Forum Istanbul (+Haul)

Playing: My Racing Thoughts-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Japanese Children's Favorite Stories by Florence Sakade

One of the last places I visited in Istanbul was Forum Istanbul, Europe's largest shopping center and trust me, it's absolutely huge! If you're staying in Istanbul for a week, go for it and see what all the locals are like. If you only have a few days, it's probably not worth it...Not many people could speak English there because it's not a tourist spot. My family and I were the only non-Turkish people in the mall, which caused a lot of people to yell, "Japon? Japon? Japon?" at us. Most people were very friendly though and a few came up to my brother or me to ask us where we're from and when we told them the USA, they asked us what it's like here.

On the highest floor, they have a massive food court with the normal fast food chains that are popular in Turkey like McDonald's, Burger King, and Simit Sarayi. All of the people here are so trendy and a lot of them reminded me of American teenagers. 

The bathrooms were different from what I've seen in the United States because they sell perfume and toothbrushes. I noticed that a lot of the people in Turkey are very careful about their hygiene compared to other places I've gone to. In the public fountains, a lot of people wash off their feet, hands, and faces, so I just thought the toothbrush was also interesting...

The main reason we went to Forum Istanbul was because my brother kept on seeing ads for the ice museum called Magic Ice, which is located on the bottom level. It cost 20 TL ($12) to get in, but a family costs 50 TL ($30). Be sure to ask about the family discount because the girl didn't mention it until we started to pay. Also, they only accept credit cards that have a chip on it. I'm not sure what chip they mean, but none of our credit cards had it, so bring cash. Overall, the ice museum was very nice and it revolved around vikings, so you learn a lot about them. Everything is written in both Turkish and English. They put a huge fluffy poncho on you to keep you warm and at the end, they offer you complimentary drinks in cups made of ice.

I didn't buy anything from this particular mall, but I wanted to share with you what I bought. The blue, red, white, and black scarf is 100% cotton from the Grand Bazaar. The other scarf I got from an attractive guy at a store a few stores down from my hotel, Orient Express. He was around my age and it surprised me how many people around my age were working at these stores. In my country, most people my age don't have jobs, but in Turkey, the kids are sent off to work as soon as they're old enough...

I bought a pair of wizard-y looking blue earrings and my mum bought a pair of black earrings that I picked out for her from a young lady working a small stand in Anadolu Kavagi. She was extremely friendly and packaged them for us in a cute little bag. She sits right by the landing, where you get off the ferry, with all her merchandise. I'm starting to regret not buying the green pair because deep down, I'm a Slytherin. Just kidding, but I seriously do wish I bought the green pair too because it'd be great for dressing up. Now I have to go as a Ravenclaw. I bought an evil eye bracelet from a small store by the Blue Mosque. Originally, I had sewing plans for the beads on the bracelet, but I feel bad taking it apart, so I probably won't. The only problem with going to Europe is I always regret not buying something, but Katrina told me that's just more of a reason to go back one day. Until next time, güle güle!

By the way, I reached my two year anniversary five days ago!