the last party in istanbul

the other day i started deleting movie files from my computer. i didnt have that many, a couple dozen movies ive been meaning to watch for months or years. our portable hardrives are kind of full so i figured its not worth it to buy a new one, if i actually want to see these movies some day, i can get a hold of them again...   same applies to some tv episodes and seasons that have been sitting and waiting for their turn. for some of them, it was never gonna be the right time i think... like True Detective for instance.

one of the bazaar shops nearby where i buy mezes and foreign cheese etc.

last sunday we did a wine & cheese evening with a few friends. some good cheese and wines were tasted! mostly french and turkish, both wine and cheese.

tonight is our 'farewell to istanbul party'. around 25-30 people coming. more were invited but a lot of people are on holidays, and several have a wedding to attend to tonight. oh well, a week later wouldve been better attendance wise but i also didnt want to make it too stressful for myself so i wanted to do this well before actually leaving. but overall i want to make it a great party with the people weve shared the past 6 years (or more, in doctors case) with.

party planning!

enough mixers? not quite, but getting there!

building the playlist!

open bar - we need to get rid of all the bottles in our alcohol cabinet. some years old. people are lazy at writing their names on the plastic cups even if you give them the marker (except for swedes) so my solution has been in the past parties to mark them beforehand. this time i wrote down istanbul neighborhoods. it was actually meaningful too, for me, reminiscent of the places ive seen in my time here, they all mean different things; Nisantasi, Kabatas, Feneryolu, Osmanbey, Sirkeci, Pendik, Kartal, Atasehir, Ortaköy, Bahcelievler, Levent, Kozyatagi... 

booked my yearly check up for next monday. its free on my health insurance so why not. also ive been doing research on health insurances in the UK, we will have to get one for when doctor applies for his residence card, since i am 'self sufficient' EU citizen. i got really good service from this insurance broker and they found a cheap one so we will probably go with that. its £84/month.


meze dinner with Carina the other night.

my new favorite lunch take away place, Manca. they are on yemeksepeti but always bring the weekly menu, of course they a lot of if i call and order directly. so i try to do that. they have a lot of veggie options and i usually order 2 small things, which makes for one lunch. importantly, the foods are not drowning in oil, as is often the case with turkish 'home food'.

this 15tl/5eur plate is from the above restaurant. not the most inventive, but if you want healthy vegetarian lunch food (ie. not just cards and fats), your options are very slim. i was happy with this portion.

bought this swedish toothbrush the other way. supposedly ecological and blah blah...  (Humble Brush).

there is this tension in the air though and some people believe something worse than the coup could happen sometime soon. but there are no actual "signs" that you could count on. plus, stuff like coups dont really announce themselves beforehand.