Spoke to Mummy yesterday and she said its my Chinese birthday today, 3rd day of the 8th moon.
Felt so sad that I'm not home in Singapore, cos my parents esp my Dad always makes my birthday so special.
He cooks his famous chilli crab for me :) I'll really miss my family on the 18th.
Well the movers FINALLY came yesterday and all our stuff has arrived although some things were broken or missing. We haven't turned on the electronic equipment yet, so let's hope n pray for the best.
But the most UNBELIEVABLE thing of all was that the truck driver CRACKED the compound wall!!
INCREDIBLY F****** STOOOOOOPID! He backed his truck INTO the wall and cracked it!
The compound manager came over and made huge fuss.
Well if they are going to make us pay for it we'll definitely sue the movers!!!
HOW F******* stupid can they get.
Oh wait but then we are in Turkey....and I've been told by more than one person that this is typical Turkish behaviour.
Not thinking, irresponsible, quite often stupid.
When can I leave when can I leave when can I leave?!?!!??!!??!?!?!??
Hope to escape to London to see JF's brother's family next month.
Every opportunity I can get I want to be outta here!!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Incredible No Show
It is now 5.30pm.
We were SUPPOSED to move today. Guess what? They didn't show AGAIN!
Big surprise there. Good ole Turkish reliability for you.
We waited the whole damn day.
At 4pm they called to say they have "loaded the truck but customs won't let big trucks on the roads between 4-6pm"
So they can't come.
They MUST HAVE KNOWN this beforehand seeing that this is not their first moving job!
WTF!????????????????????????????????????
Someone please give me a loaded gun for my birthday.
We were SUPPOSED to move today. Guess what? They didn't show AGAIN!
Big surprise there. Good ole Turkish reliability for you.
We waited the whole damn day.
At 4pm they called to say they have "loaded the truck but customs won't let big trucks on the roads between 4-6pm"
So they can't come.
They MUST HAVE KNOWN this beforehand seeing that this is not their first moving job!
WTF!????????????????????????????????????
Someone please give me a loaded gun for my birthday.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Get a MOVE ON aptals!!
Ok so now they tell us they can move our container into our new place tomorrow....fingers crossed.
Judging by the way things have been going, I hope they:
1. Show up
2. Don 't break anything
3. Actually UNPACK our furniture liked they are SUPPOSED to and not dump it in the flat.
(One of JF's colleagues who also moved here from Singapore got his PCs...all not working. Another had stuff broken.)
Got lights installed......workmen did a pretty lousy job and left gaping holes in the ceiling.
One of the lights is falling away from the ceiling leaving a bigger and bigger gap each passing day.
Just wonder when it will come crashing down.
Have called them to come today to re-fix, but guess what? NEVER SHOWED UP.
What's more my Mac monitor has suddenly decided to kaput on me.
I SWEAR THE SWAY-NESS OF THE COUNTRY is UNBELIEVABLE (as I told Dawn...who incidentally just entered Blogsphere :) Hooray! Her blog is linked on the sidebar.)
Nothing but sway crap has happened since we got to this country.
Maybe it's aura/energy is 100% incompatible with mine.
Lets see what the pendejos come up with tomorrow.
Judging by the way things have been going, I hope they:
1. Show up
2. Don 't break anything
3. Actually UNPACK our furniture liked they are SUPPOSED to and not dump it in the flat.
(One of JF's colleagues who also moved here from Singapore got his PCs...all not working. Another had stuff broken.)
Got lights installed......workmen did a pretty lousy job and left gaping holes in the ceiling.
One of the lights is falling away from the ceiling leaving a bigger and bigger gap each passing day.
Just wonder when it will come crashing down.
Have called them to come today to re-fix, but guess what? NEVER SHOWED UP.
What's more my Mac monitor has suddenly decided to kaput on me.
I SWEAR THE SWAY-NESS OF THE COUNTRY is UNBELIEVABLE (as I told Dawn...who incidentally just entered Blogsphere :) Hooray! Her blog is linked on the sidebar.)
Nothing but sway crap has happened since we got to this country.
Maybe it's aura/energy is 100% incompatible with mine.
Lets see what the pendejos come up with tomorrow.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Our baby has a heart!! And we're still homeless
Saw our baby's heart for the 1st time yesterday and was very excited! So cute. Yes baby is still a bean for now. And yes we are still homeless after 62 days in this wretched country.
Sorry everyone for the long hiatus. No this blog is not dead and gone....just temporarily interrupted due to our many moving problems (2 months on we are STILL HOMELESS and have changed hotel for the 5th TIME thanks to they very reliable Turkish efficiency....yes U can count on them NOT TO SHOW UP or GET THINGS DONE even when U PAY THEM or book ahead) and the ridiculously slow & unreliable Internet connections in this 3rd World country. YES, after living here for 2 months I really do believe Turkey is a 3rd World country NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
The mentality, actions and behaviour of the people are 3rd world. I have come to see why (but STILL DO NOT ACCEPT) why they are out to cheat us, scam us all the time just to make money. Why they don't give a damn about service, don't bother to do things, just make empty promises to get your money first. They don't care because they are desperate. They want to take U for all you've got to escape their own dire situation.
Most Turks and even some foreigners kid themselves into thinking that this country may be 1st or even 2nd world, but they must be blind or have their eyes closed when they walk on the streets.
Just stroll outside the main tourist and business areas of Istanbul and U will clearly see how people live in such squalor. Even 5 star hotels in the tourist part of town suffer from water and electricity cuts from time to time which they have no control over. Go outside the city and you'll see how shockingly undeveloped the rest of the country is. Definitely 3rd World.
How they can even dare to say they are European or want to join the EU.....beyond my comprehension.
I spoke to a German lady livıng here and she had this to say:
As with big cities in 3rd World countries, Istanbul is full of people that have no roots any more. People from all over the country move to the metropolis to try to escape the poverty and their bad situation elsewhere. So they trample on each other and everyone else to get to the top of the heap. This makes people act strange and do things that seem to be rude, unpolite,uncivilised. They are desperate and they have nothing to lose. Many are not intelligent enough or simply don't have the resources to change their situation. It is hard for me to accept the strangeness of people and the terrible things they do. Civilisation here is a very thin skin. The slightest thing happens, and the skin tears.
Hearing her say that to me was like an illumination. Suddenly it all became so clear why all these bad things are happening to us here, why they people are the way they are. They are a pack of wolves among other wolves and we're the fresh meat. So they scramble to get every scrap they can. What's more some do it under the cloak of religion and those are the WORST of all. Religion should never be used as an excuse for personal inadequacy.
Well I'll be damned if I'm not going to fight it all the way!!!
I recently read this quote....interesting and food for thought:
To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.
-Rowan Atkinson
Sorry everyone for the long hiatus. No this blog is not dead and gone....just temporarily interrupted due to our many moving problems (2 months on we are STILL HOMELESS and have changed hotel for the 5th TIME thanks to they very reliable Turkish efficiency....yes U can count on them NOT TO SHOW UP or GET THINGS DONE even when U PAY THEM or book ahead) and the ridiculously slow & unreliable Internet connections in this 3rd World country. YES, after living here for 2 months I really do believe Turkey is a 3rd World country NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
The mentality, actions and behaviour of the people are 3rd world. I have come to see why (but STILL DO NOT ACCEPT) why they are out to cheat us, scam us all the time just to make money. Why they don't give a damn about service, don't bother to do things, just make empty promises to get your money first. They don't care because they are desperate. They want to take U for all you've got to escape their own dire situation.
Most Turks and even some foreigners kid themselves into thinking that this country may be 1st or even 2nd world, but they must be blind or have their eyes closed when they walk on the streets.
Just stroll outside the main tourist and business areas of Istanbul and U will clearly see how people live in such squalor. Even 5 star hotels in the tourist part of town suffer from water and electricity cuts from time to time which they have no control over. Go outside the city and you'll see how shockingly undeveloped the rest of the country is. Definitely 3rd World.
How they can even dare to say they are European or want to join the EU.....beyond my comprehension.
I spoke to a German lady livıng here and she had this to say:
As with big cities in 3rd World countries, Istanbul is full of people that have no roots any more. People from all over the country move to the metropolis to try to escape the poverty and their bad situation elsewhere. So they trample on each other and everyone else to get to the top of the heap. This makes people act strange and do things that seem to be rude, unpolite,uncivilised. They are desperate and they have nothing to lose. Many are not intelligent enough or simply don't have the resources to change their situation. It is hard for me to accept the strangeness of people and the terrible things they do. Civilisation here is a very thin skin. The slightest thing happens, and the skin tears.
Hearing her say that to me was like an illumination. Suddenly it all became so clear why all these bad things are happening to us here, why they people are the way they are. They are a pack of wolves among other wolves and we're the fresh meat. So they scramble to get every scrap they can. What's more some do it under the cloak of religion and those are the WORST of all. Religion should never be used as an excuse for personal inadequacy.
Well I'll be damned if I'm not going to fight it all the way!!!
I recently read this quote....interesting and food for thought:
To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.
-Rowan Atkinson
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Jihad Tomatoes
Yes JF and I are so excited. Right now we've named him/her Pepin, which means seed or bean in French ;p Pepin la Boule.
But I have to confess my mind is not at ease at all.
I try to find positive things, but it feels like every fibre and molecule of my being is rebelling against this place.
If I took a snapshot of my mind, it would probably look like Edvard Munch's goulish painting.
Yes...SCRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
It doesn't help that people seem to be out to scam us all the time.
From the real estate agent who when asked basic questions like "What are the monthly maintence fees for the flat?" replies, "It's not my job, Don't ask me." And then harasses us to sign a blank lease without any fittings or fixures listed. (BTW over here WE are the ones paying the 12% commission and NOT the property owner. In spite of this fact, he doesn't give 2 shits about finding out basic info for us.) WTF!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?
To the fish place that tried to charge us 80YTL (about SGD$92) for ONE miserable 1kg fish when we agreed on 50 YTL before ordering, paid a 20YTL deposit ONE DAY IN ADVANCE AND waited 1 hour 30 minutes for.
Tell me, how not to get pissed off and depressed?
Recently I met a Singaporean Malay lady who has been living here for 17 years. (She married then divorced a Turk) She's the ONLY Singaporean I know of here so far. She told me that most ppl here, especially landlords don't give a shit about the tenant, they just want to "take your money, and trample on you."
Water and electricity cuts are looming everyday. When they first came into effect in the capital, Ankara 2 weeks ago, the mayor publicly announced that "people should go on a holiday to save water." All the local papers were outraged by this comment especially when they discovered that this mayor was told THREE YEARS AGO of the looming water shortage but did nothing about it.
The upcoming presidential election is also big news here. The ruling party have chosen and backed Abdullah Gul, the guy who announced his candidacy in April which then resulted in mass demonstrations by the Turks and worldwide press coverage. He withdrew his candidacy back then after much pressure, but now he's back in the sadle and announced that he won't back down. The millitary here is strongly secularist and wary of him because he is seen as an Islamist. Hmmm.....I doubt a coup here will be as peaceful & fun as they are in Thailand, with people selling spring rolls and cold drinks to demonstraters and handing flowers to soldiers.
Lately, about twice a day I've been hearing this truck pass by with a loud hailer, some angry-sounding guy shouting away, calling for jihad for all I know. (Maybe it's just the language that sounds angry.) So I look out the window, and turns out he's selling potatoes and tomatoes by the truck load. Wow. The karang guni man's comical beeping horn sounds so much friendlier in comparison and doesn't make me fear for my life. It seems like funny misconception, but just adds to make me feel distrubed living here.
But I have to confess my mind is not at ease at all.
I try to find positive things, but it feels like every fibre and molecule of my being is rebelling against this place.
If I took a snapshot of my mind, it would probably look like Edvard Munch's goulish painting.
Yes...SCRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
It doesn't help that people seem to be out to scam us all the time.
From the real estate agent who when asked basic questions like "What are the monthly maintence fees for the flat?" replies, "It's not my job, Don't ask me." And then harasses us to sign a blank lease without any fittings or fixures listed. (BTW over here WE are the ones paying the 12% commission and NOT the property owner. In spite of this fact, he doesn't give 2 shits about finding out basic info for us.) WTF!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?
To the fish place that tried to charge us 80YTL (about SGD$92) for ONE miserable 1kg fish when we agreed on 50 YTL before ordering, paid a 20YTL deposit ONE DAY IN ADVANCE AND waited 1 hour 30 minutes for.
Tell me, how not to get pissed off and depressed?
Recently I met a Singaporean Malay lady who has been living here for 17 years. (She married then divorced a Turk) She's the ONLY Singaporean I know of here so far. She told me that most ppl here, especially landlords don't give a shit about the tenant, they just want to "take your money, and trample on you."
Water and electricity cuts are looming everyday. When they first came into effect in the capital, Ankara 2 weeks ago, the mayor publicly announced that "people should go on a holiday to save water." All the local papers were outraged by this comment especially when they discovered that this mayor was told THREE YEARS AGO of the looming water shortage but did nothing about it.
The upcoming presidential election is also big news here. The ruling party have chosen and backed Abdullah Gul, the guy who announced his candidacy in April which then resulted in mass demonstrations by the Turks and worldwide press coverage. He withdrew his candidacy back then after much pressure, but now he's back in the sadle and announced that he won't back down. The millitary here is strongly secularist and wary of him because he is seen as an Islamist. Hmmm.....I doubt a coup here will be as peaceful & fun as they are in Thailand, with people selling spring rolls and cold drinks to demonstraters and handing flowers to soldiers.
Lately, about twice a day I've been hearing this truck pass by with a loud hailer, some angry-sounding guy shouting away, calling for jihad for all I know. (Maybe it's just the language that sounds angry.) So I look out the window, and turns out he's selling potatoes and tomatoes by the truck load. Wow. The karang guni man's comical beeping horn sounds so much friendlier in comparison and doesn't make me fear for my life. It seems like funny misconception, but just adds to make me feel distrubed living here.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Watch this space...
Yes we're happy excited nervous gan cheong! Just found out. Still in a daze. All cos of this little black dot. :)
Ok so half my planned activities go out the window. But hey I read that Dallas Howard did her own stunts in Spiderman 3 while in her first trimester. So paragliding should be ok huh? :) He he.
And in case you're still wondering, no we don't have a place to live yet, and no I still don't like Turkey.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
GET FACEBOOK NOW! (then add me ;)
I've been a little (ok, A LOT) obsessed with Facebook over the last week!!
WOW U get to bite people, turn them into Vampires, play with vibrating hamsters, send growing plants and receive fish! (THANKS FOR THE 3 cute starfish Melissa!!! At least now I don't look like a saddo for sending myself 2 fish ;) Hehe.
And it's ALL YOUR FAULT MEEEEEEEENA!! Nyah nyah nyah! ;p Hee hee, no actually thanks Mel! It's fun, love it! HUGS.
Again, I'm not the speediest person when it comes to blogging, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook etc.
So some of you may think...whaaat? Facebook is like SO OLD. Where have U been Dawn?
Anyways, even though I got a Facebook account some time back, I never used it cos, well, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW. Dumb right?
DOH! (Has anyone watched the Simpson Movie? Me, not yet)
Sometime last week, Melina sent me an email (and some lovely pix from the wedding in France!) to cheer me up cos I'm having a hard time here. She mentioned FACEBOOK and searching for me there, and how it's so useful for finding long lost friends, classmates etc.
So I decide to revive my Facebook account and started getting addicted to it!
I used it to search for my friends and also found an Expats in Turkey forum (cos I'm just dying to converse with ANYONE in English without having to use hand signals!).
So ALL OF YOU READING THIS, JOIN FACEBOOK NOW and add me :) My nick there is BLUSH.
Promise I'll bite U!
And please please please send me things for my aquarium.
(U can stroke my hamster too....I've named him Milton and he's darn cute and vibrates)
Other than that, I decided to tweak my strategy for finding stuff to do here to keep me from going INSANE.
Joined another expat forum and postwhored myself there, got lots of replies about stuff to do.
If all goes as I hope, I might be able to:
1. Volunteer at an orphange/ Little Sisters of the Poor/ homeless dog shelter
(bearing in mind that I may probably have to spend a fortune on taxi fare since I don't drive here)
2. Sing, Act, dance, prance in kids theatre (they do shows for charity) That's if the Director doesn't think I'm pants.
3. Write a comprehensive English guidebook to Istanbul for newcomers
(There is a great French guide done by the French community here, but NONE in English...not as detailed and comprehensive anyway) U gotta LURVE the French for adding "Good places for Brunch" and "Chocolatiers and Patissieries" under the "ESSENTIALS" heading. Muahahahahahah! Vive la Froggies ;)
All proceeds of their guide goes to charity. So I thought I can do the same. With help from the BBC for all the local contacts. (Oh forgot to add that I'm planning to join a women's group which I, in Dawnspeak, christen the Bored B*****S Club. Hehehe. Go figure THAT one out.
4. Start paragliding lessons. Found a guy on the expat forum who does that every weekend and he told me there's a school.
They go to some ulu place about 130km from Istanbul. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE jumping out of planes, off tall structures, so hey....jumping off a cliff and flying sounds like a lotta fun too! (Knowing the huge KLUTZ that I am though, high chance I may trip on a rock and hurtle face first into a cactus patch)
Anyone done paragliding before? SHARE SHARE TELL ME ALL. I want to know.
5. Try Ulimate Frisbee! Stumbled upon a Ultimate Frisbee group on the forum. They play 3 times a week and seems like a lot of young American college students studying here. Ok, so I haven't a CLUE what Ulitmate is, and nevermind that I'm proabably 10 YEARS older than the average player in that group, but they said we're welcome to join them anytime to play. Should be fun.. Frisbee = running, jumping, catching, throwing. Dawn = pathetic hand-eye co-ordination, stands there n WAITS for the tennis ball/shuttlecock/frisbee to come TO HER, gets doinked on the head by said item.
More later, right now I'm gonna make a sandwhich for lunch with Aunty Maude's delicious life-saving HARE BEE HIAM! (Half pack left...alamak.....gabra....finish how?)
WOW U get to bite people, turn them into Vampires, play with vibrating hamsters, send growing plants and receive fish! (THANKS FOR THE 3 cute starfish Melissa!!! At least now I don't look like a saddo for sending myself 2 fish ;) Hehe.
And it's ALL YOUR FAULT MEEEEEEEENA!! Nyah nyah nyah! ;p Hee hee, no actually thanks Mel! It's fun, love it! HUGS.
Again, I'm not the speediest person when it comes to blogging, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook etc.
So some of you may think...whaaat? Facebook is like SO OLD. Where have U been Dawn?
Anyways, even though I got a Facebook account some time back, I never used it cos, well, I DIDN'T KNOW HOW. Dumb right?
DOH! (Has anyone watched the Simpson Movie? Me, not yet)
Sometime last week, Melina sent me an email (and some lovely pix from the wedding in France!) to cheer me up cos I'm having a hard time here. She mentioned FACEBOOK and searching for me there, and how it's so useful for finding long lost friends, classmates etc.
So I decide to revive my Facebook account and started getting addicted to it!
I used it to search for my friends and also found an Expats in Turkey forum (cos I'm just dying to converse with ANYONE in English without having to use hand signals!).
So ALL OF YOU READING THIS, JOIN FACEBOOK NOW and add me :) My nick there is BLUSH.
Promise I'll bite U!
And please please please send me things for my aquarium.
(U can stroke my hamster too....I've named him Milton and he's darn cute and vibrates)
Other than that, I decided to tweak my strategy for finding stuff to do here to keep me from going INSANE.
Joined another expat forum and postwhored myself there, got lots of replies about stuff to do.
If all goes as I hope, I might be able to:
1. Volunteer at an orphange/ Little Sisters of the Poor/ homeless dog shelter
(bearing in mind that I may probably have to spend a fortune on taxi fare since I don't drive here)
2. Sing, Act, dance, prance in kids theatre (they do shows for charity) That's if the Director doesn't think I'm pants.
3. Write a comprehensive English guidebook to Istanbul for newcomers
(There is a great French guide done by the French community here, but NONE in English...not as detailed and comprehensive anyway) U gotta LURVE the French for adding "Good places for Brunch" and "Chocolatiers and Patissieries" under the "ESSENTIALS" heading. Muahahahahahah! Vive la Froggies ;)
All proceeds of their guide goes to charity. So I thought I can do the same. With help from the BBC for all the local contacts. (Oh forgot to add that I'm planning to join a women's group which I, in Dawnspeak, christen the Bored B*****S Club. Hehehe. Go figure THAT one out.
4. Start paragliding lessons. Found a guy on the expat forum who does that every weekend and he told me there's a school.
They go to some ulu place about 130km from Istanbul. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE jumping out of planes, off tall structures, so hey....jumping off a cliff and flying sounds like a lotta fun too! (Knowing the huge KLUTZ that I am though, high chance I may trip on a rock and hurtle face first into a cactus patch)
Anyone done paragliding before? SHARE SHARE TELL ME ALL. I want to know.
5. Try Ulimate Frisbee! Stumbled upon a Ultimate Frisbee group on the forum. They play 3 times a week and seems like a lot of young American college students studying here. Ok, so I haven't a CLUE what Ulitmate is, and nevermind that I'm proabably 10 YEARS older than the average player in that group, but they said we're welcome to join them anytime to play. Should be fun.. Frisbee = running, jumping, catching, throwing. Dawn = pathetic hand-eye co-ordination, stands there n WAITS for the tennis ball/shuttlecock/frisbee to come TO HER, gets doinked on the head by said item.
More later, right now I'm gonna make a sandwhich for lunch with Aunty Maude's delicious life-saving HARE BEE HIAM! (Half pack left...alamak.....gabra....finish how?)
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