serene’s posterous

Photo taken by Eu-Jin

Saw this article in WSJ today.  When Eu-Jin and I were in Turkey in January this year, we spent many hours in the archaeological museum in Istanbul.  A lot of the time was spent peering at the Alexander Sarcophagus, walking around it and observing details that weren't apparent on the first look.  It was probably one of the most beautiful classical antiquity I have ever seen.

While the burial chamber depicts Alexander the Great, the sarcophagus was probably carved for Abdalonymos, one of Sidon's kings.
 

Loved the movie.  I don't think I can add much to what other people have said about the movie.  Danny Boyd did a great job directing.  You simply get immersed in the sights and sounds of India.  Frieda Pinto was luminous.  The child actors were amazing.  And the trains!

I went to India over 15 years ago on a school trip.  And even back then, when I was a silly teenager, I was equally amazed by the magnificence of the monuments and horrified by the slums, and the constant badgering by the touts, beggars and children.  I certainly remember the photographers at Taj Mahal offering to take a photo of you touching the tip of the monument.

I would imagine that India would have changed a lot over the years - more high-rises and perhaps a bigger middle class, but the poverty is still there.  Maybe Eu-Jin and I will travel there someday.

At Aphrodisias, Turkey.

The first photo was taken in the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), while the other 2 are taken in Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Rüstem Pasa Camii) in Istanbul.  I love how the chandeliers come down from the high domes, gently lighting the enormous space while light also comes in through the windows in the dome.

     

Interesting documentary about the Huber brothers, Thomas and Alexander, and their attempts to break the speed climbing record of El Capitan in Yosemite.  There's some emo stuff about their sibling rivalry - Thomas's envy of the media interest on the arguably more good-looking and better climber, Alexander.  It also shows a little of their expedition to Patagonia to climb the Torre Traverse (I think?).  Dean Porter and Chongo were also interviewed, but weirdly, they weren't identified in the movie other than during the credits.  I wished also that they gave more background on the Huber brothers - what do they do outside of climbing?

I don't really know that much about climbing, but I have to admit I was most excited about seeing Patagonia.  The short bits in the movie of the little town of El Chaltén brought back good memories from our hiking vacation there several years ago.

I wasn't the only person taking a photo of Eu-Jin lying on the ground in his attempts to get a better photo of the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey.

It was probably not a wise decision to eat a baked potato (Kumpir) and drink pomegranate juice when I was feeling ill from possible food poisoning.  But I was greedy, and didn't want to pass up the chance to eat Kumpir, which is a Turkish fast food, on the last night we were in Turkey.  This was somewhere in Sultanahmet, in a cafe selling Kumpir, lots of baked goods, and juices.

Eu-Jin thought the potato looks nasty, probably because I picked the red cabbage to be stuffed into the potato.  The preparation is fast, the guy gets a potato fresh from the oven, and mashes it up with butter and what looks like cheese.  I got to pick what to stuff the potato with, and the sauces.  Other than the red cabbage, I think I picked olives, corn, peas, carrots and some kind of red sauce and chili.  It was very tasty, but I really should have stuck to plain bread on the account of my bad stomach.

I usually prefer drinking tea over coffee.  I liked the tea served in pretty little tulip shaped cups in Turkey so I drank a lot of tea.  It was just great to have something warm after walking around in the cold, and it was relatively healthy because I don't usually add sugar to my tea.  Although I don't know if I would be able to taste the difference, turkish tea or çay is prepared in a special way.  The tea is prepared using 2 stacked kettles, the bottom kettle steaming the loose tea leaves in hot water in the top kettle.  You end up with very strong tea, that can be diluted by adding appropriate amounts of water.  According to my Turkish friend, tea prepared this way doesn't have the bitterness of directly boiling the tea.  We even saw electric versions these kettles!  And the tea was cheap.  We paid half a Turkish lira for a glass on the Bosphorus ferry.

Turkish coffee (Türk kahvesi) is just way too strong for me.  The second photo was taken when we took a short break in a coffeeshop in the middle of the Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) in Istanbul.  You get a tiny cup of coffee, with grounds at the bottom of the cup, so you have to carefully sip the top, making sure you don't drink the grounds too.  This was our only experience trying Turkish coffee, because after that we chose to drink tea every time.

   

Photo by Eu-Jin.

The day we went on the Bosphorus public ferry cruise, from Eminönü to Anadolu Kavağı (on the Asian side of Istanbul, near the Black Sea) and back, was particularly rainy and miserable.  The sightseeing would have been much better on a sunny day.  A peril of traveling in Turkey in winter - rainy weather.

One of the highlights was the Kanlıca Yogurt, served with a heaping spoon of confectioners' powdered sugar.  When we stopped at Kanlıca, staff on the ferry brought on board several trays of the local yogurt to sell to the passengers. The promotion tactic was amusing.  He caught the interest of the passengers by holding the yogurt cup upside down - showing that the yogurt didn't fall out.  That was one of the best yogurt I have had - smooth and creamy.  Perfect with the powdered sugar.  I am glad I quickly got up and paid the 2 Turkish liras for the tasty yogurt.  By the time Eu-Jin wanted to get some, after tasting my yogurt, it was sold out!  He had to make do with drinking more Turkish tea.

We saw the cat in the shop window along İstiklal Caddesi (the main shopping drag in Istanbul).  The cat looked so regal and pretty, I had to persuade Eu-Jin to take a photo of the cat for me.