wak up and smell the coffee

something that always freaks people out is when i explain that instead of drinking coffee, which is a perfectly acceptable way to wake yourself up, i pop caffein pills. this is more so with foreigners that never heard of caffein pills, in finland they are common knowledge. the idea of a "pill" just associates to drugs and medicine pretty strongly. ive taught myself slowly to enjoy coffee with milk and sweetener, but a true coffee person would call it a sweet milk drink tainted with coffee. either way, im not going to bother making coffee, waiting for it to cool down and drink it in order to get my fix. the wonderful thing about it is that is has a placebo effect sometimes! like, i am tired and fatigued, but just taking the caffein pill energizes me, because i suppose i then already look forward to 'waking up'. 100mg/one cup of coffee doesnt have that strong of an effect on a person who is used to caffein on daily basis anyway, so the added placebo effect is very welcome.

for a couple days now its been around 18-19C here and the air is chilly, almost brisk. fall is coming. BUT the weather forecast says it will go up to 28C for next week again which is very nice as miss R is coming!! woohoo! friends! party! finnishness!

once again i find myself thinking, wow, im making so much notes of the weather, i really must be old!!

last night i was out with people from the office.we had a good time and found ourselves at a big private event, someone had a contact there. theyd paid the restaurant for 200 people but only 100 came - so we were welcome to abuse the free drinks/food menu. while watching the exotic belly dancers.



















walking down to Karaköy.

a guy sitting on the steps of istiklal street's tram doorway.  closing the doors of moving vehicles is for fools?

















near Taksim square last night 

ive been looking out for some kind of VPN or proxy software or similar to help my life, the amount of sites banned in turkey is just growing and the workarounds are tiring. im currently testing Astrill, it seems very pro and yet easy.

have to call it a night

tough day at work. requires relaxing by tv at home.

there is a new reality show Hot Set, a contest for movie set designers. not super exciting though... however ill watch pretty much anything for brain emptying purposes. just not thoughtful, intelligent movies, no mam.


there is obviously a football game tonight, the crowd outside is SO loud, it cant be even basketball. last night i put earplugs in my ears, waking up to thunder the previous night ruined *everything* for me. so i slept like baby. now i wonder if i can have another night like that. statistically unlikely.

i found this blog - Istanbul's stranger - well written and familiar experiences from this woooonderful city.

looking around xx

this is the view from a rooftop bar we were at last week. in Taksim.  nice bar.

doctors lightning earring.

"adam gibi bira" is the new slogan of Tuborg. "men like beer". err. women might like it too! and turkish women might like it even if its marketed to men. sexist & obnoxious.

last saturday there was a siege on bar street. they said it happened on friday too. and generally often lately. they are not supposed to have tables on the street, its the new rule. the bars got a heads up and in 15min the whole street was emptied of tables and chairs. but when the police cars and truck finally arrived, they still found something to confiscate (tables),  they filled the whole street and stopped traffic and caused a bit of an uprisal, people started shouting, clapping, making a fuss...the street was full of police cars, people stood there with drinks only and i heard chanting like "go away! go away!". the police is not well liked. but really...i heard so many stories of this situation, with the religious party's secret plans and without...its hard to know whats true in this country.

another short roadtrip summary

some reflections on the trip. the whole route ate gas worth 470tl/210e. not so much from a european perspective but quite a bit for turks.

while touristic destinations are touristic, and fake adidas shops dont make for a great view, im still drifting in my memories of the food and wine variety there. argh, must order sushi now. also it was interesting to have staff everywhere speak english. i stubbornly stuck with my turkish though now that i speak some. 

in Kusadasi we stayed in the most wonderful and relaxing hotel, Villa Konak, which VV & spouse recommend, they stayed there earlier this year.  its surprising to find such a peaceful and quiet place in a fairly central location. it was no kids hotel, i guess that does it :D the pool was usually empty and the self service bar right next to it added to the comfort. we had a great time and stayed an extra night just cos it was sooo nice. needless to stay the rooms were good and it was overall good value for money, ive stayed in much shabbier places (in turkey) for more money.

one thing that struck me was how one food is above all others - köfte (grilled meatballs). i probably saw hundreds of roadside ads and restaurants just advertizing with köfte. köfte here, köfte there. i realize its an easy food for a roadside restaurant for example to make, but somehow youd think that in a country with a fairly large variety of foods, there would be others too. if i was a tourist just driving around, id think turkey only has one food. americans are pretty fixated on hamburgers but i think there are restaurants advertizing steaks and pizza also. ok, useless to compare 2 very different kind of nations. maybe east of turkey would be different, but somehow i doubt it. the prevalence of köfte is visible in istanbul too, there are maaany köfte restaurants around. i eat everything but i have to say i dont like köfte. it must be the spices because meat in itself is meat, and meatballs in general are good.

probably the worst hotel bathroom we had along the way. but the place was cheap :D

on the deck of a tour boat. super clean turquoise water and warm sun. i slept there on the deck under my towel (my head inside doctors t-shirt full full cover).

at the beach.... 

sunset in bodrum. the restaurants by the seaside offer a nice view.

this is the tan i have been whining about, my arm next to my chest. sure, there is always a difference but this is pretty drastic. 

i still didnt upload pics on Flickr. i feel lazy.

alkaa olee nälkä. tilaan ruokaa.

vein kenkiä suutarille ja kävin ostamassa miehelle korvakoruja. 2kpl hopeistä eli teräksistä tai mitä lie salamaa. se hukkaa ne aina. sitten se ostaa läjän jotain aika kamalia joita en approvaa, eikä se sitten niitä paljon käytäkään vaan alkaa ikävöimään salamaansa. montakohan niitä on jo ostettu? ei se haittaa mutta aika hyvin se saa ne hukattua, mietin vain :)

tänään tuntuu taas ihan kuin kesä olisi tullut takaisin. lämmintä piisaa. ja säkkituolikaupan setä - jota seuraan ikkunasta - on palannut töihin, se oli koko kesän poissa ja mua ihmetytti se kovasti. eilen kun tulin töistä ja se olikin kauppansa edensä ja vilkutti jo kaukaa mulle niin kävelin suoraan sinne kysymään missä se on ollu. lomilla Marmariksessa ja Alanyassa. totesin että aika pitkä loma. se sanoi että no hän on jo 65. no joo...mutta aika harvalla yrittäjällä on silti varaa tommosiin lomiin. iästä riippumatta kaupan pitäminen on yleensä 12/7 homma. kulmassa olevaa kiskanpitäjäsetäähän mä kyllä myös vahdin, sen pojat on alkanu välillä olee siellä myöhäisiä iltoja. sillon se kun se oli yksin siellä kioskissaan 8:30-01 olin vähän hämmentynyt.
lääkäri tuli aamulla töistä. mulla on siis iltaan asti aikaa puuhailla jolloin herättelen sen. sitten tekisi kovasti mieli mennä ulos syömään, mezejä & rakia...miksei. olen vihdoin opetellut rakiin. vaikka ei se suosikkeihin kuulu. fantaa jos siihen sekottaa ni menee ok, mutta paikalliset katsoo kauhusta jäykkänä kun heidän pyhää juomaansa raiskataan. aina.

tomorrow is nail polish day

the week passed with me thinking i dont have time to blog, although i thought about blogging. on wednesday i was out with finnish girls (found a new wine bar, with good prices, omg! Solera near galatasaray), the rest of the week was together-time with doctor. he has finally a slightly better schedule. and here i was, almost used to my life as a widow...  last night we watched Magic Mike. harmless fun. at work, this week brought me new challenges with HR stuff, its a learning experience... i would like to imagine that im learning, too.

i am very puzzled by the question of whether the front loading ferries or side loading ferries are faster to 'load' (people/minute). i just cant find the info. and i am thinking thats because its not really that important...:( its a different business with the airlines - i just googled up this 'airline loading time article' i read a long time ago and which i still remember as i keep thinking on it.

extreme muslims are up in arms all over. oh god. not again. i think no one has even seen this bloody movie, possibly not even the rioters themselves. nobody wants to see it. no one cares. i dont care. i wish everyone would just shut up, sit down, go back to work, concentrate on their families and prayers and ...yeah.

an image of istanbul, from space. very pretty, depicts the city well.

one of my surprises this week was an email response from a new freelancer, after i wrote to her.  her email ended with
"By the way - my daughter nearly just fainted when she heard who had sent me an e-mail. She absolutley loves your art work." 
im surprised this mother recognized my name enough to inform her daughter. or i dont know what happened. pretty weird anyway. but surely it made me happy. why would someone assume that a person with the same name is *that* person they think? my name is rare but foreigners wouldnt know about that.

i decided to watch Teddybear now. the danish have a way with movies. some friends went to thailand this summer. they loved it. everyone seems to. im very curious, i should definitely go.

tomorrow i want to find new good music, take care of some practical paperwork and read a book.

pyyhkiytyvät lomat

meiksi ei jaksa edes lomajuttuja blogata kun on niin poikki. vaikka sunnuntai meni mukavasti lepäillessä & vikaa lomapäivää viettäessä (aamiainen ulkona, sit nettiä, sit siivottiin yhdessä, sit kokattiin yhdessä, sit katottiin telkkaa yhessä, sit lisää nettiä...)  niin oli aika hyvä stressi töistä jo valmiiksi. en sit nukkunu kunnolla ja aamun sarastaessa huomasin kaivavani yöpöydän laatikosta silmälaput! ja unenpöpperössä yhden korvatulpan myös, mutta sitten piti nukkua toinen korva kiinni tyynyssä. aamun valoisuus ja kaupungin herääminen siis yhtäkkiä häiritsi.


selvisin työpäivästä kuitenkin hengissä, sain sähköpostilaatikon jopa melkeen tyhjäksi. uudet HR management tyypiset haasteet tietty taas odotti mutta kuten ei muulloinkaan niin ei niistä sen enempää.



mut oon aika väsy joo. huomenna tulee kai yks couchsurfing vieras, iranilainen perheenisä joka tulee etsimään asuntoa perheelleen pariks päiväks. kyseli kovasti jo alueista ja hinnoista ja laeista ja maksuista. osasta tiedän jotain, osasta en. mutta jos joku aloittaa kysymällä että "mistäpäin istanbulia mun kantsis hankkia asunto 3-henkiselle perheelleni??" niin mitä siihen sit sanoo? öö, riippuu minkäkokoisen hellan haluut? ei edes ollu selvää haluuko vuokraa vai ostaa. annoin jotain linkkejä ja yritin työntää siis internetin suuntaan. toki autan mielellään käytännön jutuissa mut jos pitää alottaa ihan nollasta...  selvitti myöhemmin tilantarvetta ja et koulu pitäs olla lähellä lapselle ja noin mut siis 16miljoonan ihmisen kaupungissa on niitä sopivankokoisia asuntoja, ja koulujakin on oikeesti aika monta. voisin tietty osoittaa jonkun yhden kadun jonkun tietyn koulun vierestä. mulla on aika turhat syyt turhautua. mun muka-loogisuus on niin kaikenpeittävää ja anteeksiantamatonta ja yksisilmäisen tuomitsevaa että oksat pois.

jonain päivänä voisin tehdä töitä kaupungin tai kunnan jonain liikennesuunnittelijana. tai joku sallinen. aikataulut, liikenteenjärjestely ja liikenteenohjaus on musta kiehtovia, niin että se palvelee ihmisiä ja olisi samalla kustannustehokasta jne.

muistelin että olin joskus lomilla Artun kaa Berliinissä. mutta siihen se muistelu jää kun en muista reissusta juuri mitään paitsi mitä on valokuvissa. enkä edes juonut alkoholia sillon. no, en muista monista muistakaan reissuista muista mitää. ehkei sillä ole väliä.  tämä tuore reissu on nyt vielä muistissa mutta katoaa kai ajan kanssa. jäljellä jää ilmeisen pysyvä rusketus. ei se oikeen edes katoa talvella. mä haluun mitä michael jackson käytti.

in short

home once again...  being away for a bit refreshes the mind for sure.

we had a nice drive around the coast area and returned home 1 day early. its nice to have a day at home before returning to work...   and what better welcome than to find a kitty on the door steps of the building, and feed her with the kibbles i carry around in my bag...

i did some driving too on the way, as planned. i learned that i definitely dont like night driving, with cars on both lanes i had to use low beams and i felt like i couldnt see anything.

we stayed nights in Cinarcik, Ayvalik, Kusadasi, Bodrum and Akhisar. my deep and truthful analysis follows.
Cinarcik is a typical small & 'slow' turkish summer city, with one or 2 old fashioned discos and people walking by the seaside eating sunflower seeds. guys with pimped motorbikes showing them off to each other.
Ayvalik is a more popular holiday destination, but i think mainly amongst turks. a lot of touristic shops with design items also (especially in Cunda area i could have wondered around longer), very cute small streets between old buildings, fish restaurants, beaches and tourist-priced hotels.
Kusadasi is a tourist destination in every meaning of the word, but mainly among the british, german and dutch. no turks to be seen except working. full of fake-this and fake-that shops, hassling and a great variety of international foods and british cider but the prices are mindblowing (the europeans have money so why not?)
Bodrum is THE tourist destination though. with a mix of upper class turks and british and scandinavians also. a balance of turkish and international cuisine, its easy to find something good, although prices are higher again. beaches and brand shopping are available.
Akhisar is a backwards conservative worn out town which is worth seeing for the sake of seeing a backwards conservative worn out town.

sun, pools, beaches and relaxing in Bodrum

I think I got unintentionally very tanned. other than that, the roadtrip is going well. we went via Ayvalik and Kusadasi to Bodrum. Bodrum is where the rich and famous Turks come to party and show off. and British teenagers. luckily that reflects in the menus and I'm enjoying international dishes and great wines.

I'll reflect more later, now PORK burger and champagne are waiting!!!!!

googling for roadtrip

a few hours left before we get going, so its a perfect time to do some research! i am googling the car ferry schedule to cross the Sea of Marmara over to Yalova, driving around would take a lot of time. doctor left the car in Kartal this morning, so we can take the new metro back to it and then hop on a ferry in Pendik with it.

from Yalova on we don't know where to go :) we have maps and thats good enough. maybe ill take over the wheel, have doctor sleep in the backseat and we will end up somewhere...  i might well miss a few highway exits or not be able to switch lanes where needed so its a bit of a gamble!

the yellow area is approximately where i assume we are heading. some optional places circled in red. 

gas will be ur biggest cost easily, as its is so expensive. the linked piece of news is from 2008 but the facts have not changed, only prices have gone even further up.



this movie; This Must Be the Place seems interesting...  Sean Penn is always great.

holiday lalalala

holidaaaaaaayyyy. ive started off alone, doctor gets out of work tomorrow morning.  i met Elin for lunch on Bagdat caddesi. damn its a nice area, and crazy expensive! the food was good though, but i dont think i could afford to live there. not that i would want to switch my scrubby noisy kadiköy to any other place ever...  well, we'll see. anyway it was nice to see her, its been a while. she is pregnant so we talked about turkish families and traditions and how they differ, ive already read about it on some forums. scandinavian traditions on baby care are somewhat different. 

i went out really late to meet Cansu, Umut etc. hanging out on the street with them is a party in itself, people will stop over and say hi. we were having some drinks sitting on the street and then went to Zincir. nice night. i talked to Cagri about the sociological effects of porn, and whether there can be *anything* feminist in mainstream porn. i was talking about James Deen, of course.



i love the istanbul ferries. they connect much more than 2 continents. the european side has its own traits, but the asians feel just as strongly about their lot. and so many people everyday cross the water to the other side. rain or shine, the ferries run. that one time in the year when the sea traffic is on halt - u can count on the weather being really bad. the last storm, i think it was in the spring, had trucks falling over and building constructions collapsing (nothing quite spells like 'welcome earthquake' so well).

unlike any other schedule in turkey, the ferry schedules hold. gotta love that. the schedules are interlaced perfectly.

IDO is operating Istanbul ferries and boats. either way, with 103 ships its the largest commuter ferry operator in the world. they have a mix of old and new ships. i like the old feel and look of the older boats, not to mention names. they are often named after important figures in Turkish history. like Baris Manco the rock star. here is the boat. capacity 2100, which sounds like a lot to me, it doesnt dont seem SO big. 

the ferries have to mingle in the strait with the huge yachts and tankers and containers. i follow the them a bit. same names keep appearing, Yang Ming for example. and Green Guatemala.
this map shows the vessels in the area now. bosphorus traffic.


what bothers me on CSI, besides the chauvinism and patronizing and conservatism and ...  is that they rarely if ever call the medics/ambulance for someone wounded. they just sit there, talk to the victim and wait them to die.

im now down to the british version of Shark tank; Dragon's Den.  the enterpreneurs are just utterly pathetic most of the time, unable to open to open their mouth.