food, relaxing... its all good?
last Saturday was doctors english (IELTS) exam as well as his birthday. the guy turned 36 for f*cks sakes!! hmm, that reminds I'm turning 36 in only a few months.... hmmmmmm.
on sunday i took him to a spa (Sofa hotel) to relax and enjoy. ive been there once before and this time was possibly even better. we were the only customers there all day and the place itself is very calm, quiet and has this lighting...thats not too bright. its very nice. and the water is 27 celcius. even warmer in the jacuzzi. the sauna was not finnish but good enough for me, 85 degrees. and we liked the steam room and hamam too. all in all, succesful, relaxing day, after coming home we just wanted to sleep...
the other week i went to an acquintances wedding. i was surprised to get an invite, but it is turkey, so... i guess i shouldnt be? anyway the groom is cool so i thought the bride must be too. i went to the evening party thing as well and we got to know the bride with doctor and she was indeed cool, just recently returned from london where she did her masters or something. this photo is from the kadiköy "marriage hall" before the room got full - nicely casual event.
there are so many new cafes and bars popping up in kadiköy these days... its becoming really trendy (which is reflected in the rents, theyve gone up 20+ % per year). last week we tested this one place, it was nice, we sat by the street side and it was cool.
this cafe place is 100m from our home. the front is not impressive but they have a huge backyard. well, the fall has arrived and we had to sit in enjoying our breakfast. i was just wondering whose idea it was to build that ikea style shelf on the outer wall and have it ruined by rain. it doesnt show in the photo but obviously it was getting all sorts of fucked up by exposure to the elements....
the other week i also had a friend visiting. someone me and doctor met in Melbourne, but hed lived in Istabul before, and just next door to doctor. what are the odds? this is an american person after all! anyway, he was here and suggested to meet and he invited me to this georgian restaurant with his friends. its in a shady part of town, on the european side (Aksaray), known for prostitutes. normally that wouldnt matter but in this case its really not good, its also religious, traditional and all kinds of 'meh'. anyway i went and although i had to stand and wait on the street with men looking (even stopping and looking) at me like i was for sale, it was worth it in the end. this georgian place looked really unimpressive, located at a bus station with busses going to russian and georgia, with plastic on the windows and as a table cloth and the owners barely speaking turkish nor english. but overall, it was great. the food was great (they just brought out dishes, there was no menu), the georigian moonshine which i unknowingly ordered was great and the owners were great. we had a great time. i want to return.
(moonshine in the red cap juice bottle)
we met doctors friend and his boyfriend in the eastern part of the city. he had rented the flat 1.5 months ago. turns out the building has no internet connections built yet, like no ADSL nor cable, regardless of if you want to pay, its not possible. also, they are still paying for electricity and water as if it was a construction area, and share the bill amongst the flats, because they dont have a permit for a housing, in fact. .. thats turkey, right? but its a nice closed gated community with a gym and pool, security at the gate, modern flats etc. the friends flat had 3 bedrooms and 3 toilets, one of them a full bathroom. the bathroom was very nice and modern, but the toilet seat was kind of opposite to the sink cabinet.... so although im a short person, when i tried to sit on there, my knees where touching the cabinet. i dont know how taller people are managing it. my point is that it was not really feasible, new and nice looking but poorly planned. also the bedroom had a fire escape door, which didnt actually open. aaaanyway, not my concern, just sharing. the evening was great and we had such great discussions that we must meet again soon. when you dont have children, friends are your family...
there was a warning the other day for metros, and the metro stops in the very center were closed (for "elecricity cuts"). there were demonstrations too, mostly on the european part of the city, because of the Ankara bombing. and then i met a finnish guy who had just been there to witness a demonstration, how the it did not move because of the police barricade (nothing worse happened). i met him for the first time, he is a pilot who lives here and works for a private company. he is my age and so very finnish in many ways, but extra calm and collected, it really reminded me of whats cool in finnish people. anyway, i did the metro.
the corner of our kitchen on some mornings (the black stuff comes with the water. obviously). the foam is from the 5th floor guys using the shower, which they decided to relocate to the kitchen. i hear they are architects, friends of friends (small world!). we sent our greetings to them...
the other week i went to an acquintances wedding. i was surprised to get an invite, but it is turkey, so... i guess i shouldnt be? anyway the groom is cool so i thought the bride must be too. i went to the evening party thing as well and we got to know the bride with doctor and she was indeed cool, just recently returned from london where she did her masters or something. this photo is from the kadiköy "marriage hall" before the room got full - nicely casual event.
there are so many new cafes and bars popping up in kadiköy these days... its becoming really trendy (which is reflected in the rents, theyve gone up 20+ % per year). last week we tested this one place, it was nice, we sat by the street side and it was cool.
this cafe place is 100m from our home. the front is not impressive but they have a huge backyard. well, the fall has arrived and we had to sit in enjoying our breakfast. i was just wondering whose idea it was to build that ikea style shelf on the outer wall and have it ruined by rain. it doesnt show in the photo but obviously it was getting all sorts of fucked up by exposure to the elements....
the other week i also had a friend visiting. someone me and doctor met in Melbourne, but hed lived in Istabul before, and just next door to doctor. what are the odds? this is an american person after all! anyway, he was here and suggested to meet and he invited me to this georgian restaurant with his friends. its in a shady part of town, on the european side (Aksaray), known for prostitutes. normally that wouldnt matter but in this case its really not good, its also religious, traditional and all kinds of 'meh'. anyway i went and although i had to stand and wait on the street with men looking (even stopping and looking) at me like i was for sale, it was worth it in the end. this georgian place looked really unimpressive, located at a bus station with busses going to russian and georgia, with plastic on the windows and as a table cloth and the owners barely speaking turkish nor english. but overall, it was great. the food was great (they just brought out dishes, there was no menu), the georigian moonshine which i unknowingly ordered was great and the owners were great. we had a great time. i want to return.
(moonshine in the red cap juice bottle)
we met doctors friend and his boyfriend in the eastern part of the city. he had rented the flat 1.5 months ago. turns out the building has no internet connections built yet, like no ADSL nor cable, regardless of if you want to pay, its not possible. also, they are still paying for electricity and water as if it was a construction area, and share the bill amongst the flats, because they dont have a permit for a housing, in fact. .. thats turkey, right? but its a nice closed gated community with a gym and pool, security at the gate, modern flats etc. the friends flat had 3 bedrooms and 3 toilets, one of them a full bathroom. the bathroom was very nice and modern, but the toilet seat was kind of opposite to the sink cabinet.... so although im a short person, when i tried to sit on there, my knees where touching the cabinet. i dont know how taller people are managing it. my point is that it was not really feasible, new and nice looking but poorly planned. also the bedroom had a fire escape door, which didnt actually open. aaaanyway, not my concern, just sharing. the evening was great and we had such great discussions that we must meet again soon. when you dont have children, friends are your family...
there was a warning the other day for metros, and the metro stops in the very center were closed (for "elecricity cuts"). there were demonstrations too, mostly on the european part of the city, because of the Ankara bombing. and then i met a finnish guy who had just been there to witness a demonstration, how the it did not move because of the police barricade (nothing worse happened). i met him for the first time, he is a pilot who lives here and works for a private company. he is my age and so very finnish in many ways, but extra calm and collected, it really reminded me of whats cool in finnish people. anyway, i did the metro.
the corner of our kitchen on some mornings (the black stuff comes with the water. obviously). the foam is from the 5th floor guys using the shower, which they decided to relocate to the kitchen. i hear they are architects, friends of friends (small world!). we sent our greetings to them...
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