Silent İ was..

Where do i start after a bit of silence these while? Should i start by showing you my 2 fav pics of 2 mondays ago, a day after Halil came back from Bursa in the heavy snow?


Or should i tell of of the worries we all living in Turkey have over, tğrks and expat alike, over the safety of our "mehmetcik", a term used to refer to the turkish soldiers in the northern iraq? Lives have been lost, families have already let the flood of tears flow down their cheeks.



Or should i tell u of the better news? THat on Monday, the ban on headscarves in universities has been lifted. That even though legally students should be allowed to enter the universities wearing headscarves, a number of rectors of certain universities refused to, resulting the freedom of wearing the headscarves in universities not totally happening yet?



Or should i open up my personal feelings of anger towards CHP for wanting to challenge that ban in the court of law.....?? I still cannot understand this opposition towards headscarves. But looking at the brighter side.... many university students went to study with their headscarves on. Many rejoicing this fact. .....Hopeful for the better. Of course, this doesnt mean that those working in the governement sectors or students in primary and secondary schools can wear headscarves.... No, it doesnt. .... the ban is only lifted for university students..nowhere else... the wearing of head scarves is and will always be an issue here...



Where did i go missing? Pc problem again? No...it isnt actually... i was just simply purely busy. ...Rushing here...rushing there.....Take yesterday for example.... i woke up at 5am to correct the language of the paper halil needed to send for the conference in kuala lumpur this june....did some ironing.......by 6.30am, i woke the kids up..rushed here n there to prepare them for school...(clothing, breakfast etc)...the moment i sent them off.... i thought... maybe i can have breakfast?? But oh no!! the apt is soooo dusty (from 2 days of not tidying the place)...i should do that! By the time i almost finished vacuming and mopping the last room.... oh NO!! Noter!! i had to do an important thing for my beloved at Noter (that is where u get ur document copied, stamped n u pay a lot of money for that).... and i needed to go to a courrier place... i thought there was this MNG courier near this place....walked there fast only to find the courrier no longer resided there!! It was 9.20am and i had to leave to the kids' school by 9.30am!! Called Mıstık (baba's helper) to ask for another courrier place.... rushed to find a taxi and finished sending the papers for my beloved's application for his *Doçentlik* (associate proffessorship)...please pray that his application will be approved......rushed to take another taxi to go to the minibus road... took a minibus towards the school and by 1020am....reached the school... only to discover that my appointment with hatice's class teacher was actually next week!! huwaaaa..i wanted to cry...Luckily, her teacher pitied me and asked me if she could see me by 12.30 noon... and so..i took another taxi n went to a toys r us shop in the area coz i had stuffs to buy for baddin's supriz gunu (Suprize day)...saw hatice's teacher..a one to one chat (i have updated both the kids' blog if u r interested)...with her teacher... took a minibus towards home...bla bla bla... and by night... as halil n i were watching the dvd in the living room... the dvd was actually watching me heheheheheheh



Another long day today... n i simply sacrificed my morning walk today mainly coz... i am sooo tired n i have thousands of other things to do today.....and people say that housewives dont do much??



It was also last Saturday that the Zaims went to an *anma toplantısı*.. a gathering organised to remember and discuss the qualities of baba (my late dad in law) as a point reference for character for us still living mortal souls. It is good to be honoured in life as well as in death.... Eversince baba died, many organizations had organized such a gathering in many places.... istanbul, ankara, adapazarı, bursa...to name a few... one will be organized in Bosnia as well (where baba was a rector in one of the universities)...another in if i am not mistaken..Dublin?....Last Saturday gathering... the president n the prime minister couldnt come... but they did faxed in some speech...



MasyaAllah..baba had lived a full life...he has roads,schools, cultural center...etc..etc... named after him... there is also a university in the making where they plan to name a university after him...I mean for an educator to be honoured like this... this just shows that if u do something properly and with a good cause... U do get ur reward even in this mortal life...



Selim was right in Saying... baba is indeed one in a million... a real gentleman in all sense... his dedication..his character... his religious beliefs...i mean...if one combine the goodness of heart and organizing traits of Meşe, the smiling gentle face of Selim, the care for the family of Kerim, the total concentration of work of Halim and the fluency of speech of my beloved...only then, somehow a part of baba can be liven up.....baba is indeed so special...



Did we cry that day... ? the slide show prepared by the organizer was wonderful..it caught the essence of the real baba... all of the zaims cried openly .. i managed not to cry of course...i stopped myself...but that slide show.... it was really really beautiful....



Even Baddin...a small child of 6, he still makes it a point specially to remember one main lesson he had learnt from his dede... to first wear his right shoes and then his left shoes... a lesson he holds dear to his heart coz his dede had personally taught him that...



Even after all these while... we still miss him....his apt is still open... mıstık still goes there everyday to look after the place....only he is no longer there....

I seriously dont know when i can really sit down n blog hop properly... again my apologies if i cant hop hop where ur quill lies in the blogging world...

the banner...

organised by istanbul iktisatçılar derneği

the gorgeous ladies who attended the gathering..

the men..

Another nice photos of them..
My beloved was also one of the speakers..

My beloved and i..

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

Update and TAGGED

Let us together pray for Kak Elle's dad...for his recovery...

It was Wednesday... it was quite cold actually... as i was on my usual morning walk at my beloved park... drops of sort of ice started to fall onto me... small pieces of ice... SNOW? nahhhhhhhhh..it couldnt be! i heard no news of snow coming from anywhere... i continued my walk... and exactly 9.30am..my usual time... i left the place to head for home... it was then the snow started to intensify..i was wearing thin clothing.... but i was warm from my one and a half morning walk (i am as fat as ever..gained more kgs...still trying to get a constant walk but very difficult these days)... and so..in happiness..i walked on... to one of the bakeries near our street to buy my favourite tahinli ekmek (bread made with tahin.. i think it is made from sesame seed..added with sugar in liquid form... it tastes almost like peanut butter)......and guess what??it was still hot!! (saat 10 sabah...selimin sevdi firından tahin ekmek çok muhteşem yaaa) i was soo hungry...well... naturally.. the cold weather..the walk... the snow.... it did that to u... and so while walking home... i was eating my tahinli ekmek (it was hot n far too tempting!)...i ate half of it! hahahaha..i lost some calories and i gained more by eating that ekmek! hahahahaha..and kids... let me repeat that eating while walking is not recommended...eating should be while sitting :0)

It was that nite i heard on the news that snow was actually coming.....the weekend was to be with snow...
Oh no!! i said to myself... on Saturday, Mehveş will have to go to Bursa to give a lecture there. Hopefully she would be ok..i prayed... It was snowing... the snow was loads.. but she went home safe and sound...even halil had the meeting at the other side of the bridge that day... one in europe... and one a radio talk in Asia...it was really hard for him that day too as it was terribly snowing n the traffic was tremendously terrible... the weather worsened... as our pc decided to go on go on strike and refused to start!! Great eh? It was no pc eversince Thursday!

The kids n i had fun with the snow on Saturday....Istanbul was covered in snow.... it was wonderful (if u dont have to go to work of course) but that night the weather worsened....my mind started to get worried... i kept telling Halil to cancel his lecture in Bursa on Sunday... but he said... he couldnt cancel his first lecture......etc..etc...and so at 4.30am... as he called the taxi to go to the bus station for Bursa....

One wife's heart and mind started to worry as the road was again white in snow..... it should have been fun playing with the kids under the powerful wind and strong gush of snow everywhere... as snowballs were thrown to each other...but at a corner of my mind... i prayed non stop for halil to reach his destination.... safe and sound.... i held my handphone next to me for news of him...it was no use turning on to the news on tv.. everywhere u see vehicles were stranded... everywhere u see accidents... lives ended...as many got injured... and when halil called at 5.30pm to say that the bus tickets were cancelled due to snow... that increased my worry...I thought to myself... well...perhaps that was for the better.... even though deep down i soo wanted him home with me... but later he said he found a bus... the first bus to move towards istanbul eversince 1.30 pm...

How can this wife not be in the ultimate worry eh? the weather was bad... everywhere in Turkey..even Antalya which had not snowed for 15 years had snow!!...and so together with the kids.... we prayed for the safety of this one beloved of ours...my tem.. their baba... as the rest of the siblings too tried to get his latest update.... Alhamdulillah all our prayers were answered as at 12 midnight... he rang the door with 2 kokoreç n ayran (hahaha eating is a must).... i was soo relieved.... i had missed him so much...and so he was free to spend the 2 days of xtra holiday ( monday n tuesday was pronounced off days for school kids) with his kids.... and on Monday nite .... the pc decided to end the trike and be well again...(for now)..of course... i couldnt even check my mails or update my blog as the 3 *kids* in this home dominated the pc with their games... grrrr...

Ah...finally.. i managed to *throw* them out! hahahahah
Enough said....

I was awarded this *friendly site award* by our very own Kak Lady one of friendliest ladies on the planet... a blogger who entertains us of stories of her kids in her sweet way that most times u r left with a grin on ur face...a perfect antidote for bad days... thanks akak :0) so as not to break the chain.... i hereby tag....

*theta*
*mama rock*
*Queen of the House*
*mulan*
*Doctor in the House*

if it up to me.. i will tag u all up... tapi like kak lady said... malas nak type banyak banyak.. heheheh..u can see the links 2 their blogs at the right side bar of this blog...

Kak Lady, tagged me to list out five of my favourite links.

Then tag five more people to share their links. Did that :0)

They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want. At the end of the tag we would be able to share good links from others.
Rules:

1. MUST be clean. No X-rated sites. 2. Only FIVE links. 3. MUST tell 5 people. 4. A link back to the person who tagged you. 5. An active link.
İskh..bahaya ni..nak cerita ka ni?? ok la.. here r the sites i always go to :0)

1. Yahoo homepage coz i have to read the world news from there first... n besides... my rocketmail email account enters from yahoo homepage ..pagi pagi first thing in the morning... i always check my email ooo..:0)

2. imeem just to check out hot songs n singers names...so that later i can download them from limewire... a must these days coz i can rarely watch mtv these days.... i am getting outdated of the latests in the music world... thank God Merve n Safa (mese's kids) always update me as well of the latest news... :0)

3. İstanbul traffic Control Center xtremely useful to check out the traffic situation in istanbul... they also have cameras all over the main spots..so u can actually see the traffic situation visually... not just as dots...the dots... well.. u can see which road is jammed and which road is not...really really useful..i tell u... i am trying to download this thing to halil's handphone..but error keep coming out...hmm...

4. Yemek Sepeti a list of restaurants to order ur food online... i always check them out..just never really order from there yet...coz our family's fav food chain numbers r already pasted at the door..n we have very specific fav... lahmacun n kebaps from haci Başa... burgers from Mc. Donalds...pizza from Domino pizza..baklava from emiroglu... all actually quite near to our home... and fang fang... it sells tomyam as well...hmmm...(weiiii... tunggu bulan 6 balik mesia wei!!)

5. Today's Zaman i dont like reading the news online...i prefer to read the news from the classical printed newspaper... we r subscribed to Zaman (the turkish language newspaper...a sibling of Today's zaman)...but u know me.... i prefer to read english.... so until halil subscribes us to Today's zaman..i am stuck to reading online... *hint hint* heheheh

need to tidy up my home... i promise to reply the comments in my previous entry and blog hop whenever i can... sooo sorry... bukkannya tak nak blog hop... tak sempat....
Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

Snow

Living in Malaysia..with only high humidity, sun and rain all year long…i used to envy those who could go overseas to enjoy spring, winter and fall of 4 seasons countries. I used to enjoy looking at their clothing…on tv.. different sets of styles for each season…i was fascinated by their winter coats…gloves.. and the snow!!! Awww….they looked elegant…and different.. I couldnt get enough watching that !! It must have been fun to be able to build a snow man…and to snow fight… in the high humidity of Malaysia… to escape in my mind into another season…….was wonderful…coming from a middle class working family, i knew going to overseas was not an option at all…. And so..i dreamt..…there is no harm to dream eh? Besides… i never dreamed of ending up in another country..to actually live there... that was far from mind….!! I was fascinated as well as scared to death…

As i was at the airport leaving Penang for İstanbul, i still remember my mom’s friend’s son told me to not buy too thick winter jackets…at least the ones that will make u look like a walking fat snowman….*Buy winter jackets that will keep u warm as well as keep u looking good…* he said….He was right of course… he used to study overseas..he should know...he was right to insistently told mr to not kill my style and body shape while keeping myself warm…

But did i listen? Hehehehe well..sort of....i was more concerned of keeping myself warm…so i bought quite a big winter jacket..at least bigger than my size then... but i was warm somehow…The truth is…u dont need to have too thick winter jackets in İstanbul coz it rarely snow and the snow doesnt really stay…it usually melt almost immediately…

But going to places where the snow doesnt melt is of course a different matter… last year…i bought this blue winter jacket which makes me 3 times fatter but is the warmest (coz it is the thickest) of all… i have thinner jackets…so having a thick one is a must somehow… who knows i might be in the snowy snow place…i thought…. And i was right… it needed it…though i looked so fat in it (in addition to my already fat figure…).. i was warm…

And for this Malaysian..to be with the snow….aaaaaahhh….. i simply love it! Esp when u r at the height of more than 1300 metres high :0) i guess if u put Malaysians at snow places….. u will find that they r the most easly recognizable lot coz they will be among the happiest lot…. At least this Malaysian was…is and will always be :0)

İ will be slowly uploading the rest of the photos into my photo blog… in a day or two..

The kids had fun in particular... there was no doubt about it! :0)

the view
See? i told you!! i look soo fat with this winter jacket..but i was warm at least :0)
for those style lover..u must be horrified looking at me eh? hehehe
true..i am fat...but i am NOT THİS FAT! :0)

My family photo
Feb 2008
A Snow Experience to Remember.. :0)

Selimmmm.... u shouldnt have called us down so early! Grrr *wink*

For me to smile showing my teeth.. that means i was totally enjoying myself :0)

red faced kids (so as the rest of the kids)

up up up n away!

one way to slide down heheheh

or u can just roll urself down!! hahahaha Keremcan and hatice ctually did that for a few seconds much to my horror!

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

This week..(2nd week of school Holiday)

This is the typical turkish yogurt... thick...and most importantly...the brand is Sütaş..the kids' fav brand for dairy products..

these r...
Kadın Budu Köfte..
it took me years to make perfect this kadın budu köfte (ANNE's *my late mom in law* style..the only style Halil loves of Kadın Budu..his mom's style...

it is basically rice cooked with minced meat, added with onion, salt, pepper and a bit of diced parsley..shaped like in the pic above... put in the fridge to rest...coated with egg and later flour...to be fried in hot oil...


resepi in full kena tunggu bukak sekolah dulu..


BUT.....


Genetic vs Habit

Grrrr... he destroyed the beauty of my Kadın Budu köfte by eating like this!!!

and he made the kids eat it the same way too even though i repeatedly told him that the kids
eat their yogurt from another cup...!! Türks will always be Türks, eh? *giggles*..

Poor my kadın budu köfte... they faced their extinction in the least attactive form :0)

But that doesnt matter coz on Wednesday... my Hatice celebrated her 7th Birthday...

May u grow up to be a good person, inside and out...
Someone with good manners... Despite anne *screaming* at u the whole time... u know i love u..and i have only one çiçegim..

2 siblings*the light of my heart*

the cousins and the birthday cake..

ilayda,hatice, zeynep

Though his birthday will only be in April..he wanted to blow the candle too :0)

Awww... she didnt cry!! I bet she did loads at home..

*wink wink meşe!* (sorry..i dont think it is appropriate to tell why...)

And let it be written in my personal family history that today..

7th of February

for the first time in my life..i had served turkish tea for halil, hatice and baddin...

my kids drinking tea?? oh my...genetically n culturally..they do follow the türks..

i am the only one who still dislike drinking hot tea (unless it is iced)

I guess the pics rap everything up of what i had been up to these days...school days will always be hectic i suppose..

and i hope that it is not too late to wish all those celebrating it...

HAPPY CHİNESE NEW YEAR!

i guess Malaysians r on holiday this week..Enjoy ur holiday!

And on special request from our Queen of the House...i have compiled all my published article in a blog for u all to read...i am a simple mumbler who gets lucky to have her mumbling to be printed...but i sincerely hope that these mumbling will give u a thing or two to think of...

here is the link:

http://www.myTZarticles.blogspot.com/

we will be going somewhere this Saturday..in fact the whole Zaim family will be missing to this destination... the kids r excited...Zeynep even *loaned* her fav travelling bag so that hatice can bring in the necessary toys n magazines there....i had bought new gloves for the kids...ear drums protecter..and am trying to knit something...Yup! i still couldnt find my winter stuffs..i must have accidently threw them all when i had tidied up the whole apt a few months ago ...

I will be back next week with loads of photos n stories to tell... my hint is... it will involve loads of snow... Please pray for our safe journey...Monday..the kids will start schooling...hopefully this weekend will be the weekend all of us will remember...see ya next week!

i am updating...but i cant blog hop yet...soooo sorry... i will only be able to blog hop after monday (once the kids start schooling)...besides..i need to do a speedy knitting till saturday nite...:0)

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

This first week of school holiday

They call it 2 weeks of school holiday. I call it 2 weeks of pure torture. Well..at least one week of that two weeks are over....


In my effort for my kids to be able to enjoy at least a bit of their holiday - homework free... i had made them worked and worked non stop for one week... i was their least loved mom...a dominant mom who ruled/s her reigns with an iron clad discipline...It was a week which involved a week of tears and headache (n did i mention screaming n shouting??) from both parts..the kids and i... but yes...!!

My son had finished his 48 pages holiday workbook last Thursday...he has only the activities left (ie...making pudding..etc..etc like Hatice did last year...)..that..i havent decide whether i will let him do or not......well...as for my daughter?...

As much as i sympathized with her as i pressed her to work harder......she had finished her 80 pages work book today (Sunday)...which left her

with her story books (with comprehension excercise)! Thatz the easy part... she had read 6 of them... that is 9 more left...

I have also realised one thing versince 2 weeks ago.... my Turkish is no longer enough...As Hatice starts to read and encounter new words....i can no longer explain to her the meaning of turkish words properly... n not wanting to be the one responsible for my daughter to have a limited vocabulary.... i had found this dictionary at my favourite bookstore in Kanyon...

Yup...this turkish-turkish dictionary will be with me..i suspect for many many years to come.....wish me luck!!!

i still havent updated the kids' blogs yet...i am yet to update on their performance before the holiday...etc...etc....i owe them big... sorry kids...will try to at the earliest possible time...

D kids' school holiday....well..it surely means that i can no longer do my morning walks..which result in my weight challenge to be on hold AGAİN!!...Having the kids at home.... well.... normally, i need to only prepare their breakfast and dinner alone....the moment they left for school...i was free to do as i pleased...but nowadays....it is lunch too...which is always difficult really coz last week, we were rushing to finish the work book..(of 2 kids) and in between hatice n baddin..i was trying to cook!I know...i know..i should have cooked during the night...but i was always dead on my feet by 10 pm!

But life isnt always about learning, eh? it is als about fun (which i still need to learn about..i am such a boring person)....and so....last Saturday.... the kids n i decided to tag along the dad... selim n halil had some ork to do at FÜSEM... and so we invited Funda n kids as well to join the kids n i for a window shopping at Kanyon n Metrocity...and on Sunday...we joined Meşe n her kids for a shopping spree in Pendik...my officially new fav shopping place (if i can drag halil there! :0) )

4 happy kids2 tired moms

chatting with each other..

This trip..baddin decided to be xtremely naughty...and with that elo decided to follow him too ..it is interesting how kids changed when they get together... normally baddin never let go of my hand everytime we go there on our own..

There was one more shopping complex more to go but the kids decided to go to FÜSEM...and visited my beloved's office room..
baddin directly went straight to mudur bey's chair hehehe

the kids posing at Halil's table..

when asked... what do u wanna be when u grow up?

Zeynep: Doctor and teacher

Hatice: doctor and teacher

baddin: University teacher

Elo: Non decided

Doctor coz their auntie Mehveş is a doctor (as well as an educator)... Educator coz... well... the family is full with educators! hahaha

They prefered this..playing in the lecture room instead of window shopping to the third shopping complex...!!! Kids!! and on Sunday.... a shopping spree with meşelar....

i went crazy! everywhere shops went on xtra sale!! i bought a red winter coat for 29.90YTL..the original price was... 192.50YTL!

The shopping bags (n i still need to find jeans for hatice!) .can u believe it? hatice no longer wear clothing for kids ages 9-10...she now wears clothing for kids ages 10-11 (and she is only 7 years old!)!!MasyaAllah...baddin... he is sticking to his age size... he wears clothing for kids of 6 years old...

İn Kanyon... i also bought this...

I have got 3 of her books..this is my 4th...i like her coz her books r sooooo light to read :=) i think i spent around an hour or so to finish the book..now i amrereading it the 2nd time (i can read one book a zillion times... just like i had read all my harry potter books! hahahah)

And so... the kids r at home... Hatice will have her birthday this Wednesday...I gave birth to her 7 years ago..it seems just like yesterday...Hatice n Baddin... u will always be my babies...!

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time....