31 things to say for a month - Day 29: My Brother

Day 29: If we could be reborn, I would still want to have you in my life.

It is the least expected that this is actually the last post of the thread of '31 things to say for a month'. However, I have re-numbered it to "Day 29" for sentimental sake that my brother is born on the 29th of a month. It is not a very usual day of the month since 29, like 11th (my birthday) are prime numbers! :)

It is a coincidence that this happens to be the last post because I am someone who loves leaving the best to the last. My brother has been a very important person in my life in the last 20 odd years and no amount of words can express my love, concern and gratitude for his existence in my life. Together with my cousin and my sister, they are my trusted aides, my pillars of support whenever I feel down and the people whom I will make sacrifices for just so they can lead a long and happy life!

There is just so much that I can write about when I reminisce our childhood days together with my brother so I seek your patience in reading and my own perseverance to not be shoddy in blogging, considering that it is now 2.41 a.m. (I am trying to adjust to London time, lol.)

The things that we did together as kids:
My brother and cousin were born a year apart so when they started attending Kindergarten together, I often watched in envy. I was enthusiastic about going to school as well, for whatever reason, I do not know. My turn came eventually but by then, they had both moved to Primary School. We were childhood playmates, did loads of silly things such as role-playing different occupations from being a teacher to a doctor, setting up amusement parks, etc. We love going to the playground to play with the slides, see-saws and swings but grandma was not always keen to let us step out of the house. So we often came up with lame excuses such as, "Oh we need to buy a pen or pencil for school" or "We needed to pass our friend homework" just so we could all go out. We would then go to the 'mama shop' to buy sweets, 3 for 10cents, or ice stick that costs 5cents each.

When we were in Primary school, brother, cousin, and I used to walk to school together until my cousin eventually moved out of grandma's house and had to transfer school. My brother was already much older then and after my cousin left, he also started to have friends who walked to school together with us. He often walked side by side with his friends but would ask me to walk in front of them so I was still within his sight. I kinda dislike it because I wanted to walk beside them but the road was just not wide enough. LOL. Material comfort hardly existed but those were the most carefree days of our lives.

Subsequently, we moved out of our grandma's house too and my brother entered his teenage years while I was still a Primary School kid. Our lives were less intertwined during that stage because my brother spent most of his time playing soccer at the void deck while I was constantly running after other kids at the playground, playing "catching". Our only common hobby was to listen to the Radio Station whenever we came back from school and before we headed out to play. We would engage in a duel to guess the singer and song title of the next song that was being played on the FM. Brother always beat me in the game because my short-term memory is near to non-existence and it was only at a much older age that I come to realise. LOL. It was simple things like these that made us happy, really happy.

Lessons as youths:
My brother was never a harsh person who reprimanded me. He knew I was a very strong-willed girl and there were countless occasions when we nearly tore the house apart after we both refused to give in. Nevertheless, he would often share with me lessons in life and in my memory, the one very important value in life that he taught me stems from this saying, "Every little thing you do shapes up your character." I must say that this saying has had the greatest influence on my life. In my younger days, my temper was short, my attitude wasn't the best most of the time and I can be pretty obstinate. I focused on my bigger goals in life and I express my emotions freely, never trying hard enough to contain my anger. However, my brother taught me that I could be a much better person if I work on the small little things in life that could affect me greatly in the future. This saying constantly rang in my mind whenever I felt like letting my emotions loose be it on small or big matters, procrastinating on my work, handling my relationship with my mom and my sis, etc. I started to pay attention to the "little things" in my life - the way I communicate with others, my values in life, and that helped me improve my interpersonal skills greatly. He might not have the slightest idea that this conversation that he had with me had influenced my life so much.

My brother was also someone who placed the family's interests above all else. On contrary, I must admit that I am someone who places my dreams above all else. I wouldn't say I do not love my family but I was like any other teenager who prioritise my friends over my family. My family members never interfered in the things that I want to do, giving me the freedom to pursue my dreams and interests, often accommodating me. When my siblings and I get into an argument, they often commented that I was a very demanding person and they always had to accommodate me. For example, when I was mugging in the room for my exams and they were to engage in a conversation in front of me, I would hush them and chase them out, citing that they were disrupting my revision. Sometimes, I know that they merely wanted to engage me in conversation after seeing me burying myself in the books for the entire day. However, I was so focused that I did not want any disturbances. This perfectionist mindset is often a double-edged sword - it propelled me forward to accomplish the things I set out to do but it also meant that my siblings were often the ones who gave in to my whims and fancies. It was when I accomplished my goals in life and I looked back that I realised that they had always been behind me and without their muted sacrifices, I might not have gone as far. Fortunately, I am not an ungrateful person and I willingly share the fruits of my success with them these days.

Looking to the future:
I have to say that I have had a more smooth-sailing life journey compared to my brother. He has more to shoulder in life as a man and as the eldest of the family, he does not have a role model to follow. Although we meet once a week nowadays, we do not engage in deep conversations about our lives unlike in the past. He is in this transition phase in his life and he really needs to persevere in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We are both Sagittarius and our personalities are quite aligned. We grew up in the same environment, faced similar constraints but our lives have turned out very differently at this point in time. I hate to say this but I feel that I have led a much happier life than he has. I am constantly doing the one thing that I enjoy in life i.e. travelling and each time I step into a new city, experience a new lifestyle and meet different people, I think of my brother. I want to share with him these wonderful experiences and adventures on my escapes so that he can be happy like I am. I think he loves traveling as well, maybe not as much as I do but still, I am sure he will feel that happiness of being free.

In the last 5 years or so, there were times when I get very frustrated with him over his decision making and the way he is handling his life. But my frustration all stem from one root cause - that he is not being decisive and determined in his pursuits which is causing him so much unhappiness. No matter how hard I try to talk sense into him, share with him lessons in life and offer solutions, I have not helped my brother become a happier person. Along the way, I realised that I might be wrong in my judgments because I am not him and what makes me happy may not apply to him. So I can only tell myself that I have to be patient and generous with words of encouragement. Deep down in my heart, I have always been thankful that he helped made me a better person and I feel happy about myself and my life because I am leading the life that I want. In return, I also hope that he can be happy!

As I step out of my comfort zone once again to pursue my dreams like I did 8 years ago, I hope something drastic can change my brother's life again just like it did back then. I have seen too many unhappy people all my life and I know that it all stems from their own insecurities in life. If I could transfer some of his unhappiness to myself, I would gladly do so but I know I cannot. He only has himself to depend on to overcome his own fears and insecurities, change his outlook on life and steer himself back on course to live a long and happy life.

For teaching me the importance of "Every little thing that you do shapes up your character", I would like to return the favour by these two quotes:

"Don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because it is stormy now doesn't mean you aren't headed for sunshine."

"Happiness is not something readymade, it comes from your OWN actions."

I wish my brother health and happiness!

31 things to say for a month - Day 30: Finally a closing chapter to teaching

Day 30: Finally a closing chapter.

I started writing this thread of '31 things to say for a month' about 2 years ago. I was supposed to complete it within a month but then I got so caught up with work and other commitments in life that I left it hanging by the thread. LOL.

A year ago, I left my first job after graduating from the university. When I left my job, I was feeling jaded and was glad that misery had finally ended. However, the job had so many connections to my life for the last 10 years that I could not entirely close this chapter of the book. I took on private tuition as a means to support myself while I did not have a full-time job. I continue to keep in contact with some of my ex-students and they were a constant reminder of the impact that my job could create. Eventually the H2 student whom I taught last year attained an 'A' grade during her 'A' levels and I was the most impressed and also assured. I am glad that I helped steer her to get a place in the university.

I continued with a little private tuition this year and I am glad I rediscover the joy in teaching once again. I enjoy sharing all these little exam tips with my students, helping them to improve on their content and question analysis skills, etc. The more important thing is, I feel happy when they tell me they like the subject more after having lessons with me. However, as I prepare to enter into the next phase of my life, I must really say goodbye to teaching Economics. I can officially close this chapter of my life journey.

I do not know if I will continue to teach when I return next year, but I highly doubt so unless I am really so broke that I need to earn a living via my old business. I love teaching and I think I excel in it because I am not just good with my content but I teach with passion and patience. When I was a student, I was fortunate to have met educators like Prof. Goh Say Song, Dr. Indranil, Dr. Liu Haoming, (I can even name their names) etc. whom I am indebted to for life for sharing so much of their wisdom and knowledge with me when I felt really lost as a freshie. Hence, I aspire to be an educator like them. I wouldn't say I am an A+ teacher but I did my best in the last 10 years, be it when I was teaching private tuition or when I eventually became a full-time teacher. However, I really want to move on to do other things in life now. Maybe some day when I am done with chasing after my dreams and realise that this profession is my one true love, I will return. Nevertheless, the future is filled with uncertainty.

All the students that have crossed paths with me, Thank You. You have indeed lighten up my life in one way or another, be it positively or negatively.

31 things to say for a month - Day 31: Thank You, my Younger Self

Day 31: Thank you, my younger self.

From time to time, people enjoy walking down memory lane. I am not sure if one should take away positives or negatives from all these "back then". I am someone who hardly think about the past, partly because I have a very bad memory, both ST and LT for events to be honest. Also, I have been forward-looking for a large part of my life. I have always see this as a blessing in disguise because though I hardly remember the fond memories of the past, gone with the wind are also the unhappy ones.

As I am preparing to move overseas to pursue my dreams, I decided to sit down to tidy up my crib and that was when memories flood back. Memories of a certain chapter of my life back when I first entered the polytechnic flashed across me and stumbling upon those memories made me realise how naive I was back then. Indeed, with age comes wisdom and I can only laugh at my old self. The fact that I can sit down and write about this shows how much of my life has changed over the last 10 years, in terms of maturity, goals in life and personality.

Sit tight for a real long story.

Goal: The younger me had wanted to open a bar by the age of 28. I was working in an Italian restaurant back then and was immensely interested in cocktails and wines. I had notes on the different types of wines, grapes grown in different regions and how to differentiate them. I had the concoction of various cocktails written down on a small notebook because I need to learn how to make those cocktails while working at the bar. Haha. 10 years later, what have I achieved? xxx

Goal: The younger me had foreseen myself happily married with 2 kids by the age of 28. I will be a working mother but my family will come first. It is 12 years since I wrote that. I have many kids now, teaching other people's kids lol. So at a certain point in time in my life, I had wanted to get married and settled down. What had happened along the way? Perhaps it is my previous job that had made me realise how heavy the responsibility is to have to educate a child, not in terms of the academic teaching but the teaching of morals, values, etc.

Goal: The younger me had wished that I could become a teacher when I grow up. So being an educator has always been part of my plans? I was quite shocked to stumble upon this. My plan was to teach for a few years, save up enough and eventually realise my "bar-owner" dream - live band, family and friends gathering, happiness. If this was an item on my scorecard, I am glad to say that I had attained a perfect score unlike the previous 2.

Goal: The younger me wanted to grow up quickly and enter adulthood. I want to start taking responsibilities, earn income, buy the things that I have always desired since young. Oh no, and now I wished I was still 18. What an irony.

Goal: I wanted to be friends with a lady by the name of SH till the end of time. We will be each other's bridesmaid for our respective weddings, continue to drown in each other's happiness and sorrows even when we are 70 or 80 years old. After stumbling upon this piece of memory, I took out my iPhone immediately and scroll through my contact list, messages and chats. That is when I realised that I cannot find a single footprint of this one friend who was once so important to me. Silly things happened and it was too easy to let go. The "forever" that you speak about when you are young is a "forever" that means "never". Haha. There are some friends whom I had hoped to keep them by my side forever, some more successful than others. I am glad SIDY had evolved into CDGJ and we are still very involved in each other's lives. As for "SH", maybe some day we will meet again. One thing that I have learnt as I age is, there is nothing that is too important that you cannot let go. If you want to be happy, let it go (and the frozen theme song is playing in my head now) when all else fails.

Last piece of the puzzle. There was this one guy who once appeared in my life for a very short 2-3 months but it probably took me a year to forget him. He was about to leave Singapore after we met and back then, I was so adamant that nothing positive would come out of the relationship. So no matter how hard he tried and persuaded me that something can work out, I refused. He even proposed to extend his stay in Singapore or asked if I would be willing to move abroad with him? What kind of a reply would you expect from a 17-year old me? I was young, my family and friends are here and I had so little contact with the bigger world out there awaiting me. I had never taken a plane back then and the furthest that I have been to was Genting Highlands. (LOL find it so embarrassing to say this now.) Where will I find the courage to step out of my comfort zone and confront a world that was full of mysteries, danger and adventure?

On the contrary, I am so ever ready to step out of my comfort zone these days, to want to travel overseas, embark on new adventures, meet new people and go on journeys that may be treacherous but fulfilling. He taught me a lot of things - to be brave, to not have to have a reason to love someone (not for looks, money, personality, etc.) but just this certainty in your heart that you want to be with this someone, to have to let go of anything that is precious if warranted, and many others. After he left, I asked myself what would things like if I had made a different decision when we discussed this and the future. Yet I know we could never change things. This was a life lesson for me too - to never look back and think about "on hindsight". Always look forward and embrace your next challenge.

I had this urge to want to write to him again after those memories flooded back, even though we have not contacted each other for almost 8 years. However, I held back. I think that memories stay fond because we only remember the happiness that it brought to us back then. If we were to try to recreate them in the present or future based on a certain set of expectations from the past, they sour.

如果有一天，梦想都实现，回忆都成了永远
你是否还会记得今天
如果有一天，我们都发觉，原来什么都可以
我们是否还会停留在这里

If one day he chances upon this post and recognises these words, he will know how to contact me I guess.

Thank you, my younger self. Thank you for showing me what made me who I am today. I have to say that I am a better person than who I was and I will continue to beam with my little halo. I hope to still be writing after a decade and look back at who I am today.

Thirty-one: Ephesus

31: Old City of Ephesus

This part of the Turkey leg was one of my favourite because we had this really knowledgeable tour guide who explained so many things about the Greeks and Romans and their influences in Turkey.

One of the most impactful conversations that we had was about the Temple of Artemis. The Temple of Artemis is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World but all that remains now is ruins. As Turkey is in a very strategic location that connects the East to the West (Asia to Europe), whenever ancient empires expanded, they absorbed Turkey. The Temple of Artemis was constructed during the Greek era but was destroyed when the Romans came and later the Persians and eventually the Turkish themselves. Each time an empire became history, the subsequent ruling elite will use the remnants of the holy sites - good marble stones or rocks to build another holy structure, be it a Roman temple or a mosque. Hence, holy sites from ancient empires were never preserved and in the region around the Temple of Artemis, you could see a church, a mosque and of course the remnants of the Temple of Artemis. After he told us that, I was deeply affected. Religion is something that should give people hope and faith but at times, it is not more than a manipulative tool by the ruling elite to get people to listen to bidding. It makes me wonder what will be left of the many other holy sites around the world should the US not be the dominant force in the world years down the road?

I have always been fascinated with Greek mythology but hardly read up on them, reason: opportunity cost of time. There are a million things that I enjoy doing, sports, reading on biographies, finance, etc. that I choose to give up on some other activities which I prioritise less. But next on my list - Greek mythology.

We also went to what historians conjecture to be the last resting place of Virgin Mary and also the Ephesus Archaeological Museum which was newly renovated and reopened to the public. Our guide was patient in explaining to us the artefacts, the various interpretations and historical meanings of the displays. As I reflect on the journey, sometimes I wonder if tourism is also another possible way to present history in favour of oneself. The Chinese often take offence over Japan's presentation of the events that happened during World War II. They claimed that the Japanese had never apologised for the atrocities committed during WWII and that implied that they have never felt sorry about what they had done. Japanese textbooks glorify the WWII events up till today and omit cold hard truths about the cruelty of the Japanese Imperial Army. If the government had the ability to distort facts through education, so can they do likewise when it comes to museums, exhibits and tourism. One interesting conflict around the world is none other than the Israel-Palestinian conflict and perhaps that explains why our Israeli tour guide was so reluctant to discuss anything related to that. Rather, just focus on the biblical magic of Israel. Lol.

So claimed to be the last resting place of Virgin Mary. No one knows how true it is but add a fountain or some spring water and if you have any traces that it might be in any way related to history or religion, you see tourists. 

Overlooking the town of Selcuk, small town with a population of less than 100,000. 

The series of pictures explain the Romans' way of life. Ephesus is an ancient city and it was an important commercial centre both in the Greek era and the Roman era. It was also the capital of Asia Minor (what Turkey was known as in ancient times) An earthquake in the 7th century destroyed the city and because of changes in weather and shifts of the tectonic plate, the coastline leading to the Mediterranean Sea moved further away from the city centre. It was forgotten until 1860s when archaeologists discovered the site. It is a blessing in disguise because much of the city was being preserved as a result of people forgetting about it and could not be bothered to destroy it. haha. Everything is based on my memory of what the guide explained but if you want to find out more, google it.

Remains of the pipes that carried hot water to the baths. 

Before you enter any Roman City, the first thing that you had to do was to take a bath. Hence this was the public bath place before the city gates. The reason why you had to take a bath is so that you cleanse yourself and rid yourself of germs that may cause you to spread any disease to the city dwellers. 

All Roman cities were lined with columns leading to the main market place.  

In every Roman city, you find amphitheatres because they provided entertainment to the people, to listen to opera or modern day musicals. Well, they had no Internet or television in the olden days and if people were not kept occupied, they start to gossip, complain, make comparisons and come up with weird ideas - commit crimes, revolt, etc. So keep them entertained and occupied and you get a peaceful society. The above picture shows a small theatre, known as Odeon. There is a bigger theatre in another part of this city. 

Backstage leading to the theatre. These amphitheatres have very good acoustics ad some of them are still in use today for operas or orchestras or concerts. Caesarea in Israel is one of those. I remember going to another of these amphitheatres in Amman in Jordan and there was a marking on the ground that indicated the spot where you could hear your own echo as you speak. Brilliant Roman engineering, they knew Physics way before the appearance of Edison, Newton, Einstein, etc. The Greeks have amphitheatres as well and the way to differentiate was that tunnels leading to the stage that had arches like the one above meant it was a Roman amphitheatre whereas those that did not represented a Greek amphitheatre. People just had to be different and leave indelible marks on their inventions. :)

One of the many funny encounters was that each time we visited an amphitheatre (we visited countless ones), you are bound to see people trying to find the sweet spot that will enable them to hear their own echoes or test out the acoustics of the theatre. How on earth did they do it? They started singing in public. Lol. Apparently, there were quite a few Chinese tour groups when we were in Ephesus and those obasangs started singing Chinese opera. 

You can imagine how big this city used to be just from this picture. The building right at the end is the famous Library that was still pretty intact. 

In order to build an empire, you not only need to have good engineering skills, leadership skills, military capabilities, etc. but also to be meticulous enough to have holes drilled in rocks and stones so that you can chain your animals - horses, camels, and whatever you want (POW perhaps to help build your city). 

Symbol of a hospital i.e. doctor. 

We all know Nike comes from America but it was only in Ephesus that I knew the meaning behind Nike and why its logo is a tick. Nike was the name of the Goddess of victory and look at her image, curved like a tick. 

Hercules' statue. 

It was drizzling before we reached Ephesus and though the rain stopped by the time we reached, the roads were a little wet. Occasionally, I found the marble road slippery even though my boots had pretty good grip. So I asked the guide how on earth did the Romans deal with rainy weather in their leather sandals in the ancient times. The image above shows that the marble tiles had such "decoration" to create friction with the leather shoes that the Romans wore in the past to prevent slipping. However, these markings disappear over time with the friction caused by tourists' rubber soles these days. This was found off the main track where tourists gather. Like I said, attention to every single detail in life. 

Suspected to be a love house i.e. brothel. It was interesting to know that the brothel had plenty of bath facilities because it was important that the ladies constantly kept themselves clean and men who visited them also bathed themselves before they patronised. 

Temple of Hadrian - dedicated to Emperor Hadrian who visited the city during his reign. A similar replica of it was subsequently spotted in Antalya when we visited. 

The two images above depict the latrine (toilet). The hole is where you place your arse. You can see that whatever waste you produced will be carried away by running water in the drain below. It had to be covered to prevent exposure to germs and bacteria. Proper sanitation ensures low mortality rates and good health ensures high productivity to enable a nation to prosper. The running water came from water recycled from the bathhouse and not fresh clean water. To cover up the smell, olive salts were added. Right in front of the latrine, there was also a pool to collect rainwater which is another source of running water and they had frogs placed in the pool. The croaking sounds of the frog helped to cover up the sounds one makes when doing big businesses, if you understood. (just a myth, take it with a pinch of salt) 

And finally the Celsus Library of Ephesus. It was the monumental tomb of Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, governor of the province of Asia where his grave was placed underground. His son turned it into a library subsequently. The library was very important in educating people and enabling them to contribute to society. There was no google or social media like FB, Twitter to spread information to the masses in those days. One's learning came primarily from books but they were not cheap and a poor person had access to knowledge through libraries. Of course, I am not sure if it was a public library or a privy of the rich. The four statues in front of the library were considered well preserved given that it has been 2000 years since they were first erected. They represented four important virtues in order for one to be successful -

SOPHIA for WISDOM

ENNOIA for JUDGMENT or a GREAT MIND (INTELLIGENCE)

EPISTEME for KNOWLDEGE

ARETE for VALOR or EXCELLENCE or GOOD CHARACTER or VIRTUE

Can't agree more with the above. 

Would like to make an intelligent guess of what the below is? Answers found at the end of the blogpost. 

Market place or AGORA in Latin.

At the far end, you see a mountain ridge and this is where the harbour or port lies in ancient times. Like explained above, the coastline shifted and the city is now no longer close to the sea. Ephesus prospered because it was a city closed to the ports, like Venice. It started to decline when it lost its importance as a trade hub. This makes me wonder, what will happen to Singapore 100 years down the road or even lesser should the arctic sea route becomes a reality? Will future generations see us in the same light as Ephesus? We will not have amphitheatres, temples, gates and columns to display to the world but hopefully our durian-like Esplanade, Merlion and MBS will still be standing tall. lol. 

The Great theatre, the bigger amphitheatre of the city. One last look at the city of Ephesus before we left. I usually get sick of monuments or places of interest after visiting them for an uncountable number of times, like cathedrals and castles during my time in Europe but somehow amphitheatres  never fail to draw my attention and appear in my camera roll. 

I took images of these column arches because they represented the architecture of a different era. Greek columns and Roman columns were different but I cannot remember how to differentiate them. 

Evolution of Artemis's image over time. Goddess of fertility and hunting. Most coins in the era had bees or deers printed on them since bees represented fertility and deers represented hunting. Coins have always been symbolic of Gods and Rulers, I guess. The eventual form of Artemis at the bottom. 

The original site of the Temple of Artemis. UNESCO world heritage site. Only some rocks and a restored column by UNESCO remains. Like explained before, subsequent rulers used the stones from the Temple of Artemis to build other monuments such as Hagia Sophia, basilica of Constantinople in the Byzantine time and other Ottoman monuments. In the far background, you can find the mosque of Isa Bey (closest to the Temple of Artemis with a round roof), fortress of Ayasoluk (right behind the mosque) and also the ruins of St. John's Basilica (with small windows on the right of the mosque). Turkey, a place where you see traces of the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Moslem and Ottoman empires. 

A reconstructed model of the Temple of Artemis. I asked the guide why is it that the Turkish government did not put in any funds to try to restore the Temple of Artemis and bring out the grandeur of it. After asking, I realise it was quite a stupid question. The Turks have a different religion now and why waste precious government funds on Greek mythology? The appropriate Chinese saying for this is, 一朝天子一朝臣, which means that the officials that preside with one king's reign dissipate with the death of the king. The monuments that are erected during one era have the same fate. This is why I hope that if technology is indeed so powerful, please allow me to time travel. I want to go back to the past, to be in Egypt, Israel, Rome, China, Peru, etc. and see with my own eyes these civilisations. 

To end off the post, I shall reveal the significance of the image that I posed a question on: 

It is actually directions and advertisement for the love house, meant for sailors who came to Ephesus. 

Footprints with the left foot in bold and a cross on top of the left foot: walk to the crossroad in front and on the left

A broken heart in the middle of the stone: a love house (brothel)

A woman's head on the left top corner of the heart shape

Circle (hole): represents coin - pay money

The full interpretation: If you have a broken heart, walk to the crossroad and on the left, you will find a love house and you can pay money to buy a woman's love. The rectangle below the right foot could represent some other information but could not be deciphered. 

I hope you have learnt much about the Romans and their way of life from this blog post! :) 

Go to these sites if you want to find out more: 

http://romeartlover.tripod.com/Efeso.html 

http://www.ephesus.us/ephesus/templeofartemis.htm

30th: Pamukkale

30: Pamukkale, Cotton Castle

And so after a 10h bus journey whereby we were constantly harassed by a baby's cries, we arrived at Pamukkale. Our first stop was the Hieropolis, bringing us through the Necropolis, Roman Baths, Domitian Gate, Latrina, Frontinious Street, Agora (market), Byzantine Gate and the Triton Fountain. We also saw the Apollon Temple though must was already destroyed. The highlight of the trip was none other than the Cotton Castle, a mountainous area filled with salt and glowing in white under the Sun.

It was my birthday when I visited Pamukkale. I wished for a cotton castle of my own, not that it is made of cotton, rather that I wish for a house of my own, to live the life that I want. :)

 Every Roman city houses one of these lovely amphitheatres. :) 

Our very bubbly Japanese friend pretending to lie in one of the tombs. 

One of the things I enjoy most while travelling, sitting among Roman ruins, to appreciate how massive this empire once was. 

Domitian Gate and a mandatory jumpshot in every city that I visit. 

I really enjoy my time in Turkey, in every city that I went to and I have my travel buddy to thank for being so easygoing and always there to help me to take multiple jump shots. Lol! :)

Twenty-ninth day: Cappadocia

29: Cappadocia

This was one of the most look forward places to on this trip because it is where we see posters of hot air balloons in the air in typical "Go Turkey" advertisements all over the world. We had to wake up really early to catch a morning flight from Istanbul to Kayseri.

The name Cappadocia seems to have been derived from the name of the river, Cappadose but Persians gave it a different name: Katpatuka, which means Land of the Horses and is very close in pronunciation to its current name. Maybe that was how the name came about. Cappadocia is not a city, but a historic name that spans 4 or 5 different cities, Kayseri being one. We went to the border of Neyshever City.

Cappadocia lies along the famous Silk Road that connects the East to the West and hundreds of years ago, it is a bustling town with people from all over the world. Nevertheless, it is mainly a tourist destination these days and there are no public transport or whatsoever in the region.

Our first stop was the Parsavah Fairy Chimneys, so called because if you look at them from above, they look like chimneys. They are really beautiful and you don't get to see such rock formations elsewhere in the world. The tour guide was a really young lady who had a very strong Turkish accent and I was trying so hard to make out what she was explaining throughout the entire trip. It is easy to be a tour guide, bringing people to places and then getting them to come back on time and so on and so forth but it is extremely challenging to be a GOOD tour guide to know about history and explain them in an entertaining way so that people do not fall asleep while you talk. LOL. Sounds very much like teaching to me. Without doubt, the fairy chimneys were formed due to a volcanic eruption many thousands of years ago whereby the lava flowed to the ground and hardened to form rocks. Over time, rain, snow, and sun caused erosion and gave it its different shapes and sizes. Most of the rock formations there have a round-shaped rock right on its top that is bigger in circumference than its supporting long structure at the bottom. This is because the rock at the top was much harder and landed on the top at a much later time so it has not eroded much, in other words, they are newer rocks that were piled onto the old ones. The tour guide repeated this tens over times so that left a deep impression on me.

In an area called Uchisar, which is also highest point in the city fortress, there is a traders' hotel which used to be a castle. Like mentioned previously, Cappadocia used to be along the Silk Road so there were loads of traders passing through the region and needed a place to stay.

The stop after lunch was the Gorome open air museum. Turkiye, which means Land of the Turks, was known as Asia Minor previously then eventually as Anatolia before the Turks gained independence and gave them the name Turkey in modern times. The people were called Hittites. Its strategic location in the intersection of East and West also resulted in a mixture of religions being practised in the area. In the open air museum, you could see traces of a 5th century Byzantine religious school and then the fresco' (Christians) influences in 10th and 11th century. What they did was to cover the wall with white plasters then repaint them. In olden times, there were no paint so they made dye using plants - Green from walnut, Yellow from daisy, red from rose and pigeon eggs as glue/ plaster. The paintings on the wall were subjected to destruction by human beings and also wear and tear over time. As certain religions had to be practised in secret while another religion dominated, some paintings had implicit meanings. For e.g. they represented Jesus Chris as a cross with a circle around it whereby the circle represented Jesus's halo. Normal monks or nuns or human beings were represented with a cross.

We lived in a cave hotel in Cappadocia and it was a really fascinating experience. We were supposed to go for our hot air balloon ride at 5 am the next morning but unfortunately, it was cancelled due to strong winds. On day 2, we headed to Kaymakli underground city, which was where the locals hid whenever there were wars or to escape from danger. Along the silk road, there were people passing by all the time and you are never sure whether they are traders or have ill intentions thus you had to hide. You could imagine how the people in the olden times live, how they dug underground storages for food, have the animals chained or kept near the entrance of their caves and also dug holes for corpses and used volcano ashes to remove the stench from the rotting bodies. Our society has definitely evolved. People in the past used whatever that they could gather from their surroundings to live but today, we have technology to overcome all these limitations. It is postulated that they sleep on sheepskin or other types of animal skin to stay warm. They also used rolling stones to block the entrance.

Let the pictures tell the story.




It was a pity that they gave us too little time in this area. We wanted to hike up the area but I guess that's the trade-off when you go on a tour. You do not have to do any planning but you have limited time per location. For me, I enjoy tours because I love listening to the stories. However, I always pray for more time to thoroughly walk through the places of attraction. Solution: customised tour.


Valley of imagination: The picture below shows a rock formation that looks like a camel. There were some that depict a couple dancing, monkeys, etc.












Blue Evil Eye. Almost every house in Turkey has one of these little decorations. It is meant to ward off evil spirits just like every Jewish household has a mezuzah outside their house. Behind the decoration is the highest point in Uchisar (the trader's hotel).



Kaymakli Underground City




I love this decoration. I had to choose between buying one of these or the Turkish lamps. I bought this instead of the Turkish lamp back then but I am glad I had both eventually. lol.



Next up, Pamukkale.