Watermelon anyone?

Nights 243

Turks are tradisionally traders. They were part of the traders in the Silk Road and the remnants of the historical Silk Road activities could still be seen in Bursa. Bursa was the last leg of the Silk Road and if you have the opportunity to visit Bursa, take a look at the Caravan-park (caravansare) sites where the exchanges of goods by the caravans took place centuries ago.

Today, you could still find some hotels that was previously a caravansari. In the olden days, traders would pay for a 'room' to sleep overnight at the caravansari. The caravansari has an open corridor where they could keep an eye on their goods and the 'animals' (ponies, horse,camels etc.) which are tied below their corridors. So...its almost like the roadside motel that you can find in the USA and other countries.

Of course, I am not exactly right in saying that ethnic Turks are tradisionally traders as most ethnic Turks were trained to become soldiers during the Ottoman empire (more on Ottoman empire in later postings). The traders are either Armenians, Kurdish or Greeks. Only after the fall of the Ottoman empire and the rise of Kemal Ataturk, were the Turks trained to be traders and craftmen.

Some people say that Turks are like the Chinesse. Same industrous and acument for business but the only difference is....Turks have emotions while the Chinesse don't (is it true?). So...expect the Turks to work, think and act like the chinesse. They are very industrous, very enterprising, very improvising and very sharp in doing business.

cherries,,,cherries...everywhere! the strawberries are almost gone and its now replaced by these cuties!
had cherries for breakfast, lunch and dinner....superb !!! 

the  fresh market near my place....notice the strange looking fruits.....miniature peaches and apples

Duygu and baban (her dad)....my helper's hubby and daughter. they have a stall selling clothes at the pazar (market) ....very enterprising family indeed....

Duygu's merchandise. the dad worked in Libya for 4 years previously, so he knows how speak Arabic

more cherries!  the Turks spent a LOT of time on mobile phones. they're forever talking on their mobiles and its common for a person to have 2 or 3 phones at the same time ...

Turks are really friendly people and love having their photos taken.......now..how do i give them copies of their photos? err...because i was with a camera, i was over-charged (double) for a rock melon arghh..

this man ran to this cart to have his photo taken with it.....its soo interesting to be a camerawoman here...thats 'simits' in the cart, their national bread with sesame. delicious for breakfast and any time of the day and they are really proud of it. there's even a doctoral study on it about the optimized number of sesame to be put on the 'simits'. 

my all time fave. anginer (artichokes) ....until i learnt the difficulty in preparing it....but isn't it beautiful? 

olives in all forms...black, pitted, stuffed, pickled etc..etc...the Turks have them for kahvalti (breakfast) ....look at their healthy and gorgeous hair...thanks to olives !!!

my fave bakery lady...she tolerated me from Day 1 when i used sign language and today i can order them in Turkce.....everything is freshly baked and OMG....the aroma when you passed thru' the shop...its heaven!

fruits...glorious fruits everywhere.... in front of a famous fruit stall in Yenikoy  but be    prepared to pay 2 or 3 times more. of course...the fruits look better here ! 

                                                                    

People who do not understand the way the Turks work and behave would complain that they have been played out by the Turks in their business dealings. The truth of the matter is......the Turks are smart and shrewd tradesmen and the best men deserve to win. Its as simple as that. Survivor of the fittest.

And that explains how I got to be 20TL (1US$=1.51TL) poorer today !!

Its karpuz (watermelon) season now and the last melon that we bought from Uyum supermarket was very sweet tho' it was pricey at 12TL. So when hubby wanted to have more melon, we decided to buy from a man selling from his van by the roadside at the roundabout at Ataturk Oto Sanayi Station in Maslak. Its cheaper at 3TL per kilo and since its so huge, the whole melon cost us 20TL. No....he didnt allow me to taste but assured me that its sweet.

Turned out...not only was it not sweet, almost the whole melon was bad and rancid! And that is not all. When we weighed the melon, it was 2 kg less than what he claimed. I wanted to go back and demand a refund from the man but hubby said .....for 20TL, it's not worth picking a fight for. Just consider it a scam and that maybe we should just consider it a 'charity' to him. Huh !!!

Morale of the story?? Play it safe and buy from a proper supermarket where the prices are properly shown and the weighing machine is properly calibrated ( I hope!). If you are a Yabanci ( foreigner) you are always fair game to them. So...play the game well ! 1 to them and  0 to me.....ouch !!

now...these..are.....big people's toys.......

what a wonderful accessories.....these will definitely go very well with the leather jackets......not ? !!!

my neighborhood baker....its so authentic as they still use 'woods' to burn the kiln. it smells sooo nice when you pass thru his bakery. someday when i can communicate with him, im gonna ask him to bake for me a special bread. i was told that the Turkish government subsidize all breads in the country. it only cost 1TL a piece.

business done for the day...all sold out! note the beautiful tiles on the wall of the kiln....

                                                

          despite all these tiny setbacks , it still is . . .  a beautiful city......Istanbul'u, cok seviyorum !!!

Magically divided between Europe and Asia . . . . . .

Istanbul is magical, Istanbul is incredible, Istanbul is my new home now!

Nights 241

Istanbul is many things to many people. To me, Istanbul is my new home and I've resolved to make my stay a happy and memorable event. Seven months had passed and I am still struggling to communicate with the locals even though I'm rated the best in my household LOL! I guess its a victory considering that I don't have to wave my hands anymore when I talked to them. Either I have mastered the necessary phrase or they have given up trying to understand my 'strange accent' and pretended to understand me. Good enough for me.

Turks are truly intriguing, friendly when you get to know them, helpful when you get to know them, very 'amorous' if they don't know you and are not easy to understand if you don't know them. I have gone through a phase of disliking them to the current phase of liking them. I suppose in anywhere you live, once you get to know and understand the people and culture of the locals, you'll learn to like them, even love them. After completing reading  a book on Kemal Ataturk (by Andrew Mango),I could truly understand them and why and how they come to be in that manner today. And its really fascinating !! The history is just as magical as the city itself. Someone once described to me of the beautiful Lebanese (from Lebanon)  women. He said "Imagine that when God created women, He took one second to complete the work. For Lebanese women, He took three seconds". Ouch !! Now...where is that contact for the plastic surgeon again? In my eyes...both Lebanese men and women are gorgeous. Think Shakira and you'd get my drift.

So...I'm quite sure that when God created Istanbul, He must have given His all for all its abundance. The Bosporous being my favorites among all. It magically divides the Europe and Asia and remain a very important International water. As such, it belongs to no one but was and is still loved by all. Very thearaupetic (not sure if the spelling is right) and just looking at it will calm all the worries, stress and whatever trauma thats whirling in your little body and mind. Trust me....i'm having lots of stress and it has calmed me down all the time without fail! Try it...come to Istanbul and see for yourself. If you don't fall in love with the Bosporous..then nothing ever will. You do have my sympathy.

view from my neighborhood Sariyer....

this was taken from a retaurant while having breakfast

jetty to board a feribot to cross the Bosphorus to go to the other side, the Anatolian side 

have a breakfast....a chat...a smoke..pick your choice...its sunday morning by the Bosphorus.. 

my very own view of the Bosphorus from my balcony....don't hate me...

my fishmonger..can't get any fresher than this...can you see the boat that brought in the fish ?

i know jealousy is bad....but i am fiercely jealous of this villa owner !

there's no barrier along the Bospohorus...and cyclists have been known to ride straight into it from uphill

cheers......ala Turkce.......

not a good photo but...this is the reason why the Roman,Byzantine, Messodonians and Ottoman wanted Istanbul 

ahh...my very own Monalisa....she turns head, doesn't she !

And now spring is in the air! Ohhh...what a lovely sight...with all the blooming flowers and colorful folliage and the air smelling of strawberries and portakal ( big juicy oranges) and other fruits that I don't even know the name. There's this beautiful purple (or is it lilac) tree where the flowers completely cover the entire tree. Its just so beautiful. I understand now why all great designers come from four season countries. Every season bring new colors and theme and the beginning of spring is just like a beginning of a new life.

And don't let me start on the tulips.....wow....in all the colors of the world! Pink, purple, maroon, magenta, white, dull yellow, funky yellow, blue, black....Istanbul has them all. Do you know that tulips originated from Turkey and not Holland? During the Ottoman empire, the Sultan gave the tulips to the Dutch king as a gift and thats how Holland started their tulips commercialisation and industries. The Dutch made the tulips famous but the world hardly knew that it came from Turkey. For the last four years, the Turkish government started a campaign to create awareness for the tulips and every April is dedicated to tulip shows and promotions. I was really amazed to see how big the tulips are by May. When I first saw them in April, they were small and scrawny. Now....they are soooo huge and beautiful!

i was late in capturing the tulips as i went 'home' most of April, they are really better looking than these..

..now imagine them to be in full bloom in all the colors of the rainbow....viola !!
sorry tulips..i didnt do you justice.....

Design of tulips have been featured very widely on fabrics and garments, pottery, tradisionally famous Iznik and Kuthaya tiles, carpets and almost on everything else. (More on these products in later postings. Ladies, please be patient). Fondly known as 'lale", one Ottoman dynasty was even called a "tulip dynasty" due to the significance and love of tulips by the Sultan.

While enjoying the beauty of tulips and other flowers, I am patiently waiting for the cherries to start its season. Boy....I love cherries and will hold my breath till the day it appears.....yummy...yummmy !!

Merhaba ! ! Hos Geldiniz

Merhaba ! Hos Geldiniz ! ( Hello ! Welcome !)

Istanbul is magical, Istanbul is incredible, Istanbul is my new home now!

We never planned or dreamt of living in Istanbul but as luck would have it, my better half was posted by his company to work here for couple of years. Maybe three years, so 1001 nights would be a good estimation as to  the duration of our stay here. And meeting the number would be my utmost challenge for now. I have been offered 1001 dollars if ever i match the number so....here I go!!!!!

started as a Chatideral, later on a mosque and finally a museum,                                              ...two sides to The ( Saint) Hagia Sophia ........

                                   

the Sultan Ahmet Camii ( Blue Mosque) is magnificient from any angle...

                               

We have clocked 238 nights and still have another 763 nights to go. For those who follow this blog, you can help keep track of the nights,too. If I collected the 1001 dollars, I shall donate it away. The good thing is, I can use whichever dollar that I want, be it US$, Singapore$, Australian$ or any currency that uses the name Dollar.

A beautiful Iznik tiles on the wall of The Tokapi Sanayi Palace 

more beautiful Iznik tiles at Tokapi Sanayi Palace 

the distinctive blue and white Iznik tiles on the wall of Tokapi Palaca

Bangdad pavillion at Tokapi Sanayi 

beautiful tilling details on the dome of Banghdad pavillion

the old and the contemporary.........superbikes in front of centuries-old Hagia Sophia..

 head of lamb soup anyone ?? you'll love it if you stopped imagining what is it that you're eating....

fishing is BIG in Istanbul........all along the Bosphoros and Golden Horn...

the breathtaking Dolmabahce (Palace) where Ataturk breathed his last breath...

make it a point to visit this magnificient Dolmabahce palace...

don't know who owns this villa but i call it a 'cake house' as thats exactly how it looks...

this Ortakoy camii had been photographed millions of time...the kumpir (baked potato) and wafle is just as delicious...

Ortakoy Camii - photo uplifted from a poster on renovation hoardings....

Ortakoy Camii - photo uplifted from a poster on renovation hoardings...

Ortakoy Camii - photo uplifted from a poster on renovation hoardings...

huge chandellier inside Ortakoy Camii - photo uplifted from a poster on renovation hoardings...

So follow me while I feel my way around and take the road less travelled and hopefully many good things would come out of it all. I believe that the Man upstairs put me here for a reason and I don't intend to let Him down. Istanbul is a gift to me and I'm still unravelling the colorful wrappers that is covering it. 

Between contributing as a mother, wife and an Engineering Doctoral PhD candidate, I shall present to my followers the wonder and magical of Istanbul through my eyes!!!! Sit tight, fasten your seat belt and lets Blast Off !

yours truly with an MAS pilot friend who landed with his crew....