Hi everyone !
Decided to set up a blog to update everyone on whats happening here in Ankara - due to popular demand hahaha!. Weather is really great here people - so if anyone is thinking of coming in for a vsit in July it would be a good idea - lots of flowers in bloom, lots of cool breezes esp at night and more importantly LOTS of summer sale! Eating out at the sidewalk cafe especially is really enjoyable.
We've been here about two weeks now and have moved into our apartment at Park Oran, Cankaya District only a week and what a week it has been! It has been hectic and chaotic, setting up the apartment: cleaning up, choosing and buying furniture, arranging for utilities, getting the basic necessities; meeting school principles/counselors etc.
Selecting curtains through the various samples provided - banyak yang tak 'kena' pun! bantai je...hahahaha
Well so far I have found the Turkish people to be friendly here. They are obviously curious about us & want to chat but MOST do not speak any English ! YIKES!!! I bought a Lonely Planet's Phrasebook and it has helped but not much. Communicating on just the basics has been quite horrendous but the flipside of that is that we have been forced too pick up the language and in fact know a smattering already to get by- some important phrases like:how much, where's the toilet, I want water/juice, do you have something cheaper etc..but what's funny and frustrating is that then when they respond most times we don't understand what they're saying!!!
The first week we stayed at a hotel & made visits to our then empty apartment to get an idea of how to get it furnished.
The empty apartment - looking out at the view from the 20th floor!
The BAD thing was FNSS (the Turkish company here) gave a nice van to get around (shared with another family) and we had to shop for furniture like in two days, decide on things like the curtains for instance in like an hour...! So memanglah bila set up everything - ada yang macam tak kena je!!!! Usually I have the luxury of looking around and browsing and then comparing and then more window shopping etc but here I had to decide real quick bcos we were given the vehicle just for a few days & had to have everything decided. ...hahahha..the important thing is we're now quite settled in and comfortable - except still NO curtains and having cardboards (courtesy of IKEA) as makeshift curtains kinda messes up the interior decorating thing... Well, as you may have guessed almost all of our furniture comes from IKEA - the fastest, most convenient & affordable.
Figuring out the furniture - IKEAstuff
Others here have opted to get the real fancy, ornate, ostentatious,"mak datin" stuff (very expensive too) - you know the kind I mean - which is not for me! They must think I'm crazy for getting something that I can get easily in Malaysia...oh well, to each his own!
I like the apartment a lot - it's not large (very easy to keep clean) the view is magnificent - we can see lots of green and downtown Ankara since we're on the 20th floor! At night the whole view is breathtaking and at Subuh (3:40 am - 5:30am) the whole scenery turns purplish pink hue! Actually it's really hard to be appreciative when you're groggy but REALLY it is a sight to behold! The area around the apartment is pretty too - they have landscaped the area with flower beds and gazebos and streams so it's really nice to just sit out in the evenings and enjoy the cool breeze.
Park Oran Apartments
The apartment pretty much like in a hotel - modern & new; the kids like their bedrooms too since they chose the furniture and decorated their rooms themselves! But the place is still not homey yet - needs pictures and plants and decorative thingies....but all in good time. All in all although everything is going OK I still have trouble sleeping. I don't know what it is, but I still don't feel at home yet. It's funny bcos my whole life I have moved around and yet have managed to feel like the place is 'home' in a matter of days but it has been three weeks and I am still waiting to feel settled....maybe in due time?
The container has not arrived yet - would you believe it!. So this means still no fridge & washing machine, and all my precious dried groceries... I have been going grocery shopping everyday (no fridge r'member) and washing clothes by hand which has been a real chore..!! Cooking too is a real headache I don't have our usual ingredients: the chill kering, all our spices & have to cook meals using unfamiliar ingredients.The Turkish use lots of tomatoes, chillies (none of which are pedas),& then brinjals mushrooms, okra, carrots - that's about it .
Very nice and cooling - yoghurt-cucumber soup
Saw taugeh the other day but way too expensive about RM6 for what cost like 50 sen in Msia! Their cheese, milk,butter, yoghurt and a yoghurt drink they call 'ayran' are to die for! Really, really good - so that's THAT to losing weight...hahahaha! Another thing is their kebabs - and there's LOTS of different kinds of kebabs here - they are all so scrumptious..doner kebaab,adana, kofta, iskander and the list goes on. They have different types of breads too -in all shapes and sizes - so far we have tried different types...
In the meantime -all in all I'm enjoying myself and still feel like I'm on vacation and need to go back to work real soon - reality has still not set in!
