Day 3-Istanbul

The Asian side, went with the cruise.


I like this shop, the fruits sold are reasonable, and when I chose to buy promenagate, one was rotten, and the boss pointed this out to his son. I think this shows high ethics and the price they sold me was very reasonable. And attitude is very different from those in Sultanahmet.


I must say, I am not really a fan of Istanbul until now. Story later. I walked to the seaside quite early today, and half way through, I met a cobbler, and he, I was not sure, if purposely dropped his brush, anyhow, I saw it and asked him to come back, and he said, salamat, and then, he asked me if I wanted my pair of boots to be polished. I said no, and he asked me to just put step my leg, one after another on the wood-board he had, and all those normal stuff for shoes polishing. Knowing the people here, I mean their style (after 3 days here), I asked him how much and initially, he said, no worries. And guess what, once done, he asked for 80 Turkish Lira. I said, forget it, I do not have the money. Mind you, 80 lira is equivalent to 33 Euro, and don't you think it is nuts, for a pair of shoes to be polished with that price? Come to think of that, it could be a tactic for him to use and attract my attention, not sure. But I think it is awful for that to happen.
But it was better when we go to the Asia part of Turkey, at least the shop we went to, the owners were very nice, and polite (I do not mind the fact that we need to bargain), but I do not want to have the feeling to be taken advantage of, or to be pushed to another end. Like yesterday, I bought a steamed corn, and it cost 1.50 Lira, and I gave 2 Lira, and the guy told me, he does not have the balance 0.50 Lira, instead offered me a grilled chestnut. And I firmly told him 'NO" and he immediately gave me back my 0.50 Lira. I do not like this, really. I am here for my vacation, and relaxation, but I do not like to feel that I am taken advantage of. In China we bargain too, BKK too, but in more polite and fun way.
But the good thing was that during this visit, I met two Korean ladies, and we chatted a lot, and also went to a shop for shopping together and lunch together. They were very careful in spending their money, which makes me feel very bad, for not controlling like they do.

I also had a calamari lunch, which I do not think tasted very fresh, and price is not cheap either, close to 4 Euro. But I am happy to say that I got my glass cups, and will show that later.
Came back around 4.30pm, walk back to hotel around 5.20PM.
Tomorrow is Christmas day, not sure if it will be very crowded. A few more places to go to still. Lets see what I will find out.

Choong
Istanbul
Christmas Eve