Transcontinental Turkiye - Hot air balloon

My heart still aches for this usd 220 hot air balloon ride. BUT no regrets. It is damn cool. Yes, the hot air balloon will MOVE. We are too influenced by idea of hot-air balloon being the DHL balloon in Singapore. There will be a pilot on board who will control the flight and give you some simple explanation of the surroundings during the flight.

Cappadocia (located at the asia part of Turkey) seems quite well-known for its hot air balloon rides, probably because of the unique scenic. The whole Cappadocia is full of rocks. These are formed from deposits from erupted volcanos thousand or million years ago. In Cappadocia now, the people have learnt to merge in with these formations as there are houses, churches, hotels, pigeon dwellings, etc craved out from these rocks.

We woke up at freaking 5am that morning to catch the balloon. We were lucky as the weather and wind were perfect for flying. I think part of the usd 220 seems to compensate the operators for the uncontrollable weather factor. Oh, the balloons don't fly all day too. Only in the morning. Very early morning. Yawns.

As we were there early, we got to see how they inflate the balloons. I didn't take many photos prior boarding as it was just impossible to take a good shot. There's professional photographers around who will help to take (of course, they charge. 5 lira per photo). Our photos are still with one of our tour members. Still waiting for him to scan to me. Hee.

Before the flight. Verryyy colddd in the morning!

Taken from the balloon. Looks very postcard-ish.

Sunrise!

See what's below!

Look at these chimney-shaped rocks. They are called 'fairy chimneys' - the icons of Cappadocia.

Our shadow! Hee.

Our balloon. Took this when I got down.

Another fun thing about Turkey's balloon is that they will give you a certificate and champagne. Haha. It makes you feel as tho you have achieved something big. LOL.

We were all very high and excited after the ride. Haha. As we can't move about on board, the balloon is actually very stable. For people who are afraid of heights, they might find it abit intimidating at first. But I think once you look at the picturesque landscape, you will forget that you have a fear for heights.

Transcontinental Turkiye - Ephesus

One of my favourite destinations in Turkey is Ephesus. From the info that i gathered, this is one of the largest archaeological sites in existence. Even tho what we can see now are simply rocks and stones, we are nevertheless awestruck by its magnificence. As this is probably the peak season for travelling in Turkey, we were rather overwhelmed by the number of tourists there too.

This is the ancient toilet bowls! Haha! You know how the ancient ppl use the toilet in winter (since the toilet is open-air)? The ancient people would not have heaters, of course. They would actually ask their slaves to sit there and warm the seats! So sick.

The Library of Celsius! Gorgeous.

The Grand Theatre!

I think going to Ephesus was the only time I perspired in Turkey because the sun was especially bright that day and with all the walking and squeezing with other tourists. Look at the rays in the photo! Haha. Up next, cotton castle!

My hyperactive bf

2 Aug 08: Inter-Constituency Swimming Competition 2008

He got 2 medals for that day. 3rd for his 50m butterfly and 2nd for the medley relay which he did the breast. Too bad I missed out his butterfly. But I watched him swim his medley. I was so proud of him when he caught up and closed the gap. His constituency got the overall champion too.


Then he gave me one of his medals because this is the first time I watched him in a swimming competition. My hilarious mummy gave me a duhz look when I showed her. She prefers diamond necklace to ..... medal -_-



13th July 08: Osim triathlon 2008

"It's raining men..." The whole ecp was littered with half-naked men. *snigger*


They have numbers on them. I thought it feels like selling piglets in the market. My piglet is 4539 which happens to be the last four numbers of my old telephone number. I won 600 bucks buying his biathlon number last year. But no luck this year :(

He swam for 1.5km, cycled for 40km and ran for 10km. Finished the whole thing in abt 3h 16mins.


I could not take very good shots from the place that I was standing. So I ripped off some photos from the osim website but they turn out to be very blur. A good attempt to stop ppl from using their pics.

I saw someone proposing at the triathlon too! Super duper sweet:) The organiser even helped them to play the wedding march while they crossed the finishing line together.

I'm sorry for posting so many half-naked pics of you. Please don't sue me :P

Just can't wait

1. Can't wait to get busy again. Going to start my first TIC job next week!

2. Can't wait for my bonus to be credited.

3. Can't wait to watch 'Moon Story' on 19th July. It has been some time since I catch a chinese play. Moreover this is staged at the drama centre black box. It's my first time to the black box!

4. Can't wait for the national musuem's night festival.

5. Can't wait to see wz show his power at the osim triathlon!

6. Can't wait for my trip in Sept!

Time to wake up

好久都没上李邪的部落格。今晚真是一次读到够。看来她对缅甸的事最耿耿于怀。几乎每一篇都用了他妈两个字。Keke. 让我最感受良多的是关于翁山淑枝的那一篇。 “ 总有一天，我要为她写一出戏。 ”那一天，我一定捧场！女子一言，驷马难追！话说回来，缅甸那迂腐的军政无不让人咬牙切齿。其实现在的缅甸会不会象文革期间的中国？中国在30年前已经醒了。什么时候才轮到缅甸？真想敲它的头，再赏它几个巴掌让它醒醒。

Why I'm no Samantha Jones

I came across this article in mypaper that is titled 'Why I am no Samantha Jones'. The hype of SATC! I see articles and interviews relating to SATC in the papers almost every other day. The four characters in the show are now 4 categories of women that probably you and me will fall under. Back to the article, if you are a Samantha, it can mean that you are promiscuous, or not to that extreme, just someone who says no to commitment, ie marriage and kids, or simply monogamy. This Samantha attitude saves you time and energy from agonising about a guy's true motive or whether to date him. If you are not going to stick with him for a lifetime, there's nothing much to worry about. We can't deny that monogamy has become a matter of choice nowadays. Because of this, it made me realise that I can never be a Samantha. As I grow older, the feeling of 'holding on to something' gets stronger. I need to be committed and to hold on. Maybe I am a Charlotte? Haha. To quote from the author's last para, to the Samanthas of the world, I salute you. Just don't miss an opportunity for love if that's what you want to explore next.

If the world needs a common enemy