Travel log

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

~ Hello, Fissy Sodacan Homo Pervert the 69th speaking.

 

Just a quick hello from Istanbul using my uncle's 3G USB device. So I'm using the mobile phone network to post on ze Internet. ;D

Unlike our Internet connection, this one is paid by the minute, so I'm limiting my time online. Good thing I had typed the log below BEFORE getting this.

 

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ISTANBUL 23dec11-02jan12

XMAS and NEW YEAR log

 

23Fri

- check and clear email, leave @ 10am

- sammichz 4 lunch

- held back @ security for top-secret reasons (lol)

- flight (Pegasus) 2pm~6:30pm (3,5 hours + timezone)

- ~1h awaiting luggage

- driving, settling home, dad buys cans 4 dinner

 

- allergies (laundry?) for near-sleepless night

 

24Sat

- waking up & latest breakfast of the bunch

- driving to granny's 4 real lunch (soup, karniyarik, rice)

- hairdresser (~3cm cut)

- drawing+reading+napping @ granny's

- tea with cookies & simit

- uncle visits granny's for 1/2 hour

- parents' night out, real dinner 4kids (köfte) @ granny's

- trying out 3G device to clear email and post thread

 

- quality laundry but still moderate sleep @ granny's

 

25Sun

- breakfast @ granny's

- driving to see mom's father WHEEEEEE

- chat + lunch (lahmacun) + m0ar chat @ grandpa's

- driving back home

- napping while parents&sister are out shopping

- real dinner

- enjoying my little unicorn's gift <3

 

- decent amount of sleep this time

 

26Mon

- after breakfast, giving car out for minor repair

- ship across the Bosphorus, some sketching

- strolling through flea market and buying things

- lunch there (döner + trying grenade? juice)

- returning to the market to buy more and take photos

- buying simit and eating hot corn on the way back

- back across Bosphorus, seagulls fly close (photos)

- tea @ home with simit and stuffz

- finishing sketch, readin' me sum Cap'n Swing

 

- okay amount of sleep but mediocre quality

 

27Tue

- driving to supermarket for supplies and gifts

- driving to granny's to leave our stuff

- visit to bank for financial transactions

- medic visit for whine in ears, potential causes explicited

- kebab outside, my first time with a spicy drink

- operations @ another bank, sketching poneez

- returning to granny's for a nap and tea

- preparing for dinner @ granny's, visit by uncle and chat

- feast with granny and uncle+aunt+cousins

- chat with everyone, attempt at drawing granny's clock

- leaving for home around 11pm, arrival 1/2 hour later

 

- going to bed towards midnight for okay sleep

 

28Wed

- sleeping in late while dad is out for taxes n stuff

- after breakfast, mom and sis go to hairdresser

- listening to Viscra's minimix, reading Star Trek, napping

- driving to grandpa's for lunch (actually feast)

- parents going to grandpa's surgeon

- afternoon of long chats, tea, and singing by grandpa

- napping in the car on the way back home

- shower, body only (cuz wet hair @ night = cold/flu)

- dinner (döner + spice-free version of mentioned drink)

 

- going to bed late, mediocre sleep but lucid dreams

(two-decked bus with Buddhist monk, abandoned castles)

 

29Thu

- early visit by uncle to help dad with financial matters

- dad&uncle to building they own, mom to old classmate's

- napping and readin' me a Turkish traveller's books

- lunch for me+sis, and dad when he returns

- driving granny to dad&uncle's babysitter, tea and chat

- driving with granny to uncle's for Beagle pup and dinner

- chat, super-cute-energetic-pup petting and playing

- dinner (pide), m0ar chat+super-cute-energetic-puppy

- leaving for home around 10:30 with leftover pide

 

- again, mediocre-quality-but-lucid-dreamed sleep

(horseback riding - in case you're curious)

 

30Fri

- every1 sleep in late, first plan-less day (except dinner)

- making vague plan, updating log, dad typing document

- driving to granny's for lunch (look up "urfa kebap" ;D)

- after lunch, using 3G device to post and email document

- mom shops for supplies, then clears family email

- dinner out with 3rd(?)-degree relatives and granny

- leaving late, arriving home past midnight

 

- good quality sleep, controlled but non-lucid dream

 

31Sat

- sleeping in late, plan-less morning

- driving to granny's for lunch (Turkish ravioli)

- afternoon visit to grandpa, tea w/ chocolate cake & simit

- leaving with a reminder of whose steps I'm following

- stop @ uncle's for half-hour dog-petting (+ talking)

- returning to granny's to prepare and eat dinner

- to aunt's granny, meet uncle+aunt + mom's "bro"

- back to granny's for New Year celebration

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- okay sleep @ granny's, a couple of controlled dreams

(Fallout-style monsters in FPS, argument with family)

 

01Sun

- visit mom's mother's grave (getting lost with new layout)

- lunch with fish on the way to next destination

- visit dad's father's (recent) grave near uncle's property

- stop by uncle's property to see their older (big) dog

- return home to pack up, prepare, and shower

- dinner with leftover pide from Thursday

 

- decent sleep, controlled dream (NSFW :3)

 

02Mon

- waking up around 7, final check-up, leaving

- breakfast (tea+simit) after check-in, books in duty-free

- flight (Pegasus) 11.30am~2pm (3.5 -1 timezone)

- home sweet home @ 3pm

- starting everything up (heating+water) and unpacking

- typing the last of this log ~5.30pm

 

END OF LOG

 

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Post will be updated to the best of our Internet access and my memory. And of course, upon return, sketches/doodles will be scanned+uploaded+posted.

In the meantime, Merry Hearth Warming and Happy New Year to everypony!

 

Fissy Sodacan Homo Pervert the 69th heading out. ~

Edited January 2, 2012 by Feather Spiral

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

hello Fissy! :3

if you're reading this, i may or may not still be stuck with a very odd abbreviation of my name, as well as a strange avatar. i assure you, though, that i am Viscra Maelstrom typing this message.

 

if you have already opened my gift to you, i really hope you enjoy it, and i hope that my recording at the beginning didn't completely grate on your ears.

 

i hope you have a great stay at Turkey this year!

love.

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

abbreviation

Yeeee, rite.

 

About the gift, feedback will come as soon as I have time to listen to it.

 

Thank you so much. /)^3^(

 

'Sup, fillies and gentlecolts.

OP updated. :3

 

EDIT: Finally, I'm baaack! You miss me?

 

 

lol jk

 

Anyway, I've taken hundreds of photos. I literally have room for half a dozen thousand on my flash chip.

I've almost exhausted my batteries, and since I hadn't taken any more with me, I had to be careful. But I still took snapshots of nearly everything I wanted to share, even recorded a few AVI clips and MP3s.

So, expect photos to show up soon enough.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Feather Spiral

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

ahhhhhhhh~

*glomp*

hiya there! X3

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

Ohey, swee- OOF! *gasp*

Thank you.

 

Hookay, finally done transferring all my vacation stuff from my camera to the good ol' lagtop (just over 93Mo), and naming everything - photos, a few AVIs, sound clips of my granddad singing.

 

There are so many files (160 in total), I can never fit them all in one post.

So here's what I'll do: make montages of photos (and if I find a way, of the videos) taken at the same location, then upload those on my DA (videos on YT).

 

Meanwhile, enjoy a sample of three snapshots.

 

Yup.

 

Mael will remember the equation that I've invented, explaining why I REALLY love this sign.

 

Just taking a look at the stuff next to granny's window.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Feather Spiral

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

i don't suppose you were driving? (of course not, how else can you take pictures of stuff IN THE CAR...)

 

also, yes, i remember the FSM. <3

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

That's some adventure you're on. Hope you enjoy your trip

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

That's some adventure you're on.

*were.

 

Ah, before I forget... on that Turkish sign, "FSM" stands for "Fatih Sultan Mehmet". It means "Mehmet the Conqueror Sultan" and is the name of a suspended bridge.

 

Thanks, you two.

Update on the other photos and files is on my latest DA journal, btw.

<--

 

Montages of photos are done!

I'm glad I decided to make those, rather than uploading individual photos. Otherwise I couldn't have used the forums' uploader, seeing more than 10 files would've maxed it out.

 

FOREWARNING

-For anonymity reasons, I did NOT include photos showing any relative's face. I am planning to make montages WITH such photos, but without authorization, I can only send them to other relatives.

-Also for the same reasons, I will NOT upload any videos showing people we know.

-I have MP3s of my granddad singing, I don't know whether to share them or not. Voices can be very similar sometimes, so it shouldn't be such a big deal. In fact, according to my cousin (the one who recently came to Paris, see DA journal), hearing our grandfather would be like hearing... me. XD

 

Arrite beechez, LET'S DO THIS.

 

 

0) flights: View of Istanbul at night and the cloud layer from above, plus proof that I tried ginger ale for the very first time (I really wanted to, during my London trip two years ago, but when I had the opportunity, the restaurant was out of stock).

 

1) granny our bed: The sofabed me and my mother slept in through both Saturday nights at granny's. This sofa used to be ours, so we knew well how it worked.

 

2) flea market (warning BIG IMAGE): I called the file "flea market", but it turns out I was wrong, my bad. The Turkish name for this large marketplace, visited on Monday, translates to "Egyptian market". The first and last lines show : the Kadiköy dock, a view of the Bosphorus waters through the ship's window, the first and only SQUEEZED pomegranate juice I've ever drank ; and the numerous seagulls following the ship on our return trip, with a couple fly-by's, and a sort of island where sea birds gather.

 

3) granny dinner: The dinner table we prepared for Tuesday's dinner that I called a "feast" in the log. You can see one of the fanciest chocolate cakes ever known to man (even though ponies can probably do better).

 

4) uncle xmas: We had two reasons for spending Thursday evening at my uncle's, and the principal one was their new Beagle puppy, which you see gnawing on her chewing bone. I say puppy, but she's already larger than my granny's (late) miniature Pinscher, and my uncle says she'll grow bigger. The second reason was of course dinner, before which we received embarrassingly sweet gifts (I only took mine and my sister's in photo). The two photos at the bottom are what we call "goat's horns", which look like beans but are eaten for snack.

 

5) dinner night: Our dinner out on Friday night, with relatives whose relations I can never keep in mind so I arbitrarily say "3rd-degree". The two photos on top, taken while we were waiting, show the lights+decoration and the DJ in the background. At the bottom is the water glass I tried to sketch (see DA), plus the T-shirt and book I received as gifts.

A small anecdote - knowing we were 14, four of them being small children. Their school was organizing a charity event that required them to collect bottlecaps, something I also remember having at my own primary school. And imagine this: the restaurant staff, not content with just letting them keep the caps from our table, brought more from other tables. =D

 

6) new year: Our second Saturday of this a-little-over-one-week-long stay, naturally ended in celebration of the year 2012. The top row of photos were taken at the "aunt's granny" mentioned in the log, which isn't where WE (us four + my granny) celebrated so we didn't do anything besides talk and watch a TV program. The other six photos show OUR snacks, cake and baklava, and the "Happy New Year" message on the TV screen.

 

7) grave+vine yards: The very first day of the year was about: getting lost trying to find my late grandmother's (mother's side) grave in the morning, having lunch at a fish restaurant (picture shows a dessert called "hot helva") on the way to my grandfather's (father's side) grave, then stopping by my uncle's property (bottom left) with its vineyards (middle) to see their large dog (right) and my mom getting bitten by that same dog.

 

8) lolcatz (warning BIG IMAGE): The entrance door to my granddad's apartment building (top 2 and bottom rows) is now taken over by cats, who live inside the pink box beyond the railing. There used to be cats at my granny's too (where we once lived and I spent nearly all of my childhood), but they've become rare. My birth country also has plenty of strays, some of which (see middle row and immediately below) can be snuggly enough to climb on your lap and even nuzzle/lick your nose.

PS: Yes, I still have allergies, but they're more apparent in closed spaces. Outside, unless I rub it all over my face and scratch my skin, I don't get any reactions.

 

Phew, that was a hassle.