One year later....

How strange is it that I have visited this space after one whole year. As I read through some blogs tonight the thought came to my mind to visit this space and reflect on the time that has passed since I last posted, not realising that it has been 12 whole months since I did so. How time has gotten away from me and how things in my life have changed.

The last year has been full of challenges, joy, surprises, fun, laughter and living life in a new and different way; as a parent. And now, soon to be parent of two. We are expecting our second addition in late February. How our world will change again.

I thought to visit this space after enjoying reading some blogs that I have followed regularly, well as much as one can with a small person lurking around them most of the day, and began to think about using this space one again, but I'm just not sure in what way......so something for me to think about. I'm not even sure anyone is out there anymore to read and reflect with me.....

A little addition

On 29 August 2010 our lives changed forever when our little girl, Maya Zeynep, entered the world. I could never have imagined the love I could feel for this little person who had kicked, tumbled and elbowed me for the past 9 months. Needless to say, her arrival has changed our world in a way we never thought possible.

There really is such a thing as love at first sight.....

10 things I'm looking forward to

I'll be home on the range very soon. Well, not quite a range, but something with a yard and outdoor space with trees and plants around, possums in the trees and non-feral cats prowling around. The good old Burbs. There is nothing like them. Tranquillity and peace. No dolmuş tooting constantly and no endless traffic jams. Lots of things to look forward to, but here are my top ten so far.

1. Seeing my mum, dad, sister and two nephews

2. Drinking real soy latte's (weak ones, of course)

3. Jock's ice cream

4. Day out with my sister at Aurora Spa Retreat

5. Cups of tea and biccy's as mum, dad and me watch CSI or Law & Order

6. Driving on Melbourne's well made roads

7. Catching up with all my girls

8. Home cooked meals (that I don't have to cook)

9. The change of pace that Melbourne brings in every aspect of life

10. And, of course the long awaited arrival of our first baby

But to the upside, is always a downside, and there are certainly 10 things I will miss about Istanbul.

1. My husband :(

2. Summer

3. Köfte (Turkish meatballs), Ayran (Turkish yoghurt drink),Lahmacun (Turkish flat pizza), and all associated mezze or small dishes

4. Simit and tea for breakfast

5. The unique craziness that is truly Istanbul

6. Street food

7. Kendin pişir, Kendin ye (cook yourself, eat yourself) outdoor bbq gardens where you order köfte, lamb chops, chicken wings, salads etc and the bbq is bought to your table and you cook the meat yourself. No dishes! They clean up after you.

8. Cheap manicures, pedicures and blow outs

9. The beautiful Bosphorous

10. Shops open early until late, 7 days

Do you see what I see?

Isn't it funny how life can just start to change in the blink of an eye. It can put you on a path that's like a one way street where you can never turn back. It's exciting, the thought of the unexpected and new, but scary at the same time. 

I am on that road now as I hit my sixth month of pregnancy. I'm thrilled, happy, scared, worried, elated and getting bigger with each passing week. 

Today as I stood in the kitchen and looked down at my feet I noticed that I could see more of my tummy than my feet and it seems to be all so real now. I spent the first twenty weeks wondering if it was all really happening and worrying about what could go wrong but once I felt those little feet tapping the inside of belly, I knew it was for real.  

Becoming a parent brings up a million and one emotions, fears, thoughts, expectations and concerns but I am glad to be where I am now. We have played the failure, disappointment, patience, try again game for a while now so we are ready for what the next stage of life has install for us.

I'm going to try my hardest not to turn my blog into a pregnancy and parenting blog, but forgive me if I fail. Over the remaining months I'll be back in Australia blogging about life back home so I hope to have lots of fun and different things to share.  

Is it nearly over?

gorgeous image from etsy by abcdimages

I mean winter.

I recall having first worn my coat last year around October which means that I have been wearing it now for five, nearly six months. This was the case also in 2008-2009.

The last few days have been so pleasant and lovely. The weekend was glorious and the sun shone all weekend. On Sunday I walked from Yeniköy to my house, which as about an hour with a neck breaking hill right at the end. But it was so nice to be out feeling the sun on my back as I strolled through Istinye by the water watching people eat their balık ekmek (fish sandwich) freshly cooked off the back of a boat, children running and playing, and people out eating late breakfast while overlooking the Bosphorous. This is what I adore about Istanbul. These beautiful Spring days where you can smell the change of season in the air, blossom is blooming everywhere and days begin to stretch for that bit longer. 

Speaking of blossom, it is Sakura season, also known as Cherry Blossom season in Japan where people celebrate the arrival of Cherry Blossom. The season runs from January to June in various regoins throughout Japan, but most festivals fall between March to May.  

 image from google

image from google

During this season, each day Cherry Blossom forecast volunteers are out taking pictures of the flowering blossoms from all areas of Japan and reporting their finds to the authorities who keep a track of when and where certain Cherry Blossoms are blooming in order to plan the festivals and for travel agents to schedule tours.  

I would love to visit Japan during this time to see the Cherry Blossom and to attend a Cherry Blossom party, or Hanami 花見 "flower viewing" as it is known. People gather outdoors under Cherry Blossom trees to eat and drink and celebrate the season. Looks like fun!! 

No news is good news

This is my moto when it comes to local news. I have found that I am best off not reading the news as it either upsets or aggravates me, or bewilders me to no end.

If it's not Ergenekon, it's Erdoğan. If it's not human rights, it's honor killings. It's so tiring. Why can't there be at least one good news story of the day like the birth of a baby elephant in captivity or the like. It's all bad. Bad, bad, bad.

I really cannot recall a time when I read a light hearted non-political article in the news here. I can't understand how people can cope with this kind of news day in day out. It is depressing. People are gripped each day by what the press has to say and they are glued to newspapers, TV, internet news and current affairs in the evening streaming the "son dakika" last minute news of the second.  

So, for me, I'll stick with my news from Australia where I can at least read restaurant and movie reviews, stories about health, well being and epicure while living in ignorant bliss of all things newsworthy in Turkey.

Mind your business!

Last week while working away at my desk, someone approached me and said "I see your aknes" (I mean acne, but ak-nes is exactly what was said) while at the same time pointing out on their own face the exact location of my acnes.

Now, not much that comes out of Turkish peoples mouths surprises me much anymore, but I have to say, I was upset.  Hormonal, sensitive and upset.

I replied by saying "thanks for pointing that out because I didn't notice them myself as I didn't bother to look in the mirror at all this morning". But my sarcasm couldn't hide the golf ball welling in my throat which I swalloed away quickly to avoid the tears from welling up. I'm so over peoples straight rudeness. Where is the cultural sensitivity? Or is it all just one way here for the foreigners to follow?

During my time here, I have become accustomed to inappropriate comments and questions, and I accept that some things are very "normal" for these people to ask, but it still seems to shock me about peoples lack of boundaries and sensitivities, also bearing in mind that I am a foreigner and maybe such comments and questions are not the go. But I'm not sure they ever consider that fact.

Kilo aldın mı?, "did you take kilos?" 

Kilo verdin mi?, "did you give kilos?"

Kaç kilosun sen? "how many kilos are you?"

are all very standard questions that I have been asked and get asked by people in Turkey, not to mention questions about my salary, how much rent I pay or how much I paid for a house.

A few days later I was talking with the acne comment person and I told them that they offended me. I kindly tried to explain that that is one of the very big cultural differences between Turks and foreigners and that there are some things you can and can't say to people. But the more I talked about it the more I felt that they were getting offended. So I gave up.

So, tell me people, what is the most outrageous question you have been asked by someone, in Turkey or anywhere? There has to be something worse than the aknes comment.

Diet difficulties

Trying to eat and be healthy is never easy, especially for me who loves to bake!

My attempt today started out with good intentions, as you can see.

But quickly went downhill at dessert....

I baked last night and couldn't resist helping myself to my stash!

It's a tragedy, I know. That I can't even manage to blog a post here and there.

To be honest and provide a small excuse, my access to blogger has been down and I haven't been able to see anyone's blogs, let alone my own.

But, I'M BACK. You didn't get rid of me yet! Stay tuned.

It's been a long time....

I know, I know, it's been ages since I blogged. I think the last time was in November and I got caught up with my travel plans and excitement which took me off course from blogging. But the holiday is now over, so I should get back to blogging and report a bit about my time away.

I headed home to Melbourne on 12 December with a suitcase full of warm weather clothes, only to need to borrow my mum's flannel's and mocco's. It was certainly not warm times downunder. But it warmed up in the week leading up to Christmas and we had a few hot days here and there to warm the bones.

I had some great catch ups with friends and family. I took a couple of day trips to visit friends down the coast in Dromana and Phillip Island and stuck my feet in the sand. I don't think I've had that many bbq's in a very long time. There is nothing like a barbie at home cooked by your dad on his old skool barbie, i.e. not gas. It's oh so tasty.

Man I missed the food back home. I miss the massive variety and options when shopping and dining out. The quality of the produce is so fresh and easy to find. From Italian and gelato in Lygon St to Vietnamese in Victoria St to Sydney Road for middle eastern, nothing beats it.

We had a delish meal at Gingerboy for my sister's birthday which was asian food like I have never tasted and oh so yummy.

After Melbourne, I was off to Singapore for three days with my sister. Singapore is always great. It never lets me down. Great shopping, great service, amazing food and so easy to get around and do things. We ventured out to the best shop, Daiso. We went to the largest Daiso in Singapore, with something like 30,000 sq feet of everything for $2 a piece! Love it! They have absolutely everything you can imagine from stationary to storage containers, chop sticks to deodorant, chinese tea sets to table cloths, and asian food items to cleaning products! I walked out with two big bags full of stuff for less than $100 Singapore dollars. Love a bargain. So now I am writing letters on my stationary, eating lunch from my new lunch box and eating that lunch with my gorgeous chop stix!

So now here I find myself back in Istanbul, holiday over, winter and snow well and truly set in and dreaming of the warmth of far away places like Hawaii and Thailand. I really was not built for this weather. I find the cold so difficult to deal with, especially at temperatures around -4 which it has been this week. Although, it is still such a novelty to me to see snow falling as I never saw it fall before I came here in 2007. The landscape totally changes once a blanket of snow cover Istanbul. The trees look beautfiul and you can really see and understand where the hill in Istanbul are, especially from the 14th floor of my office building. Unfortunately, with the snow comes dangerous raods (and drivers!) black-outs, gas-outs (yes, our gas went off for hours on the coldest day!), slush and mud.

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