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.

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.  

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

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!

Cruising

today we woke up early
and cruised the Bosphorous

with a simit in one hand

and çay in the other

it was perfect

i love seeing Istanbul
from another angle

Visit from my sister

Recently my sister was here with me from Melbourne, spending the week in between in London and Scotland. It was whirlwind trip, but while her husband was at home and with the kids, it was the best time to get away and it was so nice to have her with me.

We walked the streets of Çukurcuma, Taksim and Beyoğlu. We visited Istanbul Modern and shopped at Istinye Park. We had some dinners and breakfasts out but the highlight I think was the photographic day trip we had with the deputy editor of National Geographic Turkey. My sister came across him in the credits of Alex Webb's book, Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names. She got in touch with Kemal and found that he offers photographic tours of Istanbul.

So we went with him to see and feel the city. It was such an eye opener. Not only did I explore places I have not yet been to, after living here for a year and a half, but I was filled up with knowledge and information about Istanbul, photography, people and culture. We walked the streets of Dolapdere where the Sunday market or "pazar" takes place, which led onto a gypsy market close to a Greek Orthodox church.

Later we walked the streets of Fener and visited the church of the Patriarch of Istanbul as well as the Bulgarian Church. We lunched at a lovely fish restaurant in Fener which served up some of the most amazing starters ("meze") I have had. From there we took a ferry from Eminönü to Kadıköy and walked the streets while my sister snapped pictures of the sellers and street market.

My photography is in it's early stages, but here are some of my pictures from the day.

Things I love...

Yesterday I wrote about what I missed the most about home. Today, I want to share what I love most about Istanbul.

1. Food glorious food!!

2. Warm, friendly, hospitable Turks.

3. Excellent metro system - frequent and rarely any problems (so far!)

4. The Bosphorus.

5. Çay!

6. The sights and sounds of Sultanahmet.

7. Credit card 'taksit' - if you pay by credit card, you can spread the payment over however many months you like!

8. Discount for cash! And not just in Sultanahmet. I bought shoes in Nine West recently and they gave me a 10% discount for cash!

9. Cheaper labour = more affordable services. From 10YTL blow waves to car washing/vac for less than 10YTL, tailoring pants for a fiver, or even for free. Yes, the tailor fixed something up for me for free!

10. Para Puan. Points accumulated on credit card can be spent like cash. We paid for 50YTL of supermarket shopping with points!

11. Dolmuş. Small version of a bus, but operated privately. One any route, it will stop where ever you want. Great service!

12. Akbil. An electronic key that you load money onto to pay for trips on transport like bus, metro, tram, funicular, sea bus and ferry, but not the dolmuş. The fare is 10% lower than using the standard token. Australia should get onto this!!

13. Cheaper public transport. On all of the above forms of transport-regardless of distance- is 1.20YTL. Love it!

14. Taxi's. Easy to find and cheap to use!

15. Fish and fish restaurants. You can eat a great meal of fresh fish caught from the Black Sea of Bosphorus for less than 15YTL.

16. Open hours. Most malls and shops are open for longer hours. Malls usually from 10am to 10pm, 7 days.

17. Buy now, pay later. Sometimes if you don't have the right change and the local shop, bakkal, doesn't have any either, they tell you to pay next time, no problems at all. Even in a taxi twice, the drive had no change, so it was a free ride. This would never happen at home!

18. Diverse areas of town from Bebek to Balat.

19. Never ending list of things to see, do and learn about.

20. Snow! The first country I have lived in where it truly snows in winter. An amazing sight for someone from Australia!

Bizarrely normal

Recently I was thinking about the weird, strange and dangerous aspects of life here. Everyday day I notice new and weird stuff that goes. So, I thought I would share my list so far of things that make my head turn.

1. Drivers reversing up the shoulder of a highway because they missed the turn off.
2. Drivers driving up the wrong side of the road because the other side is blocked with traffic. (Then, when the taxi driver of the taxi I am riding in signals to the other driver of his disapproval at him doing the wrong thing, the driver swears at the taxi driver like it was he who did something wrong. Go figure).
3. The sign on the back of the toilet at the airport that says "Flush twice to save water" or something along those lines.
4. Reversing down a one way street.
5. Non use of seat belts. Or finding the seat belt wrapped around the back of the seat and connected to the buckle to prevent it "annoying" the driver.
6. Pedestrians walking on the side of the highway.
7. Buses collecting passengers from the side of highways, even though there is no "bus stop".
8. Walking against the red man.
9. Excessive speeding.
10. Overtaking without signal.
11. Overtaking with signal, but signalling in the opposite direction.
12. Running red lights. Inability to stop due to number 8.
13. The highest road fatality rate in Europe possibly due to numbers 1-12, except 3.
14. Mass construction of large scale office buildings and apartment blocks in heavily built up areas.
15. The lack of any kind of town planning. i.e Lets not worry about where the roads will go, lets just build, build, build!
16. The construction of gece kondu (literal meaning: built overnight). One day there's a bit of vacant land, the next, BAM- there is house. About 6 million in Istanbul.
17. Littering- people freely, without care littering.
18. Feeding of stray dogs and cats. (apologies to cat and dog lovers).
19. The large amount of stray dogs and cats.
20. Over crowding of every form of public transport.
21. Prohibition of smoking in taxis when drivers continue to do it.
22. The price of petrol. Equivalent of AUD$3.00 something....per litre that is. Luckily our car uses gas at AUD$2.50 per litre. Great savings!

There are many more strange and wonderful things that I haven't listed here. I just really wanted to give you all an idea of the funny things that life has to offer! And, those of you in Australia, don't whine again about the price of petrol! I can say however, that the good out ways the bad by far. I will soon post about the fun, wonderful and beautiful things.