TJC 1107 Photos: 3am and jet lagged

Hey guys (:
I can't sleep and I have nothing to do. So i was thinking, why not share my experience in Greece and Turkey? Although I'm not sure who will exactly read it but yeah, it's a school trip, supposed to be educational (:
[Forgive my poor powers of persuasion]

After an extremely long flight with a stopover in Doha, we finally reached ATHENS (: Our first stop in Greece was the Parthenon, both a temple of the goddess Athena and a symbol of democracy. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Culture was carrying out some restoration works so there were some ugly metal in everyone's pictures.

The next day, we visited the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, where only 15 Corinthian columns out of 104 are left standing. A 16th column was blown down during a gale and it's still lying there. I think its visible below, though it's kind of small.

We were very lucky in Epidaurus because the huge theatre there was devoid of other tourists. We were able to appreciate the amazing acoustics there. Scattered in the stands, even the TJCians sitting at the back could hear Frederick sing (:

The first Olympic games was held in Greece in 8th century BC. And I'm glad to say that I ran on the first site of the Olympic games, haha. Yes, I know I look horrible, because I was running against the wind. Haha.

On our last day in Greece, we were in Delphi, a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. In ancient times, there was an oracle and everyone went to Delphi to consult her in the temple you see in the photo below. And despite the nice weather you see, it started raining as we descended the mountain. We flew to Istanbul that night on a 70 seater ATR plane. It was NOT good. And since dinner wasn't included, 5 of us including myself had a cup noodle party. LOL. Nice way to save money (:

Istanbul - where the East and West (Asia & Europe) literally meet. Interesting as the Blue Mosque and St. Sophia Museum are, I think I should talk about the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar instead. The Topkapi Palace was home to the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years. In the Imperial treasury, there's also an 86 carat diamond, which they don't let us have a picture of.

I confess I got this photo off the internet because none of us have photographs of the Grand Bazaar. Everyone was busy shopping. Hahaha. The Grand Bazaar is Turkey's largest covered market offering excellent shopping: leather bound books and apparel, glazed pottery, Turkish carpets, meerschaum pipes, jewellery and all sorts of other things. Its a veritable experience for the senses.

The only drawback were the shopkeepers - men. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they were desperately horny but they were cheeky and close to lascivious.

The stuff that happened to the other girls on the trip were kind of freaky. One shopkeeper gave my friend an oriental bowl FOC because she LOOKED oriental. Another one said that he'd give her a 20 lira ($24) discount if she kissed him on the cheek. While we were bargaining with this shopkeeper, he kept staring at one of the other girls from our group. It was kind of scary. However, I didn't receive this kind of harrassment. Either I wasn't pretty enough or I was shopping with 3 guys. Haha. I felt relieved both ways. However, this was not the end...

The next day, we went to Troy, which was now ruins. The photo below shows the Southern gate of Troy, where the Greeks' wooden horse went through to ambush the Trojans.

On the 18 of November, we visited an ancient mental institution, the Asklepieion of Bergama. The old symbol of healers was the snake. Firstly, because healers don't get much sleep and snakes do not close their eyes. Secondly, snakes were used in shock treatments. Heh. Patients were led into a tunnel, lulled by the sound of flowing water. Non-poisonous snakes would be in that tunnel to 'shock' them out of their mental state to become normal. Wonder if that actually worked. Hahaha.

Next, Ephesus was a really famous tourist attraction. Being a harbour city, it was almost always inhabited throughout the ancient times. And one of the things I find most interesting about this place is the red light district. Apparently, the footprint in the marble means that one's foot had to be equal to or larger in size to be able to go to the brothels. And the woman's picture and her pointing finger says 'I'm waiting for you right there'. Interesting right? Haha. Oh, and the men's public latrine was made of marble.

Remember what I said happened at the Grand Bazaar? Well, we went to the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul on the 2nd last day. Sadly, I was walking behind my guy friends AND someone touched my ass. When I turned around, they were gone. But one of my friends said that he saw a big guy bump into me. UGH. So if you ever go to Turkey, be careful, especially the girls. The Spice Bazaar is sort of like the Grand Bazaar, only that it's smaller and sells mostly spices and food.

Oh, I forgot to talk about food. Hmmm. I would like to say here that I think Turkish cuisine is better than Greek cuisine. But you all know I'm a carnivore right. Lol. Though all the breakfasts were horrible; with generally only cereal, bread, hard boiled eggs and sausages if you were lucky. Even the 5 star hotel is like that.

The next day, 21st November, it was time to board our plane headed for home. I guess I really did enjoy this trip despite my initial misgivings. Besides Bryan, I didn't know anyone, not even my roommate before this. But I guessed it worked out, I gained a few friends through the uncountable games of "You Suck!", "Bridge", "Taithi", "Bluff" and even "Polar Bear". They deserve a mention from me here bah.