And so.. Max kept insisting that we had to go to Taksim Square... but when I asked him what are we going to see there... he said, "I don't know.. but I hear about it alot.. it is very very important and we just must visit..."
I have been married to Max to know that sometimes just following his gut feel is not too bad a thing:) So what the heck, just go lah..
Finally found the metro station after asking around.. glad we asked around cos initially we planned to WALK there.. turns out that it will be a long, tough walk if we did:) wahahaha
This is the machine where you buy your MRT "tickets" which is the same token I posted previously when we took the tram...
You cannot really tell in this picture but this metro station is very strange... the whole plateform is inclined like a slope.
Decoration inside the Metro Station..
Finally train is coming!:) wahahahaah
If you look closely at the picture where the door is, you will be able to tell tat the train is sloped upwards...
I think this could be a special train that linkes Kabatas (the station near Dolmabahce Palace) and Taksim Square because it is a upward slope one and only has ONE STOP.
And finally we arrived in Taksim Square to see.... NOTHING EXCEPT FOR THIS! Wahaahhaha...
I asked Max what is the so important thing we have to see here... he sheepishly smiled.. wahahaha :)
But of course, this is also an important Monument within Turkey itself. This monument is called The Republic Monument (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Anıtı).
This notable monument was built here right in the middle of Taksim Square to commemorate the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Built in two and half years with financial support from the population and unveiled by Dr. Hakkı Şinasi Pasha on August 8, 1928, it was designed by Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica. The parade square surrounding I think is often used for celebration of big events and even demonstrations and protests.
The 11 m (36 ft) high monument portrays the founders of the Turkish Republic, prominent are depictions of Kemal Atatürk, (He is the hero who help founded modern Turkish Republic) who commissioned the work, his assistant İsmet İnönü, and Fevzi Çakmak.
Me and Max admiring the Turkish Flag flying in the wind... and wondering again why Singapore cannot have a flag like tat:)
The birds sitting on the electric wires for the electric tram. Apparently, there is an electric tram which is a HISTORIC RED TRAM that goes in one full circle around the area...
Tram is coming.. tram is coming.. tram is coming....
It is interesting to observe how everyone just walks all over the place and automatically siam the tram when it comes along. Anyway the tram is travelling at such a slow speed that it is possible to hop on and hop off just like tat..
I saw someone being interviewed and took a picture. YOu can see Ace on the right side... when I finally caught up with Ace... he whispered to me...
"Mummy, I think I am going to be famous again.. cos just now I walked in front of that camera.. I think they filmed me walking past..."
I told him that angle can only see his back view and not his face lah.. but he was quite insistent even so, he is going to be famous! wahahahaha
We were sort of hungry and walked around a little.. trying to find food to eat..
Chinese restaurant alert!!!
We so miss noodles and rice! We had some rice but oh noodles! Where are you??!!
But upon walking to the restaurant and checking out their staff and their menu, we decided that this is similar to CHINDIAN resstaurants in Dubai..probably more like what other people think chinese food is than real authentic chinese food... so.. we decided to hold back our craving for noodles and eat something else..
There are so many hills and slopes here.. so many of these buildings are built with a lope and so they ahve alot of interesting structures and ways to take into account the slope so that the building is not slanted..
I even contemplated eating the Turkish chap cai peng but really getting a little bit sian of the local food liao:) wahahaha
As we walked along, I realized that this is possibly the Orchard Road equivalent. There are so many nice shops along the way.. those that you will see along orchard road...
I found out later that this road is called İstiklal Avenue or Istiklal Street (Turkish: İstiklâl Caddesi, French: Grande Rue de Péra, English: Independence Avenue)
It is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul. This street is 1.4 kilometers long and houses boutiques, music stores, bookstores, art galleries, cinemas, theatres, libraries, cafés, pubs, night clubs with live music, historical patisseries, chocolateries and restaurants.
The avenue, surrounded by late Ottoman era buildings (mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries) that were designed with the Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Renaissance Revival, Beaux-Arts, Art Nouveau and First Turkish National Architecture (Birinci Millî Mimarî Akımı) styles; as well as a few Art Deco style buildings from the early years of the Turkish Republic, and a number of more recent examples of modern architecture; starts from the medieval Genoese neighbourhood around Galata Tower and ultimately leads up to Taksim Square. Really a good mix of the old and the new...
We saw the tram coming and tried to take picture of Ace with the tram.. and then we saw tat man behind.. and I was wondering.. why the hell he wanted to take photo of my husband... so I took photo of him doing tat! wahahaha
Later, we realized, he was trying to take a selfie! Wahaahahhaa....
Finally, we decided to eat italian food:) The restaurant so clever leh.. use this as the placemet... you see liao sure want to order ice cream one...
Mr Chua Junior kok kok kok.. coughing and STILL want to eat ice cream.. HENG AH.. I so clever, I brought along YING QIAO
He insisted that he is feeling better now that he took the ying qiao in the morning... and so we say ok, pose for picture.. and then.. best part is when posing for picture, someone start to sheepishly cough! wahahaahahaha
Me and Max ordered a pizza to share..
Ace very boh liao...
This is the reason why we chose to eat Italian Food in the end.. cos Ace saw this in the poster and said he wanted to eat this!:) It is like pizza, wrapped up and deep fried.. and they give you bbq sauce to go with it.. doesnt taste too bad actually but to be honest, I wonder if it is an italian creation cos I have never seen this anywhere else:)
Ace's ice cream order.. we told him have to share.. cannot ownself eat all.
My son really like karang guni.. he saw this bottle of mineral water we ordered.. say the base is so nice like a mountain and insist want to bring this home.. and no, i dun mean bring back to hotel only.. I mean he wanted to bring it back to our home in DUBAI! (and he did!)
We saw someone performing in the street... initially thought of donating but hor, their music is not very nice leh.. so we did not donate in the end.. I was just really intrigued because this lady wearing blue is chinese..
We walked past a rally beautiful church... It is the St. Anthony of Padua Church, alternatively known as the Sant'Antonio di Padova Church, S. Antonio di Padova, St. Antoine, or locally as Sent Antuan, is a basilica and the largest church of the Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul, Turkey. Apparently one of the popes actually served here for some 10 years before...
Outside the church there is a statue of Jesus I think.. But hor, the statue is very strange.. it looks very flat.. very out of proportion... No matter which angle I take.. maybe meant to show how much Jesus is suffering on the cross...
Around the arewa hor, there is alot of grafitti.. and I see this angry panda most often. Apparently this is by a street artist from Saudi called Leo Lunatic who lives in Istanbul.. it is his signagure spray art
This is actually one loooooooong piece of street art in one alley opossite of a cafe called STAY. I couldnt take photo of the whole thing cos the alley was way too narrow and the artwork too long.
Saw a police car and took picture of it...
Now that I look at my picture.. then I realize that the little white car on the left is more interesting.. dam.. din get to take picture of it at all...
Throughout the whole trip, Ace was constantly anxious to look for a GSHOCK watch... cos he wanted to buy one.. we saw one.. the GRANDFATHER OF GSHOCKS.. you know those black old type casio watches?:P wahahahaha..
TOld him we can buy that for him and this is his answer.. wahahah
I really admire the drivers here.. cos the roads here are all hilly.. and very very narrow.. I wouldnt know how to drive here..
Anyway, we walked and walked through a street tat seems to be a arty farty part of the road cos first we saw lots of art work on the streets and eventually we came to a part where alot of people are carrying musical instruments and also a lot of shops are selling musical instruments:)
AFter a long walk, we finally arrived at our next destination....
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