The above picture, taken in my hotel room less than 1 week ago, depicts my current state of life. In a mess…

There’s tons of things to be done, unpacking, laundry, housework, clearing mail, paying bills, catching up with work, getting used to the humid weather, reading tutorial notes, tabulating my travel expenses and most reluctantly, getting back to work…

Happiness goes to one man who has no other tasks at hand, besides completing the daily roster which I have set out for him and worrying about the next meal to take.

On a lighter note, we enjoyed our trip tremendously, despite the fact that it’s so stressful packing up and jetting away to unknown lands. How can it not be stressful if you are only given half an afternoon to pack everything you need in 2 weeks? Halfway through the trip, I lost track of the things I stuff into different bags and had to repack everything and only to find myself in a greater mess at the end of the trip. In the end, I just squeeze everything into the bags and stop thinking logically anymore. How can anyone ever go for prolonged travels such as 3 months? Croaky said I would have to ship my travel loot back if that were the case. 1 week = 1 extra bag. 2 weeks = 2 extra bags. 12 weeks???

My great bargains are BOOKS. I collect cookbooks, famous places, famous people. Turkish and Greek cookery now adds to my huge collections of cookbooks! Just staring at the pictures make my mouth water.

And of course there were other frivolous items such as a cat which walks, wags its tail and “meows” every 3 steps. Lots of jewellery with the “blue eye”. Turkish delights. Turkish tea. Clothes. Bags. Belly dancing costume (wahaha).

The culture, the food and the sights – we shall miss them. Especially Croaky’s beloved – pillaff rice!

More pictures another time. I need time to weave them into a logical sequence…

We arrived in Istanbul on Sunday morning at 7.30 am. It has been a smooth plane ride, with us transiting in Dubai. The total flight took about 11.5 to 12 hours, discounting the 2 hour transit time we spent in Dubai International Airport.

And it was on day 2 of our tour when the great misfortune happened. My 2.5 year old Lumix fell off the tripod in front of the Trojan horse in Troia (which is the ancient city of Troy). The LCD screen cracked so badly it couldn´t be viewed anymore. We had to use Croaky´s canon camcorder to take pictures of the remaining Troy journey. You can imagine how black my face is today!

Just who murdered my camera? The prime suspects are:

(1) The strong strong Trojan winds – not that strong either, since we have set up the same tripod in the Pacific coast where the winds are even stronger, and the oceans were just hugging the cliffs.

(2) The weak legged tripod which could not stand properly. This was actually known by Croaky who reiterated that several times when I was trying to hold my camera on it. But it all seems so surreal on retrospection. I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO MY INSTINCTS AND STOPPED USING IT!

(3) Croaky – keeps on hurrying me to take the picture. Anyone would have panicked under such immense pressure by an inpatient toad. He is to be blamed.

The last picture my lumix took was a view of the sky, before it fell backwards onto a concrete slab.

Will upload my pictures after my return…