Sunday, November 20, 2011

Quote of the day: "Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door."
       By - Kyle Chandler

Saturday, November 19, 2011

This summer in September, I went to see my family and friends for two weeks and I spent every minute of it with them, sharing memories, food and making new memories. I was in Ankara, Turkey. Then decided to take 3 days away from them and go the south of Turkey to get some beach time which is one of my favorite places to be! Although I was hesitant at first, because I wanted to be in Ankara to be with everyone, I forced myself to take the short trip with my sister. And little known to me, I discovered another miracle beach. Every beach that I visited has a special place in my heart, this one is on top of the list right now! It was hardly discovered, with clean water, less crowd but still had the modern amenities with little beautiful bungalow style hotel that we stayed in. I am so grateful that my sister took me there. Believe it or not, although I resisted to go there iniatially, then I 'yelled' at her for not taking me there earlier, as she had known this place since 2007! oh my, what a breathtaking place... here are few pictures that I took of Adrasan-the name of the small town.




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

3 weddings & 4 different cultures and food!

Hello again,
Continuing on my food and cultural differences, I wanted to bring a third elements into the discussion: Weddings! You know there is no better place than a weeding to experience a different culture or food! Also not to help but notice that 'western style' weddings becoming more of a norm, no matter which culture you are in.

I have been to three different weddings through out this year. I must admit, I actually enjoyed going to these weddings!

One of them was in another country! And I took lots of pics to show them to my friends in USA. It was very westernized wedding reception with all the similar things that a wedding reception would have in USA. The only difference was the food and the some of the music and dances. The wedding cake was brought out with balloons and little fireworks.



The other two weddings were in June in US. However, there three different cultures involved and you could tell the differences from the food! and maybe some decorations.





Monday, July 4, 2011

Food & Culture

A new friend of my encouraged me today to write more on my blog as I seem to have a lot of opinions about  cultural differences and food as we ate our 4th of July meal of grilled steak & side dishes.

I was telling her no matter how open-minded that we say we are, we all have our reservations about 'other cultures' food'!

Culture is made up of lot of different things such as language, religion, customs & traditions etc. But I don't think we include the food in this list as much as we should. As I traveled different countries, I realized how closed minded I was in trying 'different' food.  (Different for whom?) Once I tried few times though, I started to appreciate and develop taste for other culture's food which enriched my life a lot; Although I admit, it is not easy to make oneself to try food that one is not familiar with.
Have you ever looked at a menu in a different cuisine and although it was in your language, you felt like you have no idea what food they are offering! I have!  And it is part of the fun and excitement!
I recommend that this year you try some different food. Go ahead, don't be afraid! It is fun and who knows you may like it. It may also open the doors for a new friendships...

Will continue on this different cuisine discussion on another day as I feel I have lots to say!

Enjoy your food and 4th of July celebrations!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Long time, no Blog!

I can't believe that I have not been writing for so long. 2011 started very busy for me as for everyone else I am sure.
Now first things first; as promised here some more information about these picture and where they were taken from:
I took them in the late summer of 2010 in a small town by the Black Sea in Turkey. The town is called Amasra.
Here is some information about the town on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amasra
These picture that I took reminded me of Hawaii, to my surprise.
Summer is coming again, I wonder where it will take me this summer!