’t possible for me to stay in the coach. Many a times I had to coax the mister to go sightsee without me. He would hastily go down, take some pictures, and rush back to the coach to accompany me without lingering. I felt bad and wanted to get well quickly, but it took several days for my stomach to settle again.
I think the group was rather disappointed that we only got to stop at the foot to take pictures of the terraced travertine instead of entering the attraction again. But there was a schedule to keep to, and it was the best our tour leader could bargain for. Kinda wished we didn’t have to go to the leather apparel factory.
After lunch, we headed for Gรถreme, a town in the Cappadocia region known for the strange naturally-formed rock formations called ‘fairy chimneys’ and hot air balloon rides over the region.
At first glance, the striking fairy chimneys looked really strange to us. Being the good student that I once was, I listened intently as our tour guide started explaining how the geologic processes that commenced millions of years ago first created this unique landscape. Then volcanic eruptions brought ash to this region, which settled and hardened into tuff. Tuff is relatively soft and porous, resulting in rather ingenious ways of using the interesting terrain, chief among which, homes. But this wouldn’t have been possible with simply tuff alone. Along with tuff, basaltic igneous rocks resulted from the violent volcanic eruptions also cooled and settled. Since tuff and basalt erode at different rates, million years of weathering resulted in the mushroom-headed tall columns that we see today. And it’s all natural, not unlike what we see in Meteora, Greece or Zhangjiajie, China.
Cappadocia sat along the historic Silk Road trading route. Prior to that, it was also centrally located, bringing to its region centuries of conflict between warring empires. For that very reason, the town was raided, plundered and invaded several times over the course of time. Natives had retreated into the area, and chiselled into the rock to escape political turmoil. Later, it also became an area of refuge for fleeing Christians escaping from persecution of the Romans, then the Muslims.
The niches chiselled into the fairy chimneys are such amazing work of art! They may not look much from outside, but these columns formed a network of living quarters, churches, stables, stores etc. like a small town would have. And if you look closely at the columns that have been preserved in this open-air museum, one can clearly see how the each room of each dwelling was being utilised.
Of course, these houses were not sufficient to help the refugee Christians escape from their persecutors. Oftentimes, they also had to retreat into their subterranean hideout cities when they heard/saw hostile forces approaching. We visited one of several in the region – Kaymakli Underground Town.
If Kaymakli was anything to go by, these underground towns were really not built for the clastrophobic or the giants that walk amongst us. Some areas were so small we could barely get through. It also reflected something that is universally true – grit and resilience in human beings should never be underestimated. In spite of the extremely harsh living conditions, life went on for the refugees. And in the face of adversity, they even built such remarkable underground towns! Nothing but admiration for them.
The last site we visited in Cappadocia before we left was to the Pigeon Valley. As the name suggests, it’s a valley where a vast number of man-made pigeon holes have been carved into the tuff. We have learnt throughout history, seldom did our ancestors do things out of boredom: the pigeons that lived in the valley in the past used to be trained as message carriers. In modern times though, this practice has gradually become archaic. Very few pigeons now still live in the valley although this stretch has become a rather popular hiking trail.
Throughout our tour of Turkey, we kept coming across this blue eye emblem. They come in the form of glass pendants, earrings etc. It is called the Nazar Boncuk, the evil blue eye. It’s supposedly an ancient talisman in the Middle East, that protects the owner/wearer from the bad energies caused by jealousy or envy toward the person. I truly wanted to purchase a small souvenir with the blue eye, but the mister insisted he wanted nothing of that sort anywhere in the house at all. He’s cautious (and perhaps superstitious) like that. And so, we left Turkey with none.
Ephesus (near Selรงuk in modern day Turkey) was an important ancient landmark. Especially with respect to Christianity, since it was mentioned several times in the Bible. Even the tenth book of the New Testament was a letter from Paul dedicated to Ephesian Christians.
Given its significance, it was fortuitous then, that after traversing from the Istanbul Airport to the western coast of Turkey adjacent to the Aegean Sea, our first stop was to the House of the Virgin Mary. It was said that Mother Mary travelled to Ephesus together with St. John the Evangelist, whom Jesus Christ entrusted his mother to as his newly adoptive mother during his crucifixion, and it was here that they lived.
While the Catholic Church neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of this house in which Mother Mary has lived and died, three Popes have visited this site namely: Pope VI, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. I would think the gesture alone speaks volume, to say the least, nevermind the official stance.
The ancient Baptismal font located near the entrance of the site.
The House of the Virgin Mary was located a mere 9km away from the ancient site of Ephesus, and what greeted us in the early afternoon when we visited was a picture of serenity. Greenery surrounded the site, and we were rather surprised to find ourselves the only visitors to this rather significant religious site. And as with most ancient Christian shrines, the dried up baptismal font was located near the entrance and was the first sombre reminder that we have entered a religious site.
We walked a little way ahead to catch up with the group (we dawdled and lagged behind while taking pictures) and came to a halt as we patiently waited for our tour group mates to make their way into the nondescript stone house via a tiny doorway. It gave me a great opportunity to stray away from the group once again, to the chagrin of the mister.
None of the original furniture remained in the house, if my memory serves me well. The interior has been converted into a chapel, wherein by the time we entered, was almost void of visitors. I lit a candle, said a little prayer, and we made our way out.
We explored the rest of the site, and came by the holy water taps and a wishing wall! There were three taps in total that released holy water. We didn’t know the difference between the three taps and randomly chose one like everyone else did. Water was cool and provided some respite from the afternoon sun, although in general the whole site was shady from the carefully pruned greenery that surrounded us.
The wishing wall though, was impressive and a rather curious sight to us! We’d come across bridges and walls filled with love locks, or in Japan, Shinto shrines with trees tied with paper ‘bad fortune lots’. But this, a wall filled with personal possessions of wishes, was a first.
On our way back to our accommodation, we passed by this bronze statue of Mother Mary. To us, it really seemed like it was erected by the roadside, in the middle of nowhere. Yet I believe its location was not a coincidence, given its proximity to the House. We alighted from our coach, crossed the road to take some pictures of the statue of Madonna and Ephesus in the distance before embarking again, calling it a day.
In comparison to the tranquility we experienced at the House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus was bustling with activity when we visited the following morning, despite the drizzle. It came across as rather strange that the former was skipped despite its proximity to Ephesus. We were glad we took up an organised tour that didn’t opt to skip it.
Ephesus was an ancient port city, and at a time, was populated with close to a quarter million of people, coming in a close second to most populous Rome. Excavations revealed that there was already an ancient human settlement in the area since the Neolithic Age. It went through numerous changes over the centuries that reflected a long human history and cultural traditions, from Hellenistic to Roman Imperial and early Christian periods.
Piles and piles of rocks greeted us as we walked through the ancient archaeological site, and they would have been totally unintelligible to us if not for our local guide. To be honest, even with his explanation, we couldn’t quite visualise the past grandeur of this ancient site that was once deemed to be the most important Greek city.
The mister was impatiently waiting for me to be done with picture-taking. Incidentally this picture turned out to be one of the most iconic pictures I’ve taken on this trip.
It was drizzling and we had to tread slowly over the slippery rocks, careful not to slip and fall. And finally, we came to a site that didn’t require too much of our imagination. All of us could tell that it was an amphitheatre of sorts, and true enough, that was the Odeon, a small theatre with a capacity of 1,500 spectators.
Back in 2007 when we visited (I’m really only writing this post in 2021, 14 years later), we were stepping all over the ancient theatre. It wasn’t disallowed. I wonder if things have changed now, in order to preserve the site. Degradation of archaeological sites due to natural causes through the course of time is a harsh reality all archaeologists fear and deal with on a daily basis. They really don’t need further destruction due to human negligence.
More ruins along the way as we meandered through the site. This round, more carvings and ornamental stones than random stones stacked on top of each other. In fact the white stone carving is one of the Greek goddess Nike who personified victory. Call me ignorant – I didn’t know there was a Greek goddess named Nike! ๐ฎ
And if you think you know what this is, you are probably right. It was the public latrine and everyone recognised it at first glance. ๐ We discussed at length on whether we would use it. To be honest, I’m really not so sure… given a choice, I would rather go home.
And at long last, we arrived at the Library of Celsus. This library was built at the behest of Gaius Julius Aquila, a consul in imperial Rome, in honour of his father. At its height, the library was believed to have contained a repository of as many as 12,000 scrolls and was said to be the third largest library in the Roman empire, behind Alexandria and Pergamum.
A fire or earthquake was believed to have destroyed the interior of the library and its contents in the 3rd century. The facade withstood the destruction, only to be destroyed during an earthquake a few centuries later. It laid in ruins quietly over the centuries until 1970 when a team led by a German archaeologist commenced a reconstruction campaign. Between 1970 and 1978, the facade of the ancient library was carefully reconstructed either from the pieces found at site or copies made from some pieces that were already acquired by museums. It was by and large a vastly successful reconstruction project, if you ask a layman like me.
And the last monument we arrived at before leaving the archaeological site was the well-preserved Grand Theatre of Ephesus, first constructed during the Hellenistic period and later, to be modified several times during Roman times. When it was fully functional, this theatre could hold up to some 24,000 seated spectators. With the Grand Theatre as our end point, we had some time to explore the area. By then, crowd at the archaeological site had visibly thinned. We were quite possibly the last group of people to clear the site for the day.
Leaving you with a picture of how impressive the Grand Theatre looked from afar as we departed.
Phuket has changed a lot since we last visited. Several large shopping malls now replace the low-rise shophouses of the past. One of these mega shopping complexes is Jungceylon, which I’m fairly certain was not in existence that last time we were there. We were not really looking forward to shopping in Phuket (there’s nothing much to buy unless you are into sarongs, beach wear or swim wear) but we were running out of things to do in the day. Nights in Phuket were much more exciting and we had no lack of activities to occupy us.
It was a bright and sunny day. After shopping at Jungceylon and having taken lunch, we slowly walked our way back to Patong Beach. A long, sweaty walk but an interesting one nevertheless. Patong is a place that thrives at night, but is mostly sleepy in the day. We didn’t see many people, much less tourists, walking around. Most must have gone island-hopping or were sleeping in after a wild night of booze and fun. Not that we were complaining. Without throngs of tourists, we saw how the locals went about their daily lives without trying to be overly friendly in attempts to secure business deals. Less conditioned to be agreeable, more real.
Come night time, we chose to go for a show at Phuket Simon Cabaret. In case you are unfamiliar with cabarets in Thailand, in general they tend to be catered for mature audience and the ladies in the shows are not born females. All of them. Especially the attractive ones. Most, if not all of them would have undergone sex reassignment surgery.
The show was entertaining (though cheesy at some parts) and throughout the show, I was simply amazed at how pretty some of the ‘ladies’ looked. But there were also some who just looked wrong. I don’t wish to make a stand on sex assignment surgeries here and now but I do think it is very sad if an individual chooses it so that he could be part of a cabaret as a performer just so to feed the family. It’s one thing to claim that you feel like a woman when you are born a man, but it’s an entire different issue when you are born like a man, feels like one, but forces yourself to become a woman due to circumstances. I suspect the latter happens more often than we care to admit. Or that there is simply a large concentration of men in Thailand who feel like they are women and want to live as one. Statistically this just doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it?
Whichever the case, these ladies have my utmost respect. They made their choices and are at least making a decent livelihood being part of a cabaret.
If watching cabarets is not your cup of tea (as I have realised is not mine), you would most likely not be interested in Tiger Shows as well so skip that. There are other family-friendly shows like Phuket FantaSea, which we had already watched on our last trip. Otherwise just go bar or pub-hopping. Or have dinner on a Chinese junk. And round up the night with a Thai body massage. Numerous options out there.
The last time we visited Phuket was 4-5 years ago, before the tsunami tragedy struck the lovely island off the South-West coast of Thailand. We had wanted to visit earlier but the opportunity just never presented itself. Not being huge fans of beach resorts (because the mister doesn’t swim and the missus is not a particularly strong swimmer) meant that given a choice, we would usually rather be elsewhere.
This is not to sweepingly conclude that Phuket has nothing to offer to non-fans of water activities, because Phuket is anything but. While we do not go on island-hopping excursions or spend our time sun-tanning by the beach, Phuket is our go-to destination for cheap and good seafood. It is invariably also our top choice when we cannot afford the time for an extended trip or don’t wish to spend too much on a vacation.
It was only our 2nd time on a budget airline. The experience hadn’t been too bad since given our small stature, we do not need much legroom. In-flight entertainment wise, we could most definitely do without for a short 2-3 hour flight. Longer than that, I think I will probably bore to death though. ๐
Instead of going for the reputable hotel chains, this time the mister took the suggestion of one of his colleague’s to stay at a hotel he frequents whenever he travels to Phuket (which is like once every quarter!). At first glance, the hotel room wasn’t too bad but it didn’t take me long to find out that there was an issue with the drainage system; the room almost flooded when I took a shower because the drainage was so slow. And I have to qualify that I’m not one of those ladies who takes a 30-minute shower. Needless to say, I was rather unhappy with the mister’s choice.
While I’m not sure if all other other rooms are the same, or if the hotel improved the drainage system over the years, suffice it to say that I would not return to this hotel. Can’t even if I had wanted to, because I cannot recall the name of this hotel even if my life had depended on it.
On to the things that made me happy on this trip – the food. You might have already realised from the other blog posts that the mister and I are quite the foodie. And surprise surprise, despite his fussy palate, the mister actually loves Thai food.
Patong Beach is always our choice because it’s the most vibrant of all the beaches in Phuket, it’s accessible and food is easily available. If you are one of those who prefer to stay in the luxury villas at the quieter beaches, it is still rather convenient to get to Patong Beach either by renting your own bike or car, or flagging down a tuk-tuk. As a general rule, we do try not to drive overseas and diesel-driven vehicles make me nauseous so as far as possible, we walk everywhere when in Phuket.
As for seafood, it is not necessary to spend loads of money patronising the expensive-looking restaurants along the beach. But we are way too careful to randomly choose and settle for a street-side stall. There are cheap and rather hygienic options one or two streets down (parallel to the beach), we discovered on our first trip to Phuket years ago. Collectively, it’s like a big food centre with about 8-10 seafood stalls and clearly demarcated tables and chairs for each stall. We’ve been returning to this place every single time we revisit Phuket and our stomachs were always fine after dining there so I guess they passed the hygiene test.
The oysters were as fresh as they could get. Perhaps not as sweet and succulent as the ones I had in France but they were close enough. The way the Thais serve their fresh oysters are quite different from the way I am used to; a plate of 4 condiments was served to us but we couldn’t quite figure how they go with the oysters. I mostly just slurp them up with the chilli sauce that most resembled tobasco sauce.
We went back to the same place for dinner twice more when we were in Phuket. Clearly we are not very adventurous folks. But in our defence, there are close to 10 stalls we could try. And there is a large variety of seafood available. Only that we ordered almost the same dishes every single time. We are boring like that.
The second dinner at our favourite place, we had pineapple rice. And ordered the usual ‘suspects’ – fresh oysters, barbecued prawns, vegetables and last but not the least, Seafood Tom Yam soup. We learnt something about big King prawns: though larger their meat don’t usually taste that good in comparison to smaller Tiger prawns. The next day, we switched back to Tiger prawns. Lesser meat but tastier for sure. The soups… no complaints. They were as authentic as they could get. We don’t get such tasty Tom Yam soups in Singapore. Not even close.
We left the big birthday meal to the last night in Phuket. And since there really wasn’t much shopping to be done there, we used the money we saved to splurge on that dinner. Apart from the oysters, pineapple rice and Tiger prawns, we ordered something different – crayfish. I didn’t actually like the way it was prepared, and was quick to tell the mister that when the dish was served. But oh, I spoke too soon. The crayfish was incredibly tasty and delish. I loved it, probably even more than the fresh oysters. And I am pretty sure we ordered some vegetables because we really love our greens. Must have neglected taking pictures before we excitedly dug in.
The star of the birthday dinner? This lobster weighing over 700 grams. This was supposedly the highlight but to be honest, I found the crayfish nicer than this. Good thing it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg. That’s why Phuket is our go-to place for seafood, with the exception of crabs. In my opinion, Singapore is still the go-to place for crabs. In my humble opinion, nothing beats our chilli crabs.
Without a doubt, the cities I am referring to are Nara (ๅฅ่ฏๅธ) and Osaka (ๅคง้ช) respectively. Nara, formerly known as Heijo (ๅนณๅ), was Japan’s first permanent capital, established in 710. Due to its historic status, Nara is replete with historic treasures and cultural significance. It is also home to some of Japan’s oldest and largest temples. Unfortunately, given its close proximity to two more popular tourist cities (approximately one hour by train from Kyoto and Osaka), little attention has been paid to Nara as a result. More often than not, it is just a by-the-way side trip people make before/after Kyoto or Osaka. Nara does have a lot offer, especially shrines and temples. Just need to give it the due attention it deserves, I reckon.
Here’s the whole lot of us taking a group photograph in front of the Nandaimon Gate (ๅๅคง้) leading to Todaiji Temple (ๆฑๅคงๅฏบ), one of the most historically significant temples in Japan. The gate, reconstructed in 1199 after a burndown in 1180, is in itself a rather impressive monument, not to mention humongous. There are apparently two statues by the side of the gate, guarding the temple (and since the gate is the gateway to the temple, it kind of makes sense) but since nobody explained that to us and we didn’t do any prior read-up, we didn’t really notice the statues. Oh well… part of the problem with guided tours is this reliance leading to false impressions that one will learn everything from the tour leader/guide.
And then the Eastern Great Temple (Todaiji Temple) came into sight as we crossed the Nandaimon Gate. On a rather non-related note… may I just comment on how much I just love all the entrance tickets we’d received on the trip? Interesting, and very pretty. Shows that the Japanese take pride even in the smallest details.
One of the reasons why Todaiji Temple is as famous as it is lies in the the word’s largest bronze statue of the Virocana Buddha (ๅคงไป) in the main hall, measuring almost 15 metres in height. It was rumoured that this project nearly crippled Japan’s economy at that time due to the massive demand of so much bronze for the statue. While I do have some pictures of the statue, I find them non-impressive in general (and thus does no justice to the real thing) so there is no intention to post any of it up here.
Sika deer from the nearby Nara Park wandered freely around the park compound. They are mostly tame but love congregating around new visitors to the park in hope of getting fed shika senbei (้นฟ็ ้ค ). We didn’t purchase the deer crackers because although I found the deer adorable, they also frightened me senseless. I cannot explain why, because some of them are so small they are comparable in size to the golden retrievers we have at home. Perhaps that’s the reason why – my furkids go absolutely bonkers when I feed them, and they are domesticated. The behaviour of the deer would understandably be even more unpredictable. This was why, adorable as they are, I refused to feed them those special crackers.
Not that they were going hungry from my lack of participation in the random feeding. Most other visitors to the park were brave enough to partake in this touristy activity, and the deer population couldn’t be happier. I wanted to stay as far away as possible, just putting enough distance for me to take some pretty shots of them.
Next on, to Osaka the well-known City of Vitality. And we had a lot of ground to cover in the little time we had there it was crazy.
There’s just this thing about guided tours and chinatowns. I have no idea why they always assume that Chinese tourists like to see the Chinatown. Same question as to why they like to serve us Chinese cuisine whenever they could. To please the older generation of travellers I guess, because the mum wanted Chinese cuisine almost every other meal. I know I mentioned that I do like visiting overseas chinatowns in general, however they are hardly the first or only thing I want to see of a new city I go to. Especially not when Osaka has so many places to see and do, quite unlike Yokohama. But oh well, we needed to settle our own lunch and the tour agency must have figured that we would love to have some Chinese food in the Chinatown. Thing is, never expect food in overseas chinatowns to ever taste authentic, or the way you expect it to taste like. Why? This is not because they are incapable of replicating the food but rather that they would have had to tweak little changes to the taste to appeal to the palate of the locals i.e. the Japanese in this case. Same reason why I found the Chinese food in Everett, Washington so incredibly sweet. But I digressed.
And then we dropped by Universal Studios Japan. Entrance tickets weren’t covered in the costs of the tour so some people opted to pay out of their own pockets to spend like, 1-2 hours in the park. The mum, little sis and I discussed over this and decided we didn’t want spend our time in yet another amusement park. Instead we opted to go shopping at a large shopping mall nearby. Can’t tell if we made the right choice or not but we were jolly happy doing some shopping whilst our tour mates complained of long queues in the park and how they ended up just browsing the merchandise stores. Don’t think we missed much eh? I would much prefer having a full day to explore the park properly instead.
And our visit to Osaka would not be complete without a cursory visit to Osaka Castle (ๅคง้ชๅ). Because the group made a consensual decision to spend more time at Universal Studios, we had less time at Osaka Castle as a consequence. It was near closing hour when we arrived, resulting in a mad rush to introduce us to this gorgeous castle. Quite a bit of drama behind this symbol of Osaka today but this is no place to discuss it. Interesting history nevertheless. And may I repeat again… gorgeous castle. Wished we had time to explore the interior including a visit to the museum.
Good thing the castle park doesn’t close, or if it does, not so early anyway. So we had a chance to walk around, enjoy the scenery and take more pictures of the castle. And then we had a simple dinner at an eatery in the park itself. Simple, yet delectable udon.
Finally it was time to head home. Kansai International Airport has an interesting control tower. Which I must take picture of, considering how a Singapore Airlines aircraft was also parked nearby. Picture perfect opportunity. And a great way to sum up a great trip. We didn’t learn very much of all the places we visited, but we sure saw a lot. It was also a good 7-day of bonding with the mum and the little sis. Truth is, I haven’t had much time for them ever since moving out after marriage so I cherish what little time I get to spend with them.
Wayfaring: Still 