Weekend fun

On the weekend I pushed Ken from the couch and made him drive me to the forest. Kilyos is a northern suburb of Istanbul that meets the Black Sea. It is a popular summer place where people venture to and spend time in holiday homes.

As we set out from our house on Sunday afternoon, Ayhan, one of Ken's close friend's, called to say that he and his wife, Mücdem, would come to our house for dinner. Just the day before we had been talking to Ayhan about a place on the Asian side he visited once with Mücdem that he thought we should all visit together. So, as we headed off in the car for Kilyos, we decided the trip would be short as we would pick up Mücdem, Ayhan and another friend Gökhan and head to Anadolu Kavağı, meaning 'Anatolian Oak' for dinner on the other side of town.

Kilyos was seen from the car as it was too cold to get out really but we will venture back once the weather improves. It has a beautiful beach and quaint surroundings. There are many camping grounds and holiddays homes so it is definitely worth a visit in summer.

So once we had clapped eyes on Kilyos, we turned around and headed for Ayhan's house in Beylikdüzü which is more than 25 kms from our house. Once there we picked up Gökhan and then Mücdem and Ayhan and headed right back to near our house so we could get on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet köprusu (F.S.M bridge) which connects Europe to Asia. The traffic was hideous and by that time we had been driving for about 3 hours. We waited on the road before the bridge for nearly one hour because of the line for the cash tolls. Once we worked out that it was not due to bridge traffic we made a run for the 'KGS' line (pre-paid toll lane) where we swiped our card and we were through and onto the bidge. Then we hot footed it to Anadolu Kavağı where we stopped and ate dinner at one of the seaside fish restaurants. We all had starters of octopus salad, börek, stuffed mussels, homemade french fries and çoban salata (shepherd's salad). Main was grilled 'Levrek' which I believe is the same as 'sea bass' in English. Unfortunately, I was far too wrapped up in tasting and eating that I failed to take photos...oopss..but here are a couple of all of us.

Benim evim 'My house'

A few of you have asked to see some snaps of my little apartment. So, today I took some fresh shots of it to show. It's a small, 2bedroom, one bathroom with laundry,open plan living/dining flat. But for us right now it does the job. So, here you are, with Ken posing especially.

A laugh a day

I recently came across this blog 'Local Girl' and added it to my blogroll.

It is basically the story of 'Local Girl' and her day to day life in pictures with a running commentary. I have to say it is the funniest thing I have seen in a while. While it is not for the faint-hearted with the 'colourful' use of language, it is a guaranteed laugh. Check it out!

I like my man in the kitchen

One thing I adore about my man is that he can cook. He can cook lots of things. Actually, sometimes he puts me to shame. I feel like a bit of a 'culinary failure' because of the different style of food that we consume here as opposed to back home and I have found that I don't cook as much as I would like or feel I should. I am adventurous though and am willing to try anything once, some things not a second time though, like işkembe or kokoreç, but I like various other Turkish foods that I am sure lots of people would turn their noses up at; chicken dessert and raw spicy meat ball...

Ken makes great köfte. Tonight we defrosted some of the mince meat 'dana kiyma' from the bull that was sacrificed during Kurban Bayram. We stopped in at Migros and bought some fresh juicy strawberries and veggies including crunchy spicy radishes, juicy tomatoes, crispy fresh greens including 'tere' and cos lettuce and also some köfte mix. Tere is a cross between rocket and another green leafy salad veg with a slightly bitter flavour and hard-to-describe taste. As we looked at the köfte mix at the supermarket to my disgrace the packet read 'Flavouring E621'. Now, I although I wasn't quite sure what that meant in terms of food additives I knew that those numbers meant something artificial and bad and I soon worked out it was MSG. For an asthmatic, MSG is no treat. Actually, as I read the 'health concerns' of MSG, I wondered how it could be included in so many food and food products when it can cause things like chest pain, nausea, headache and tingling and numbness. Nice eh? So, we have decided it's time to make our own köfte mix from now on and refrain from buying things with additives. Always read the label first, I say!

When it comes to buying the ingredients too, Ken is great at that. He whizzes around Carrefour or Migros and picks up fresh fruit and veg and finds the best deals on fish and meat. I have noticed more so here than at home that the man of the house plays a role in the household food selection for the family. It is very common to see families shopping at the local supermarket together. I rarely remember a time my Dad went to Coles with Mum and selected fresh fruit and vegetables and told her what he thought they should stock the pantry with.

DAY Birger et Mikkelsen

I came across this gorgeous Danish label 'DAY Birger et Mikkelsen' on net-a-porter.com The label belongs to Danish businessman Keld Mikkelsen who started the label 10 years ago.

There are some gorgeous pieces that I would love to splash onto the credit card but with a wedding around the corner I really shouldn't.

For those that know me, I know, you are thinking "how restrained of her".

Here are some of the lovely pieces I would like to get my hands on.

How much is a wedding planner?

For goodness sake. Organising a wedding is so hard. And to make matters more complex I am an Australian, I live in Istanbul, I will marry a Turk who lives in Istanbul, but who's family is from Ankara-where the wedding will take place, all my family and friends are in Aus, the UK and the US so people are coming from all parts of the world and I am trying to organise every aspect of their attendance in a country who's language I do not speak. Gooood.

Not the mention the extreme amount of thick, sticky Turkish red tape that wraps itself around our impending marriage which requires me to submit to various medical tests; visits to the Australian Embassy to see the Consul General and to no less, pay them some money; a visit to the Istanbul Governor-for his signature; registration with my local area/council; a visit to the Ankara Municipality to ask their permission to marry in their town and find some 'official' person who will marry us and of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without various legal documents, of course, translated into Turkish and notarised at the notary office. All in my spare time. I think I need a holiday.

On top of this I wake up in the night worrying about how people will cope dealing with the lack of English speaking Turks, their anxiety of getting ripped off by taxi drivers, shop keepers and carpet sellers (and the actual reality of it). Now Turkey is a developed country by many peoples standards, but when you are a tourist and look like a tourist, you can sometimes be taken advantage of. It has even happened to me and I look like the next Turk on the street. So, no doubt I will have tales from folks about their experience at 'this shop' or 'in the taxi' and so on.

It's all part of the experience, isn't it?

Taking in the sites

Beautiful winter's day....

The other day while I sat at my desk the sun beamed through the office from all the windows that surround me. For a moment I was tricked into thinking that it was a warm spring or autumn day, not the middle of winter. As the sun warmed away my goose bumps, I thought I would take some shots from inside the office.

Above is a shot of my little office space. And above that is my boss' beautiful office with wooden floors and views of the surrounds of Istanbul. Our office was designed by Turkish architect Rifat Ergör. He has created a modern minimalist office with clean lines and gorgeous mordern stylish furniture.

To Melbourne and back

I arrived back in Istanbul last Saturday after spending two weeks back home in Melbourne. I love going home. It is amazing the appreciation you have for somewhere when you are so far away from it.

I spent my time with family and catching up with friends. It is a nice time of year to be there with Christmas, New Year and the summer. Christmas Day was spent eating amazing food: prawns, roast lamb, turkey and delicous salads followed by yummy desserts of traditional Christmas cake and home made tiramisu.

Since moving to London I always loved the thought of holidays at home and seeing everyone and cramming as much as I could into a short time. My little nephews M and L have grown up lots. I have especaially noticed M's development with his words and fine motor skills. He is attending Montessori and it seems like his is benefitting from it. He is a sweet boy with a lovely manner. I especially love it when he says "love you Auntie". When we talk on the phone he always says that as he passes the phone back to mum. He likes to talk on the phone. He likes to tell me about things that have happened and things he feels are important. Like the car with the driver's side mirror and how it is not attached to the door so when the door opens, it doesnt move. He is very smart.

Little L is a busy little man. He doesnt like to sleep much and he likes to eat choc, as he calls it. He likes to take dvd's from the dvd player and slide them along the floor until they are too scratched to work again. He likes the dvd 'Cars' and also the Wiggles. I learnt that his favourite word (particularly towards me) is "no". He is a climber and you will find him on the step ladder, dinner table, couch, or back of dad's 4x4 truck.

Wedding dress hunting

So, I managed to get organised during my whirlwind trip home and found my wedding dress, shoes, veil and some accessories which I am very excited about. My dress is from Mariana Hardwick and I must say that I dreamed of a Mariana dress but never thought I would have it.

Without giving away too much info, the dress is an ivory deluxe silk a-line style with straps that sit on the edge of the shoulder. The neck falls into a V and is rouched accross the bust and waist. I love it and it looks great and it's the first time I have seen my waist since I was about age 10!

Just a sneak peek at the dress and shoes!