A Birthday Celebration!!

Birthdays are always fun (especially when you have an amazing cake and a PlayStation 3)! On Tuesday night, we celebrated my cousin's 24th birthday. After the obligatory family party, he and I went over to his friend's house where a small group gathered to wish him health and happiness!



In Turkish, rather than singing the words "Happy Birthday to You", our translation is "We're so glad you were born" (melody remains the same).

The birthday cake was to die for! Soccer-themed, pistachio covered (crumbles) atop strawberry shortcake-like delight! It was so delicious, the pieces melted in your mouth the moment it touched your tongue. I couldn't help but indulge in a few small bites. :)

Wouldn't you know it, my cousin's friends were also a group of gamers! And we ended up playing a few selection of games. I saw there was an EyeToy set up on the TV set, so we played a game called Creature Features (demo included). But you can see my cousin unsuccessfully playing the game here.

The night continued with the unveiling of Ratchet & Clank 4!!! Do you know how long I had been waiting to play this game!? I obsessed over the first 3 R&C. In fact, the reason I bought the PS2 was mainly for the R&C series. I couldn't believe I had the opportunity to demo the fourth one. I am more convinced now that I need to save up my $$ for a PS3.

The guys finished the night with a multi-player soccer game while the ladies cheered them on - fascinated by their intricate game play. Needless to say, we came home around 3:30am (which, in my mind, was only 5:30pm in Arizona-time, so it didn't feel so late!) Good thing I'm on vacation! (My poor cousin, however, woke up 2 hours later to go to work.)

Smoking Kills

I saw this warning label on a Marlboro pack in and thought the message couldn't have been more clearer...

Smoking Kills

Visit to Enka Spor

I had a meeting scheduled with the Fitness Director of Enka Spor, Dr. Aysel Pehlivan, on Monday afternoon. The facilities were located on the European side, which meant the majority of the day would be spent on the road. In fact, we took 6 different modes of transportation to get there (and back): walking, autobus, minibus, 2 kinds of water taxis (big boat and a little boat), and dolmuş (shared taxi). For a 1-hour meeting, we were practically on the road for 5 hours! Welcome to İstanbul...

Anyway, Aysel was wonderful woman. She has been in the fitness industry back in the days of Jane Fonda! When Turkiye didn't have an established fitness industry, she was one of the first to push for its evolution.

Author of the book Sporda Beslenme (which means 'Growing Up In Sports'), which (from what I understood) focuses training and cultivating the elite athlete from an early age.

She is also a university professor where she gives lectures in their fitness management department. And serves as an executive member of the Turkish 'Sport For All' Federation. Quite an established personality, indeed!

Aysel was kind enough to show me around the facilities which were quite accomodating, despite some of their upscale competitors (like Hillside City Club - which was located in the next door plaza).

I hope to meet up with her again, as well as, some of her colleagues. More later...

Red Bull Flugtag 2008!

Up until now I had only heard about the Red Bull Flugtag (and also saw a kicker video about it on a Spacekicker blogpost a while back). Anway, if you've never been to one, you should go! A few years ago it was in Arizona and I missed it. Had to come halfway around the world to finally experience it.

Anyway, a bunch of man-powered quasi-flight-mobiles get launched off a huge ramp over the course of 3 hours. It's total chaos and lots of fun. Major Red Bull riot!

On Sunday, the first-ever İstanbul Flugtag was held at Caddebostan Plajı (plaj = beach). There was an estimated 85,000 people at the event! Everything from Aladdin and Turkish tea cups to Florence Nightingale and large-scale green bug named Yusuf all attempted flight (watch Yusuf here).

Here is the launch of a disco-themed record player entitled 'Chicky Chicky Boom Boom'. (Click on the points on the timeline to read additional comments)

Wii-Fit A World-Wide Phenomena!

Once again, while walking down İstanbul's famous Bağdat Caddesi, I came across a demo of the Wii-Fit. A crowd of people surrounded a kid while he tested his skiing skills.

Although viewers seemed wildly excited about this new game, hardly anyone was buying it because of its cost. The Wii console is (in Turkish liras) the US equivalent of 600-700 dollars!

No fear. In time, not only will the cost of the Wii go down. But new and improved (and more affordable) exergames will enter the market.

The fact remains - exergames are not going away anytime soon. It will continue to grow as a global trend! Just ask my exergaming friends Ernie (the Exergaming Evangelist) and Alasdair (the Exergame Physiologist)!

Health & Beer?

During my quest to find the health and fitness clubs in my neighborhood (not all in one day, of course), I came across this little place - Sports Time. Interestingly this place sits just over a pub.

I don't know if the concept of a health center in such close proximity to a bar is totally wrong or simply brilliant! I guess it depends on how you look at it.

Would a person's drinking habits change if they knew they had a health club hovering over their beers?

Or how about the people who attend the health club regularly - Would they find bar fries and a tall glass of Efes more or less appetizing after their workouts?

Mmm... this is today's burning question...

Indiana Jones Doesn't Hold Up!

My cousin and I went to see a late showing of Indiana Jones 4 on Saturday night. Left halfway. (Oh, in Turkiye the movie theatres stop a film for intermission). Nuff said.