Give me my Aji-sarap!

I miss Pinoy and Chinese food. I know it’s only been 4 days, but really, I miss soy sauce and MSG on my food.

I have so far tried only a limited range of Turkish fare, and I have yet to develop a love for it. Last night I had a mixed salad of stuffed eggplant, stuffed tomatoes, kofte, and greens with plain yogurt.

I loved the stuffed tomato, but the rest were just okay.

Today I had baklava for dessert after lunch. It was very very very sweet, but it was somehow reminiscent of turon for me, so I liked it.

I also tried Turkish coffee. It’s served in really small cups – probably the size of a shot glass – and it’s really strong. The first time I tried it I drank almost the whole thing, but the bottom part was grainy, with undissolved coffee beans. The second time I had it someone mercifully informed me that I am really not supposed to finish it, and to just drink the smooth half.

I think there’s still a lot of other local dishes that I haven’t tried, and I have hopes that I will love something soon. But in the meantime let me continue wishing for salt and pepper spare ribs, yang chow, and pork adobo.

Being Away

And so begins what I expect to be the longest 6 months of my life.


It’s my 4th day now in Istanbul, which means it’s the 4th day since I last hugged and kissed my husband and son. I can’t really allow myself to dwell on this because I just might suddenly book a flight home and resign from work.

So anyway, I’m writing this at my husband’s request, so I can tell him the details of my days here without the limitation of the strength of the wifi connection.

This is the hotel I’m staying at now. It’s Double Tree by Hilton, Istanbul-Moda. It’s a nice enough hotel although apparently, the locals hate its location as it sticks out of the skyline of the Asian side of Istanbul.

The room is good, and you can see I have a beautiful view of the Marmara Sea. But after just 4 days, the room is starting to feel a little too cramped for me. I want to transfer to a serviced apartment already. I want to be able to prepare my food, do my scrapbook, wash my clothes. But I’m stuck here for a few more weeks as I think I can’t move to the serviced apartment until I get my residence permit.

I’ve gone around the area surrounding the hotel. I walked by the sea from Moda to Kadikoy. I walked the narrow streets of the busy and touristy Kadikoy Square. There's almost always a street musician performing in the middle of the square, and tonight it was a group.

The language barrier is a challenge. Despite its reputation for being a modern, cosmopolitan city, there still are a lot of Turkish here who do not speak English. I’m trying to learn Turkish, but learning a foreign language is not one of my talents, so it has been a struggle so far. I get by with sign language and what I believe is ESP. The other day I had to ask the cashier at a grocery store about the prices of two different products. He talked to me in Turkish and I shook my head. I spoke to him in English and he shook his head. Then we looked at each other for a few seconds and suddenly he understood what I needed. He scanned both items and showed me the prices.

I have yet to cross to and explore the European side. I’m hoping I can do that this weekend. But it’s just occurring to me that my weekends cannot be spent on leisure and me-time alone. I live alone now, which means I have to take care of me. I need to wash my clothes (unless I’m willing to pay for hotel laundry service which is unbelievably expensive), and then iron them. I wonder how long that will take. And then on Sunday, I plan to go to Every Nation Church in the Levent area in the European side.

I miss my boys so much. I am so not looking forward to the weekend because I think that will make me miss them more. My aloneness might overwhelm me. As it is now, the days don’t seem to end even when I get to the hotel because I don’t have family to spend the evenings with. How much more two full weekend days? Haaaaaaaaaay. I think the next 6 months will feel like a long, straight work-week for me.