'Street' Food

One of my favorite parts about visiting India is eating the 'street' food. The variety and the tastiness of the food is like no other. There are vendors lined up alongside Chowpatty, Marine Drive, Nariman Point (all popular points alongside the Indian Ocean), as well as in all the neighborhoods and at anytime of the day there is always a line. Chaat is one of the most popular forms of street food, bhel puri, pani puri, etc. these foods can be found on the menus at restaurants, but in most instances it is most enjoyable and tasty to eat from a street vendor. These vendors have a little cart and set-up shop in the same location, some of them rotate so they will be in one neighborhood during certain hours of the day and then switch to another neighborhood. You order your food based on the level of spiciness as well as based on your religion (Jains don't eat onions, garlic or potatos).  The latest craze this year is grilled sandwiches, we waited in line for an hour at 3 in the afternoon yesterday at a popular spot! It's basically a triple decker chutney sandwich with veggies and cheese or paneer. It's a massive panini so between 8 people we ordered 6 sandwiches and ended up with leftovers. Another popular street food are dosa and vada, these are similar to crepes but stuffed with veggies and fried donuts and served with a lentil soup and coconut chutney. Crowds of people will stand in the street and eat their meals as there are no counter tops or tables. Freshly squeezed fruit juice and sugar cane juice are also popular. There's a new ice cream franchise that is expanding, which is really good, called Natural, they use natural fruit in the ice cream and the best part is they deliver! Domino's, Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins litter many of the neighborhoods and this was the first time I noticed a Subway down the street from my grandma's so apparently they have expanded their footprint as well.  Lastly, there is pan, which is an after dinner 'mint', it's a leaf which can be stuffed with a multitude of condiments, which are a combination of sweet and syrupy. Tobacco is often times an additive in pan, so in public places you will see stains of red from people spitting out the tobacco from the pan after chewing it. And whenever you are visiting family/friends you will always be offered chai and snacks (or a meal depending on the time of day), even if you just ate you are obligated to consume something. Even at mealtimes if you do not want another piece of nan they will insist and place it on your plate and you have to eat it. Eating is a non-stop activity in India.

Mendhi (Henna)

Mendhi is a common practice in India and nowadays is used to color hair. Mendhi, also known as henna in the States, is made from grounding eucalyptus leaves. A cone is used to apply henna, (similar to icing a cake) if the tip of the cone is small than the lines are thinner and the designs are more intricate. There are books with designs you can select from or you can tell the artist what you prefer and they come up with a design. The artists are quick, in less than 15 minutes both my hands were completed. After the mendhi dries on your hands then fresh lemon is squeezed into a bowl with sugar and rubbed on the hands to bring out the color (turn it a deep red). I also has it applied to my hair, after a couple of hours I rinsed it out and my aunt applied coconut oil, which made my hair silkier.

Choki Dani

We visited Choki Dani, which provides an authentic Rajhastani experience, it's about 30 minutes outside of the city center so we hired a driver to take us there and wait for us to take us back to our hotel since it's difficult to find a cab so late at night in this remote part of town. We arrived at about 7pm and had to wait an hour to buy our tickets for dinner. We did not expect it to be so crowded. Once we purchased our tickets we were escorted to another area where we had to remove our shoes and rinse our hands and then were seated for dinner on the floor. There was a wooden platform for each of us and on this platform was a plate and 3 bowls made of leaves and a glass made of clay where our water was served. There was a bonfire in the middle and about 200 people were seated at a time for dinner. The servers were dressed in traditional Rajhastani clothes, white pants and deep red shirt with a turban. Over the course of the next hour they served us typical Rajhastani food, I wasn't really familiar with this type of cuisine so was looking forward to try it out. There were a few items I really liked, others were not as tasty, however, the experience was great! I was not even able to try everything because I was so stuffed mid way through. Upon completing our meal, a server poured water on our hands above our leaf plate to wash them as we ate with our hands.  Then we retrieved our shoes and checked out the rest of Choki Dani. There were many activities, given the gates closed in a few hours, we had to decide what events to purchase tickets for. We decided to see a traditional dance performance, puppet show (very popular in this region), get a reading done by a palmist and check out a snake charmer performance. The traditional dance was amazing, the women danced with 6 pots on her head, while balancing these pots, she danced on a tray, a sword, etc. The fortune teller read my palm in Hindi, so I didn't quite understand everything but, my mom said the guy said the same three statements to everyone and then the last 2 statements were interchanged across the different customers. So that was disappointing. The snake charmer had a cobra in a basket and played an instrument and the cobra danced, which was really cool.  The puppet show was amusing, the puppeteer had the puppet perform dances by famous people in India based on their personalities.  Our driver kept calling us every half hour to see if we were ready to return to our hotel, but there is so much to see/do there and not enough time most people leave when the gates close at 11pm. After the 3rd call, he got the hint and didn't call us...

Ajmer

We traveled to Ajmer from Jaipur to visit the Darrgah Sharif-tomb of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.  This is a sacred site for Muslims and we happened to visit on the holiest day of the week. As we approached the mosque the street was crowded and there was a lot of pushing and shoving, which became worse when we arrived at the security check point. They have separate entrances for men and women and if you have a camera you have to check it since no photography is allowed and they were pretty diligent in enforcing this rule.  There are many steps and no 'real' queue so it took us about an hour to enter the doors of the mosque. The mosque is quite ornate and the superstition is to tie a string on the pillars surrounding the mosque while making a wish and when your wish comes true to return to the mosque to untie your string. Since you purchase the strings from the vendors outside the gate all the strings are the same so the likelihood that you will untie the same string that you tied when you return is slim, but it supposedly does not impact the outcome of anyone else's wish.  There was a lot of energy in the area and people were very emotional, many were crying in happiness for having the opportunity to visit such a sacred site, others were praying in hopes that their wishes would come true while tieing their string. We did not make it to the main prayer area because of the crowds we got pushed outside one of the doors. Many people on our tour were disappointed that after traveling so far they were unable to get the chance to reach that final destination.

Pushker

Pushker is about 140 km from Jaipur, but given the poor road conditions, it takes about 3 hours to get there by car. Pushker is a very small town and it's claim to fame is having the only Brama Temple in the world. Brama is the god of creation, Vishnu is the god of balance and Shiva is the god of destruction. Pushker has a special meaining for my family (and extended relatives), as the guru they follow actually delivered a lecture under one of the banyan trees in 1974 in this town and as a result a temple was resurected there. So all of our family members were happy that we had a chance to pay our respects at that particular site/temple. Our guru traveled to 84 cities in India to deliver lectures. So our family/relatives try to visit as many of these sites as they can and often times plan their trips around one of these sites. Although, ours happened to be by chance, as our trip to Pushker was a spontaneous decision. Pushker has a similar tourist underground scene as Goa, consumption of marijuana/bang is quite popular in this otherwise sleepy town.

Jaipur-Pink City

We flew into Jaipur a few days ago. Traveling in India is challenging, given the overpopulation one needs to watch their purse at all times and we remove all of our jewelry. My grandma was nervous about our excursion so we got a cell phone so anyone could reach us at any time. Both the domestic terminal at Mumbai and Jaipur were impressive. Unfortunately, the international terminal at Mumbai needs to be renovated as it is not a good first impression of the city/country.  We were warned that it was much colder in Jaipur, however, it was hard to imagine if it's 90 degress in Mumbai that it cold enough for a jacket.   It is mostly desert so it gets really hot during the day and cools off quite a bit in the evenings. Jaipur is in Rajastan, which is north of Mumbai and has a population of 3.4 million. Jaipur is the second best planned city in the world, Paris is the first. Jaipur is known as the pink city given all the buildings/walls were painted pink. There are nine main gates to enter the city, if all gates are closed, no one can enter the city. It is a popular tourist destination and we went during the peak season so we met people from all over the world during our tour. We visited many of the forts and palaces, the most impressive was Amber Palace where many Bollywood movies are filmed.  The other cool palace was the Jal Mahal, which is a palace in the water.  The other interesting spot was Jantar Mantar, which was designed by one of the kings who was very knowledgeable in astrology/mathematics. He build devices which allowed one to tell time, date, zodiac sign based on where the sun's shadow fell! 

Swimming

A few of my neighbors go swimming so I was invited to join them one day. They belong to this fitness center, which is no longer extending membership to new customers so it is quite exclusive. The swimming area is partioned by male and females. Upon entering the women's quarters there is a sauna, hot tub and pool, which is the size of a pool in one's backyard. Whereas, the men's pool is olympic sized. There were about a dozen women, half of them were lounging in the chaise chairs. Everyone was dressed in a one piece suit and wearing a swimming cap. I thankfully packed a pair of swimming shorts to wear with my 2-piece and was able to rent a cap from the front desk. Even so I still felt out of place. I swam laps for awhile, but most of the women were hanging out chatting in the pool. There was a small kiddy pool connected to our pool, but no kids were there. It was an interesting experience. The irony is the pool is alongside Chowpatty beach, a popular beach in Mumbai. However, you will not find Indians swimming/sunbathing at the majority of beaches in India. Instead there are food stalls in the sand and people hanging out in their 'street' clothes.

World's largest home

Mukesh Ambani is the 5th richest man in world. He is head of Reliance,  petrochemical industries, and just build a 27-story home in Mumbai. From my grandma's balcony one can view his home.  At night it is lit up with different colored lights. Since it's only a few blocks from my grandma's flat we decided to check it out one evening. Upon arriving at his home guards were stationed within the 18 foot gates. The first 6 floors is a garage, there are 3 hellipads, a swimming pool and a theater. There were other people who were also curious at the grandeur of his home and we were all trying to take photos, but the guards would not allow it.

Turkey Wrap-up: Food, Nightlife, Shopping, People, Sights

In my 'blogging' break, I didn't get a chance to wrap-up my trip to Turkey.

Food - as a carnivore the seafood, lamb and kabobs are great. The sweets are similar to those found in India with a lot of nuts/coconut/cream/etc.  As a veggie- yogurt, freshly squeezed juices, pide - bread stuffed with cheese, crepes and sandwiches are commonly found everywhere

Nightlife - we tried to experience the nightlife by hitting up a variety of spots (clubs, lounges, wine bar, hookah bar, and a pub) throughout the course of the week, as is typical in most metropolitan cities the clubs/lounges were all about dressing to impress and the later were more casual...but I still think Saigon, Bangkok, Barcelona and South Beach offer the best nightlife

Shopping - bargaining is the norm, this becomes challenging as a visitor as you have no idea what the going rate is for anything...

People - for the most part are friendly, not everyone speaks English, but in the touristy areas everything is clearly labeled so it's easy to find your way around. Most importantly, we felt safe everywhere we traveled to at all times of the day/night

Sights - like everywhere there are some must-see spots and others that depending on your interest you may enjoy. My favorites were the Cistern (Medusa), Topakopi, Museum of Modern Art, Grand Bazaar and St. John's Basilica. I highly recommend the Turkish bath as well.

Bathroom Etiquette

India has a very interesting bathroom policy. Every home has a separate bathroom for #1 and for #2.  As a result everyone knows about your bowel moments. Most of my family is fortunate that both these types of bathrooms exist in their homes. There are other condominiums where there are common area facilities shared by all the residents on that floor. These are older buildings...when my dad was a teenager he had an uncle who lived in one of these buildings and told me about the tricks they would play on some of the elderly tenants in the building who would use the facilities.  The other interesting social norm is everytime you use the #2 bathroom you must bathe.  One time I was visiting my grandparents and my grandfather had the runs, well you can imagine how comedic it became when he would use the #2 bathroom and then go take a shower and change into new clothes and 5 minutes later repeat the cycle!  So it's best to get your system on a schedule so use the #2 bathroom in the morning and shower and are set for the day. However, not everyone has that regularity...so you end up knowing more than you'd like to about your relatives' bowel moments when visiting.

Mumbai - Sensory Overload

Greetings from Mumbai!  It's a balmy 90 degrees out here. I arrived a few days ago and have been busy visiting friends and relatives and EATING. Whatever weight I lost in Turkey from lack of vegetarian options I have regained and then some in a short span with my grandma insisting I eat every 2 hours. My mom and I have adopted somewhat of a schedule, she walks with the neighbors from 7-8am and then hangs out with them in the park for their 'social' hour. Freshly cut coconut is delivered to my grandma's at 8ish so I have coconut water and some of the fruits found in this region. Other than the pomegrante I'm not sure what the 'English' names are, but they are all very sweet.  Then I hit the gym with a neighbor from 9-10 am. It's amazing how health conscious all the women in my grandma's building have become, they have all lost weight since my last visit.  When my mom and I arrive, we have chai and hot snacks (eg. samosas) with my grandma for breakfast. We get ready and by then have visitors dropping by.  My grandma's cook is always asking my mom and I what our favorite foods are and once she gets a sense of who likes what and the level of spiciness prepares different foods for everyone. Our meals are consumed while sitting on the floor. We gather around in a circle and eat on 'steel' plates with our hands. After we eat lunch the servant arrives (he comes in the morning as well to make our beds, wash our breakfast dishes, do the laundry and clean the bathrooms - all these activities occur on a daily basis). After lunch he arrives to wash the dishes and sweep/mop all the floors. After lunch everyone even our visiting guests go down for a nap.  Then it's time for tea and snacks. After which we'll head out to the temple, drop by friends/relatives, go shopping, etc. On our way home we stop by for ice cream or freshly squeezed juice. The ice cream is much lighter than in the states and typically consists of nuts/fruits. When we return our cook asks what we want for dinner and runs out to buy the necessary ingrediants to prepare for our next feast. We change our clothes everytime we leave the home, so we have what are referred to as inside clothes (eg. older saris/salwar kameez, I stick with capris as it is way too hot for the former and easier when sitting on the floor as is the custom in many cases) then when going out I will change into an indian outfit or a long skirt/dress.  After dinner we go for a stroll in the garden. We constantly have neighbors dropping by and they typically bring something they have cooked for me to try. Then the servent arrives after dinner to do the dishes and set our bedding for the night. I've been in food coma and have not lifted a finger since I arrived....I feel extremely spoiled.

Seluck

Day 5...after the long journey from Istanbul to Seluck we checked into our hotel and had some apple tea before hitting up some of the sights. Our primary reason for this leg was to visıt the ancient Roman ruins in Ephesus and get another flavor of Turkey.

Seluck ıs a much smaller town compared to Istanbul and much more laid-back. Thankfully the men are not as aggresive eıther.

We checked out the followıng sights:

Ephesus museum - it had some of the artifacts uncovered from Ephesus and provided insight on how the people in the town lived

St. John's Basıllıca - ruins of the Byzantine church from 500 AD on the slopes of Ayosoluk Hill where St. John ıs rumored to be buried; but everyone in town believes there are no remains there but just a means to increase tourism to theır sleepy town. Regardless, the vıews from atop are amazing. You can actually view the fortress above, which ıs being renovated.

Temple of Artemis - once considered one of the seven wonders of the world...only a few arches from the origınal temple remain

Tram, Funicular, Shuttle, Plane, Train and Minibus from Istanbul to Seluk

Today was crazy! We left at 6:30 am to catch a 10 am flight to Izimir. The airport we were flying out of was about 90 miles from where we were staying and was not the same airport we had flown into. The hotel offered a car service for 100 Euro (we knew it was way overpriced, but they also knew we were leaving at the crack of dawn). By the way everything is priced in Euro since we're in the tourist area and there are ton of Europeans who visit Turkey. So we went to the Tourist Information Kiosk to find alternate modes of transit. We were told to take a tram down the street from our hotel and transfer to a funicular, walk 100 meters and catch a shuttle or we could take a tram and transfer to a ferry, walk 200 meters and take a bus. The first option seemed manageable as the tram and funicular were next to one another. So we arrived to the airport by 8:30ish. The interesting thing is when you arrive you have to go through security and then you obtain your boarding pass and clear security again.

We hung out at Gloria Jean's coffee shop until our flight, which is as popular as Starbucks is in the States.

Our flight was on time, but when we arrived in Izimir, the direct train into Seluck was in 3 hours! So we decided to take a train part of the way and then hop on a mini bus. The mini bus picks up passengers randomly on the way. It was an interesting experience, much safer than what I had read about in South Africa. Many of the passengers were women and children.

So after 7 hours we arrived into Seluk. Upon our many modes of transit we realized it would have been much cheaper and easier to take an overnight bus directly from Istanbul to Seluck for 10 hours. Our intention of flying (1 hour flight) was to have extra time to sight-see.  But it did make for a comical journey and a lesson learned.

Turiksh Bath

I like trying the 'local' spa treatments wherever I travel to...cupping in South Africa, foot reflexology in Malaysia, Thai massage in Thailand...as great as all these experiences were nothing compared to the Turkish Bath in Istanbul. By far the most amazing experience I've had on this journey.

I chose the full spa treatment, which consisted of 3 stages (sauna, scrub and massage) and lasted about 2 hours. Many people opt for just the sauna and scrub. These 'hamams' are open from 7 am to midnight and have separate operating hours and areas for men and women. Once you choose your service, you are assigned a room where you unrobe and are given a 'towel' (it's like a big handkerchief), which you wrap around your body. Then you are taken to a sauna (everything is marble), where you relax on your handkerchief. At first I was self-conscious about being au natural as the entire procedure occurs among other spagoers. However, everyone else is as well and after a few minutes you are chatting with everyone and don't take notice. After the sauna you are taken to another room to rinse off from water fountains with varying degress of temparture. Then an attendent will retreive you, who is naked as well.  I was glad to have a female attendent as it is possible to have a male attendent. Not sure why the attendent has to be naked, they get wet in the process, but could probably wear a bathing suit.

Stage 2: Then you lay on a marble table on top of your hankerchief type towel. The attendent uses a loofah and scrubs you down while you lay on your back and then you flip onto your belly for the same process. Then she will lather you with soap and rinse you off on both sides along with washing your hair and will dry you off. This reminded me of when I was a child or when I would bathe my niece when she was a baby.

Stage 3:  You are taken to another room for you body oil massage. This is similar to a swedish massage, except they massage you EVERYWHERE. My attendent actually sang while she massaged.

It was so relaxing and refreshing. Upon completion of whatever service you have chosen you are offered tea.

If you're ever in Turkey I highly recommend the Turkish Bath.

Bosphorus Cruise and Belly Dancing Show

Day 4
Took a cruise along the Bosphorus, which stopped at several differnt ports. The main attractions we visited were a fortress and a palace. The towns along the ports were not as modern as Istanbul. The majorty of women wore traditional clothing (long skirts, headscarves, sweaters) and not many people spoke English.

Atteded a belly dancing show, which made me reconsider my exercise regimen, these women had abs to kill for. The costumes were colorful and ornate and there was live music.

Basilica Cistern, Taksim and Galata Tower

Trying to catch up on posts...
Day 3

We checked out Yerbatan Sarnici, which is one of many Cisterns that lies beneath Istanbul. The claim to fame are the two pillars with Medusa's head one of which is upside down. There are several myths about Medusa, one of the three Gorgons, the terrifying female creatures from Greek Mythology. Legend has it that Medusa, with her hair of snakes could turn anyone who looked at her into stone, and therefore images of Gorgons were used to protect great buildings. Another version of the story claims that Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon, a beautiful girl with long hair and dark eyes who had been in love with Perseus, the son of Zeus. Athene, also in love with Perseus, turned Medusa's hair into snakes in a jealous rage. From then on, every person Medusa looked at was petrified. After learning of Medusa's curse, Perseus beheaded her, taking her head to war with him and turning his enemies into stone. It is said that many Byzantium era sword handles and columns were engraved with her head upside down.


Taksim -  the hip quarters of the city with trendy shops and where young professionals congregate. It reminded me of a cross between Las Ramblas in Barcelona where no cars are allowed and it's paved with cobblestones and Harujuku with funky boutiques.

Then we meandered to Galata Tower, which offers the best panaromic views of the city. I could see the Asian side of Turkey along with the sea. Apparently, there is a nightclub at the top, too.

Where are you from beautiful/angel/sweetheart? America, India, England...Mars/None of your business

It's been 2 days in Istanbul and as much as it was an ego boost the first day to be stopped by men and be showered with complements, inquiring about how we like Istanbul and guessing where each of is from, it has now become a nuisıance.  Before I would smile and reply America, apparently they were not pleased with that response. They would volley back, but you look Indian and so I began to say I was from India and then they would tell me I thought you're from England since Indians from India rarely visıt our country, but we know there are a lot of Indians from England and a lot of tourists from England. So then I started saying I was from England, but then I was told I did not have an English accent.  So now I don't respond or say I'm from Mars and they ask where that is located? My friend on the other hand has ıt much easier, since they are accostomed to tourists from Europe she does not get harassed. So we conducted a social experiment today, I left our hotel a few minutes before she did to go to the Spice Bazaar.  She arrived there 15 minutes before I did and saw how I kept getting 'pulled' over. I avoid eye contact, I even cross the street to avoid the advances and someone from the other side of the street will ıntercept me and contınue. I'm contemplating on borrowing a burkha tomorrow to see if I can go on wıth my business unnoticed. In many regards Istanbul is a small city or I must be the only Indian woman, because the servers' and shopkeepers' friends will stop me and say I heard you were hanging out at so and so, my friend mentioned ıt to me. They must lead very boring lives to share my whereabouts or what I consumed or purchased. Damn the exportation of Bollywood movies and creating a mysticism about Indıan women. I'm going to ask the next guy why he's stopping me and not my friend as ıt's obvious she's not Turkish. I guess it's better than Egypt where the men would holler how many camels they would offer to your family in exchange for you. I better build my tolerance because the harrassment is worse in İndia:(

Blackout

I was in the business center updating my blog at 2 am last night when all of a sudden my computer shut down along with the lights and TV- the power had gone out. There was no storm or any other warnıng of an upcoming outage.  Forunately, there happened to be another chap from my floor who was also tinkering online. The business center is 5 floors above our floor. We assumed a back-up generator would kick in or the power would resume in a few minutes. So we began chatting and almost 40 minutes later we are still sitting in the dark. We now realize there is no back-up generator and the sun will not be out for another few hours. However, wıth no electricity the elevator is not functiıoning either so our only option ıs  the stairwell, which turns out to be a set of spiral stairs. The first set was all right but 5 rounds of spiral stairs in the dark became tricky and my fear of falling gradually heightened. Thankfully, the Englıshman was patient and slowed down so I was not left alone ın the stairwell. Of course as soon as we made it to our floor the lights flickered on....so now if I go to the business center after dark I bring a flashlight.

Sultanahmet - Blue Mosque, Hagai Sofia, Topkapi Palace

We're staying ın Sultanahmet, which fortunately is in the heart of the tourist district, but you know as a local you would never live there. Given our late night out, we set our alarm clock so as not to miss out on the complementary hotel breakfast, whıch stops serving at noon...However, it was unnecessary as we were awaken by the fırst call to prayer of the day, at whatever time the sun rises.

Today we hit up three major attractions-

1) Hagaı Sofia - originally an Eastern Orthodox Church, converted to a Roman  Catholic Cathedral then an Imperial Mosque and is now a museum. It reminded me of Spain, where a mosque\church was converted, as the ruling party expanded their empıres and spread their faith, in the case of Istanbul it was the Ottoman Empire. It was ınteresting to see both religions represented in the architecture.

2) Blue Mosque - named due to the over 20,000 hand-made blue colored tiles adorning the interior. We had to remove our shoes and cover our hair upon entering. Abulation facilitıes are located at the entrance of every mosque as it ıs customary to 'cleanse' your body (face, hands up to your elbows, feet up to your ankles) and 'cleanse' any impure thoughts. The latter being the more diffıcult of the two tasks, the practice adopted by many mosques makes it easier- separate entrances for men and women or the men pray in front of the mosque and women line up behind them to pray. Whıle I was in Cairo traffıc actually stopped during the 5 calls to prayer and people got out of their cars wıth their prayer rugs to face Mecca to pray, but this is not the case in Istanbul. I found both the exterior and interior of the Blue Mosque impressıve.

3) Topkapi Palace - primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years. The grounds are massive. My favorite room was the Treasure Room, the jewelry was opulent, even swords were adorned wıth gold and inlaıd with diamonds!

One of my favorite things about Istanbul is all the street food vendors, providing you great snacking opportunitıes between meals. You see the goods ın the cart and ıf there ıs a long line ıt's gauranteed to be tasty! Throughout the day I stopped for a freshly sqeezed pomegrante juice whıch was amazing, cheese -delicious and boiled corn, whıch dıd not live up to ıt's hype.

A little bıt of this and a little bit of that

I meant to document these thoughts earlier, but have been caught up in the whirlwind of exploring İstanbul so İ will back track a bıt to catch you up on my adventures thus far.

I flew Turkısh Airlines for the first time and had a wonderful experience. In this day and age when air travel has become such a commodity they distinguish themselves by providing great service. My only issue with these long journies are the lavatories, now I know I have gained a few pounds over the course of the years, but how is one suppose to maintain a proper level of hygiene on these trips, when one can barely brush their teeth or wash their face let alone use the faciılies in such tight quarters? Which leads me to wonder how people are able to joın the ranks of the 'Mıle High Club' or ıs it just urban legend?

As I cleared customs, I caught sight of 30 or so Japenease tourists. I wonder if ıt's a government mandate for every Japenese to enter foreıgn soil at least once a year to maintain good standing with their own country.

I took the subway into Istanbul, unlike the el it is very clean. As I approached closer to the city I notıced hordes of people ın the streets. Turns out my trip coincides wıth Kurban Bayrami (Eid el Adha), apparently the most important religıous festival of the year as ıt ıs the time of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj).

Jetlag = 10 hour flight + 8 hour time difference + crying baby sittıng ın front of me + an old man with a hearing aid sitting next to me who kept asking me to repeat every announcement over the PA. 

However, I look forward to catching up with my friend. Who knows perhaps, a few glasses of raki (Turkish liquor, similar to ouzo), and hookah (my biggest vice next to Taco Bell) may be just the remedy to kick my jetlag!

Pre-trip Jitters

In 8 hours I will be enroute to Istanbul. I can't wait for the adventures that lay ahead. But of course a bit of my OCD is already wondering if I remembered to lock my door, clean out the fridge and did I leave my alarm clock plugged in so all the neighbors will be awoken to the BEP's Boom Boom Pow at 7am? Or even worse, what if I'm not granted a visa at the airport in Turkey and will have to spend the week at the Istanbul airport like in the movie Terminal with Tom Hanks! Then it dawns on me I no longer have any deliverables or meetings to deal with so my mind can relax.