31 Ekim 2018 Çarşamba

End of an Era, Good-bye Abu Dhabi

Wow it has been exactly 12 years and 8,5 months since I came to live in this country on 30th Sept 2005 until I left on 21st June 2018.

I spent all my 30 sth years and first 3 years of my forties. That is a lot, that is huge. I don't want to say my best years but these ages are good. To this moment I still do not know whether it was good that I was in Abu Dhabi all these years or not.
Yes I worked since the day I came to this country that means I made money and saved money and lived comfortably.
I felt safe in this country I knew my house and car will never be robbed and I would not be attacked by a random guy. I knew there won't be any earthquake. Things like that.
It was a cosmopolitan city and I liked meeting people all over the world.
I loved the fact that streets are clean (kind of) buildings are new, everything is luxurious. I loved the fact that you can stay in a good nice 5 star hotel and you can easily afford it.
Food was good, all international good food with good service.
I loved the idea that you can have a maid affordable and they can be really good that you feel grateful having them in your life.
It was great to have 30 business days as holiday and being in Aisa gave me the chance to travel Aisa and see other countries I would not have chance to see maybe if I was living in Turkey.

I loved the idea that I never needed to count how much I was spending and pampering myself without thinking twice and live in a tax free environment.

Was that enough to have a happy and fulfilling life, I don't know.
I missed good weather, nature. I missed living in a civilized country where you know everyone is equal and you know the law applies to everyone. I missed the opportunity to hold another passport cause in this country you cannot get their passports.

Now in London I am living the disadvantages of Abu Dhabi but am I happier? Not... yet. Why, cause I do not have maid and pay cheque. Yes simple as that. These are the main two important elements missing in my life. I think I can get used to not having a full time helper if I can organize myself according to that but one needs money to live and enjoy this damn city, that is given.

Kizim 9 yasinda

Her sene yaziyordum dogumgununde ama bu sene yazamadim. O yuzden daha 10 olmadan bir seyler karalamak istedim. Zira iki rakamlara gelmesine cok az kaldi, tek yas olmasinin tadini cikarmak istiyor bu anlarimi hatirlamak ve hic unutmamak istiyorum, sanki iki rakamlara gecince cocukluktan cikacak. Istiyorum ki yavas yavas buyusun cok hizli geciyor hatta hic buyumesin. Onun her halini cok ozluyorum. 9 yasinda cok sey yasadi kuzum benim. Cok zor gunler gecirdi cok guzel anlari da oldu.

Oncelikle babasi yaninda degildi dogumgununde onun hasreti girdi araya is nedeniyle Londra'ya tasininca babasi, kuzumun 5 yasinda yasadigi kaderi tekrarlandi. 8 ay babasiz kaldi.

Sonra tasinacagimizi ogrendigi icin cok uzuldu cok agir yasadi, agladi. Alismasi mumkun olamadi hele o Abu Dhabi'deki son gunlerimiz, esyalarimiz toplandiginda, okuluna veda ettiginde, arkadaslarina ve ogretmenine son kec hoscakal dediginde, bakicisina sarilip ayrildiginda agladiginda, evini biraktiginda son kez cikarken nasil agladi, duygulandi, uzuldu. Kapidan cikarken elektrik dugmesine varana kadar bye bye dedi, bye bye kapi, bye bye duvar, bye bye guvenlik gorevlisi, bye bye tuvalet ...agladi uzuldu. Uzuldum cok ama onu yeterince anlamadim, ben gitmek icin sabirsizlandim ama onun icin oyle degildi o mutluydu ve orasi onun eviydi. Hep ama cok daha guzel olacak ama cok daha iyi bir yer orasi ama Abu Dhabi'de olmayan hersey orda var gibi anlayissiz davrandim. Halbuki tek duymak istedigi evini, okulunu, arkadaslarini, Ana'yi, bu sehri ve daha bir cok sevdigin mekani ozleyeceksin biliyorum cok uzucu demekti, neyseki dedim onu da, ne zaman duygularini anlasam ve kabul etsem ise yariyor zaten. Bizler saniriz ki uzulcek ne var sacmalama cok daha iyi olacak, korkacak bir sey yok diyerek karsimizdakine yardim ediyoruz. Halbuki onun hissettiklerini inkar etmek ve hissettiklerini gormezden gelmekten baska bir ise yaramaz.

Zaman zaman uzuluyor ve bazen agliyor ve ben Abu Dhabi'yi mi ozledin tatlim dedigimde tam yarasina basmis oluyorum hi hi diyor boynu bukulyor ama onu anlayan bir annesi oldugu icin de rahatliyor.

Dogumgununde onu balina ile yuzmeye goturdum.
devami sonra

23 Ekim 2018 Salı

Dulwich

We went to visit this place on 20th October 2018 Saturday.

Apparently we were about to live in that area and for me thanks god my husband could not find a nice house and the school did not have space for my daughter. Having said that being closer to my husband's work and sending my daughter to public school would have saved us some headaches but I don't know what is good and what is bad for us anymore.
It is a nice village but oh boy was full of small kids and I found it very boring. It is very family oriented place and it is on the south of London. It is close to Canary Warf. You need to use the over ground train to reach London Bridge and then you can take underground train after London Bridge. Or we took bus on our way back to go to Brixton and from there we took underground train.
It is green and nice. The Italian restaurant we had lunch was not good at all Rocca, it was disappointment.
After lunch we went to Horniman Museum and Gardens. The museum is small but entertaining for kids even my daughter who does not like museums liked it.

Dulwich park is very nice and big. There is a park for small kids and it was full of them so we did not go near by. It is small for my kid anyway but I think this place is good with families who has small kids.

From the garden up on the hill you can view city of London and Tower of London, it has good view.
It is a good getaway. 

18 Ekim 2018 Perşembe

Gift Ideas in London


I will be making a list of the gift ideas when I visit my country or over the seas. Why? So I can remember them and it can come very handy and saves me time to think about what to buy and hopefully save me some pennies, as Brits say something cheap and cheerful.

Wittara Tea Shop They have peanut butter chocolate tea and  sticky toffee pudding flavor white hot chocolate was so yummy . Chocolate popcorn was interesting but the taste was not that great the smell was great though. One box costs 8 pounds and they have cute boxes. You can but other type of teas and tea equipment as well.They have a taste of tea sets as gift as well. They have Alice in Wonderland series is very pretty for a gift.


12 Ekim 2018 Cuma

London... Places to Visit

Westminster- Embankment

It is amazing to walk by Thames River especially in a nice weather

Tower of London

Buckingham Palace
next to Green Park
nearest station is Green Park station

Green Park
It is very nice and next to Buckingham Palace

St James's Park

When you walk across Buckingham Palace you will see it, they are technically next to each other parted by a road.
I walked through Horse Quards and through Westminster and came to The Mall

The Mall
You can see these anormous horses ride by police man and women, the horses are amazing so cool.
You can walk towards to Leicter Square and Covent Garden from here.
I walked on London Bridge, it has no special structure comparing to Tower Bridge.

From there I walked through Waterloo Bridge, South Bank, National Theatre, Hayward Gallery
then to Tate Modern and Southwark and Borough Market and Shakespeare's Globe, London Bridge, Tower London, Tower Hamlets- Tower Hills-Tower Bridge, 


Borough Market
I met Leo there and it was a great excuse to see this place. Check their website before visiting cause some days they are closed or some of the stands are open only. It is amazing, lots of nice food, fruit, vegetable, wine, cheese, sea food and many more. There is a Turkish stand as well. You can take cooking class and buy kitchen stuff as well. There is a coffee opposite of it which I did not know when I went there but so going to try when I go next time and yes I am so going back  there many times I hope.


Hamstead Heath, Camden Belsize Park, Kenwood (The movie Belle was filmed in this country house which is a museum and you can visit for free and also the short part of  Nothing Hill Gate movie was shot at this place too) It is so green and beautiful with great village and city of London view and it has small hills where you can walk up and down and it has nice lakes where even people can swim and dogs too.  Kenwood is a famous country house and you can have nice lunch the food looked good but a bit expensive I think. This park is a great place for picnics and dogs..
Hamstead Heat is a classy place where you can run into a famous person anytime. They have very nice, delicious restaurants and pubs.
The oldest pub THE SPANIARDS in the history (I believe) since 1585 is there too where people would tie their horses and have their food and drink and continue their way.


Covent Garden 
I took number 24 bus from Hamstead Heat and went all the way towards Leiceter Square, well this is the stop I was supposed to get off but had to get of at UCL, University Collage of London as I needed to take a call. But Covent Garden from that place took around 20 minuets only by walk. I love this place, you can find many great boutique shops, interesting stuff.
There is a shop called Buddha on a Bicycle Yoga (they have meditation and yoga classes as well under the shop) and Capezio where they sell dance clothes and shoes, I lost it in there I wish I was a dancer and had the body, would love to buy something there. I am a dancer actually, I am being harsh on myself, I meant I am not a modern dancer but I am a salsa dancer and Zumba instructor so it does count.
Covent Garden has many attractions from restaurants to coffees, market, stands and hand made stores and many many more. Royal Opera House and many theaters (The Lion King, Theatre Royal and many more) are also nearby. It is very close to Leiceters square. It even has expensive brand shops.
There are many street artist perform their performances.
I remember that place I was there with J and Sanda probably on my last month in London 2000 September or Sugust, there is a pub on the pub overlooks at the big arena where the street dancers performs, I even have a picture of me and J taken by Sanda.
Ben's cookies is there to, it is delicious.


The Notting Hill, Portobello Road, Portobello Market 17 Oct 2018

From pastel-colored houses to vintage shops, to picturesque, delicious restaurants and coffees you will enjoy charming Notting Hill for sure and you will not regret a trip over there where iconic romantic comedy Notting Hill movie shot featuring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. This place became more popular after the film for the film funs and tourists. And this place is not about the famous The Travel Book Co where Julia and Hugh fell in love, (which I by passed but did not know that and I took the wrong book shop's picture, shout! How did I miss that!) and the iconic blue door apparently it was removed and sold at an auction (how selfish is that) you will find plenty of pretty places for sure. 

I loved this place and I don't know why I was not impressed when I first visited 18 years ago and I never went back until 17th Oct 2018, obviously I did not know where to go and look back then. There was no internet on my phone and at home internet was not that available and so annoyingly slow anyways. Though days how did we even survive!:-) Imagine not being able to check the reviews on a restaurant before going or not knowing all the hidden gems? Still I allow myself to get lost on the streets and walk all the narrow streets the streets does not look appealing in the end and still walk to see if that goes anywhere nice and interesting. But doing your homework before visiting still saves you lost of time that is for sure. 

I got of the train at Earl's Court. This is what I usually do I go to nearest Piccadilly Line stop (cause the nearest train station to my house is Piccadilly Line) and from there I walk to the destination  I want to unless it is very far or I do not have time. I don't like changing lines and walking the stairs within the station and waiting for the next train to arrive and remember that London train timings can change any get cancelled any time. So if I can walk why not walk?
This way along the way I get to discover new places as well. I walked through Holland Park which is very nice and I like walking and watching the dogs. So it was a very pleasant walk. 

I loved Portobello road and the market and bear in your mind I only went there during the week. On Saturday it is a different story I heard. The food market was missing for example. I love street food and they were closed during the week and they have more stands on weekends, so I am so going back there on Saturday despite the fact that it will be crowded which I don't mind...

They have great vintage shops and even the charity shops is much better than what I have found Harrow on the hill area. Obviously the people live around that area has more money and even more taste so the second hand items looked good. More expensive than harrow on the hill prices but it is worth paying that difference.

There was this Portobello Fashion Boutique shop I loved that one and wanted to but everything in that store. It was not that expensive but not that cheap either. They have nice stylist clothes made in Italy mainly and French.

The restaurants looked so good as well. There is one Italian restaurant looked really good and cute, it is called Portobello Garden Arcade Italian cafeteria home made food. There are some street food as well and the one is called Gecko Street is so cool. What makes it cool is the staff work there, one girl one man and they play amazing music and dance while they are working and they made me want to go and dance with them. They were really enjoying the music and having fun while working. Unfortunately I was not hungry at that time so did not try their food but with their mood and energy I am so going to visit them again. You can fallow them on geckoonportobello insta page.

Farm Girl Their rose latte sounded so good I decided to wait 50minuets to have my coffee there. Hmm it was ok but I need to remember to ask my coffee extra hot in this country. I did not have that issue in Abu Dhabi cause I used to have my coffee usually and only at work and the guy works at Coffee Planet was brilliant. He was making the best coffee for me. His colleagues was not the same, he know exactly how I liked it. Hot, rich, full... I miss my cappuccino. Here I choose latte cause cappuccino is so less and full of milk foam I don't even taste the coffee itself and enjoy it even I take the big size and usually it is lukewarm, why? Anyway the breakfast menu looked good but I was not hungry again so did not try but would love to go for the breakfast. It looked like that they serve delicious food. It's a photo-worthy double shot latte with rose water infused milk and rose petals. They have rose matcha tea as well.

Biscuit Boutique  They have the cuties window and cookies probably, it is so cute you have to go and take a picture and visit the shop and admire the cookies. I am not sure if they tasted as good as they look but I would love to try their one of few cakes there. It is a great gift idea as well as they have theme cookies. It is near Halloween so they had sweet Halloween themes cookies along with new born baby, thank you etc. themes. 

St. Luke's Mews They say it is hidden gems of Portobello Road. It was cute and short but not sure if I covered it all. It has a nice pink house which was very picturesque. I believe the weekend that area would be more lively as there are some pubs and coffees.

Codrington Mews It is nice and interesting but not as pretty as St Luke's Mews, still worth walking by.

Alice I think everybody loves this place and I am sure everyone take a photo of this colorful, interesting gift shop. It is very picturesque and entertaining.

Arancina Pizza They have cute window decoration pizza on a nice cute car. It looks good and worth trying. This place is very close to Notting Hill Station just before you come to the main street.

Sittara This place looks so good with lots of different items to buy, accessories mainly.

Doughnut Time In this small shop they have around maybe 16 different types of doughnuts the ones I never seen before, they looked big, filling and so yummy. It took me only 10 minuets to decide which one to buy and when I decided, I was  devastated to find out they only accept card and I had no card so I could not try. By just writing about it makes my mouth watery. One of the names of the doughnuts are; Love at first bite, It is always gay time, Bellatwix Estrange, Life on Mars, The O.G., Houston we have biscoff, Sia Later, Stranger Rings, Captain America...How creative are they.

Hampton Court Palace This palace is amazing and the road I took from Kingeston Upon Thames to Hampton was awesome. By the river you see amazing houses and so green and pleasant for a long walk.

Richmond Park Oh my, this park is huge and so beautiful. You get to see deers as well. It is mesmerizing.

19 October 2018

Europe's Longest Champagne Bar
What a place I loved this station, this bar is good, the food looked good, oyster plate is 60 dollars and I had only 25 pounds in my pocket and zero balance on my Oyster card so I made the sensible choice and decided to pay 19 pounds on a glass of champagne and luckily they gave me 3 olives so I can drink with a full stomack! I was thinking I can leave 1 pound as tip and with the rest of 5 pounds I can top up my oyster card but they added the tip and charged me 21.38 pounds (bastards!) and I was left less than 5 pounds luckily I found an ATM at the station, I had a small panic attack on how to get back to house to be on time to pick up my daughter.
It is big, it is cool, you should try, nice selection of champagne not that I understand but it had to be...

St Pancras Station

This station is so beautiful inside and outside. There is The meeting place statue it is also called the kiss and Betjeman sculpture (art and artwfacts) and the longest champagne bar and its structure is cool and it is huge and many shops and coffees. There is a quote saying I wait my time with you written in pink under the huge clock it is a cool expression suits a station.


Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station 


This station has a cool structure as well.

Inside there is Harry Potter's platform where he took his train with his trolley. There is a huge que just to take a picture with trolley but it was free but did not have time, You can take its picture alone. There is an amazing Harry Potter gift shop, it looked so good but it is expensive. In front of the station there is a food market, everything looked yo yummy, really they know how to have a food court in this country.

The British Library

It is huge and spectacular, so many people there with their laptop working, reading.
It is huge and has long high ceiling and very specious. It has a cafeteria and a gift shop.
Outside has a nice piazza ( a public square). The bronze sculpture is cool at the entrance of the library which is called Newton or newton after Blake. It is a work of Eduardo Paolozzi in 1995. It is very close to St King's Cross underground.

Tate Modern Gallery I love this museum, I love modern art, there are different exhibition through out the year. 


Shad Tower Observatory Deck gorulmeye deger, you have to have a drink or two and watch sunset, it has great view. I went with my daughter. There is nothing to eat accept the candies and chips so make sure you eat something and go just before the sun set. 




London... Wining & Dining

I want to keep all the places I have tried or would like to try here for the future reference for me, friends and my readers...

Phat Phuc Noodle Bar, Chelsea 1 Sept 2018
This is the place Adnan found and my husband loves cause it is cheap and cheerful. It is like more self service street food stand rather than a proper restaurant actually and has outside sitting under trees which was good but very simple.
It was nice but I had to go to toilet after a while urgently so not sure if I would try it again although the food was good really and nothing happened to others including my daughter.
The Chelsea Courtyard (coffee & cocktails) looked very nice just next to this restaurant and the jazz music was nice, would love to try this place next time.

Pizzicotto, Italian 16 Sept 2018
It is a family run Italian restaurant with a simple cosy decor and they have nice Italian food, I had pizza and my daughter had mussels and they have many starters. I and my friend had stomach issue and the only thing we eat in common was aubergine starter so not sure if that was the guilty.
267 Kensington High street, Kensington, London W8 6NA. I tried it on 16 Sept 2018. It gets busy so reservation is required and they open at 6 pm for dinner.
The kids liked the food. My daughter almost finished whole big size pizza.
We tried with two family friends.

The Churchill Arms, 23 Sept 2018
Kensington, London W8 7LN
This is a typical pub but we did not eat at the pub instead we had it next to Thai restaurant within the pub. I did not understand the concept but they are in the same area and connected to each other but everything else is different, the food, service, waiters (they were a bit rude or lost in English language I am not sure), it was cheap relatively. You need to eat and go as the place is popular and they don't appreciate you staying longer after you are done with your food, how do I know? From the eyes were staring on us. We tried it with two family friends. I had noodles with prawns, prawns were good.

Borough Market, 3 Oct 2018
This is where we met Leona. It is superb, they have many street foods and stands.  Paella and oyster bars looked amazing, unfortunately I was not hungry so did not try anything accept coconut mini pancakes which was delicious. You can buy fruits and vegetables,  cheese and taste wine and many more. They have Turkish stand as well.
The nearest station is London Bridge.
You can go here to have lunch or dinner after visiting Tate Art Museum and Shakespeare's Globe. It is close to London Bridge and you can walk through the London bridge and all the way towards Tower of London (you need to pay to go in) and Tower Hamlets (you can just walk by unless you want to go up then you need to pay.  There are many nice restaurants and coffees near Tate.

Hoppers, St Christopher's Place, Sri Lankan food 4 Oct 2018
Very close to Bond Street station and this area is very nice and posh. There are many nice, expensive shops.
I loved the food, very spicy though. I went with school mums. It was supposed to be plant based lunch but we ended up having lamb as well but to be honest I prefer going veg in that restaurant.
They are open at 12 pm for lunch. They have nice corners table for 6 people, we sit 12 people in the same area but did not wanted to separate. They have authentic serving plates with music. We tried almost everything on the menu. I loved the bread, the idly bread and the rice bread with eggs and they have another one which is huge very thin though that was obsoletely yummy.
Egg hopper and string hopper and idle breads are amazing.
0203 3198110
77 Wigmore Street W1U 1QE

Garden Gate, Hamstead, 11 Oct 2018
I went to this place with E, it is a pub, the food was ok but nothing amazing, they have a nice big garden but I am disappointed with the size of the burgers. 

Ben's Cookies, Covent Garden 11 Oct 2018
I tried peanut butter, milk chocolate cookie and it was amazing. They have around 10 different types of them and the one I paid was 1.71 pounds.They have buy 5 get 2 or buy 8 get 2 cookies free options. They are really tasty and all they sell is cookies and some drinks. That is it and very popular.

Mazi, Greek Restaurant
Hillgate Street W8 7SR London
Autumn warmers: Fava bean puree with glazed pearl onions and spicy, tropita, filo pastry, leeks and honey.
Octopus with cheap peas or with lentil
Salads and many more. I have not tried sadly as I could not join the school mums for the lunch meeting but next time I will as they choose good places.

Oklava, Modern Turkish Restaurant

My friend highly recommended this place as she says it is Turkish fashion style and amazing combinations of culinary tradition.
77 Luke Street, London

Kayseri, Oklava's sister brunch
My friend suggested.

The Old Bank of England, City of London, Fleet street, Westminster
This pub is amazing and their steak pis is to die for apparently, the inside was huge and it has superb high ceilings, the decoration is mesmerizing.
It is close to Temple station.


Farm Girl Their rose latte sounded so good I decided to wait 50minuets to have my coffee there. Hmm it was ok but I need to remember to ask my coffee extra hot in this country. I did not have that issue in Abu Dhabi cause I used to have my coffee usually and only at work and the guy works at Coffee Planet was brilliant. He was making the best coffee for me. His colleagues was not the same, he know exactly how I liked it. Hot, rich, full... I miss my cappuccino. Here I choose latte cause cappuccino is so less and full of milk foam I don't even taste the coffee itself and enjoy it even I take the big size and usually it is lukewarm, why? Anyway the breakfast menu looked good but I was not hungry again so did not try but would love to go for the breakfast. It looked like that they serve delicious food. It's a photo-worthy double shot latte with rose water infused milk and rose petals. They have rose matcha tea as well.

Biscuit Boutique  They have the cuties window and cookies probably, it is so cute you have to go and take a picture and visit the shop and admire the cookies. I am not sure if they tasted as good as they look but I would love to try their one of few cakes there. It is a great gift idea as well as they have theme cookies. It is near Halloween so they had sweet Halloween themes cookies along with new born baby, thank you etc. themes. 

Arancina Pizza They have cute window decoration pizza on a nice cute car. It looks good and worth trying. This place is very close to Notting Hill Station just before you come to the main street. Their web page is www.arancina.co.uk


Zizzi  Italian restaurant we tried on Saturday at 5 pm 13th October. We were looking for a Japanese restaurant but they were closed at that time so ended in here. I had sea food risotto and the soup. The soup called Toscana Soup was amazing, so tasty, very Mediterranean, with lots of olive oil, herbs, tomatoes, leeks, grilled peppers, curly kale and quinoa. They have many other branches as well I went to one is on Paddington street, Marylebone near Baker Street station. My risotto was not bad but I prefer truffle risotto but they did not have that in their menu. It got pretty busy I must say as the other places did not look busy I assume people know the place and like it too.

Doughnut Time In this small shop they have around maybe 16 different types of doughnuts the ones I never seen before, they looked big, filling and so yummy. It took me only 10 minuets to decide which one to buy and when I decided, I was  devastated to find out they only accept card and I had no card so I could not try. By just writing about it makes my mouth watery. One of the names of the doughnuts are; Love at first bite, It is always gay time, Bellatwix Estrange, Life on Mars, The O.G., Houston we have biscoff, Sia Later, Stranger Rings, Captain America...How creative are they.

Vegan 22 This vegan restaurant was awesome, the food was so delicious I can be a vegan. It was very affordable as well. We went for open buffet for lunch and everything I tried was scrumptious.



4 Ekim 2018 Perşembe

Loving London as a Tourist

That is the only thing I enjoy so far.
Going around London, walking, getting lost, discovering new places, revisiting the tourist attractions.
I also joined Blue Badge Tour the school parents organized. You discover a part of the city with a tour guide along with other moms and after the 2 hours of tour you go for lunch with the moms. I had to miss the lunch part cause I had to be home on time to pick my daughter. But there are copule of places I have to try such as ...

First we met at St. Paul's Cathedral. We did not go inside and we started walking around it. He took us to Blackfriars which was the street behind the main street where St Paul's Cathedral. There was a quite court and he showed us the houses there which were affected by the war. He talked about the structure of those houses. Then took us another court which as white buildings and nice and clean and how he talked about us cock fights and how cock pit came from (from the arena where the cocks got fighter, a small round area. They used to be in the pubs and there was a pub was called with same name and has cock statue.
In the city of London we walked to Bridewell Theatre. You can have your lunch here, bring your own food and watch a theatre which is great, our tour guide said when he used to be a banker he would come here in his lunch break.
Then he took us to gin pub where they make gin and famous for that, it looked very nice with the machine and big inside and bar. They have many many different types of gins. I shared the pictures of it on my instagram page.
Then he took us to St Bride's church and how the wedding cake shape come from this church. It does look like wedding cake layers on layers and the guy (can't remember his name) wanted to have a nice gesture for the bride and groom so decided to have many layered wedding cake inspired by the shape of the church. Funny enough this chorus where the weddings took place mainly.
Then we walked towards Fleet Street.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)  and his famous cat HODGE! This guy created the first English to English dictionary and he did an amazing job that still we use his descriptions. One of his house called Dr. Johnson's House is near where the cat statue is, he said sometimes they have candle lit events in that house and it is a must try experience.
"Sir, when a man is tired of London  he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

He showed us The Old Bank of England pub which is famous with its steak pies and he said you have to try, the ladies tried the food at lunch and they said it was good. It has amazing big high feeling decorated inside anyway, you have to see it,

19 Eylül 2018 Çarşamba

Early Days of My Life in London

Here I am... In London second time...
I lived in this country 18 years ago for a year.
I was single, student and living with a family.
This time I live with my family, not working, have a child and house to take care off.
It is a total different experience and I decided that I will write in English sometimes.
I have lived more than 14 years of my life abroad and I have many foreign friends and even though I am not marketing my blog ... yet...I thought if I do one day it may be accessible to more people, so there you go, you have the reason.

Being a dependent housewife:
I have worked all my life, well that is not true since I was 20 years old and I quit my work last June 2018.
I knew it would be hard to be a "housewife" but did not think I would fed up already before I even complete my 3rd week as a housewife.
The house was dirty well it is the kind of the house looks great and clean but when you are in you realize how much work it requires. I scrubbed the millions of fitted wardrobes, kitchen closets and toilets. I finally managed to open all the boxes and organized the rooms and fitted everything in the wardrobes.
And I still need to clean the doors, windows, garage, garden, heater core (this is what google translated I mean kalorifer petekleri) and the carpets... Carpets oh boy how can you clean this on your own , impossible, need to find a professional cleaner and I did not get to that one yet. Also I am being stingy. First I was not even touching the carpets with bare food and terrorizing my daughter you touched the carpets with bare food and now going in the bed?!!!! How could you!?
But I don't want to do any of it anymore, I decided I can try to survive without doing that cause life is short and hopefully we will leave the house soon and move to another more convenient house such as smaller and has no carpet and has wooden floors.
Also life is easier for people who don't care much about cleaning. People like me shorten their life with cleaning, I have a mom with OCD and how crazy it makes her when she fights even with the wind, cause of the wind, the house gets dusty and she can kill my dad when she touched the refrigerator with his wet hands! I can't be like my mom and also I realized that the more I act like my mom the more my daughter ends up like me. I can't do that to her! So she was relieved when I told her you can touch the carpet with your bare food and still go to bed, you should have seen her face. Poor her what have I done to you...

Cleaners:

I was cleaning and at home almost 2 weeks without going out, the only time I went out was weekends and to do grocery shopping. I found a good cleaner and cook but each time she comes she finds all my buttons and pushes them... hard... such as how can you even enjoy in this house and country, there are lots of things to do, you will kill yourself, you will have no time to enjoy, meet your friends a;patrt from cleaning. What is the point in living in this big house if you can't enjoy. You need a full time helper, even that is hardly enough, sometimes people also have cleaner. You will end up cleaning the house all day all week...
Why are you paying so much money on rent, for the rooms you don't even use?! Even rich people are clever they chose better location but live in smaller flats and with less furniture. You have so many furniture, if you don't use why keep them.... and goes like that

By the way she is expensive in this country it is damn expensive and she complains each time she comes to me, you live in zone 5 it cost me extra money, you are too far, you are the only one who is that far... and she remembers to add I like you that is why I come (the underneath message is, I can leave you any time I find the replacement, don't count on me!)

And on our third week she changed the day second time and hoping to have her tomorrow but I know she will dump me as soon as she can. The reason I put up with her despite talking too much, charging too much, complaining and depressing me is; she is a good cook and I need her desperately. Despite everyone says cooking is a phobia for me. I don't know why, it takes time, cleaning after is a drama, they may end up not tasty and even it is tasty your husband and child may not like it and I go furious when they do not appreciate my hard work. So she comes home cooks 6 dishes and clean the kitchen and bathroom, chats, talks and  that 8 hours is over and bye bye 100 pounds.

I still like her cause she gives me ideas on how to cook, what to buy which cloth and detergen is good for cleaning, she is like a mother figure for me. Oh by the way of course she complained on the first day what? you don't have this this brand,? not this cloth, how am I gonna clean the house. You don't have cumin (kimyon?!) you have only red onion, you don't have blender and so goes on.

I realized I have many things are missing or not functioning in my kitchen. How can I function under these conditions so I shut myself even more so I need to do everything to make her happy and depend her more cause she can still cook and clean with whatever she has.

I hope I will love cooking and and I will not be afraid of that and can master how to cook in half an hour and create magics... one day...

I walk here and love walking especially in the nature and our house is in an amazing area where it is so green and quite. I always find myself saying"how beautiful is that I love green and this weather and nature" I admire and definitely not take the nature for granted.

Garbage sorting!
I did not know that it was gonna be a drama in my early weeks.
I did not know when they take which color and shape of bins.
I have 8 different garbage bins, 8!!!
How can a girl coming from a third world country can figure that out in 3 weeks.. I did after my 2nd week cause I had to otherwise I was gonna live in garbage and get fine any time after neighbors complaining about the garbage.
After we moved we had many boxes were not opened yet so I had to empty them and we just threw the boxes (tens of them maybe even 40) randomly next the the bins and one day my neighbor came and warned me nicely that they will not take them unless I flatten them and maybe even tie them with a string and give them tips.
Then I started doing that and it took me ages and thanks to my husband he put some rubbish in some of them so I had to sort that out and they were disgusting. I started to sorting all the trash according to recycling (glass, paper, plastics), garden waste, food waste and normal waste.
Still they did not take the boxes.
One Monday morning I woke up at 6.30 am and started waiting for the garbage men. They came and told me we cannot take it call the council and tell them what you have and they will come and take it of course you will have to pay.  I have to pay for that?! I was so annoyed, I don't want to pay for my rubbish in this expensive country. Luckily the company which moved us agreed to come and take them despite the fact that we missed the 14 days of dead line. Thank you!
I was so relieved and happy when all those boxes gone and I even managed to got rid of some of the things I don't use anymore such as curtains (they were too big and long for this country's windows) and some items do not work or broken. What a relief... In this country you cannot throw anything, you need to pay for people to get rid of stuff, that is why there are companies they come and take your stuff free even though they are in good condition no one will take it otherwise. The second market does not seem very good either cause carrying them is so expensive no one wants them unless they are free.

Shopping: What to buy where to buy, which shop is the cheaper. Food shopping, cloth shopping and all. It takes time to figure them out. I asked friends, I went and looked around, tried different markets. I cannot say still I  have  figured them all but I am getting there. There is a Turkish market which can be a life saver sometimes.
These were the main challenges I have been facing among.... the many others....

14 Ağustos 2018 Salı

2018 Yaz Tatili

Abu Dhabi'den ayrilip Londra'ya gitmeyi beklerken baya bir gezmisiz.

Once Lisbon, sonra Bodrum, Izmir, Sirince, Cesme, Gocek, Fethiye, Kayakoy, Foca, Istanbul arasinda turladik.
Cokta iyi geldi.
Daha gidecek cok yer var...  Turkiye ne guzelmis hep Bodrum'a takilip kalmisiz ne cok sey kacirmisiz.
Dalaman, Mugla, Marmaris, Koycegiz, Gokova, Hisar Onu, Ortaca, Olu Deniz, Fethiye civari bir suru yer var ve asagilara inip Kas, Antalya , Mardin, Gaziantep ve daha once gitmek isteyip gidemedigim bir cok yere gitmeyi cok istiyorum sonra yukarlara cikip, Canakkale, Eskisehir ve civari, tekrar Kapadokya yapmak, Edirne ve Trakya'yi gezmek...

Ulkenin icine daha da edilmeden gidip gormek lazim cennetten koseleri.

Hem Avrupa'yi gordum hem Amerika'yi hem Asya'yi yani dunyayi gezmeden de dunyayi gezmis gibi olabilecegin nadir ulkelerden herhalde ulkemiz. Hem ucuz da...

Insallah daha cok yeri ziyaret edebilir ve ken isa zamanda gidip gorebilirim.

14 Mayıs 2018 Pazartesi

Al Ain

Al Ain'e gitmeyeli cok oldu. Hatirladigim kadari ile orada Jebel Hafeet Mountain'a gitmistik ve sonra oradaki otelde birseyler yemistik. Abu Dhabi'den sonra dag tepe gormek iyi gelmisti ve cok daha yesildi. Buyuk bir hayvanat bahcesi var kizim 2 yas civarlaindaydi galiba ne sevinmisti ve heyecanlanminsti, her yere kosturup durmustu. Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain Oasis'de cok guzeldi.

Aslinda buradan ayrilmadan bir kere daha gitmek lazimmis ama artik vaktim yok. Iyiki zamaninda gitmistik. Birde oradaki Hilton yada Rotana idi otellerden birinde kaldik diye hatirliyorum emin degilim ama. Galiba kaldik Oman'a giderken.


13 Mayıs 2018 Pazar

Abu Dhabi'den Ayrilirken

Aslinda baslik U.A.E'den ayrilirken olmali. Nede olsa Dubai'de de cok vakit gecirdik. Orayi cok sevdik, keske Dubai'de yasasaydik AD yerine diye az hayiflanmadik ama is ve kader bizi Abu Dhabi'ye kilitledi. 

Neler yapmadik ki sevdigimiz yerlere son kez gidildi, gidilemeyen yerler goruldu. Sevdigimiz yerlere son kere veda ederken gozlerimiz doldu hatta tasti. Sevdiklerimize hoscakal dedik vedalastik onlardan son kere ayrilirken huzunlendik, duygulandik. Ama buyuk koca bir donemi kapattik sag salim, stres oldu olamadi degil her ne kadar cok cool olmaya calissam da hatta aramabizi bile son gun satabildim, faturalari kapatirken zorlandim, defalarca arayip takip etmek zorunda kaldim ama hersey halloldu ve evimizi kapattik, arabalarimizi sansli kisilere sattik, banka hesaplari, faturalari kapattik ve  ilk duragimiz Lisbon'a gectik. Uzun bir yaz tatili bizi bekliyordu...


Al Barari Dubai, Nature Escape
Al Maha Desert Resort Hotel
Al Maryah Island
Al Seef Village
Al Qudra Lake
Al Wathba Wetland Reserve
Atlantis Water Park
Bab Al Shams
Banan Beach Camping, Dubai
Bollywood Park, Dubai Park and Resort
Bounce
Dolphin Encounteer
Dubai Garden Glow Park/Dinosaurs Park/Ice Park
Dubai Miracle ve Butterfly
Dubai Opera
Emirates Park Zoo
Ferrari World
Hatta
Hudayriat Island, Abu Dhabi'de yeni acilan kopru ve sonundaki ada Al Bateen bolgesinde
Ja Hatta Forth Hotel
Kayak around the Mangroves
La-Mer
Legoland, Dubai Park and Resort
Legoland Water Park, Dubai Park and Resort
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Manarat Al Saadiyat
Motiongate, Dubai Park and Resort
Nature Escape, Al Barari
Nurai Island
Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort otelinde konaklama
Riverland, Dubai Park and Resort
Saadiyat Beach Club
Saadiyat Island
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Sir Bani Yas Hotel
Umm Al Emarat Park

Yas Island





Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort

Bu muhtesem otelde kizimla kalma sansina eristim, harikaydi muhtesem gecti, otelimiz ve kizimla gecirdigimiz vakit.

Abu Dhabi's legendary Liwa Desert in the Empty Quarter, the largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world.
2 saat 20 dakika surdu bizim evden otele gitmem, yol guzeldi col buyuleyiciydi kumun rengi ve incecik kaygan kum o renk... hic sikilmadim araba kullanirken.
Golden dunes, altin renkli kum tepeleri ve bir suru aktivitelri ile asla sikilmazsiniz. Havuzu kocaman ve eglenceliydi, manzara bastan cikarici zaten, yemekler guzel, calisanlar yardimci.
Biz kizimla ilk kez okculuk yaptik denedik cok sevdik eglendik.
Develere binebilir, sabah saatinde yada aksam uzeri yoga yapapilirsiniz gece veya sabah colde safari ve bir kac tane daha (bisiklete binebilirsiniz ama 14 yas uzeri) bir cok sey var yapacak sikilmaniza mumkun yok. Gunes batisini ve dogusunu o guzelim col tepelerine cikip izlemek ayri keyif.
Odamiz ... villamiz muhtesemdi ozel havuzumuz vardi upgrade edildik ne guzel oldu, kocaman bir villa ve kocaman bir bahcesi icinde havuzu ile doyamadik zaman gecmesin istedim hic. Iyiki gitmisiz.

Tiyatro Kursu

Drama kursu Abu Dhabi, New York Universitesi
Mart-Mayis 2018

Nour sayesinde haberim oldu iyiki oldu, New York Universitesinin ucretsiz verdigi bu tiyatro kursu hic bekledigi gibi cikmadi. Orada nasil oynaniri degil nasil oynanmazi ogrettiler. Hocamiz sizden rol yapmanizi istemiyorum, orada olmayan hic bir objeyi varmis gibi gostermeyin, elinizde ne varsa sadece onu gosterin, o senaryo icinde olsaydiniz nasil davranirdini sen Nilly olarak nasil tepki verirdin onu oyna. Nasil olmali, nasil olursa daha iyi olur daha cok sevilir begenilirim degil yada abartirsam daha iyi rol yapmis olurum degil yada nasil komik olurum ne dersem daha cok alkislanirim degil Nilly olarak oyle bir durumda ne konusur ne soylerdin. Onceden hazirlanmis hic bir text, senaryo yok. Her sey dogaclama konusuluyor yapiliyor. Insanin kendisi olmasi meger ne zormus! Inanilmaz. Hemen filtrelenmeye geciyor hemen ay nasil yapsam da begenilseme gidiyor hemen performans kaygisi cikiyor hemen ustunluk yapmak sivrilesmek ve digerleri arasinda parlamak ve bu isi en iyi nasil yaparima gidiyor hayal ediyorsun olmayan seyleri var etmeye varmis gibi gostermeye gidiyorsun. Ama hocamiz elinde masanda telefon yokken nasil ring ring alo ben ... gibi hayali bir konusma yapabilirsin telefon yok ki yaninda , yada telefonun var ama sen o telefon ile kimseyi aramadan aramisda konusuyormus hem de karsi taraf cevap veriyormus gibi yapamazsin diye uyardi durdu. Herkes zorlandi ama en cok kim kazandi ve bu isi kivirdi biliyor musunuz, kendisi gibi olabilen oldugu gibi gorunen ve davranan kisiler one cikti.

2 aylik egitim sonrasi gercek kisa filmler cekildi ve muzigi, mekani, seyircisi ile gercek, ismi olan hikayesi olan filmler ve bu NY universitesinin drama ogrencileri tarafindan cekildi onlar kendi filmlerini cektiler, oyuncular benim gini ilk filmlerinde oynadilar. ne buyuk guzel bir ani. Sinema salonunda oturup tek tek hepsini izledik. Arkadaslarimizi kutladik. Cogu bir cekimle tamamlanan filmler, provasiz, rolsuz, numarasiz.

maalbesef ben o oyunculardan biri olamadim. Cok istedim ama benden iyileri vardi ve benim yas ve cinsiyetime aksanima ve ana dilime uygun olmayan rollerdi ve bir sekilde onca insanin arasinda yeterince dikkat cekemedim demek dogalligimla. Cok isterdim oyle bir anim olsun ilk oyunculugum kisacik bir film de olsa, amator bir ogrencinin elinden ciksa da olsun belki baska zamana...
Ama bu isi cok sevdim.

Ogrenciler dunyanin her yerinden vardi, Ethiyopya , Venezuella, Colombia, birde cekik gozlu bir kac kiz galiba Kazakistan, Kirgisiztan taraflarindan, Arap ve Ingiliz. Hocamiz Filistin'li idi. Ogrenciler de dunyanin her yerinden, Isvicre, Yunanistan, Lubnan, Urdun, Italya, Kanada, Yemen, Filistin, Moldova, Isvec ve daha neler neler tek Turk bendim ve yari Turk Nour.

Senaryolar verilip oyuncular secilip kisa cekimler olmadan once hocamiz bize fiziksel ve zihinsel aktiviteler yaptiriyordu ve cok sevdim onlari sirf onlar icin bile degdi.
Mesela ne mi...

devam edecek
Singular Drama
Scandar Copti
Filistin

Workshop ve Panel

Buraya duzenledigim ilk workshop ve konusmaci olarak katildigim Panel hakkinda yazmam gerekiyor.

Muhtesemdi, bu isi ne kadar cok sevdigimi gordum bir kez daha ve insanin sevdigi isi yapmasinin ne buyuk mutluluk oldugunu, gozlerim parliyor, dudaklarim kulaklarimdaydi bitiminde. Oncesinde stresliydim tabiiki ama korkumun ustune gidip cuvallama riskime ragmen gittim ve neyseki cuvallamadan isi kotardim.

Panel konusmacilari da cok tatlilardi. Hemen kaynastik, biri disindakileri tanimiyordum birbirimizi ilk kez gormemize ragmen guzel, sicak bir iletisim oldu. Moderator arkadasimdi ORSC kursundan.

Workshop ise CTI odasinda oldu o odaya lider olarak gitmek inanilmazdi. Katilimci sayisi yuksekti, 18-20 kisiydik hatirladigim kadariyla. Eski tanidik koclar vardi ve yeni koclar tanidim. Misafir konusmacimizin yaptirdigi meditasyon cok iyi geldi, sayesinde meditasyona bu kez iyi bir yeni giris yaptim. Transmitter yogi olayini duydum daha dogrusu coktan duymus hatta bir kadinin resmine bakip meditasyon yapmaya calistigim olmustu, sonradan hatirladim daha kizim dogmadan gitmistim Abu Dhabi'de ama o zamanlar o kadar uzakmisim ki ise yaramadi cabuk pesettim ve onemini degerini gec anladim. Hatta o zaman bir Turk kiz vardi oda meditasyon yaptiriyormus orda. Bu islere ne uzakmisim ki kizi hatirlamiyorum bile dogru durust ve hemen yapismamisim ona simdi olsa yapismistim. Neyse gec olsun hic olmamasindan iyidir.

Kisace bu Dhabi'den ayrilmadan once istedigim iki seyi yapmis oldum. Workshop duzenlemek ve panelde konusmaci olarak katilmak. Momx icin Esraa benim konusmaci olarak katilmami istedi ve nisan mayis ayi gibi yapariz dedi ama kadin cok yogun oldugu icin olamadi cok istedim cok stres yapmama ragmen olamadi. Keske olsaydi. Her ay iki kadini hikayelerini anlatmasi ve diger kadinlara ilham olmasi icin konusmaci cagiriyor 20'ser dakika konusuyorlar, bir nevi motivational speaker gibi.
Neyse bir gun o konusmayi yapacagim ama, buraya not dusuyorum!



Konserler

Kizimla bu sene bir kac konser ve gosteriye gittik.
Bir tanesi Emirates Palace'da Emirati composee Ihab Darwish;in konseriydi ve muhtesemdi.

Waves of My Life CD'sini almam lazim ixindeki sarkilar:

Waves of my Life
Lawlaki
Desert Knight
Chords of Reverie
Beyond Limits
The Euphony
She
Arabesco

Bizim dinlediklerimiz konserde cok guzeller not almak istiyorum ki daha sonra da dinleyebileyim.
Beyond Limits
Waves of my Life
Chords of Reverie
NovaDuetto
Desert Knight
The Euphony
She (Bir opera sancta's seslendirdi Lubnanli bir qdam cok guzeldi)
Hekayat
Lawlaki
Arabesco

Senam bu konseri digerinden daha cok sevdi ama yinede sonlarina dogru uyuya kalmaktan kurtulamadi ama cok gec olmustu yavrum yorgundu.

Ondan once de ilk classic muzak konseri line Emirates Palace'da Orchestra Dell'accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia Rome conducete by Sir Antonio Pappano with Beatrice Rana and Kyung Chung
Bunu hic sevmedi ama haksiz degil benim icin de fazla agir bir klasik muzik konseri oldu.


16 Mart 2018. Ucuncu konseride Jaz konseri oldu kuzumun, muhtesem Dubai Operasinda seyrettik. Mica Paris'in Ella Fitzgerald sarkilarini seslendirdigi geceydi cok guzeldi en cok bunu sevdi kuzum. Iyiki gitmisiz.

Sonra da 4 Mayis'da kizimla La Perle gosterisine gittik Al Habtoor City'de muhtesemdi gercekten, sahne, sanatcilar, gosteri isik ve su oyunlari akrobasi hareketler, havuz, kuru ve islak sahne, motorsiklet gosterisi (globe of death), dragon act, aqua show tek kelimeyle olaganustu idi.

Ve Louvre muzesindeki Afrikali danscilarin konseri ve dans gosterisimuhtesemdi. Guney Afrikalilardi, cok eglenceli bir konser ve dans gosterisi oldu.

8 Nisan 2018 Pazar

Londra

Kim derdi ki 18 yil sonra sen gitceksin tekrar Londra'da yasayacaksin.
Sartlar cok farkli evli ve cocuklu gidiyorum o zaman ogrenci olarak gitmistim. Sevincliyim. Londra'da cocuklu yasamak istemem zordur hayat demistim ama oyle oldu umarim tahmin ettigim gibi zor olmaz.

Gecenlerde 18 yil onceki evraklarimi defterlerimi karistirirken sunu buldum, orada gordugum yerleri yazmisim altina kucuk notlar koymusum, cogunu hatirlamiyorum bile, dedim buraya yazayim gidince  devamini getiririm ve hala ayni seyleri mi hissediyorum karsilastiririm.

1. Nothing Hill Gate
Cumartesi market var, cok guzel ve ucuz. (Bunu yazmisim, o zaman o meshur film cekilmemis miydi acaba ama Londraya tasincagimizi ogrendigimizden beri bir arkadasimiz burada evi oldugunu ve kiraya verecegini ilgilenip ilgilenmeyecegimizi sordu evi cok guzeldi gercekten ama pahaliydi ve biz Agustos ayina kadar tasinmayacagimiz icin esim o kadar buyuk evi 7 ay kiralamak istemedi hakli olarak ayrica okul hala belli olmadigi icin orada yasamak mantikli degil henuz)

2. Chiswick Park
Cafe ve restoranlat var, sakin bir yer ozel bir yani yok. (Dun hem bir arkadasim hem de esim bahsetti esim buraya gidip bakacakmis yasamak icin)

3. Harrods
Knightsbridge istasyonunun yaninda. Guzel magazalar var, Zengin, sakin guzel bir yer

4. Tower of London
Tower Hill istasyonundan gidiyorsun

5. Tower Bridge
Tower of London;a cok yakin

6. Westminster Cathedral
Victoris istasyonun orada Victoris Palace'da orada, guzel bir cathedral, dugun izlemisiz klisede Ozlem ile.

7. St. Poul's Cathedral
St paul's istasyonun yaninda

8. National Galery
Trafalgar square

9. Wembley Park
Pazar gunu pazari var, buyuk ve ucuz ama guzel degildi

10. Kilburn Park

Cok feci bir yer hic sevmedim, yalniz Kilburn parkdan Kilburn'a giderken bir iki magaza vardi, cok pahali degildi ve guzel seyler vardi

11. Covent Garden
12. Camden Town
Aksamklari issiz ve feci tipler var, barlarda var ama aksamlari tavsiye etmem.

13. Leicester Square
Aksamkalari harika bir yer, publar ve night clublar var

14. Hyde Park
Hic guzel degildi demisim!!! inanamiyorum, neden acaba... Bisikletler ve paten icin yerler var, gol vardi birde, kafetarya gibi bir yer var golun kenarinda yemek icmek icin. Speaker's courner iyiydi, ilgincti, Ozlem ve Sarahi ile gitmisiz ikinci kez.

15. Edgware
Londra'nin tepesi. Traveler kart daha pahali zone 6 oldugu icin.

16. Brent cross
17. Bond Street
18. Chelsea
Sloane Square Station
19. Taylor Pub, Ahir pub (Finchley central'da okul ve ev arainda sokak ustundeydi, ismi ahirdi ve Turk'e ait anlamini sorunca Ingiliz hostum hosuna gitmemisti), Muswell Hill Church Pub

20. House of Parlemento
Westminster Station, cok iyiydi burasi inanamistim girmemize izin verdiklerine
21. Selfridge, Liberty

22. Little Havana (Leicter Square)
burasi salsa klubu, Bond street'de, kimderdiki aylar sonra James ile oraya gidecegimizi. Sarahi sayesinde gitmistim ve bayilmistim salsa atesin icime dustugu yer, oyle de bir yerde dans etmedim bir daha.

23. Greenich
Burada muze varmis, onu gormedim. Foot tunnel var oradan yuruduk sonra nehir kenarina cikiyorsun, ozel degil. Traveer card kullanabiliyorsun tren icin

24. Nort Greenwich
Millenium Dome var

25. Sout Quay'de cok buyuk alisveris merkezleri var

26. Heron Quays
Buradan Jubilee line'i aliyorsun (vay kocam simdi o line'i kullaniyor)  North greenwich'e gitmek icin 55 katli bir is hani var ve altinda da shopping center ama Pazar gunu cogu yer kapali ve ozel degildi.

27. Bank of England Muzesi
Bank stationa cok yakin, cok guzeldi, FX dealer'larla ilgili bir yazi vardi bilgisayarda maalesef cok inceleyemedim tekrar gitmelisin. Hafta ici acik sadace 9,30-5 pm arasi

28. Lloyds Insurance Head Office
Burasi da Bank istasyonuna yakin, cok ilginc bir mimari yapisi vardi binanin, ben begenmedim, metal yigini idi. Tower of Bridge'in mimari ile ayni mimarmis. Ama ici muhtesemdi, kovaman yuruyen merdivenler cok ilgincti.  Cok kalabalik ve etkileyici idi. Asansor disaridandi. Stock exchange ve diger bankalarin head office'leride oradaydi. Cok muhtesemdi. Orada yedigim sandwisch de cok guzeldi ama hafta sonu oluymus, cicek pasajina benzer bir yer vardi.

29. British Muzesi
Tothanham court'a yakin cok guzeldi

30. Bar 38
Near Hippodrome yemekde yiyebiliyorsun

31. Dome in Tufnell Park, Latin night
Sonay ile gittik

32. Madame Tussand
Baker street

33. Her Majesty's Theatre
Picadily circus hay market

34. Flyer (Soha)

35. Tiger and Tiger

36. Cheers Picadily Circus

37. Walk about in covet garden

38. Tate Modern Galery

39. Windsor

40. Edinburgh

41. London Eye

42. South Bermandsey

43. Hammessimith

44. Surray Quay


Gittigim her yeri yazmaya calismisim ama eksiklikler var. Gidince daha ayrintili yazmaya calisirim.

28 Mart 2018 Çarşamba

Singapur

15 yasinda iken televizyonda Singapur'u tanitan bir belgesel izliyordum ve goruntulere bayilmistim ne guzel bir yer burayi mutlaka gormem gerek demistim. Yaklasik 28 yil sonunda gorebildim. 20-25 Mart 2018 arasi gittik kizim ve arkadasim ve onun kizi ile.
Son zamanlarda mutlaka gitmeliyim istegi yoktu ama bir gun gidecegimi biliyordum. Daha once iki kez gitmek istedigimde olmamisti. Cok arastirdim aslinda ama yine de bir iki atraksiyonu yapmasak olurdu onun yerine baska seyler yapmak lazimmis dedim tatil sonunda.
Hatta yillar once oraya gitmis birinin ayrintili bilgilerini saklamistim yillarca.

20 Mayis otelimize gittik bir kac yerde Sentosa'da kalin orada yapacak cok sey var vakit kaybetmezsiniz denmisti yanilmislar. Biz 5 gun oteli orada ayarladik ama ikinci gun pisman olduk aslinda aklima gelmisti ve 3 gun Sentosa 2 gun Singapur'da kalmak lazim demistim ama sonra olmadi. Neyseki otelimiz ile konusup penalti cezasindan vazgecirerek 2 gece Senosa adasi ve 3 gece Singapur'da kalabildik. Tabii bir sartla onlarin otellerinden birinde kalmamiz gerekiyordu iyiki oyle olmus cok cici bir otelde aldik havuzu muhtesemdi gercekten.
Shangri La Sentosa ve 22 Marttan sonrada Jen Orchard gateaway Otel'de kaldik. Otelin yaninda mall vardi Orchard caddesi uzerinde sehir manzarali bir odada kaldik, camlar acilmiyordu ve rutubet kokuyordu ama galiba tum oteller oyle, Shangri'la otelin balkonu vardi ama orasi da rutubet kokuyordu. Otelin havuzu cok guzeldi zaten en iyi 10 havuz arasina girmis.

Gittigimiz, gordugumuz ve goremedigimiz yerler:

Sentosa Adasi

1. Universal Studyolari
Cocuklar en cok burayi sevdi, ancak Orlando ve L.A deki Disneyland'in yerini tutamaz.
Favori ride'lar: En buyuk ve tehlikeli olanlara kizim bindi cok da sevdi valla en kotusune ben de bindim baya korkutucuydu Sena'm iki kez bindi, Sci-Fi City icinde, Cylon (grey truck) en korkuncu buydu ve Human (red track) bunlarin ismi ikiside yan yanaydilar.
Revenge of the Mummy- Buda hizli,  karanlik ve urkutucuydu
Transformers; ben girmedim bizimkiler girdi, buranin populer bir ride'i.
Kesinlikle fast track / express karti alinmali biz gerek yok bos kalabalik degil dediler ve almadik ama iki saatte iki ride binince aldik keske hemen alsaydik her zaman deger bence buna paraya kiyilmali, biz her birine birer kez bilinenden aldik 40 SGD extra idi degdi her kurusuna, ikinci kez binmek istedigimiz cok olmadi o yuzden yetti bu. 21 Mart 2018
River Raft Ride, Bot turu eglenceliydi cok islanmadik ama, sansa biraz.
Jurassic Park ve Egypt bolgesi guzel, kucuk cocuklar icinde bir cok sey var, Hollywood gosterileri, Troll show, Sesame street show, biz bunlari es gectik cocuklar buyumus. Elmo falan bakmadik.
Rock Climb'da vardi guzeldi.
En guzeli Waterline show idi, harikaydi gercekten sahne ve gosteri muhtesemdi.
7 ana bolumden olusuyor.
The Lost World
Ancient Egypt
Sci-Fi City
New York
Hollywood
Far Far Away
Madagascar


2. S.E.A. Akvaryum 
Dubai'den gelen biri icin cok ama cok gereksiz oldu, hem Dubai mall icindeki hem de Atlantis oteldeki akvaryumlardan cokta farkli daha guzel degildi, onun yerine Trick Eye muzesine gitmedigimize cok pisman olduk. 22 Mart 2018.

Butterfly Park ve Insect Kingdom muzesine de Dubai'de butterfly muzesi var diye gitmedik.
Trick Eye muzesine keske gitseymisiz akvaryumu atlayip, cocuklar daha cok sevebilirlerdi

3. Sentosa Merlion Heykeli
Merloin heykeli ve civari guzeldi hem gunduz hem aksam gidilmeli ve Universal Studio cikisinda cok genis alanda harika restoran ve cafeler var bir de casino var ve dort bes tane Michelin yildizli restoranlar var, cok keyifli ve aksam yemegi yenmeli orada mutlaka.

Biz Putien'de yedik tek start'li iki yildir ust uste Michelin star almis, yemekler guzeldi fiyatlar ucuzdu, en ucuz Michelin yildizli restoran olabilir, gerci sonra arkadasim Yi noodle house varmis oda Michelin start imis ondan bahsetti ama ona gidemedik.

4. Mega Adventure Park
Favori yerlerimizden biri oldu bayildilar cocuklar ben de!
Mega Bounce, Mega Zip ve Mega Climbing yaptik, climbing 3 assumes verdi 2. ve 3. derececesini yaptik en zorlari baya kasti cok yuksekti ve cok eglenceliydi hem de korkutucu, kizlar canavar gibiydi valla bravo onlara, kuzum en son yerinde altimiza top alip son asamaya kayarken topu birakmak gerekiyormus bilmiyorduk kaldi yolun ortasinda havada topu birak kay dediler korktu hakli bende korkardim yavrum birakmak istemedi elleri yoruldu korktu cok sevimliydi onun oguzel surati aglamaya yakin hale gelince oyle tatli oluyorki icin de parcalaniyor biryandan neyse sonunda onu tesfik ederek bol bol birakabildi ve kaydi kuzum, Mega Jump yapmadik. Zip Line muhtesemdi gercekten muhtesembir manzara tepeden yesillikler ustunde sahile iniyorsun.

5. Cable Car
Cocuklar cok sevdi eglenceliydi bir kac yerde inip gezdik oralari guzel bir yolculuk oldu, baya yuksek, deniz ustunde falan tirsilmaya musait ama guzel bir deneyim.En tepede Faber Peak, mount Faber station'da indik aksam vakti idi manzara isikli guzeldi, restoran ve hediyelik esya satan magaza vardi. Hapiness bell buradaydi fotograf cektirdik.
Sentoda Boardwalk'ta yuruyemedik eminim guzeldir.
Guzergahlar: Silosa Point Station, Imbiah Lookout Station, Merlion Station, Sentosa Station, Harbourfront Station ve Mount Faber Station. Imbiah ve Merlion ve Silosa istasyonlarinda 3,5, veya daha fazla yer icin toplu bilet alabiliyorsun, kesinlikle bunlardan almali tek tek alinca biletler baya pahali oluyor.

Kidzania varmis ama Dubai'de de oldugu icin vakit yok zaten gitmedik.
Skyline Luge Ride var ama bizimkileri kesmes diye ona gitmedik.

Wings Time diye bi show var galiba onu kacirmamak lazimdi ama gidemedik.

6. Beaches, Silos Beach
Kumu super degil denizi temiz degildi ama guzel tabi yesil ve mavi bir arada manzara olarak iyi ama yuzmek icin iyi degildi, cok yakindaydik ama isedigim adaya gidemedik zamansizliktan Palawan beach. Bir yerde resmini gorup bayilmistim ama resmini gordugum Palawan beach Filipinlerdeki olabilir Sentosa'daki oldugunu sanmiyorum. Bizim otel Silosa beach'deydi yetti. Vakit yaratip sahilden tum adayi dolanmak gerekti aslinda, Tanjong, Palawan ve Silosa sahillerini gezmek lazim.

7. Vivo City Mall
Sentosa'nin hemen cikisinda guzel bir alisverismerkezi bu, Singapur'un en buyuk alisveris merkeziymis, mimari yapisi cok guzel, Japon bir mimar tarafindan dizayn edilmis, dalga seklinde sekli, ilk gun gece oraya gittik, manzarasi guzeldi Sentosa'ya bakiyor, Resorts World Sentosa, guzel restoranlarda vardi ama biz otele gidip Singapur gecesi acik bufesinde yedik ama oteldeki yemekler iyi degildi maalesef.


Singapur Adasi

1. ChinaTown
Buraya alisveris yaptik gece gittigimiz icin temple'lar kapaliydi gidemedik iyi olmadi, Budha Tooth Relic Temple iyiymis goremedim, China town'da alisveris yaptik hem de ilk girdigimiz yerden aldik bir kac sey. Idare eder ama oyle ahim sahim bir yer degil. Howker Center vardi ama hem ac degildik hem de yemeyi hic dusunmedim burada, street food olan bir yer.

2. Gardens by the Bay
Cok guzel bir yer, Flower Dome ve Cloud Forest isminde iki ayri dome var, man maid ama buyuk ve guzeller icindeki cicek ve agaclar farkli, selale bile var Flower Dome'da. Cloud Walk, Treetop Walk, Waterfall view, Secret Garden, Crystal Mountain gibi bolgereleri var Cloud Forest'in. Sonra yine bunlara cok yakin Childrend's Garden'a gittik buyuk bir su parki vardi cok eglendiler kizlar cok guzel ve temiz bir yerdi hava da sicakti iyi geldi onlara. Ayrica MBS icin harika bir yer fotograf cekmek icin galiba MBS'in en guzel fotografini oradan cektim su goruntuleri arasinda. Buradaki agaclarda (OCBC Skyway and Supertrees Grove, 22 metres above ground, the Supertrees are perfect for panoramic skyline views) kopru varmis gezebiliyor ve iclerine girebiliyormussunuz ve gosteriler oluyor ( Garden Rhapsody, visual ve audio effects)) aksam saat 7.45 ve 8.45'te her gun iki gosteri, galiba 20 dakika falan suruyor, bizimkiler gitti ama ben gitmedim buna. Icinde restoranda varmis. Cikilmali mutlaka.
Heritage Garden var birde ama ona gitmedik. Cocuklara fazla geldi tum bu bahceler. Zoo'ya gec kalmayalim diye es gectik. Heritage Garden ozellig ise Chinese Garden, Indian Garden, Malay garden ve Colonical Garden varmis yani Singapur halkini temsil ediyor, tells the story of the diverse history and culture of Singapore's main ethnic groups.
Birds World of Plants ve Dragonfly Lake var buried. Sun Pavilion'da ise for a unique desert experience, get up close with spectacular Mexican columnar cacti, large succulent Euphorbias and the Brazilian Turk's Cap.

3. Marina Bay Sands Oteli, SkyPark Observation Deck
Bu otelin guverte ust kismina ciktik manzara icin bir seyler icmek istedik ama cocuklari almadiklari icin bara gidemedim bizde herkes gibi para verip uste ciktik manzara guzeldi gercekten asagida da guzel bir isikli su gosterisi vardi onu da izledik gayet guzeldi ama cok yorulup pilimiz bitmisti artik donerken asansor sirasi vardi sinir bir sey bekledik neyseki cam kenarinda idi sira, manzara seyrettik. Sonra otele donup kizlar acti birseyler yiyip bizde Singapur sling denen ickiden aldik guzeldi, oraya has bir kokteylmis.

Merlion Park, valla Sentosa'dakini hem gece hem gunduz gorduk ama kucugu olan MBS yanindakini biz gormedik oralarda cok dolastik ama o kisma gitmedik son gun gidelim dedik ama cok yorgunduk gerek olmadigina karar verdik.

4. Arab street, Haji Lane.
Haji Lane cok sirin guzel butik magazalar ve cafe'ler var, burada alisveris yaptim guzel seyler aldim.

5. Kampong Glam, The Sultan Mosque

Cami cok guzeldi ve burasi (camiye cok yakin) Malay kulturu ve tarihi zengin olan bir yer, Malay Heritage Center vardi. Orayi gezdik kucuk bir yer Bugis kafilesinden bahsediyor ilginc bir yasamlari kulturleri olan bir topluluk.

6. Little India
Keske gitmeseydik ne bekliyorduk ki kucuk India'da yasayan biri olarak zaten, hic guzel degildi vakit kaybiydi ilk defa sokakta cop gordugum tek yer oldu.
Burada iki temple varmis biz birini gorduk ama o kadar cok temple gormusum ki Sri Lanka, Nepal ve Japon'ya da bunlar ilgimi cekmedi. Sri Mariamman Temple ve Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple.

Clarke Quay ve Boat Quay burasi gece guzelmis ama zamanimiz kalmadi gidemedik.

7. Orchard Road
 Zaten otelimiz bu cadde uzerindeydi guzel pahali magazalarin oldugu br yer, bizim oelin karsisinda old town vardi cici evler vardi tam gezecekken sokak sanatcilari bizi alip peslerine takildik sarki soyleyip konusup yuruduk biraz sonra geri donduk nereye variyorlar tam amaclari ne anlamadik yabancilardi yani Singapurlu degillerdi Ingiliz veya Avusturalyalilardi galiba. Bizde donunce bir daha old town'a girmedik cok fazla yoktu bir sey gorecek ama tam soyle gezemedik girisinde dolanip Orchard caddesinde yuruduk.

Botanic Gardens; Buraya gitmek istedim ama zaman kalmadi, Gardens by the bay'den sonra pek gerek kalmadi ama aralarindaki fark BG orjinaliymis yani natural olan bahce, Garden by the Bay man made imis. Birde cok guzel orkideler varmis ve her first lady'nin bir orkidesi varmis onalrin ismini verirlermis orkidelere, piknik icin de iyiymis ama gidemedik.

Holland Village- hic bir fikrim yok gidin denmis biryerde not almisim ama gitmedik

Geylang, Red light street tars bir hermit ama cocuklara gidilecek bir yer olmadigi icin gitmeidik

Kanji countryside bir yer galiba Singapur disi orayada gitmedik

Bugis, Bugis Village, ben gitmedim arkadasim gitti idare edermis. Ucuz alisveris icin iyiymis.
Koretown'da et yemek lazimmis ama gitmedik Kore etleri guzel oluyor eminim iyidir.

Durian meyvesi yedik ama ben onun kokusundan tiksindim herseyin icine onu koymuslar tatlilarda falan, sevmedim ama zamanla aliskanlik yapabilir gibi geldi Japon'larin herseyin icine green tea koymasi ve heryerin green tea kokmasi gibi bir sey.
Urban expolaration eski Singapur'u gormek icin ilginc olabilir diye yazmis biri ama biz pis falan diye gitmedik ilginc olabilir zira Singapur'da pis bir yer var mi gormek icin deger.

8. ArtScience Museum
Cok guzeldi yeri guzel icindeki muzeler guzel, 3 ayri muzesi var. ( Treasures of the Natural Worl, Art of streets ve Future World) Future World en eglencelisiydi, isikli gosteriler oyunlar, cok eglenceliydi, cocuklar icin de muthisti. Muzenin yaninda MBS oteli ve alisveris merkezi var.
Onu de guzel muzenin ve karsisinda da art zone vardi cocuklar icin kocaman bouncy castle ve bazi oyunlar ama cok kalabalikmis ici ve Ekin'i kaybetmisler stres olmuslar ben alisveris yapip kaziklaniyordum o ara, hayatimda bir kozmetige hic bu kadar cok para vermemistim kaziklanmistim ve daha fazlasini almayarak ki cok indirmesine ragmen iyi mi ettim kotu mu bilemeyecegim. 24 Mart gunu gittik buraya.
Future World icinde Nature(deniz dalga isik oyunlari), Town, Park (cocuklarin topla oynadigi yer) Space (isiklarin oldugu yer) Team Lab (kaydigin yer), Fotograf cekmek icin guzel bir yer. Cocuklarda boyama yapiyorlar ve onlarin yaptigi resimlerin gosteriligi koca bir duvar vardi.
Street art, Graffiti style writing gosterisi verdi Senama illogic gelid.

National Museum Singapore ve War Memorial Muzesi buraya gidemedik maalesef.

Raffles oteli herkes tavsiye etti ama etrafinda insaat varmis oteldekiler gitmenize degmez dedi ama merak ettim orayi.

9. Zoo, Night Safari ve River Safari
Ikisini de yaptik ama herkesin bayildigi gibi degildi night safari acikcasi simdiki aklim olsa onu pas gecerdim. Ikisi de farkli yerler yan yana ama gece safarisinde oyle cok acayip seyler gormuyorsun fence yok ama yine oyle heyecanlanip adranalin yapmiyorsun yirtici hayvanlar fence yok ama dogal koruma olayi vardi.
Zoo cok buyuk bir suru hayvan var keyifliydi ama cok sicak olunca hepsini gezmek zor oluyor.
River Safari yapmadik cunku sadece 15 dakikasi botta geciyormus kalanini yuruyormussun gerek gormedik. Vaktimiz de yoktu zaten, en son tur saat 7'de idi, Zoo'dan vakit kalmadi ona, Zoo saat 6'da kapandi, sabah 8.30'da aciliyormus, night safari ilk seans 7.15'te idi. Sonra 8.15 ve 9.15'te vardi galiba gece 12'ye kadar acik. Baya doluydu sira vardi ve cikista ates gosterisi vardi buyuk ihtimal her cikista baska bir gosteri var. Cok guzel restoranlar vardi night safari cikisinda, aksam yemegini orada yemek lazimmis Zoo cikisindaki restoranlar iyi degildi. Night safari shops 5'den restoranlarda 5.30 pm sonrasinda aciliyormus. Zoo'da belli saatlerde belli hayvanlarin beslenme gosterileri vardi ama biz denk gelemedik genelde sabah oluyor galiba.
Zoo'da gol kenari cok guzel bir yer ve manzara vardi yaninda cocuklar icin buyuk bir oyun alani var.

23 Mart 2018

10. HIPPO Hop on Hop off
Bunun biletini aldik iki gunluk ama cok az bindik bir cok yerde vakitsizlikten taksi almayi tercih ettik. 20 dakika da bir geliyor diyorlar ama yalan. 30-40 dakikayi buluyor bazen.

11. Esplanade,

Burada yemek yedik Yi Jie ve kocasi ile Racha da geldi 15 dakika ziyaretime, yerlilerin yemek yedigi bir yer acik hava herkes istedigi yemeyi secip masalara oturup yiyor, Esplanade de baska ne var tam bilmiyorum, buyuk bir yer, gezemedim ben sadece onun yanindaki acik haca sokak yemeklerinin satildigi yerde yemek yedim.

Giant Swing varies guzel gozukuyor 3 kisi binebiliyor ama onu dondukten sonra gordum brosurlerin birinde.
Gourmetbus Lunch varies birde.
Havasi
Havasi hep ayni imis degismezmis sicak ve nemli aksamlari guzel oluyor ama gunes battiktan sonra, ilk gun nem ve sicak cok bunaltti beni diger gundler de sicakti ama ilk gun cok rahatsiz etti ucaktan indigimiz icin yorgunda olmus olabilirim kizlar yuzdu ben yuzmedim pismanim o sicagi gereksiz cektim.

Yemekler, Ekonomi ve Sosyal Yasam
Bence guzel Asya yemekleri ben herseyi yiyen biriyim cok sevdim, ozellikle yerli arkadasimla yedigim yemek en guzeliydi. Hava nemli diye mi ne surekli bira icesim vardi.
Singapore Sling kokteyli idare ederdi. Dondurmalari ve dondurma sandwich yapan bir adam vardi sokakta kuyruk vardi. Spicey crab en meshur yemekleriymis guzeldi sosu.
Copi onlarin kahvesi aci ama guzel.
Hic bir sey yetismezmis hersey ithalmis, egzotik meyve bile yetismezmis varmis tabii meyve agazladi ama cok degil, tarimcilik olmazmis burada. En cok bankacilik sektoru gelismis ve sanayisi kocaman limani olan denizde bir suru gemisi olan bir yer ticaretten kazaniyor.
Sokaga cop atmak, sigara zmariti ve sakit atmanin cezasi buyuk. En cok Cinli, Malay ve Hint nifusu ile Eiropa dedikleri Avusturalya, Ingiliz'den olusan beyaz azinliklari varmis. Her dine saygiliyiz, cok agir cezasi var eger irkcilik yapilirsa en ufak bir yorum soz cok ciddi sonuclara varirmis. Resmi dili Ingilizce onca dil konusulyor ama herkes herkesin dilini anlarmis , herkes Mandarin konusuyor anladigim kadariyla Hintli taksici soyledi.
Once Ingilizlerin kolonisi sonra malezyalilarin mis ama 1900'lu yillarda ozgurlugunu ilan ediyor, trafik soldan akiyor.


12 Must Do Things in Singapore

1. Eat at the Hawker Centre
2. Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel
3. Party at Clarke Quay (A dining and entertainment destination, Clarke Quay houses restaurants, cafes, jazz lounges and clubs).
4. Selfie with The Merlion
5. Walk Through Geyland (While Gelling may be known as a red-light district, there are plenty of other things to do and see at this edgy neighborhood, sample local fruits, hunt down supper fare(open all night), enjoy a foot reflexology massage and even go prawn-fishing)
6. Immerse in the Heartland (Tiong Bahru, To a Payoh and Marine Parade are just some of the colorful heartlands you should visit. When in Rome, do as the Romans do-this is the best way to see how locals dine, live and play.)
7. Go Ethnic. While Singapore is known metropolitan city, diversity is what makes it unique. Check out Chinatown, Little india, and Kampong Glam the Malay enclave for the distinct flavors of each community.
8. Temple Visiting. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown is just a block away from Sri Mariamman Temple- the oldest hindu temple-.
9. The famous Chilli Crab of Singapore.
10. See the Super Trees. Explore the award -winning Gardens by the Bay  and see the majestic SuperTrees scattered around the gardens. At dusk sets in, don't miss the twice-daily Garden Rhapsody light and sound show.
11. Join free walking tour
12. Singapore7 Sightseeing Hop-on Tour