8-Oct-08 (08:10 hrs, Turkey timezone)
We touched down Attaturk Airport at this time (Dubai~Turkey, time difference is 1 hr). But before that I have been awake 1:44 hrs from the arrival time (I guess that makes it about 06:30 of Turkey timezone?...i dun know)...Immediately I went to look for any vacant window seat and eyeing opportunity to witness sunrise at Turkey. Such a beautiful scene!! *God, thank you for the give of life and the beauty of nature for us once again*
The walk and custom clearance at Turkey International Airport was quite a short one (20~30 mins, i guess). There were 18 people in our group - comprising my 5 frens and I (Sandha / Santhi / Uma / Usha / Susie); 2 couples (Indian and Chinese); 4 friends (3 ladies and a guy); 2 Malay ladies and two Chines ladies. I was quite disoriented with the time difference, jet lag and all, however I felt quite energetic to start off the day..and what a day it has been!

?? am ~ We reached our first destination - the city of Instanbul. We were introduced to three main obelisks of Istanbul - i) of Theodisius of Egypt; ii) of French and iii) of Greece (which has serpent-like image). We also had a chance to see the (water tank??) a gift from Germany to Turk leader during those days. Afterwards we had a *loonnggg* walk to Blue Mosque. Once we reached there, again we were stupended with such a beautiful sight! It felt like we were pulled back to the time of Caliph, warlords and great leaders of the olden time. Things that attracts me was the Triangle architectural design / patent, which became the main structural for the mosque.
By the way, Blue Mosque consist of at least 21,000 blue tiles (dug from cobalt mines), worth gazzillions (forgotten the actual figure), i.e US$**thousand for every 20 cm sq. tile. No wonder it prone to thievery...

After that we went out from the Blue Mosque and walked down the Ottoman second palace (..or was it the first palace? I have forgotten). There we saw plenty of ancient 'accesories':
1) The Sultan's kitchen and the many porcelain (mostly with Chinese design)
2) The relics of religious symbolization
The most interesting would be the hand and skull of St. John the Baptist, Prophet Moses' staff (which is famous for the spitting of the sea for the salvation of Israel people from Egypt, in Bible history), Prophet David's written pieces, St. John's turban (oh yeah, they wear turban during those days), among others;
3)The treasury of Turkey. Consist of most valuable items collected during wars, or gifts from other countries. The most astounding is a 48kg of candle holder, with the biggest diamond i've ever seen. According to B.A., the total value in the Treasury alone can pay all Turkey's debt and support the nation for another fifty years without the people have to do any work! What a wonder!
**It's too bad that no photo is allowed to be taken in the palace. I've attached some (which is allowed for snapshot though):