August 28, 2005

Allow me to be a Stage Wife...

Yes.. Please allow me to be a stage wife in this post of mine. I have always been proud of my husband and his work that sometimes I really feel like a stage wife! This week my husband was featured in two food magazines over here in Istanbul and one daily newspaper. Of course the article was all in Turkish but I was just happy to see my husband's picture on the article and his desserts... He has always been camera shy and to see his picture in a magazine with a four page article and half a page in a newspaper makes me really proud of him.

I tried to find the web address of the said mag but I just couldn't find it so I took my reliable cam and took a picture of the articles ---> that is the stage wife in me working! Goes to show how proud I am of my chef.

So you would ask, who cooks at home if he is the chef? Of course I do the cooking now! Before I was scared to cook for him thinking he might criticize the food but I learned a little secret. I just need to kick him out of the kitchen when I cook so I won't hear any side comment or "helpful" tips from him. Lastly, I never do desserts. I always live this up to him. This is his specialty anyway.

Since I was a good stage wife, I got a creme caramel ( leche flan in Pinoy terms) and some chocolate truffles filled with lemon, banana, and raspberries ( no picture coz I ate them all!I am a petit kochon!).

Fruit Sushi

Chocolate Bownie

Posted by duke at 8/28/2005 08:18:00 PM 20 comments

August 24, 2005

ahhh men...

Got tagged by Bel with this picture...

I showed this picture to my husband and asked his opinion about it. He gave me this weird stoic face and said, this could apply to women as well. Then I said... OF COURSE NOT!!!! First of all, women will always know if their socks are clean or not and we will defintely know where we placed them( since most of the time we do the laundry!).

My husband's reaction? A sheepish smile...

See it is always the little things that matter when you have become too close and familiar with each other ( meaning.. lived together or has been husband and wife ). There isn't a lot of mind games to play anymore. Instead, both of you deal with your everyday life discovering the quirks of each other.

During our first weeks in Hong Kong last year, husband decided that we go and visit Pacific Place because he wanted to do grocery at Great Supermarket. It was my first time to go to Admiralty with him and he acted like he knew where we were going.We took the MTR and got off Central station for some reason and ended up walking our way to Admiralty. All throughout the walk, I kept on asking husband dear if he knew the way and he always answered yes with such confidence. In the end, I found out the we were lost and ended up walking in a parking area. Good thing was the parking area was somewhat connected to Pacific Place and we managed to get to the mall after 45 minutes of walking.

I was so annoyed with the whole scenario at that time. I asked my husband why he had to pretend that he knew where to go when in fact we were lost but he just gave me the same sheepish smile and said " I told you I know how to get to Pacific Place. I just didn't tell you that it was not the fastest way to get there coz I wanted to spend quality time walking with you..."

My reaction... "Yeah right.... "

It was our first year of marriage at that time. Now I know better when I see those sheepish smile...

Posted by duke at 8/24/2005 08:08:00 PM 16 comments

August 20, 2005

Timeline

Now it's my turn to present you with a timeline of my life... Tagged by the Math Wizard bonne maman to be... Analyse

20 YEARS AGO:
I started going to Kindergarten class. I was put to school at a later age and never went through Nursery and other pre-school stuff. I was excited to go to school and learn at that time but didn't realize how mean other kids can be... you see.. was a big fat kid with a cleopatra like hairstyle ( eeek!)

15 YEARS AGO:
I graduated from elementary and was transferred by my parents to an all girls school. It was a totally different world for me suddenly. Me and my tomboy self became more refined and kikay later on. I missed my old school though and the friends I had. My mom enrolled me and my brother to an acting workshop where I met the coolest people ever. I was with the Cultural Center of the Philippine's Tanghalang Pilipino Teen Theater.

10 YEARS AGO:
I was actively involved in a Catholic Charismatic Community for teenagers and loved every bit of it.Saturdays were reserved for prayer meetings in Santuario de San Antonio activity hall. I was a freshman in college and it was my first time to live on my own. I was "dumped" by my parents in a townhouse with other college girls sharing the place. I used to go out most of the time with my room mates. Studied in Mac Donald's Katipunan all the time for Math 17. I was active in the university org -JMA. I discovered I like bowling and took it for my Physical Ed. Class.

FIVE YEARS AGO:
I was working in a five star hotel in Manila. I had the weirdest shifts but I loved it. I worked from 3pm-11pm or 5pm-1am or 6pm-2am. I became the president of the Employee-Management Council of the hotel.

THREE YEARS AGO:
I went to Hong Kong with colleagues from work on a vacation and a week after I went to Singapore. When I got back from my vacation I met X- now my husband. He was the new pastry chef of the hotel.I was promoted in my job and got TONS of workload. I became a certified workaholic and yet I was partying til the wee hours of the morning to de stress.. Result- I was at 95 pounds in weight.

LAST YEAR:
I had my church wedding in Manila and had a total of 26 guests.I planned all the details of the wedding from HK. I was living and working in HK but moved out at the end of the year.

My husband and I went to France and stayed there for three months. It was my first time to go on a long haul flight ( europe). I decided to grow my hair long. I went to Manila twice not counting the one this year.

THIS YEAR:
I was living in France for the first two months of the year.Got back to Manila from France. Took summer classes in my old school. Learned basic German and advance French. I was constantly living with my suitcase and finally landed in Istanbul,Turkey. Been to three different countries in the last 8 months.

I finally went to SAGADA in the Philippines and tried Spelunking ( cave exploration).

Here in Istanbul I became more fit. Little by little I have acquired the taste to brocolli ( I never eat vegetables!) and find myself get bored with meat dishes. I have decided to go to the gym regularly and enrolled myself in tennis.

YESTERDAY:
I had a haircut. My first haircut in Istanbul. The experience was kinda weird. I found myself doing acrobatics during the haircut. The hairdresser asked me to stand up at one point and then bend forward while he'she was cutting my hair. I felt like I was in the mercy of Edward Scissorhands! The end result - not bad at all but it was quite heavy on the pocket( uh oh.. here I am computing again...)

LAST NIGHT:
I cooked dinner. Lamb chops with mashed potato for husband and Chicken Adobo for me!--->( coz I don't eat lamb). Watched The Missing on TV and ate an orange for dessert.

TODAY:
I was supposed to play tennis but it rained just on the time slot I reserved ( grrr!) . I went to the gym instead. Now, I am at the business center doing my blog and all my internet stuff (we still don't have our stuff).

TOMORROW:
I will go and eat at the brunch buffet of the coffee shop. I like Sunday brunch because they have a sushi corner and ice creams!

NEXT YEAR:
Hubby and I will have our grand vacance! Hopefully we were able to invest on something by then. I should have something more concrete to do ( spells like J-O-B) but by next year I have targeted to learn conversational Turkish. Hopefully we won't be moving to another country by then.

FIVE - TEN YEARS FROM NOW:
Hopefully, husband and I will be living permanently in a country by then and have a house and business of our own.

Wow, that wasn't hard at all. It was actually fun doing this meme... So now I nominate the following to experience this journey....

1. Knoizki- my colorful blog friend who grows in me.. makes me want to go back to HK and meet him for real.. a long lost friend..
2. Gracei - my former colleague now wifey and mother in the land of Taj Mahal
3. Isay- A very down to earth pinay in OZ
4. Jeff - who does the Dubai Chronicles with two thumbs up!

Posted by duke at 8/20/2005 07:04:00 PM 12 comments

August 18, 2005

DENTISTANBUL

A trip to the dentist is something that I love doing. For some reason, I feel at ease with dentists. I never feared or felt pain when I go to one. Unfortunately, I was not the one who needed to go to the dentist but husband dearie. He is basically the opposite of me. Fearing to go to a dentist for soooo long that he sometimes opt to take out his tooth by himself! ( not really a nice idea and a nice sight!) Since he had a very bad case of toothache he finally summed up the courage to go to the dentist. I went with him for moral support.

The first time we went to the dentist over here in Istanbul, we both could not believe our eyes. They have a dental HOSPITAL ( as in with nurses and a 24 hour service wher eyou can get confined etc..)!And the name, they could not be more imaginative... DENTISTANBUL. All of a sudden, husband felt more at ease and confident in going to the dentist. They have an in house English translator making it easier for us to explain what is aching my hubby's sweet tooth. Next thing I know he already has an appointment not just to have a tooth extraction but to have his whole teeth examined and the works!

I was very impressed with how this hospital managed to turn my husband's fear of dentist into a tooth fairy's nightmare! Now, he just couldn;t wait to go to the dentist and have his daily dose of what have you's ... he's not afraid to show off those pearly white teeth all of a sudden too :)

Posted by duke at 8/18/2005 03:52:00 PM 15 comments

August 13, 2005

2 Pinays, a foreigner and Pansit...

A few days back, a friend of mine volunteered to introduce me to her Filipina friend who has been living in Istanbul for quite sometime. I thought it would be a good idea since I basically do not know any Filipinos personally over here and that would be a good start.

So off I went to my friend's house at the Asian Side and semi excited to speak Pinoy to someone again.

My friend is a foreign language teacher over here in Istanbul and her Filipina friend whom we shall call G is an English teacher at the same school. She said G just recently got married to a Turkish guy and had her vacation/honeymoon in the Philippines. We were waiting by the pool and chatting when the Pinay, G, arrived.

Here's how our conversation went...

My foreign friend B - "duke this is G."

Duke - "hi G.. nice to meet you...kamusta?"

G - "ay bata ka pa pala.. hello...foreigner asawa mo?anong nationality?matagal ka na dito? kelan pa? saan ka nakatira? "

Duke - "mabuti naman ako... kakadating ko lang dito last June. sa kabila ako nakatira ( meaning across the bosphorus) .. .ay oo French po ang asawa ko.. kamusta bakasyon mo sa Pinas?"

G- "anong bakasyon? nagpa-opera ako ng cyst...ayun we went to Boracay after." Then turning to our friend B... " I can't stay long. I have my period and I want to rest at home. " and again to me. " ilang taon ang gap nyo mag asawa?so, mabait naman asawa mo?"

B - ( smiling) "you're the one who chose the date for the meeting and made us wait and now you say you can't stay long...I met Duke's husband and he's a good guy"

Duke - " bakit mo naman nasabi yon? oo naman mabait asawa ko. We have a nine year difference.. So matagal ka na sa Istanbul?"

G- "kasi bata ka pa para mag asawa. I'm 41 and just got married last year. 11 Years na ako sa Istanbul but I always choose my friends over here. I don't mingle with the Filipinos and Filipinas here since most of them are Domestic Helpers... you know how these connotations on Filipinos in other countries...So I keep my distance"

Jeez!! I did not expect that answer at all... here I am meeting a Filipino who thinks high of herself over other Pinoys and Pinays who are also working overseas just like her. I am beginning not to like this girl but I kept my manners and carried on with another topic of conversation.

Next topic...

G - "saan ka sa manila nakatira?anong probinsya mo?"

Duke- " Sa Q.C. ako nakatira dati. Pinanganak ako sa Manila so wala talaga akong probinsya pero kabalu ko mag sulti ug bisaya.. konti nga lang .. mas nakakaintidi ako...kasi mommy ko ay taga Misamis pero father ko taga Bulacan"

G- " ahh hindi tayo pareho kasi ako Ilonggo and hindi tayo magkakaintindihan. " then she turns to our friend B and says with a Miriam Santiago accent... "She only knows to speak the national languge which is Ta-gaa-looog and I speak Hiligaaaaynon but I can also speak Tagalog. She's a city girl that's why she can only speak one dialect. I can speak Tagalog but she cannot speak my dialect"

I was thinking.. WTF is wrong with this girl? She really has a bad case of superiority complex and now she is taking it against me that I am a city girl and she is from the province. She was even implying that I don't know much compared to her. But hey, I was stilll trying to keep my cool and just give her the benefit of the doubt.. Maybe she was just plain tactless and didn't mean for it to sound it that way.

We then went off to our friend, B's house and to B's request cooked pansit. G was the cook since she was the one who introduced the dish to them. I just went with the flow. Pansit is an easy dish anyway, I was there to help. So chop the vegetables we did. Since our friend B is Belgian, she really don't have much idea how to cook Asian cuisine but she likes the food. I was holding the chopped carrots and helping her while she sautéed the rest of the vegetables. As I was about to pour the carrots in she said.. " Ay wag mo lagay.. separate natin lutuin ang bawat gulay para mas masarap"

so I said.. " anong pinagkaiba non? eh lahat ng gulay sa pansit ginigisa lang naman?"

G said... " akala ko ba cook ka? dapat alam mo! ganyan kami magluto sa Iloilo ng pansit.. baka sa manila ganon kayo magluto"

my answer to her... " hindi ako cook kung nakikinig ka sa sinabi ko kanina.. ang asawa ko ay pastry chef. sa pagkakaalam ko , ang generic na pansit pare-pareho ang luto... you can do whatever you want..."

Then our good friend B and her husband butted in..." Ah you must be a rich girl since you do not know how to cook pansit. "

I said to them , " Of course not. I am a normal person in the Philippines and I know how to cook pansit but not the way she(G) insists on doing it..."

At this point, I just wanted to go home and end this weird encounter with this Pinay.Luckily I had to catch the five o-clock shuttle and left earlier. I was grateful to my friend B for giving me that opportunity to encounter this girl but I think that would be the first and last. I never expected to meet a fellow countryman who regard herself so high above everyone else but if you really look at it, she is also one of the overseas filipino workers that she detest so much. What right does she have to look down upon the domestic helpers and other Pinoys who are trying to make a decent living abroad for their family. How dare she say that she chooses her friends here because most of them are DH and she does not want to be associated with them...

My oh my.. that Pinay has a lot of issues to resolve within her especially her superiority complex. No wonder she married when she was already 40 years old!

Posted by duke at 8/13/2005 10:06:00 PM 35 comments

tagged

I gott agged by abaniko, noemi, and teacher sol...

So, here goes:

Seven things that scare you:
1. The Unknown
2. Snakes and worms
3. Drownıng
4. Death of a loved one
5. takıngs risks
6. gıvıng birth ( the act...)
7. natural dısasters lıke hurrıcanes or cyclones and all the wrath of mother nature

Seven things you like the most:
1. Travel
2. Readıng a good book
3. Cuddle with my husband
4. Listening to music
5. Solving a puzzle
6. Chocolates with vodka
7. good conversations

Seven important things in your bedroom:
1. my current book read
2. moolah
3. passports
4. magazines
5.pillows
6. the sheets!
7. Trash can

Seven random facts about you:
1. I’m petite :)
2. I like toasted bread with butter and orange marmalade
3. I laugh easily
4. I’m not pushy
5. I’m sometime OC with things
6. I’m a size 2
7. I like the color green

Seven things you plan to do before you die:
1. bungee jump at Victoria Falls
2. Wear high fashion as in costume fit and watch a Valentino runway show
3. Watch an Italian opera
4. Join a group that saves the environment
5. Do volunteer work for the poor
6. Invest in something
7. plant a tree

Dreams 6 and 7 mean that I need to get filthy rich before I die!

Seven things you can do:
1. Eat dessert before a meal
2. Sleep long hours (>12 hours)
3. eat chips and chocolates at the same time.... I'm a junk food addict!
4. Ride a plane on a long haul journey and sleep all throughout the flight
5. Sing!
6. Cook a nice meal when I want to
7. Take a really hot ( and boiling) shower

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:
1. Beautiful Eyes
2. ABS
3. voice
4.fashion sense
5. Fresh Breath
6. good pair of shoes
7. hairstyle

Seven things you say the most:
1. c'est vrai?
2. f"@%%^£ Shet!
3. uh huh..
4. oh well
5. sure thing
6. jeez!
7. oh really?

I guess that's it.. couldn't finish the rest :) sorry guys ...hanggang dito na lang kaya ng powers ko ...

Posted by duke at 8/13/2005 05:36:00 PM 2 comments

Boat Party

Recently, I dragged my husband to go with me to an Expat Floating Party a.k.a. the Boat Party. I wanted to go and meet new people but my husband was quite reluctant to go but the last minute he agreed to go with me.

It was a fun night and we met new people and had a blast laughing,drinking Efes Beer and dancing while the boat went on a cruise along the bosphorus. The only thing that bothered me was the wind blowing so hard that I had a mahangin ba sa labas look ---> Vanity is my favorite sin...

Well I thought I would share wıth you some pictures of the boat party...

Posted by duke at 8/13/2005 04:40:00 PM 9 comments

August 09, 2005

Robbed!

Last night, my husband went out for dinner with his colleagues sans moi. They left at 8 pm and went to this place I have never heard off but apparently is a good place to find a variety of Turkish and non Turkish food. Husband was calling every now and then to tell me how good the place is and how nice the atmosphere and the food until his last call. He got robbed. He was standing in line for a cab and a man "accidentally" bumped into him. Next thing he knew, his money is gone. He was a pickpocket victim! He was fuming mad and tried to find the guy but he could not identify him in the sea of Turkish people around.

This was the first time I got scared for my husband going out here in Istanbul. I was hoping and praying that he just get home safe and let go of the situation. I did not want him to go look for the person who did it. With my mind going on overdrive mode, I was thinking of scenarios that were not really pleasant and just gave me more to worry about.

What if he found the guy who did it and suddenly, out of anger, he punches him in the face? I know my husband very well to determine when he is really angry and frustrated and I know he will not be forgiving on a person who does this kind of stuff to him. I was scared that he might hit the guy only to find out that the person is not alone and has other "accomplices" near him who would readily go over to the rescue of their friend. What if the guy or those guys are armed with a knife or a gun? One can really never know. My mind was just going crazy. I was begging my husband to just get home and let go of it.

After a heated discussion over the phone. my husband agreed to go home and so I waited.

The waiting was killing me!

He said he was going to be home in thirty minutes but an hour has passed and he is still not home!

I tried calling his mobile and it was ringing ( whew!). Then he answers the phone. He said he was already in the cab and he will be at our doorstep in 10 minutes.

Finally, he arrives home. Safe. Then he started to narrate again what happened and confessed that he still did try to find out where the pickpocket guy could have gone to but had no luck in finding him and so he gave up.

The mother in me just started to calmly reprimand him of his actions and just hugged him. I asked him if he knew by any chance the turkish word for "help" and he answered -No. So I told him never to challenge a situation like this again. If something happened to him no one will be able to help him and understand him. We are indeed in a foreign country and just like any other place, we are the foreigners here, not the other way around.

Like in any other country, things like this happen. Heck! Even in the Philippines, that pickpocketing "technique" was one of the oldest trick in the book. I knew that too well way way back then.I would have been not as scared if it happened in Pinas but my fear doubles knowing that this is not my country and my husband and I need to take care of each other to survive situations like this.

Well.. There are always two sides of a coin, the good and the bad and last night, we experienced for the first time the not so good side of living in Istanbul.

Posted by duke at 8/09/2005 08:40:00 PM 20 comments

August 08, 2005

bosphorus bridge

This bridge connects two continents. Asia and Europe...

Yes.. two continents in one country

Istanbul, Turkey
snippet from the best turkey tour website.

Posted by duke at 8/08/2005 07:24:00 PM 6 comments

August 04, 2005

I WON!

Today, I lost again in a game of dominoes BUT... I was able to beat my husband in a game of DARTS!!! Nothing really much to brag but I know he will be reading this post and am darn proud to say Darts is not my husband's game!

And that goes to show.. I am more accurate and precise, mon bébé?

Posted by duke at 8/04/2005 10:03:00 PM 10 comments

on mangoes and pork

Yesterday, I had pork for dinner. Whew! It has been more than two months now since I last ate pork! Since Turkey is an Islam country, pork is not allowed for sale anywhere unless the restaurant or market has a special license for it. I never thought I would miss the taste of pork since I do not eat pork that much anyway, but having roast pork once again suddenly was heaven!

A couple of days back, my husband also brought me mangoes from India. A Sultan who was checked in the hotel gave his personal chef a box of mangoes.My husband in turn got some and brought them home for me. I was ecstatic to have mangoes again! Also here in Turkey mangoes are VERY RARE. When you eat in a Japanese restaurant and order for a california maki, instead of mangoes inside the maki, you will see avocado as a replacement. They have many different kinds of fruits but NO MANGOES anywhere. Having to eat a nice and sweet mango is indeed a luxury here.

Looking back at these two situations, I suddenly miss the Philippines. All summer long , I was eating mangoes and was even complaining that they were expensive at Thirty Pesos a Kilo and my mom would always cook "lechon kawali" ( roasted pork Filipino Style) . These words are probably overused but for the millionth time, I would say it again... You don't know what you've got til it's gone...( well not really gone but non existent in the place I am living in...)

Right now, I am savoring the last two pieces of mangoes I have in our fridge and some roast pork...I wouldn't really know when I will have them again...

Posted by duke at 8/04/2005 09:49:00 PM 15 comments

Confessions of an Expat's Wife