Our Turkey Adventure

Our Turkey adventure was another "stones and ruins" to the naked eyes but it was History comes alive : the great Assyrians, Hittites, Phrygians and Urartians. Then the Hellenistic Age, Romans, the Byzantine, the Seljuk Turks, the Ottomans and Ataturk (Father of Modern Turkey) - merged, fused and you get modern Turkey. This not the type of history you get out of KBSM curriculum. We were fortunate to study w o r l d h i s t o r y. Every ruin and statue has meaning. It is like your History Book comes alive.

The ruins of Ephesus. This city is mentioned in the Holy Bible and visited by St Paul.

This is a Roman amphitheater - massive structure with impressive acoustic which I personally tested and my voice echoed around the arena.

Atatruk's Mausoleum at Anitkabir

Muslim Turk vendors sell Christian memorabilia. When asked. Answer : "Religion on side. Business one side. No mix. " Many have to learn from them. Mrs Chua, as usual, was busy browsing. This is the "Third eye,"

"Bin (That's what she calls me) please don't ogle until like that..."
She is the Malaysian delegate at the belly dancing show.

One of the many cafes at Taksin Road, in the middle of the city, across our hotel.

On a hot air balloon with Esther drifting over Cappadocia with bewitching landscape of spectacularly eroded tuff or hardened volcanic ash. Some are called "Fairy chimneys."

The astounding scenery from the hot air balloon. You can see the sun rises in stages over the sharp cliff. Awesome! ( So was the ticket. But who cares? Life has to be lived to the hilt!)

This is the famous Blue Mosque which takes its name from the blue Iznik tilework decorating its interior. Serene and almost magical at night when flood lit. Its minarets circled by keening seagulls. I experienced the grandeur and omniscience of God, Allah, Jehowah .... Why quarrel over His might name ? or Who owns this or that name?

Lunch at one of the restaurant hewed into the volcanic rock. The tables and seats are also all hewed out of volcanic rock. We had grilled doves which seemed to be top on the menu.

This is the great library at Ephesus. Only the facade but no books.

Have you read Homer's Illiad- Trojan horse ? Its reconstruction at Hisarlik.

The Romans were impossible ! They loved to do things together : gluttony, bathing, body massaging, sex orgy and you won't believe that they also loved to defecate together. This is a Roman public toilet. Public in every sense of the word. They did it together while watching the world went by. Btw, yours sincerely took a peep down the toilet hole and saw that a stream that flowed through thousand of years ago to flush away their deposit is still flowing to this day. So, the Mrs and I took the chance to try one. Cool !

Pamukkale has spectacular white travertine terraces. The terraces formed when water from the hot springs loses carbon dioxide as it flows down the slopes, leaving deposits of limestone. The layers of whiteclacium carbonate, built up in steps on the pleateau, have earned the name Pamukkale or "cotton castle."
(Yours sincerely saw this at Kunming, China but it is now that massive as this one. Mother Earth is a great artist.)

Goreme open-air museum with concentration of rock-cut chapels and monasteries. We visited a church totally hewed out of volcanic rock with frescoes on the ceilings and walls. Awesome !

General observation :

The city of Istanbul or Constantinople is massive. It is divided into two and joined by a bridge. The western part of the city is in Europe and the people are very modern like their European counterparts. Due to flight delay, we touched down at 1 am and was driven through the city to our hotel. The city was wide awake and bustling with people!

If you are visiting just bring along some salad dressings. Their salad is a staple dish and is eaten sprinkled with bland olive oil.

Thanks for visiting. Go see the world. You will never fall off the edge of the world. Christopher Columbus can vouch for that. The sun also rises on the other side of the globe.

Carpe diem.

Has Mrs Marie Chua a new suitor ?

I could not believe it. It could not be true? But we seemed to talk less and less. No more pillow talks, you know, the talks we had until the wee hours of morning when we had insomnia and retirees seem easily to suffer from it a lot. She did not discuss "Desperate Housewives" with yours sincerely anymore. (Her favourite character is the righteous Lynete and mine, well, I have to disclose....edie.. he ..he...he. ) One night I caught her red handed. She was with "him" until 2.30 am. With groggy eyes behind her reading glasses and pencil in her hand, she was having a fine time with "him." He is "Mr Soduku." I have myself to blame for introducing "him" to her on her 5x birthday ( the second figure cannot be disclosed or else you have no more Doubtom to read.) It was her birthday present. She took to Soduku like children take to computer games ! It can be addictive. Don't ever introduce it to your spouse, unless you have a good reason or want some time away from him or her.


The culprit :-

Our "Indiana Jones" Escapade in Egypt

Yours sincerely and the wife have done a bit of travelling before our retirement for fear of getting knee ache and not being able to walk. As you know the tour buses stop further and further from tourist spots for fear of affecting precious historical structures.

Our best so far is Egypt in 2007. It was a passage down over two thousand years of history. Before going, siblings and good friends lovingly expressed their concern: "No better place to go to ar?" "Choi si lor " (literally translated from Hokkien as "Looking for death?!") Well, when your time is not yet up, it is not yet up. One may slip, fall and die in the bathroom, or in his sleep. How careful one lives his life, death is inevitable at the end. So, what? We updated our Will before making our journey and upgraded our insurance.

The Egypt escapade was thrilling and exploratory. It was a bit like Indiana Jones' adventure. KLIA to Doha by Qatar Airline. A short transit, then flew in to Cairo. A day was spent with the Sphynx and the pyramids at Giza. Awesome. From here it was a coach ride to Alexandria. Then, a pre-war train journey to Aswan. From here it was by Nile River cruise to Luxor, the Valley of Kings where tombs of Pharaohs line the valley, including that of Tutankhamen.

Another adventurous trip was our journey to Abu Simbel from Luxor to King Ramsey II's reconstructed temple after the flooding of the Aswan Dam. It was a architectural marvel. The journey was by a convoy of 40 coaches escorted by several jeeps of soldiers. The journey started at 4.00 am through the eastern tip of the Sahara Desert, 10 km from the border of hostile war torn Sudan. We saw the glorious sun rose over it. Situated in front of a meander of the Nile, Abu Simbel is awesome !

Of course, the camel ride (nothing tickles my bums more that the humps of the camels), horse carriage ride, balusia (sail boat) cruise, belly dances ( The one we watched was in her retiring years) etc were thrown in. Surprisingly, we hardly saw females in commercial establishments (shops, hotels etc) outside of Cairo and Alexandria. The favourite colour seems to be black.

One small advice, if you have anything to buy, hold your cash tightly in one hand, get your change and then hand over your money. The petty traders have a bad habit of not having small change so they push all sort of small, unsaleable knick knacks to you! They can be very friendly, smiling and insistent!!!

Besides this, the usual "baseeh" (tips) demand goes all along the way irritatingly.

But, don't let these mosquitoes bug you. Move along. Take things easy. Smile a lot. The wrold has a lot to offer.

Some pictures to share with you.

"Chukran" ( this is thank you in Egypt) for visiting. I even greeted them with "Asalamualaikum" but still no mercy at the shops and stalls. They still made their "kill."

Following are the 'proofs'!!



This is the "Volkswagon" model of the belly dancer I was talking about, not the "Perodua Kancil" on Hollywood movies. 6 footer! I though they use to be small and petite. She made my nite! How? She picked me to shake my hips with her. Sort of interactive performance. Of course, Marie (the wife) was not jealous, or was she? She should be proud. Her husband of all the men there that nite! Jealous ! Hey, you men out there. Such women are like the places in National Geographic, you just see and appreciate. You can never hope to visit!!!

Yours sincerely and his globe trotter wife in front of Karnak Temple of Amon Ra. Massive site with towering obelisk (Pointed pillar structure, You can see standing infront of Egyptian temples. There is one in Paris. I Wonder how it got there.)
Anyway, yours sincerely had been to the "Ali Baba Museum" in London. Everything carted away from the colonies in the name of safe keeping.

Try to watch the light and sound show here at night. It is very mythical and legendary.




As you can see, this part of the wall carving is black and worn out. See properly! It has been touched by almost all male visitors to the embarrassment of the females. It is the ..the..
..the er..er...phallus of the fertility god. A touch promises male libido ! Every male was shying off. So, I took the lead before everyone rushed in. Anyway, nothing to lose. If it works, all to gain! Hehehe (Observe that young people add this to their blog. So I copied.)

Take another good look. Click and enlarge. YOU CAN ALSO TOUCH IT ON YOUR monitor. Just touch it. (Remember: Nothing to lose)




The massive Kom-Ombo Temple. An area of immortal archaelogical heritage. It takes 15 people to embrace one of the pillars.

Some of the granite statutes are still intact.

Only the roof was not replaced or else the place is as good as thousand of year ago.







Yours sincerely's bettter half. She got me to travel by booking a package for two and told me straight in the face years ago: "I cash booked already. If you don't go it is burnt!!!" She knew well that I won't let it burn. Since my first trip to Medan, Indonesia years ago, I have been bitten by the travel bug. And now we are spending our children's inheritance.

Marie posing in front of Kom-Ombo Temple.
Forgot to ask her to relax, this is not a "Negaraku" attention!

Among the good things travelling with ladies is that they carry everything: tissue papers, "Minyak Cap Kapak." Disinfectant Cream, Panadol,
plasters, toothpicks, nail clipper, you name it, they have it. So, does Marie.

On retiring from the teaching profession

From the amount of presents I was given, I wonder whether I would be missed or good ridden to an old man.













Being in an institution for 30 years, you just have to leave your footprints on the sands of time.









Yours sincerely was compulsorily retired last April. Two weeks after that the new retirement age was set optionally at 58. Friends rang to express their "condolences" that I miss the new offer. Well, think about this. Are those having to work the lucky ones or unlucky ones? We are so caught up with consumerism and production to equating waking hours with work and work and productivity, and that leisure is a waste and sin!

Yours sincerely cannot be seen in town during working hours. Every kind advice point to the fact that retirees have to take up any gainful employment. And that not working is a health hazard, physically, mentally and spiritually. Threats of becoming insane and even early death have been hurled about. The glory of work seems to be the virtue.

At the rate some people slave, I just wonder what they are going to do when they retire! Those who curse and swear at every working hours and watching the clock, and also those who have been "mc-ing" their work days (absent from work backed up by false medical certificates) are also so prepared to extend their retirement to 58! All for the glory of work!

Anyway, I am enjoying very minute of retirement with so many things to do and so much time doing it. At last, the promise to the physical body to stop work at 55 then 56 came to pass. Life is three scores and ten years. How much have you lived it? Or survive on a daily basis?

A new blogger is born

When my younger daughter came home for her semester break, she insisted that I should have a blog. My goodness! That was an intriguing idea! How am I to blog when I could not even get my Air Asia ticket online. However, the idea was attractive since I would be having an ICT consultant, right beside me. Trust me, it is very uncomfortable to have a young fella beside you, showing you this and that and she can click and type with the speed of lightning! (I sometimes have to hunt for certain alphabets on my key board) So, your sincerely, who had been a teacher and school administrator for donkey years swallowed an enormous lump of pride. BTW (She taught me this short form. I would have jumped at this in pupils' essays) deep under me kept assuring me that it would be fun after this. I CAN BLOG NOW!!! So, standby for my entries.