Holiday Blues

I am back after away for 26 days. I had to leave the UK on Christmas Eve. I kinda felt lonely and sad as people on the street were doing last minute Xmas shopping, buying presents for family and friends, or going to a Xmas dinner, and I... what was I doing? I was carrying my suitcases zooming across London to Heathrow airport to take the flight out. Even one London Underground staff said this to me, "It is kinda late heading home now, isn't it?" That made me even sadder.

Oh well, I am home now, suffering from holiday blues....

The following are the highlights of my trip of the countries I passing through:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Stayed at a hostel, right opposite Bukit Bintang monorail station. If you know the Giodarno big billboard, it just covered my room window. So you know how central I was in KL.
- Did a bit of shopping at the Pavillion
- Applied my Turkish visa application.

Dubai, UAE (Click here for pictures)
- Free transit stop for 9 hours with free hotel, free breakfast, free lunch and free transport to and from the airport
- Rain in this desert city

Istanbul, Turkey (Click here for pictures)
- Arrived at nightfall and our tram stopped in front of the magnificent Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque
- The annoyance is the haggling of shopkeepers and the expensive entrance fees to sights
- A tiring uphill "climb" to the shopping district - Taksim square
- Apple tea at the Mosque cafe, next to a cemetery
- Fish kebabs, lamb kebabs, Chicken kebabs
- Nice Turkish hairstyle for the guys, but all look the same to me
- Turkish delights and sweets
- Belly dancing at the hostel
- Free breakfast at the hostel - Olives, cheeses, bread, eggs, cucumber, tomatoes and no kebabs

Sofia, Bulgaria (Click here for pictures)
- Very Soviet atmosphere
- Mosque, synagogue, churches stood side by side
- Waited in the cold at the Turksih - Bulgarian border at -5 degrees at 1am, while waiting for the Bulgarian border guard to check if our passports were genuine
- Cheap cheap stuff, especially fruits and vegetables and food
- Very nice hostel (Hostel Mostel) with free breakfast and free pasta dinner
- Was given free drinks by the guests from the next table at a local restaurant
- Strange grocery shop below street level, and the customers had to squat down and order goods from a small window
- Very COLD!

Prague, Czech Republic (Click here for pictures)
- Cheap beers. Actually Pilsners and Budweiser are Czech names.
- Met wonderful Czech friends from Istanbul Hostel who took me out dining in the evenings
- Lots of handmade handicrafts and puppets to buy
- Sir Toby's is a wonderful hostel with very rustic atmosphere.
- Billa supermarket opens from 7am to 9pm was our twice daily stop for stocking up for breakfast and dinner
- Lots of dogs of all shapes and sizes. Some people even donated a dog in a carrier bag and a man picked it up before entering a tram
- Vietnamese residents selling clothes at the Prague market. We had Vietnamese fried noodles there
- Saw a woman walking a pig and a dog
- Favourite stores - Billa, Manufaktura and Blue

Leeds, UK
- Very multicultural city with halal food at almost every corner. Even the Chinese takeaways are halal.
- Clean and user friendly Leeds Bradford Airport
- Love the supermarket Morrison and the market.... Cuppa tea, luv?
- Very near to the city of York (where I used to work) - only 25 minutes train ride
- Could have shopped more if I had more space in my luggage