C4 is ill

I've been driving with a nail in the back right tire all week long. I finally decided to have it checked out. The guy told me there was actually two nails in there, but the tire was actually doing fine. After 15 minutes and 15 Liras, she was up and running.

Turkish Style

There is this high school under construction in our neighborhood. It looks nice but then I noticed the two small roofs on the main roof and wondered what they were there for. I took a look at the project picture and found out that there was a small error...

left side







right side









project picture





All jokes aside, The raw materials such as plaster and concrete used for this building are (supposed to be) environmentally friendly. They used the same material they did to build the brand new mall center 'Meydan' near Ikea in Umraniye.
For the first time in Turkey and still a fairly new concept in the rest of Europe, new heating technology is being used to create energy. This technology converts earth heat into energy that can be used for heating and cooling the shopping center. This environmentally friendly technology emits no harmful gas or waste. Even the roofs of the buildings have been designed as green spaces.

For Rent

This place is for rent if you're interested.

Party Time

Tonight we went to a party thrown by Ekin's friend Dilek. Sibel and Yalçin dropped by since they were also in the neighborhood, which is pretty funny if you consider that we're far out of Istanbul:












Newly engaged












He got Ekin's blessing

Children Day

Today we were out all day. It was family day, friends day and work day.







Actually today nobody is working because it's April the 23rd, National Sovereignty and Children's day. So Ekin was on vacation today, but I had to work tonight ;)

Yellow Boots

View from the living room window. A worker was waiting for other workers to come in order to start to work in our building.

Comfy Cat

I saw this comfortable cat in the Cihangir area, near Taksim. I think that's the third cat sitting outside on a chair I post.

Tonight we went to Engin and Reyhan's new place where we (everybody but me) cooked diner. I just ate. It was delicious. Ekin made this aubergine/courgette mix, with a sirloin steak and a French Sauce au poivre (pepper sauce). A salad on the side and some good wines. Bon appétit.

Botanic Garden

Ekin wanted to go by some flowers at the city's botanic Garden in Levent. So we did. That was pretty cool and they were pretty cheap. We're not very good at keeping flowers alive so we had to renew our flowerpots.
Very hot weather today, by the way. All week long it had been pretty nice. Today it was around 32 °C (90°F).

































Our living room.

Searching Day

Today, our friend Sibel was looking for a new apartment, so we tagged along to help her in her choices. We visited 9 different places. 7 of them were crappy, the floors weren't straight, the walls weren't straight, etc. We usually say that the architect is from the black sea.

Oreo is getting bigger












On the way to the first place, Sibel brought us to this new place called Burger Bar in Istiniye that makes those real American burgers. It's hard to find a good one in here and it's nice to have one once in a while.









I didn't take any pictures of the buildings or apartments we visited, just some views from them.










































As an animal lover, I spotted right away this small lizard in the bushes. I use to catch them and study them when I was in the U.S.

Today's Pictures

Oreo's teeth are fine and clean as you can see.









I saw this man this morning while returning home. He's working in this parking lot (in Zincirlikuyu), nice office.









I took this picture right outside the movie theater today (Taksim). I forgot this man's name but you can see him there every day. He's a poet, writer or something like that. I like his giant prayer beads.

Chop Shop

Today I went to see the last movie I was supposed to see : Chop Shop, by director Ramin Bahrani. The film follows the efforts of 12-year-old orphan Alejandro (played by the very talented Alejandro Polanco) to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister. Working and living in a repair shop, Alejandro never stops hustling.
Taking place entirely in a gritty warren of auto body shops in the shadow of Shea Stadium. It depicts a New York rarely seen on-screen, with a big sensitivity. A must see.

Juliette

Hey guys, since this morning I'm a proud uncle, for the 2nd time. My sister delivered her second baby this morning at 9.29 am. It's a girl and her name is Juliette.
My other nephew is already 3 years old, Lucas.

Turkish Style

I always pass by this house in the Cihangir area and recently noticed that they put this metallic bar to hold the ceiling. A lot of cars are passing in this narrow street so it's a bit risky. Even I could kick it off. Would it fall ? I'll keep you posted ;)

Granny Smith

This week end I went to the Supermarket and found out that they did not know how to spell Granny Smith.











Later on, I found myself in another supermarket (of the same chain store funnily) and there it was spelled good but more expensive. So I'd rather have them mispell names if it makes them cheaper.

Mýrin

I went to see this very intriguing icelandic movie ('Jar City' in English) today and it was actually a very good movie. The Direction, The cast, the acting, the story. The main actor Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson was also present at the screening. He won the award for best actor in Iceland. This multi-layered murder mystery became the highest grossing film in Icelandic history, and was the country's Oscar nominee. During the Icelandic Edda Film Festival, this movie actually won best film, best actor, best music, best director, best supporting actor.
It's apparently inspired from the book of the same name by author Arnaldur Indridason. Very good thriller far from clichés.

At Work

I'm at work now ...


Serdar :
The Host







Murat :
The man who does everything,
everything !






Emre :
Grafik Designer









Meriç :
Web Designer






... so I take the oportunity to post some photos I took today near the Theater where there is a construction site.
















'Zil' means 'bell'
çalin (tchalin) means 'ring'