Posted on 1st February 2010 by Idil in Travel
Do you know what is just as exciting as traveling? The whole process of trip planning. First you decide where you want to go, then you map out your whole trip bit by bit, building up anticipation. I’m not one of those travelers who needs to have all her days pre-planned but I do have to spend some sleepless nights with a guidebook, reading up and making lists.
The guidebooks are a huge part of the planning. They are what make the dream seem possible. They give you insight on the culture you will soon experience and they fill you with glee and hope. If I didn’t have a list of the places that I want to see I would feel like I might miss out on something super important. The internet is also a great resource for information but I’m one of those people who still uses journals and paperback travel guides. Can’t beat the classics.
Work is busy and due to all the chaos I often have to rework travel plans several times. I was supposed to be in Sydney end of March for a wedding which I now will not be able to attend but I still plan on heading downunder this year. Fingers crossed.
An old friend of mine is moving back to Melbourne from Istanbul to study for a year or two so I’m planning on visiting him too whilst out there.
I’ve got several guides for Australia that I used during my previous trips but this time I will be using an “Eyewitness Travel Guide”..actually whilst writing that I checked the print date and it says 2003. A bit outdated perhaps. Maybe I’ll have to pick up a more up to date copy somewhere.
Very exciting..
Posted on 15th January 2010 by Idil in Quotes
Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.
-William Arthur Ward
Posted on 15th January 2010 by Idil in Daily Banter
I shy away from arguments very quickly. I don’t like confrontation when it comes to personal matters. If I can ignore the issue or solve it by avoiding the stress brought on by a firey argument, I’ll take the chance. But unfortunately it takes two to..argue. Not everything goes as planned and the other party might try to exercise their right to yell, patronize and argue till the cows come home.
My initial reaction to that is my stomach turning to stone and a nauseating feeling. Especially if the subject is annoying. The more annoying the subject the more I feel sick discussing it. I think that’s a reaction to accumulated stress.. And if pushed hard enough, my second reaction will be to strike down as hard as I’m being stricken. I generally do not like to be pushed that far but sometimes, there is no stopping people. They will push and push and push until you explode, and then they will act surprised that your inner-hulk has taken over and feign that they didn’t want the argument to get this far.
Another aspect of arguing I hate is being misunderstood. There are those who misunderstand intentionally to serve their own purpose..but there are those who think they know you that they read differently into the things you write which results in you being massively misunderstood. There is nothing that irritates me more than a smart ass who thinks they know what you think better than yourself. Look at me getting carried away here..It’s late and I’m sleepless. I should learn not to blog at night.
You may think you know but you don’t. I don’t even know myself properly. Life is too short to be arguing about every single thing.
Posted on 11th January 2010 by Idil in Daily Banter
I always seem to be searching for a theme for my blog, no matter how satisfied I am with the current one! I just get cranky when I see the prices on some of the ones I like.. I know a lot of work and effort goes into creating a template but 120 dollars? Really??!
I’m busy browsing themeforrest.com – lets see what good will come out of that and at which moment I will whip out my credit card whilst yelling “YES! FINALLY!”
Posted on 10th January 2010 by Idil in Daily Banter | Travel
cesme, market, wow
I traveled to Cesme on Friday night and arrived here early morning on Saturday, fully rested and ready to attack a weekend full of anything that would make me forget the happenings of the week that just passed. After various activities which had seemed promising, I can still not forget that life does at times suck and that it’s probably best not to fight it.
The first couple of days of 2010 were spent in bed, with a stomach flu which I caught off one of my family members. I cannot pinpoint which one exactly since we all ended up with it, stuck in bed, throwing our souls up and shaking uncontrollably. Thankfully the quiet and solitude of Cesme makes me forget all the pain and sorrow that such experiences makes me endure.
A storm started late last night and has kept me indoors the whole day today. I am not complaining, it was rather nice to stay in bed watching movies and feasting on wasabi peanuts. My theory is that the more peanuts I have; the more I will not want some later on when I can’t buy them since I got this pack from Poland.
I watched the “Dorian Gray” movie which came out last year and although I didn’t love it, I didn’t think that it sucked as badly as some say it does. The acting is horrid on the main characters part but the supporting actors were excellent, but were they good enough to save the whole movie? I’m not sure. I also watched “Fame” which marked me for life as one of the worst remakes ever. I honestly don’t understand how they let that movie out as is with no story line whatsoever and horrid acting. It’s like watching a bad music video which lasts way longer than it should.
I’ve got lots of worked planned for this week so hopefully I will brave my way through it. I hope that the farmers market will still be on tomorrow, I absolutely need to buy vegetables before I wilt out of vitamin deficiency.
Oh and before I forget..I am proud to announce that I haven’t played World of Warcraft ONCE since I got here! Proud of me yet? 
Posted on 30th December 2009 by Idil in Daily Banter
I can’t wait for 2009 to be finally over! Overall, it wasn’t a very bad year. It did have its moments. Death knocked at our door twice which was hard to handle..but what doesn’t kill you leaves you crippled apparently. Or was that stronger..
Work was busy. I’m assuming that’s why I really didn’t see time fly by. It was so busy that my days and nights tended to blend together.
I had to give up on someone I love. That’s always a hard one. But everything happens for a reason and I would like to think that I’ve grown up enough to know when to let go.
We finally started on the renovations of our home in Istanbul..I can’t wait for it to be over so that we can finally settle in. It’s very promising.
What do I expect for 2010? Nothing. I don’t want to put too much pressure on it with expectations and demands. I will go with the flow and see where it takes me. I’ve got a feeling it’ll be somewhere wonderful!
See you in 2010 
Posted on 30th December 2009 by Idil in Travel
We’re finally back in the city of lights! Well..for me Istanbul is the city of lights if we compare it to all the other places I’ve been to lately.
I had this long post about my trip to Poland which I wrote when there but I lost it somewhere inbetween backups so we’ll just have to make do with this one my pretties..
On our way from Istanbul to Lodz we had to fly to Berlin and take a train. Well, as a matter of fact, several trains.. When switching and hunting for our next trains we nearly got lost, mugged, possibly raped and sold off to the highest bidder BUT we survived. I must admit that I have never ever experienced such polar cold but it was definitely an experience to remember.
At the end of that trip my colleague was ready to take a chainsaw and slice/dice me because instead of being totally scared of possibly getting lost in Poland, I kept cracking up and laughing during the whole trip. Especially when some Polish guy at one of the stations tried to help us find our next track and in the process looked hilarious trying to ask her where she was from and if she’d have a drink with him.
Lodz (our final destination) must be wonderful in summer. It has a university and heaps of international students. But I can guarantee to you that it is the last place you want to be during winter because IT IS SO COLD! Now I am sure there are colder places and that I am totally overreacting but when I think of the weather over there I still get chills. It used to be minus 15 during the nights. When we got back to the +16 degrees of Istanbul I felt like I had landed in the Caribbeans.
Even though the weather didn’t leave a good impression upon me..I must say that the people are totally AWESOME! They were so welcoming and friendly it was a great change from other places we had to work at. It’s actually one of the main reasons why I cannot wait to go back!
On our way back I ofcourse had to fulfill the wishes of my family by bringing back luggages full of treats and food and presents for Christmas. 15 KGs extra luggage cost me 105EUR. THANK YOU THY! YOU SUCK! But at the end of my trip I am just thankful that all those bottles of Vodka didn’t break
Next time I go I will bring my laptop and make sure that I blog more from site, there is so much to write about when there.
Posted on 29th November 2009 by Idil in Daily Banter | Sick
As you may have heard, unless you live in a cave void of all technology, there’s a bad type of flu going around (nearly typed fly there..) It’s already taken more than 20 lives in Turkey. All those who died from it had chronic illnesses like I do so I do believe that it somewhat does give me grounds to freak out more than the next totally sane and healthy person. We drove to Istanbul with a friend on Friday, thanks to a well needed bank holiday, and it took me a single day to immediately get sick. Runny nose, throat on fire, I feel like the bank end of a donkey on a mid summer night. Not-good-at-all. But I have decided that all swines and their flues could try as much as they want to but won’t get anywhere near me. This is a simple “Welcome back to Istanbul. Here, have a flu, it’s on the house!” type of deals. Hopefully, by the time we board our plane on Friday morning, I will be back to normal and rocking on!
Posted on 24th November 2009 by Idil in Travel
I’ve been researching Warsaw and trying to make a list of all the things we can cram into two days before heading to Lodz and have stumbled upon this poignant image of Willy Brandt kneeling in front of a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes. Just looking at the image you have a sense of the weight resting upon his shoulders.
“An unusual burden accompanied me on my way to Warsaw. Nowhere else had a people suffered as in Poland. The machine-like annihilation of Polish Jewry represented a heightening of bloodthirstiness that no one had held possible. On my way to Warsaw [I carried with me] the memory of the fight to the death of the Warsaw ghetto.“ – Willy Brandt
I remember my heart shattering when we entered the Jewish museum in Berlin. Back in school, they taught us all about world war II and its impact but all of it was always in textbooks. When faced with the reality of it all it is just overwhelming.
Posted on 21st November 2009 by Idil in Daily Banter
I try to think about my time spent on IRC as a positive experience that I can look back upon and brush off as being mild teenage amusement. In the heat of the moment you get the feeling that the people you are talking to and whom you call friends are blessings and that you’re lucky to have them. I guess it took me getting over IRC to see what a bunch of losers a lot of the people I spoke to back then were.
Don’t get me wrong, those that I care about I have kept in touch with. Even better than that, they’ve become true friends I can count on. But the rest..I feel like I’m just better off without. Same goes for those who I met IRL and who have disappointed me in more ways than I can count.
Anyhow..One of those people that I’ve known forever thanks to the joys of Internet Relay Chatting is Ertan. He lives in Melbourne and we used to chat a lot back in the old days. Thankfully we’ve kept in touch and I must admit that I adore him! Especially after conversations like the one we had tonight and which I would like to share with you.
