The Cube

Türkiye & Dubai in 3 weeks

November 12, 2022

Once upon a time, a friend asked if I want to tag his trip to Istanbul but as things happened, neither of us ended up stepping into Türkiye. That was a good 10 years ago. Not that I didn't try to plan a trip to Türkiye prior to this but at one point it wasn't too safe among other things, so I've never been to this transcontinental country.

Majority of my 3 weeks leave was in Türkiye, but I decided to extend my layover in Dubai by a couple of days, making the most of flying with Emirates. It cost the same taking a return flight from Melbourne to Istanbul or adding Dubai as a destination at the time of my booking.

By the time of my travel, there is no additional requirements due to covid-19 needed to both Türkiye or Dubai. I initially wanted to also make a day trip to Abu Dhabi but a negative PCR test within 14 days was still required to enter any attractions, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which was the main reason I wanted to go. As I was looking up information to blog, looks like this requirement has been lifted as of 7 Nov 2022. Next time, I guess.

I took a domestic flight out of Istanbul the day I landed to navigate the hassle of commuting in out of Istanbul Airport. It was a very long commuting day with a total 20+ hours flight and 7 hours transit from Melbourne to Kayseri but there was an empty seat next to me in the longest leg of the flight.

Here is my itinerary for 3 weeks (or to be exact 22 days) in Türkiye and Dubai (instead of UAE as I was pretty much only in Dubai, except the desert that I went was located in Sharjah).

M: morning, A: afternoon, E: evening, N: night

30/09, Day 00 - On flight, arrived Istanbul in the evening, flight to Cappadocia* (Kayra Caves Suites)

01/10, Day 01 - Cappadocia*

02/10, Day 02 - Cappadocia*

03/10, Day 03 - Cappadocia, overnight bus to Pamukkale* (Paradise Hotel)

04/10, Day 04 - Bus to Bodrum* (Pasha Motel)

05/10, Day 05 - Bodrum*, day trip to Kos

06/10, Day 06 - Bus to Selcuk* (Hotel Ave Maria)

07/10, Day 07 - Selcuk*

08/10, Day 08 - Bus to Ayvalik* (Lunaria Guest House)

09/10, Day 09 - Bus to Canakkale* (Sera Palas Pansiyon)

10/10, Day 10 - Canakkale*, day trip to Troy and Gallipoli Peninsula

11/10, Day 11 - Bus to Bandirma, then ferry to Istanbul* (Happy Suite Boutique Hotel)

12/10, Day 12 - Istanbul*

13/10, Day 13 - Istanbul*

14/10, Day 14 - Istanbul*

15/10, Day 15 - Istanbul*

16/10, Day 16 - Istanbul*

17/10, Day 17 - Flight to Dubai* (Excelsior Downtown Hotel)

18/10, Day 18 - Dubai*

19/10, Day 19 - Dubai*

20/10, Day 20 - Dubai* (Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek)

21/10, Day 21 - Dubai*

22/10, Day 22 - Flight to Melbourne

23/10, Day 23 - Arrive Melbourne in the morning

*referring to overnight stay

Side note: I'll go with Türkiye, since this is the country's Turkish name.

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Australia

NSW: The Riverboat Postman in Brooklyn

November 05, 2022

Brooklyn is a town in NSW surrounded by Muogamarra Nature Reserve. It occupies a strip of waterfront along the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. Best part is, Brooklyn is accessible via train - Hawkesbury River Station.

I've been to Hawkesbury River once many years ago but didn't do much. Such coincidence that it was also rainy day this round. I still didn't do much this round but manage to catch the Riverboat Postman cruise. The regular cruise runs on weekdays and nowadays I am only ever in Sydney for work without any extension days so it gets a little tricky to get on the cruise. Anyway the last round I was in Sydney, it was a couple of days prior to a Melbourne's public holiday, plus the government announced an additional public holiday due to Queen's demise so I ended up with 2 free days in Sydney for roaming.

I like the idea of it - getting on a traditional cruise that started the run in 1910. They serve coffee or tea with home-made ANZAC biscuits for morning tea. As the mail delivery cruise is a 3 hour cruise, lunch is included in the ticket and consists of a Ploughman's style plate with shaved ham, cheese, tomato, zucchini, carrot, lettuce, pickled onions, bread roll, pickles, fruit chutney, butter & Italian dressing.

However on 'execution', I did feel that it's not something I enjoy as a solo traveller, especially since the weather wasn't great that day and I can't spend the whole time outside. Whilst inside the ferry, I was seated with other commuters and felt a little awkward. It is not the issue with the cruise, of course.

The cruise is actually a functioning riverboat postman and they deliver to settlements of Dangar and Milson Islands, Kangaroo Point, Bar Point, Marlow Creek, Fisherman's Point and Milson's Passage before returning to Brooklyn by about 1.15pm. On the day of my cruise, there was only 1 delivery plus they dropped of a family of 3 who were visiting their family.

Well, it could be an option if you are after something else that the more usual Sydney attractions. :)

Side note: I should do something before the weekend slips away...

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Australia

Sydney: 2 days work trip

November 01, 2022

Room view

Didn't think I was going to be travelling up to Sydney for work again in September but it was a quick 2 days trip. Sometime last year I was thinking of travelling to Sydney for a short break but coincide with a lockdown announcement so I cancelled the trip. This trip so happened to be just before a public holiday in Melbourne so I asked to extend my days in Sydney to wander around.

I was back to Radisson Blu this round which was great but I moved out on the days I funded my own accommodation. There aren't too many food photos this round as lunch were mostly with the team and very quick affairs as we scoffed down our food before rushing to the next meeting. Here are some though.

Radisson Blu

Room service

I initially wanted to try INDU dining following a recommendation of a collegue at work. I was working and by the time I finished, it was closed to 9 PM and was a minute passed their last call when I got there. I forgot I am in Australia where there really are not a lot of choices at night. After walking for a bit, I decided to just order a room service. Decided to get steak in pretext of supplement my iron levels and well, I don't cook beef much at home. It was ok.

Lunch earlier of the day was takeaway Thai food from a food court. All of us got from the same stall because the queue was the shortest but don't go. Haha.

Lunch and dinner the next were good but I dined with my colleague and pretend to be good, so no photos. Lunch was sandwich from Brooklyn Bridge Deli, which was good but if I wasn't with my colleagues, I would not have gone in because too many people in a small space. :D They also do the 'leave name' policy and they would shout out your name when your order is ready.

Dinner was at Jimmy's Falafel with another colleague so also no photo. Food was good and portion was huge. We ordered the original pita with chips each and calamari to share, I couldn't even finish the pita.

Ramen Zundo

World Square

They have a few branches but I went to the one in World Square. I was craving for some tsukemen and read that the one in Ramen Zundo was good. I had Spicy Tsukemen. I think there was an egg but I don't recall if there was any other ingredients as shown on their menu. Possibly not. It was ok, plus I had craving, else ramen is probably more worth it?

Another new place I tried but no photos was Caysorn Thai. I feel that Sydney offers better Thai restaurant and I wanted to try a different place than the usual Dodee Paidang, Chat Thai or Home. Google suggested Caysorn Thai which serves food from Phatthalung, Southern Thai. I am sold :)

I caught up with an old friend there and the food were great! My friend doesn't take spicy food much, and based on recommendation from the waitstaff, we had caramelized pork belly, bai-leng pad kai (sauteed southern green leaf with egg and garlic) and nahm prik kapi (spicy shrimp paste with cha-om omelete) with rice. I will return to try other dishes.

Dulcet Cakes and Sweets

I've been once in the past to their shop in Quay Street. Now they have another shop in Kinokuniya which is easier to get to for me because I go to Kinokuniya pretty much every time I visited Sydney. Haha.