Quasi-Wedding Crashers!

I will probably never be able to crash a wedding in the same fashion as Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in the Wedding Crashers, but Friday night I found myself quasi-crashing a wedding I was unofficially invited to.

Let me 'splain. No there is too much - let me sum up.
My aunt was invited to the wedding reception for the daughter of an old elementary school friend (who she's known for over 40 years - can you believe that!?) Somehow my aunt managed to get my mom an invite (sisters have to do everything together, I guess). And since my mom didn't want to be third-wheel to my aunt/uncle, my dad was also was included on the guest list.

When they heard the bride was my age and the couple lived in the states, they assumed there would be guests from America and figured I might enjoy myself if I came. (Gee, how thoughtful - considering weddings tend to be quite awkward and uncomfortable when the only people you know are your parents, aunt/uncle). So despite my pleading and "Oh, don't even think about it" looks, I was thrown into the plans, too.

Of course this all had the potential of being somewhat bearable had I known of these plans much earlier in advance (I could have had time to warm up to the idea). This all went down Thursday morning, less than 24 hours before the reception which meant I also had no formal attire. (C'mon, I'm on vacation, here! I'm all about the flip flops, shorts, and tees!) So Thursday afternoon I scrambled around to buy a dress and put together a last minute outfit.

To make matters more interesting, my aunt/uncle didn't even show up at the wedding (due to circumstances 'out of their control')! So there I was on a Friday night, me at one table with some folks from Amsterdam (of all places), my parents on the other side of the room. I didn’t know anyone, nor speak any Dutch. Wearing a dress that looked more like something Sarah Jessica Parker could pull off in an episode of Sex and the City, wondering how I ended up here...

Given the variables of the evening, I did what any respectable unofficially invited guest would do...

A toast to the bride and groom - hoppa!

... I danced all night!

Supersized Baklava!

We've all heard of the famous Turkish delicacy, the baklava! (And for the record, it's a Turkish creation, not a Greek - in case there was any confusion on that...)

In America they supersize hamburger and fries. In Turkiye, they supersize the baklava. Except Turks call their supersized dessert the havuc baklava (which means 'carrot baklava') This translation has nothing to do with carrots, though. It acquired its name purely because it looks like a carrot.

At some point during my holiday, I had to cave and order one (which I shared with my dad). The baklava may not the healthiest thing on the menu (can't imagine how many calories a supersized one has), but at least the Turks know how to make it *sound* healthy.

That should count for something, right?

It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got that Swing!

I'm a huge fan of jazz; my mom, classical to the core. But despite our differences in musical preferences, from time-to-time we accompany each other on various concerts. Rarely do we find that our tastes overlap, but sometimes we'll share similar opinions after a show. Last week we both realized that neither of us really enjoy chamber music. :)

Last Tuesday evening at the Topkapi Palace, inside the Hagia Eirene Museum, we listed to a musical trio (piano, violin, violoncello) playing selections from Ravel, Schumman, and Shostakovich. Although we both didn't care much for their musical selection, the venue in which the concert was held, was pretty phenomenal!

We couldn't use cameras during the show (not that you would get much from watching it online), but I did capture footage quickly before showtime so you can see the great architecture of this place!



I would love to see Pink Martini play here... now that would be a concert worth attending!

Instructors Just Wanna Have Fun!

Every Monday at 2pm, the Hillside City Club fitness staff get together for their weekly meetings to talk about upcoming club events and various facility issues. This week I was invited to sit in on the meeting and get the inside scoop.

The meeting was similar to those we have at the clubs in the US - how to increase memberships/clients, how to promote classes, avoiding tardiness and limiting your subs, etc. I suppose one can find some comfort in knowing that we all deal with similar issues world wide. But at the same time, we shouldn't be surprised since much of the fitness programming is structured from ideas developed in the U.S. first.

After the meeting, the department head suggested I do a brief master class on the BOSU to show the staff a few ideas and answer various fitness questions (not that I would necessarily have the answers, let alone articulate them clearly in Turkish). Although I was happy to oblige, I was completely caught off guard since I hadn't prepared anything concrete (nor had I practiced cueing a BOSU class in Turkish - though I was pretty sure 'BOSU' in Turkish was called 'BOSU'). I simply thought I was there for a meet-and-greet.

I spent the next hour (struggling) coaching a room of 20 people through various exercises. (Talk about putting your teaching skills to the test!) I had to use more hand gestures than normal, depended a lot more on making visual cues, and incorporated more repetition in my class - but somehow I managed... But I can't imagine how silly I must have sounded "BOSU up, BOSU down, right of BOSU, now left of BOSU." LOL!

Also, on Tuesdays of every week, the instructors get together at 3pm to hang out and share ideas and choreography. They wanted to show me a sample of what they do, so I stopped by. Although the afternoon was very informal (and more of a random workout session than a time to share ideas), I still had a lot of fun (and had a great workout, too)! It was another opportunity to get to know the instructors better. (And get a picture of some of the instructors - this is only half of the staff).

One major observation I've made so far is that most people in the fitness industry here do both personal training and group exercise. Obviously this is not something new since we know that you can't make a living with teaching group ex alone. But it's also not easy to get around in this city. I can't imagine teaching at multiple clubs and for various companies, either. People stick to teaching at one place, full-time. This probably explains the close friendships among the staff and the community-centric culture you experience at the fitness clubs. (Something that unfortunately, we don't see a lot of at our clubs in the US - instructor loyalty and group camaraderie.)

Fish Over the Sea

My mom took me to dinner at Borsa, an amazing restaurant upon this hill overlooking the Bosphorus. There are two restaurants, one on the Asia side (which we ate at) and another on the Europe side (the original).

Whichever one you go to, the views in Istanbul (especially overlooking the sea) are amazing. Always fluid, constantly changing. You can spend hours gazing at the view and never get bored. There are always interesting things going on worth watching.

In the couple of hours we spent at dinner, we saw the city transition from dusk to night, the lights sparkling off the water... sigh... unlike anything else in the world!

In case you were wondering what I ate. Catch of the day - fish, of course! :)

Party at IKEA

Going to IKEA was a monumental event for us that took two attempts on two different days to find. First day consisted of us driving around in city traffic, getting lost, and missing the direct streets to get there. We circled for an hour before heading back home. The second day we caught the right exit ramp off the freeway and finally landed on the IKEA planet.

Touring IKEA is something you'll definitely NOT find in any Istanbul tour book, but when you're here for almost 2 months, every day can't be a party day, right?

Actually, it can.

Because on this particular day at IKEA, there was a huge summer blow-out! Everything was on sale! And to celebrate the event, they hired a killer DJ who spun tracks that kept the customers grooving through the showrooms. It was as if I were in a disco club at Ibeza, except I've never been to Ibeza and I was looking at displays of a kitchen.

Needless to say, it was a helluva party...??

I love the nightlife... I like to boogie!

My cousin took me out again Saturday night to Taksim Square. This time, instead of karaoke, we did an mini pub crawl and hit the live music scene! Although it's tempting to be cliche and say "What happens in Taksim, stays there" but I'll spare you the mystery. Because in my case, what happens in Taksim gets edited into a short video montage.