Foggy times!

It's pretty foggy out today. Check out the view from the 14th floor! Winter is certainly on the way.

I was featured!!

A little while back I was interviewed for the Gen X-Pat feature which runs each week in the Sunday Magazine lift-out that comes with the Sunday Herald Sun newspaper. I was thrilled to finally get my hands on a copy from the interviewer this week - and here it is!  You will need to click on the article for full view.

Swine of the times

I'm all swine flued out. Yup. Apparently, I got swine flu. Thank goodness the fever, cramps, headaches and endless trips to the bathroom (say no more) are all but over. I have a lingering cough which is nasty, but at least I am up and about.

Only the week before last, I was saying to my friends how over-hyped swine flu is and that it's just like any old flu and I couldn't work out what all the panic was about. Unfortunately, as one doctor explained to me, the media has a way of creating panic amongst people over such illnesses which only causes stress amongst people and puts strain on hospitals and health workers. I couldn't agree more. The doctor also explained that the course of treatment for a suspected case of swine flu doesn't vary whether you have a "normal" flu or the "swine" flu; hence taking the test for the swine flu makes no difference upon your treatment and only adds to the statistics being counted by the health ministry.

I don't ever recall having the normal flu before, so for me, this was the mother of all flu's. The exhaustion and coughing was, for me, the worst part of it. Last week I could just shuffle from my bed to the couch and back again with my hand placed endlessly over my mouth. On Satruday when we realised I wasn't making the miraculous recovery we hoped for, my husband insisted he take me to the hospital. With a furrowed brow he told me how worried he was at my lack of energy and general lethargy. After a few hours in the hospital and a couple of litres of fluid in me, we headed home. The doctor insisted I try and get some food in me and to keep up my fluids and to get lots of vitamin c in. After leaving the hospital, husband dropped me at home,  and then headed to the supermarket and stocked up on a kilo of oranges, a kilo of grapefruit (or greyfruit as it's known here), random cruciferous vegetables, and an electric juicer and squeezed me up a litre of vitamin c goodness along with lentil and rice soup and a plate of steamed vegies to boot. I was most impressed by the perfectly steamed veg, not to soft, not too hard, all layed out nicely on a plate. Bless.   


At least the worst is over, but even today as I type this I can feel my wrists and fingers slow down and my brain work in fourth gear as opposed to revving in first. My concerntration is shot and I can't stare at the screen as I usually can. I'm tired and it's way past my afternoon nap.
 
So, I'm going to call it an early day today and head home for the comforts of fresh sheets & pj's and a cup of linden tea in front of the telly.

Just another day....

It's cold and gloomy and winter has arrived with a massive delivery of rain. I was forced to drag the massive bag of clothes from the cupboard into the second room and pull out the contents of my closet and replace it with the contents of the bag last night. The bag contained coats, jackets, 6 scarves, 2 pair of gloves and loads of handmade socks from my mother in law, as well as the few my mum had sent me made out of New Zealand possum fur. I then packed the bag with all my lightweight cotton skirts, sandals, flip flops, t-shirts and singlets and said goodbye to them for another eight months. That is how long it will take for me to be wearing them again. How depressing.

So this morning, while trying to feel upbeat about my somewhat "new" wardrobe, I put on my coat and scarf and felt all warm and wintering. I had thick opaque tights on with my ballet flats. I walked out to the car where I found the car park at the front of our apartment block under water and wondered how I was going to get into the car. My new found joy for winter was washed out with the şerefiz (prick) driver who drove by and sprayed a huge puddle of water up my leg even though I was holding out one finger (not the middle one, although I wish now it was!) giving him the "one minute" signal. It's days like that I just want to go back inside and stay there and tell my boss "it's all too hard, I can't come today".  

It really beats my brain senseless about the lack of visible drainage in Istanbul. Like, where is water supposed to go when it rains when there is no drain in the ground to take it away? I mean, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that it will flood if water doesn't have a place to run off. I am tired of jumping over puddles, being sprayed by cars and having water end up in my shoes. And it's not just out the front of my place. It's everywhere in Istanbul. No town planning or infrastructure. Which is what lead to the horrible floods not long ago where lots of people lost their lives and homes. Sometimes I really wonder who is doing that job.

Over the weekend I was with the girls shopping up a storm at Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar). You couldn't escape the rain or associated problems there either. The rain caused an electrical fault and the power went off for about half an hour. Of course, it happened while a friend and I were checking out the latest designer bags in a shop below ground which meant that there was not even any natural light and we were the only two females in the store. The first ten minutes were a tad scary while we continued to rummage around looking at bags using the faint light source of our mobile phones. Gosh, how desperate were we??  

After the electricity returned and we finalised our purchases, we headed back into the main part of the Bazaar were we saw some small shops that had flooded and everywhere you looked you saw shop owners sweeping away water from their doorway or laying down newspaper to soak it up. 

Although it was raining and wet everywhere, the heart of the Bazaar was well and truly beating with tourists and locals bustling about, shop keepers wheeling and dealing their wares and restaurant workers and simit sellers filling hungry shopper's stomach's. It's all part of life at the Bazaar. Even though I live here, going there is an experience each and everytime, and it makes me feel alive and like I am really living Istanbul life.  

Changes

Everything seems to be changing. The weather, the season, and also the time. The change in time kinda skipped me by, and as I reached for my mobile phone on Sunday night to check the time, I thought to myself that it was time I got my good self off to bed. It was 10:30pm. My stock standard bedtime.

As I set my alarm on my mobile phone it didn't once occur to me that maybe my mobile phone didn't update itself. The alarm is set for the same time each weekday;07:45. So I just pushed "ok" and turned out the light. Then at so called 07:45 on Monday morning I woke up and it was dark; darker than I expected and darker than what I thought was normal. After glancing at my Digiturk box, I realised it was in fact only 06:45. Argghhh.

The end of daylight saving also marks a huge time difference between me and Melbourne. It is now a total of 9 hours difference which makes calling and catching family at a decent hour much harder than normal.

Today as I write this post, it is dark out and cloudy. It feels like night could fall at any second. We have started turning on the heat at home to cut the chill that is in the air when we arrive around 7pm. The weather forecast for this weekend is a low of 8 degrees, apparently. What a shock to the system that will be. I need to pull out my bag of autumn/winter clothes and start changing them over from the thin cotton skirts and lightweight tops I have, to the long sleeve shirts and lined winter pants and skirts.

I remember last year that winter felt like it went for about 6 months. I hope this one passes a lot faster than that. It will be nice to experience a summer for a brief time in December when I get back to Melbourne. Hopefully that will make my winter here seem shorter and easier to get through.

Anticipation...

The countdown to anything; whether it be the end of the work day, end of the work week, special event, or to a holiday always brings about a level of anticipation that is hard to match, well, for me anyway. I love the countdown to exciting things such as weekends, holidays, catch ups with close friends and sometimes even bed time when I'm really exhausted!

I am now on the countdown to my trip home and although with every passing day it gets me closer to that day, I still feel like it's just not going fast enough. Patience is not something I have much of. I know I should be more patient, and everyone tells me the days will fly by and I'll be there before I know it.

Anticipation. It's a great thing. I'm glad it exists. Since moving here, anticipation has become my good friend. Anticipation keeps me hopeful and it makes me feel like there is a big reward at the end of 12 months of hard work. It's like the ultimate gift. Nothing beats it.

picture from etsy
anticipation-orange by kikkiandpolly

Autumn sun

Today we took a drive to Şile to breathe fresh air, sip tea, buy fresh fish and feel the autumn sun on our backs. Perfection.

Parking Istanbul style

Weird weather

It feels really strange to read that in the north part of Turkey, Trabzon, snow has fallen and the temperature has dropped to -2 while in the south, people are swimming in the warm waters of Antalya and enjoying temperatures up around 36 degrees. What is going on???

Pictures from Today Zaman online

Yummy courgette carbonara

As you know, I just love Jamie Oliver and his recipes. The other night on his show he made a delicious and easy to prepare courgette carbonara. Given I had a large courgette from my mother in laws organic garden, I decided tonight was the night to give it a whirl. I was a bit worried about carbonara as I always fear ending up with a plate of scrambled egg pasta, but I surprised myself!

I have written the original recipe below, but you can also find it here . I halved the recipe as I was cooking for myself, with a bit left over, and replaced bacon with pastirma as I don't like bacon but wanted to have that smokey meat flavour. For those of you who don't know, pastirma is a highly seasoned, air cured dried beef. So it's not exactly the same as bacon but it had the desired effect for this meal.

Ingredients

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 medium green and yellow courgettes

500g penne

4 large free-range or organic egg yolks

100ml double cream

2 good handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

olive oil

12 thick slices of pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, cut into chunks

small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped

Method

Put onto boil a large pan of salted water. Halve and quarter any large courgettes length ways. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits and slice the courgettes at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. The water should now be boiling so add the penne to the water and cook in accordance with the instructions.

To make your creamy carbonara, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan and mix together with a fork. Season with s&p and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon or pastirma until dark and crisp. Add the courgette slices and a few cracks of pepper. Throw in the thyme leaves and stir everything together so the courgettes become coated in all the flavours and fry until lightly golden and have softened.

The next bit is the challenge. You need to work fast. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately toss the pasta in the pan with the courgettes, bacon and tasty flavours, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly and do not return to the heat or you will scramble your eggs!

You should serve immediately. Sprinkle the remainder of your Parmesan over your pasta and and add a little more cooking water if needed in order for the sauce to have a silky consistency over the pasta.

Eat and enjoy!!

*picture care of Jamie website / David Loftus

Hospitals; a pain in the back

The hospital system in Turkey is different to Australia. In fact, in Australia I would not visit a hospital for an illness other than in the case of an emergency. Here, most people attend at a hospital in the first instance.

When you talk about public and private hospitals in Turkey, people tend to be fairly negative and do not speak highly of the public system. They say they are unclean, crowded, and I have heard stories of people having to care for their own family members by bringing meals and changing sheets. I have visited one once to see a relative of my husband's and I was shocked to see a drainage bag draining blood was wrapped up in a white plastic shopping bag sitting on the bed.

When people talk of private hospitals though, I some of them are referred to as "commercial hospitals", money big making for doctors who order unnecessary tests and operations knowing for patients knowing they can bill the private health insurer and be paid for it without question. I have also heard people question what doctors tell them and my friends always advise in obtaining a second and third opinion for any diagnosis given as people tend to be skeptical about what doctors tell them. Other people have told me to "see someone you know" in order not to get ripped off and to also get a proper diagnosis. At first, I didn't really buy into this that much as I would hear people say that the hospitals are on par with those in other major European cities and that most of the doctors have trained abroad and are very well educated.

This week however, I have had my own taste of the private hospital system which has made me question the system just a little. I spent the last 10 days laid up at home trying to deal with the pain from two degenerative discs I have in my lower back. I have spent much of that time in a drug induced stupor which has caused insomnia, loss of appetite, night sweats, lack of concentration as well as general mind numbing boredom, among other things. I have had trips back and forward to the hospital to administer various pain injections, and to undertake scans and x-rays and doctor appointments. Dealing with a hospital system is never easy, particularly one in a foreign country where you never really know how it works. I am thankful, however, that my private health insurance was in place to help cover the cost of the various scans and doctors visits as well as drugs and injections, otherwise we would have seen the cost go into the thousands.

When I moaning in pain last week I decided that I really did need to get the hospital. When we reached the consulting rooms my husband had the following conversation with the receptionist:

Receptionist: Welcome. How can I help you?

Husband: My wife has hurt her back and needs to see a doctor

Receptionist: Do you have insurance?

Husband: Yes.

Receptionist: Which kind (which fund?): Husband gave the name.

Receptionist: At 10:20am Dr. X is available for TL 175 or in 5 minutes at 9:30 Dr. Y is available for TL 375. Which one would you like to see?

Husband: (turning to me to ask what I want to do)

Me: Not sure I can wait an hour, so lets see the one in 5 minutes.

I wondered to myself it it was normal to have a conversation about money so early on in the piece? I guess it was. So, we waited and after a couple of minutes an orthopedic doctor (professor) greets us and shows us to his rooms. I tell him that the night before I had a sudden acute pain in my lower back which almost caused me to lose feeling in my legs and as a result I nearly fell to the floor. He proceeded to ask me three questions; my age, do I smoke and has this happened before. Once I answered these questions he advised I should have an MRI and x-ray. So off I went. While I was having the MRI, the doctor spoke with my husband and reported what he saw on the screen. He told my husband he had to leave to conduct a surgery but would be in touch with us.

He wrote me up for some pain killers, advised that I not run or power walk on the treadmill anymore, take up swimming and consult a neurologist if the same things happens again with the view to having surgery as this is the only thing that can fix the problem. And that was it.

The suggestion of surgery was a little bit frightening and was enough to prompt me to call the doctors office to chat about this and ask some other questions. However, after leaving a couple of messages for the good doctor, it became clear that he was not going to respond. Not only was I annoyed, I was disappointed at the level of follow up given he so loosely talked about surgery and consulting a neurologist.

A couple of days later, I returned and saw another doctor who suggested I visit the physio for a minimum of 15 sessions. He advised that the only fix for my back was surgery (surprise, surprise!)but I could try physio. But why didn't the last doctor advise physio, I wondered?

Today, by co-incidence as I read through the Hurriyet online, I came across this article about a job advertisement for a cardiology expert that featured in last weeks paper. The article talks about the advert as well as the private hospital system and makes claims of corruption amongst some private hospitals. The article "slammed doctors in private hospitals for performing unnecessary procedures for extra cash, calling into question the reliability of the country's health sector".

The article goes on and quotes the head cardiologist at the German Hospital as saying "All private hospitals are not like this,” Soylu said. “Some patients who consulted our hospitals after they were told at another hospital that they needed to have an operation turned out to be wrongly diagnosed. In some cases, they actually did not need any operation, and we tell them the truth. These people can sue those hospitals.”

Well, well, I though to myself. Interesting.

I guess statements such as these support the truth behind the fact that private health insurance is the country's fastest developing form of insurance and because of that, people are offered the false sense of security in the fact that if they have insurance, they are therefore offered only the best service, treatments and advice money can buy, even if the doctors are earning an extra few husband or thousand lira from ordering lots of tests and writing you up for a handful of drugs you don't really need.

So I guess I should follow my friends advice - it always pays to get that second and third opinion to avoid any potential unwanted surgery or procedures.

May we all have good health!

Travel history

I love looking back on photos of trips taken, holidays had and journeys away. Another thing I like to look at are peoples passports. I think a passport can say a lot about someone but it's also a personal history and each journey represents a trip taken for a reason whether it be for pleasure, work or otherwise.

I've been so fortunate to have travelled to many places around the world from a young age and to have had some of the most amazing and unforgettable experiences; sailing the Nile, working at the Athens Olympic games in 2004, and visiting many unspoilt beaches and villages in Greece, Turkey and The Philippines. I regularly need to present my passport as a form of identification or have it on hand so that my office can deal with the rigmarole of residence and work permit updates.

Recently, I discovered that in less than a year, my passport will expire and the thought of a clean fresh one saddens me a little as I won't be able to look back at the one I have with its crinkled frayed edges, tattered and water marked pages, and happily reminisce on all those journeys I have taken over the last ten years.

Interestingly, I was talking about this with my sister a while back who posted about her passport and travel history, which in her past life as a flight attendant, took her to far away and exciting places which filled her passport full of stamps to amazing places like Dhaka, Trivandrum and Oman, to name a few.


When I started composing this post and tracking my trips by year and date, an idea to google the words "passport tells a story" popped into my head. To my surprise, I came across this blog post by Mr Bojangles which is entitled with those exact words writing pretty much exactly the same thing about his passport.

So I decided that I would attempt, through the water marked and stained pages, to trace my steps back over the last ten years and list all the borders I have crossed and when.

5 July 2000 - Bahrain International Airport, Bahrain
9 July 2000 - London, UK
22 October 2000 - Nadi, Fiji
29 October 2000 - Melbourne, Australia

24 July 2004 - Istanbul, Turkey
10 August 2004 - Athens, Greece
28 August 2004 - Istanbul, Turkey
5 September 2004 - Melbourne, Australia

14 August 2005 - Athens, Greece
16 September 2005 - Istanbul, Turkey
26 September 2005 - Athens Airport, Greece
7 October 2005 - London, UK
16 November 2005 - Istanbul, Turkey
25 November 2005 - Cairo, Egypt
10 December 2005 - Istanbul, Turkey
12 December 2005 - London, UK

18 March 2006 - Athens, Greece
25 March 2006 - Melbourne, Australia
8 April 2006 - London, UK
5 May 2006 - Istanbul, Turkey
8 May 2006- London, UK
16 June 2006 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
18 June 2006 - Luton, UK
6 July 2006 - Rimini, Italy
7 July 2006 - Republic of San Marino, Italy
9 July 2006 - Luton, UK
8 August 2006 - Samos, Greece
9 August 2006 - Kuşadası, Turkey
14 August 2006 - Rhodes, Greece
23 August 2006 - London, UK
15 September 2006 - Berlin, Germany
17 September 2006 - Stanstead, UK
21 September 2006 - Istanbul, Turkey
24 September 2006 - London, UK
20 October 2006 - Paris, France
15 November 2006 - New York, USA
21 November 2006 - London, UK
23 November 2006 - Istanbul, Turkey
26 November 2006 - London, UK
8 December 2006 - Melbourne, Australia

28 April 2007 - Istanbul, Turkey
14 July 2007 - Edirne, Kapıkule, Turkey
29 August 2007 - Kos, Greece
3 September 2007 - Bodrum, Turkey
19 December 2007 - Melbourne, Australia

14 August 2008 - Melbourne, Australia
27 August 2008 - Istanbul, Turkey
17 October 2008 - Lyon, France
19 October 2008 - Istanbul, Turkey

26 January 2009 - Melbourne, Australia
6 February 2009 - Singapore
15 May 2009 - London, UK

Back to the grind

I know. It's been a while since I last posted. I'm back into normal life after a fantastic week away. We took a road trip and went to the south of Turkey and drove along the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines spending nights in Fethiye and Kaş and we also visited some other spots along the way like Kalkan, Antalya and a short stop in Konya on the way back.

It was great to experience summer properly. I forgot what it was like to go to the beach and swim in the sea and really feel the heat. The last time I was at the beach was in 2007 in Greece. It was a long time between dips in the ocean.

We did the trip with another couple, friends of my husband, and their nearly six year old daughter. It was great to have them around and it was nice to go off with another female and look at shops and sunbathe and chat while the men shaded themselves from the afternoon heat playing tavla (backgammon) and drinking tea and smoking endless cigarettes.

The weather in both Fethiye and Kaş was very hot, up around 45 degrees celsius. In Kaş though, there was little fresh air from a breeze unlike in Fethiye, which made jumping into the freezing Mediterranean even more worthwhile.

It's a shame that my camera is not working and therefore I couldn't snap away and share the pictures here.

I did manage to find this picture above care of google of a beach we stopped at for a swim en route to Kaş. I believe the spot is called "Kaputaş plajı" (Kaputash Beach) and it's on the sea side road as you head into Kaş from Kalkan. It was lovely with some small swell and reminded me a little of beaches at home. The sound echoing from the beach was that of the squeals of people as the waves rolled in and people got swept up or dumped in them. It was a perfect spot.

Family and vacations, or family vacations?

It's that time of year again on this side of the globe.

The weather is warm, business is slowing down and Istanbul seems to contain less people and traffic than normal.

Throughout June, July and August people take off out of the city for their summer homes or on vacation to the more sandier parts of Turkey, like Bodrum, Antalya and Fethiye.

It's our turn to take off next week. We were planning a road trip to the Black Sea. There has been some wild weather there over the last week which could prevent us from visiting some places, or if the weather continues, prevent us all together going. We will see how the weather pans out towards the end of the week. But it's looking ok for now.

The decision to go on holiday seems to bring up some interesting issues, well, for us anyway. My vacation allowance from work is fairly limited, in contrast to what you get in Australian standards. I generally find I have to use days from the following years entitlement in order to just go home to Australia once per year and to have a short break in between.

Recently, my husband went away for a couple of weeks. Since returning, his parents, especially his father, has indicated that he would like to see us and has on several occasions asked my husband when we are coming to see them. My husband is busy at work and along with this trip we will take next week; his sister will visit in early August; my father will visit shortly thereafter; and some other friends of mine will come to town in mid August, so finding time to make the five hour drive to Ankara or eight hours to Konya is a lot to ask, in my opinion anyway.

My husband told his father that I would not be able to join him for a visit he may make to see them in early August. He told him it's because I cannot afford to take one or two days of holiday to go and see them for a long weekend. I asked my husband if he had told them that we would be going away next week to the Black Sea. My husband proceeded to tell me that he hadn't told them and that he wouldn't, as he told them I couldn't even take one day holiday to go and see them. He said that he would go and visit them and probably go from a Thursday to Sunday when we return from our holiday.

I didn't really probe him about this but as I began to think about what he said, I realised or concluded rather, that his family would be upset or offended if we took a vacation, on our own, without paying them a visit or instead of visiting them.

Sometimes I get upset with the fact that they never visit us. My husband works long hours, five, sometimes, six days a week. The business is relatively new and therefore requires endless visits to customers, long phone calls sometimes at 10 and 11 at night, and patience in dealing with his Chinese distributors. He drives long distances all week and endures all the stresses that come with running your own business. A holiday for us is to go somewhere and not have to do much; to relax and unwind. But when we go to visit his family, invariably, other family members come over (which in always more than 3 or 4 people) and neighbours pop by, and if we go to Konya, he should visit his grandparents, aunts, uncles and neighbours. If he doesn't see someone during that visit or spend a decent amount of time with his family, people will be upset or offended, so he has to ensure he sees everyone. How is this a holiday or a chance for him to relax and unwind?

Before I go any further, I will say that maybe this is a cultural thing whereby families like or expect that they will be visited by their children when they have free time, which I fully understand. I will also say that I am not at all against seeing my in-laws. We get along very well and I love them very much as they love me like their own daughter. What I find difficult is the fact that I now feel guilty about taking a much needed break with my husband which we have not yet done (alone, without visiting each others families) since I moved here. Most, if not all trips that we have had since I moved here have been to visit his family in Ankara or Konya, and my family in Australia, both of which we have done together and separately. The only time we have had together on holiday has been two days in Singapore in January.

As much as I am looking forward to this time, a part of me now feels guilty for not factoring in my husbands family into our limited holiday time, but on the other hand, should I? I mean, should I feel guilty and should I factor them into our plans so they can get happy? What about our happiness?

It's so hard to please everyone. But what about us and what we want to do? Is there ever a balance that can be perceived by both parties in these situations?

Grumpy

I had a shocking sleep last night for which I am paying the price for today.

It was hot, then became cool and a massive downpour hit at around 4am so I woke up. I thought our block of flats might float away, it was that heavy. Husband had only just gone to bed and got up again and ate a tomato and surfed the internet. I got up too and sat on the couch and watched some BBC News for a while.

I knew I would feel horrible when the alarm would go off at 7.30, but I just couldn't get to sleep and the more I couldn't sleep, the more stressed I was getting about the situation. The vicious circle continued.

So here I am almost 12 hours later, tired and grumpy with heavy eyes and in need of a serious caffeine hit.

Help.

Update: No longer lost in translation

After posting about my oregano and thyme translation drama yesterday, I sought out the help of the Expat world in Turkey and posted on one of the expat pages.

I was informed that in fact that correct translation for oregano is "güveyotu".

Oregano is not very common in Turkey and Wikipedia even reports that thyme is most commonly used in Turkish cuisine.

If you are in search of it, I believe you can find it possibly at Mısır Çarşı, the Egyptian Spice Market, in Eminönü.

Lost in translation

On a recent trip to the Şişli Organik Pazarı, my friend and I discovered the translation confusion or lack of translation for two common herbs; Oregano and Thyme.

In the dictionary both translate to "kekik" in Turkish, but, as us native speakers and foodie people know, they are two very different herbs.

According to Wikipedia, thyme is a basic ingredient in Turkish food, but it doesn't say the same for oregano, which is common in Greek, Spanish and Italian cooking.

I was told by someone that oregano is not common in Turkey and very hard to find, so kekik is in fact the word for thyme.

So what about when I see the name in English on a pack of kekik as "oregano"? Does this mean that it's thyme?

Does anyone have the answer to this culinary question?

A night outdoors

summer time
night air
cool breeze
easy tunes

good food
good wine
good friend
happy times

Bej Restaurant

İstinye Bayırı Caddesi - İstinye Park

(0 212) 345 63 87

The map to nowhere

On Saturday I set out to find the Şişli Organik Pazarı in an area of Istanbul I hadn't visited before. I went along with my heavily pregnant friend Jade.

I thought from a map a friend had drawn that it would be fairly straightforward to find. Jade also had a map from the internet which seemed to point us in the same direction. So, with maps in hand, we envisaged we would be there in about 15 minutes. So off we went.

But soon after we set off we realised that we were on the road to nowhere with our maps as the otopark where the pazar was supposed to be held was nowhere to be found. After asking many shopkeepers and calling my friend who supplied me with my map, we managed to find the pazar, after much pavement pounding, albeit a little bit hot and bothered.

It was strangely located in an underground car park, which, although odd, offered up protection from the afternoon sun and provided a cool space in which to browse in.

What we realised however, was the downside to organic in Turkey = very expensive. Organic is still yet to really break through here and not everyone can appreciate the clean natural food and of course, the price that comes with it.

Nonetheless, we sat and enjoyed a fresh organic juice (TL 5) and a fresh gözleme which resembles a savoury pancake with spinach and cheese. It's then cooked over a concave heated dome and served piping hot. For only TL 4, it was the best bargain of the day. With that followed a fresh piece of homemade lemon cake (3 TL).

The pazar is worth a look. Although expensive you can find a variety of items from dried fruits, legumes, lentils and fresh produce to organic household cleaning products and organic cotton clothes, all with orgnic certification. The atmosphere is relaxed and easy and the food on offer to purchase is fresh and tasty. There is also a small Organik Büfe next to the pazar where you can also have tea from.

Şişli Organik Pazarı

Feriköy Semt Pazarı, Bomonti Caddesi, Lala Şahin Sokak

(Eski Tekel Bira Fabrikası alt sokağı) Feriköy - Şişli

Tel: (0 212) 252 52 55

www.bugday.org

Every Saturday from 08:00 - 17:00

Packages in the mail!

I love getting mail.

Yesterday I received a package from my mum with the most recent copy of The Australian Women's Weekly, a hand written letter and photo of mum and a couple of friends. I also received a beautiful handmade card from my sister.

Immediately my mood lifted and I felt a rush of excitement and happiness. It's amazing what the small things can do.

The postage cost more than double that of the magazine, but I'm sure she knows how much I appreciate it!

I sat up in bed last night and read the magazine cover to cover twice, including all the adverts. It was great and I felt back in the loop with the Australian tabloid gossip and goings on.

Today I also received my first copy of Glamour in replacement of my subscription to Domino which went out of business earlier this year. Foreign magazines cost so much here, sometimes four or fives times that of the marked price so I decided to invest in a couple of subscriptions. I also signed up for Jamie Oliver's cooking magazine which I should receive next month.

I'm hoping that may encourage more cooking and more time in the kitchen for me. We'll see.

Short Breaks - Part Two - London

I didn't realise how much I missed London until I was there. I forgot how fast paced it was especially when riding the tube and pacing the tunnels of the underground system from one tube line to another. I forgot how multicultural it was and how many different people from all around the world live there. It's such a melting pot. It is a place of comings and goings; where people are either transitting through or find themselves staying for an indefinite period of time. It's a place you can very easily get stuck to.

London is so green. Although a metropolis of people and buildings, there is a lot of green which was a beautiful sight as we flew in over Greater London.

You can get attached to London for many different reasons. I got attached because of its location, the sense of adventure it provided me and the fact I could go anywhere in Europe with such ease, and also because of its similarity to Australia. Being in London this time round not only reminded me of my life and the experiences I had there, but also bought back memories of my various trips to places like Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Italy and all the trips to Turkey I took to come and visit my sweetheart. Although I loved to leave to go on those trips, I always returned to London at the end of the trip feeling like I was coming home.

Being in London again filled me with excitement and bought back good memories. It was so refreshing to catch up with familiar faces - long time friends, and chat over endless coffees about our respective lives and what they were all up to in London; two of them are there for the short term before heading back to NY and then onto Hong Kong; two others have been there for the past five years, but will leave for Australia in the coming months; and one other is deciding whether to stay or go. All of them in transition and all of them contemplating their next move and destination.

I was fortunate to stay with friends in the most lovely little part of London, Notting Hill, off Kensington Park Road which was close to great shops, cafes and restaurants. With my New Yorker friends we had a great meal at the upstairs restaurant Bumpkin on Westbourne Park Road which styles itself as a country brasserie with traditional meals such as pies and fish and chips but also turns out sumptuous dishes of free range chicken, lamb, organic salmon and 28 day Yorkshire rib eye. We all ordered three courses and sides and got to taste each other dishes which were all very delicious. It was a nice change from the ever overcooked meat that is so commonly served in Turkey and a nice change to not have vegetables swimming in olive oil. But what was most delish, was the Banoffee pie, which I shamefully admit to never tasting before until now. If you have never experienced Banoffee pie, you must. It was the most moreish combination of caramel, cream, banana and crushed biscuits layered inside a tumbler glass. The most perfect combination of flavours with the crunch of the biscuit. I was truly in dessert heaven. Really. I was.

We also fulfilled my Thai cravings and had dinner at Market Thai restaurant in Notting Hill on Portobello Road, which is situated atop a pub and is family run and owned. The atmosphere is relaxed and quite laid back. It is reported to be one of the best cheap eats in town, but the food remained authentic with a good amount of spice and heat. I had really missed authentic Thai food, so it was a real treat to eat duck, green chicken curry, pad Thai, spring rolls and prawn toast and lots of peanut sauce.

I miss being able to easily find meals of pasta, Thai, Chinese, Lebanese or Greek, but simply I miss the huge variety of food that London has to offer. You can find a market or organic shop easily and buy fresh produce that differs so much and offers many speciality fruits and vegetables along with great cuts of organic meat, chicken and even more speciality meats like emu, roo or wagu. You can find whatever kind of restaurant food you want usually within walking distance of your home and if not, you can find the ingredients in the supermarket to cook it yourself.

I walked the streets of Notting Hill and cruised down Brompton Road from Knightsbridge to Gloucester Road and rode the tube to Oxford Street, Regent Street and High Street Kensington. I was coiffed and pampered in Kilburn and I ate on-the-go with a sandwich from Eat in one hand and a latte in the other. I didn't want to miss anything or waste any time so I ate on the go most days. I walked Portobello Road and devoured fresh pastries with butter and homemade jam. I stocked up on the essentials at Boots and stopped in at H&M for some sale shopping. I scanned the food isles of M&S for their tasty salads and gourmet sandwiches. It was a nice change to feel the fresh cool air on my face as I walked and not have to inhale a cloud of smoke from cars and trucks racing by as they honk their horns endlessly. It was peaceful and relaxing to walk the streets and and not be terrorised and barked at by street dogs. I felt recharged, refreshed and alive.

It was great to feel London again. To live it, if only for a few days. I love falling in line with the pace of a city and also being able to walk everywhere or use multiple modes of transport to get to your final destination. I can understand how some of my friends have found themselves there after so many years and wondering why they haven't left already. When you are there you find yourself perplexed by the cost of things, the weather and crowded transport, only to miss it like crazy once you've gone.

I don't know really what it is about London, it just seems to pull you in and doesn't let you go.

Kendin pişir, kendin ye!

On Saturday afternoon we took a ride to the Asian side to a place near to Şile which is around 70kms from Istanbul. Many Istanbul residents have houses in Şile where they go during the summer. The name of the place in Turkish is "kendin pişir, kendin ye", but the literal translation is exactly "cook yourself, eat yourself", which had us all laughing.

The place we went to was set up for people to go and have a bbq but the unique thing about this place is that it provides everything from the bbq itself, meat, salad and drinks. It's kind of a strange concept to an Australian who would usually go to a bbq in their own backyard or a friends, however, for most Turks who may only have a balcony or small garden, it's a great way to barbeque in the great outdoors without smoking out your neighbours.

It was beautiful to sit outside with my toes in the grass with trees all around with the smell of grilling meat, tomatoes and peppers filling the air. We were served fresh yoghurt and salad and after the meal we had our own çay samovar set up next to our table where we had endless tea on tap. It was a really nice change from going to a restaurant and enjoying the great outdoors!

Short Breaks - Part One - Bolu & Abant

Snow capped mountains, Abant

Back at the start of May we took a shot trip to Ankara to visit my husband's family. On the way we stopped at Bolu and Abant, which are both such beautiful places. Bolu is a place we frequent on our trips to Ankara where we enjoy the lamb chop that the area is well known for as well as the fresh yoghurt and butter and honey. So, so tasty. We always make sure to stop on the way up to Bolu to buy a fresh loaf of hot Safranbolu bread, straight out of the oven. The trip came at a time when the weather had started to improve and the sun was shining, families were out walking around the lake in Abant and it was so nice to take in the sweet smelling fresh air along with the peace and quiet.

Abant Lake