Istanbul tips

Spice Markets

Cars use the tramways, so look out for these when crossing the road.

Streets listed on maps are often quite small laneways.  Easy to take a wrong turn.

Keep your eyes open as to where you walk, as lots of dogs and stray cats run free in this city.

Signposting is not great for sights of interest with the exception of the Grand Bazaar.  Indeed even finding the entrance to Topkapki Museum is not obvious, you know you are so close, but yet so far away, plus its hot and they are longish walks.  Amazingly this is even the case for exit signs, which again are not obvious.

Tickets are sold at booths away from the main entrance, so make sure to get a ticket before actually going to the entrance.

It is possible to buy a Museum pass.  When I was there is was 70lira.  You don't have to queue if you have the pass (but you might have to queue to get it).  The Museum pass gives you one off entry to the big attractions.

On the plus side, people are super friendly and even the hawkers of cruises and other are happy to give you advice and directions.

Away from Sultanhamet you can buy great fresh orange juice, though this just seems to be in the afternoon/evenings.  It is a bargain at 1 lira.  If you buy it at a major historical site they want 9 lira for the same thing.

My jewellery pick
OrtaAsya
rugs and jewellery store
Alendor Mah, Nur-u- Osmaniye
Cad. Atoy Apt No 3 Cagaouglu
Istanbul

Take the direction Grand Bazaar past the Cisterns walking away from Aye Sophia.  You take the left turn for the Grand Bazaar and it is on the left hand side.

T90 212 511 1350

On the right hand side walking up the hill, there is a little alley with a building at the end with lots of glass that looks like a luxury hotel.  There is a great pide place on the right hand side.  A pide, salad and drink will cost around 13 lira

I personally preferred the spice market to the Grand Bazaar, but I guess the Grand Bazaar is worth a visit.

Tips for coffee and hanging out in Canberra

Lonsdale Street in Braddon is a great place to hang out for a coffee or browse the quirky retail shops.  Its an area in flux as building takes place, so the complex below

27 Lonsdale street is home to a complex of pop up shops and restaurants, from nic nacs, clothese, 2nd hand/vintage.  A good place to browse.

Sweet Bones, http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/344/1720944/restaurant/ACT/Canberra/Sweet-Bones-Bakery-Cafe-Braddon

 Lots of gluten free and sweet treats.  Food OK, coffee OK.
 

However, I am told by my friends who live locally that Lonsdale St Roasters is this place to grab a coffee.  Judging by the queue, I am not surprised.

There are a couple of other places along the street that look worth checking out for a coffee and a bit to eat.
 

More shopping around on Lonsdale Street.
Other more mall like shopping is not that far away at the Canberra Centre.  The usual range of shops, from Big W, through to Zara and Hugo Boss.  So something for everyone.

Lots of cafes and restaurants in the precinct surrounding the Mall.  http://www.canberracentre.com.au/

Further afield is Manuka, which has arcade and laneways.  Paperchain bookshop is really worth a visit http://www.manukastyle.com.au/about-manuka

This is a great little thin crust pizza place, woodfired and v. reasonable.  Not too many tables and rather busy.

At 23 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, open in the evenings.

Review from SMH

Then onto a totally different suburb, Maple and Clove,
Realm Precinct in Barton.

A little grass courtyard.  This restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I wouldn't make a special trip to visit.  OK food and coffee, menu sounds good, but seems to lack "love". Dry bacon, that still managed to remain greasy, it had the feel, taste and smell of pre made hotel buffet food.  I had two lattes which tasted totally different.  One was Ok, but the second barely drinkable.  However, location is nice. 

More Sydney Shopping

These shops are for nic nacs - cute shopping.

Newish shop - There Zakka

Love the theme for the shop

Zakka (from the Japanese 'zak-ka'（雑貨）or 'many things') is a fashion and design phenomenon that has spread from Japan throughout Asia. The term refers to everything and anything that improves your home, life and appearance. It is often based on household items from the West that are regarded as kitsch in their countries of origin, but it can also be Japanese goods, mainly from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. In Japan there are also so-called Asian zakka stores; that usually refers to Southeast Asia. The interest in Nordic design or Scandinavian design, both contemporary and past, is also part of this zakka movement. Zakka can also be contemporary handicraft.

Zakka has also been described as "the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane". The zakka boom could be recognized as merely another in a series of consumer fads, but it also touches issues of self-expression and spirituality. "Cute, corny and kitschy is not enough. To qualify as a zakka, a product must be attractive, sensitive, and laden with subtext."

Haymarket, Sydney, Australia

Shop address: Shop 8, 107-121 Quay Street, Haymarket Sydney 2000

Also there are three Morning Glory shops in the Chinatown vicinity

Sydney shopping

So I am thinking why not Sydney for hot tips.

These are great places for shopping.

Childrens toys, gorgeous clothes and furniture
Little Voice
Queen Victoria Building
Shop 34-36
www.littlevoice.com.au

Just across the corridor is

Just White
Shop 45
More children's toys, posh bunnies, dolls house furniture, collectible teddies and more

Lots of gorgeous places for stationery can also be found on this floor

Joanne Kee
www.placesandspaces.com.au

Shopping tips Shanghai

It seems you can't move in Shanghai without stumbling across an opportunity to shop. Be it a market, a mega mall, a tourism complex, or the old style communist shopping opportunity.

If you prefer not to enter the melee of bargaining and you have a taste for luxury there are so many luxury malls around town that it is hard to imagine how they can all operate.

Tips

1.Most market places will show you prices on calculators so there is no problem with the language.
2.The happiest way to bargain is to decide in advance how much you are willing to pay, if you and the vendor are happy it is a good deal.
3.Sometimes in retrospect it seems churlish to have bargained hard over 50c.
4. If you would have happily paid $20 for something in your home town, don't miss out from getting into the moment of feeling as though you have to drive a bargain.
5. If you are of Western build, you might not find it that easy to buy clothes off the rack, the Fabric markets and having clothes tailor made may be the best thing.
6.Department stores have fixed prices, as do luxury stores in malls, it seems there is room to bargain in most other places.
7. I like to shop around before I start buying to get a sense for how much people are charging for things. Even the starting price can vary from stall to stall.
8. You really can get ridiculous instances of reduced prices, my friends bought a kite for 15 yuan that started at 200!
9. Rule of thumb is at the very least go for less than 50%, if you are brave go for a lot less.
10. the vendors will pursue you, if they really want to seel there goods.

I chose to do a guided shopping tour, as it has been a long time since I was in China and I figured I wouldn't mind a bit of guidance. The Shopping Tours Shanghai were highly recommended on Trip Advisor.

So I debated about whether or not to use the cost of the trip towards shopping, but in the end the reviews swayed me. I can recommend www.shoppingtoursshanghai.com. I did the best of everything tour.

We visited the fabric markets, pottery, jewellery, handbags and other stuff, plus DVDs. In between we also managed to have a good lunch at a Shanghai style restaurant.

See my other blog posting for location of various shops.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Restaurants and shopping Buenos Aires

El cortijo
Santiago del Estero 20, Cap. Fed

An old fashioned, very good value restaurant. In particular the daily specials are worth checking out.

Vegetable soup of the day for only 5 pesos.
We had a meal with people having steaks, wine, beer etc. For 10 the bill was 415 pesos.

Definitely worth a visit.

Mundana
Beautiful jewellery at this shop. Locations at 5 different places around Buenos Aires
http://www.mundana.accesorios.com.ar/