İftar..n Bayram is just near the corner :0)

Some may be suprised that i failed to update my blog almost daily even though i am in istanbul...what can i say? i cant explain it myself...it is just one of those days...one thing after another... bla bla bla.....in the end, there r loads of emails unanswered (pls forgive my late reply).. this blog.. hatice's blog...my recipe blog....halil's blog..all not updated...*guilty face*

We had guests for iftar last Friday. This time it was halil's friends from his previous working place..10 of halil's friends.. baba, halil n i.. with a total of 13 adults that night...

It was good.. I was calm... not stressed out like the last time we had iftar in our house..I think halil does miss his friends from the old place... just imagine.. he did his undergraduate programme from that university...continued his master there... n at the same time, he was working as a research assistant ..then came Ph.D....That over... he did his compulsory military service for a year... then continued his job at the same place...got his Yrd. Doçenlik...he worked there all in all for 9 whole years... n these people r the people he had known for at least that long..or even longer..lots of memories there.. n they r such good people... the people i myself have known eversince i got married to halil...7 years long...

I asked him...* do u miss ur old place? *... he said * i miss my friends there*... who wouldnt, right? All those years spent together..

But then i think this new place is something he needs to do... he needs this change..we have been needing financial independence... besides, his eldest brother, Selim, is there as well... in the same department..all ready to look after his lil' brother ... n they have been working together writing articles n what not....going to the university together...coming back together.. (hmmm...dont they get bored of each other?? heheh)...

And i personally think that for halil to go to the work place everyday... will benefit him more than previously... he goes to work in the morning n comes back home in the evening... being at work means that he will have to work one way or another n not just lazing down... i mean..he has got this brain.. this capability to excel in the things he does...in his field... n i see him wasting that capabilities by just being lazy... sleeping...staying at home most of the times...not anymore.. now he cant... he is working so hard these days...preparing for his lectures...he finished an article in less than 2 weeks..though in the old days..that would take him months..he is being productive mentally....i feel happy to see him working...writing articles .. ..at least his brain is not wasted..

I do pity him though... this new place is a challenge... to not be lazy...to be productive..to sleep lesser than he used to do... but hey! educators should be creative n productive, right?

I miss him a lot as well...this is a big step for us too.. for the whole family..... i rarely see him except during the evening...Like last week..i didnt see him at all.. he had iftar every night...*phew*..the solution?? we have started ourt chatting days again heheheh not much..just during early in the morning... to say hi ..or at times when he needed me to check something he wrote...bla bla bla... THANKS YAHOO MESSENGER hehehe i am chatting with my hubby!!..

Anyway, back to our iftar...we were expecting around 15 people..though only 11 turned up.. i had set 2 tables in the living room... the menu?

First course
*Pide bread(Special Ramazan Bread)
*3 types of börek
- kofteli sebzeli milfoy börek
- pouch pırasalı sosisli borek
-peynirli borek (kat kat börek)
*3 types of jams
- kıvırcık (dunno the name in english)
-plum marmalade (i made it myself)
- peach nectarin jam
*Black olive
*Dates
*Salam
*3 types of cheeses- white cheese, örgu peynir (plaited cheese), n kaşar peynir
*2 types of Zeytinyaglı Dolma
-stuffed vine leaves (yaprak)
-stuffed green pepper
*yogurtlu havuç (grated carrot in yogurt)
*Russ Salatası
*Mashed potato salad
*Zeytinyağlı Barbunya
*Patlıcan, kabaklı Zeytinyağlı kızartması (fried eggplant n zuchinni with tomato sauce in olive oil)

Second Course
*Soup - creamed carrot, potato n leek soup

Main Course
*Kurma ayam (malaysian dish)
*Pilav (YEAH!! TANE TANE!! sebutir butir..i cooked the pilav myself... see? i could do it..i only need to concentrate... didnt ask yenge coz she was undergoing an operation...getmiş olsun yenge)
*Salad (mixed salad)

Dessert
*Pasta biskuvi with kabaklı kazandibi on top..

Drinks
-TEA all throughout the iftar... (penatttttt tuang air teh..dah la cawan depa kecik..cepat abis..selalu selalu la kena tuang...disclaimer...saya bukan merungut.. ini sudah adat...melayan tetamu).
-Çamlıca (Carbonated drinks)


These things... u can imagine right how full the table was..HOWEVER...When it was towards the iftar..only baba, Sedat Murat n Halis came... i was quite panicked inside...like i said earlier.. we were expecting a maximum of 15 people... but only 3 were there!! ..We called Şenol ( a new assistant )..he was still trying to get to our house using the public transportation... he was lost... We called Suleyman ( he was with 6 other in a car)... Zia and his wife were waiting for Suleyman to come together to our house...n they waited long coz Suleyman n the others...they were stuck in the istanbul traffic...In the end, Şenol reached our house after 2 hours of circling around... Suleyman n gang took around 3 hours to reach our house!! Can u imagine? under normal circumstances, they would have reached our place within one hour (or 45 minutes in high speed)from their working place!!

Yup..this is istanbul of course.. if u r stuck in the traffic..u just dont wanna be in it.. the Zaim family also got stuck in the traffic on Saturday when we all were trying to reach the fatih area for an iftar at a family's friend house... all of us were stuck for 3 hours before we reached our destination... n on the way back..with no traffic..around 45 minutes ..or even less.. traffic is a nightmare here...

I was so relieved when Suleyman n the gang reached our house... they were 1 hour late after the iftar....being stuck in the traffic for 3 hours... u would imagine that they would enter the house n straightaway feast themselves with food, right? i was full with pride to see that they straightway asked for the toilet to take their wuduk..n they prayed the almost ending Maghrib prayer before they attacked the food on the table.. Namaz (prayer) comes first ..then food..

It was chatting...food...laughter all the way..naturally baba being the oldest..him being the hoca of these hojas (the teacher of these teachers)... his valued talk was the center of attention ..the rest talked too of course... it was nice..

What were baddin n hatice doing at that time... Baddin got so shy... i pitied him n allowed him to play with the online pc games..(he was too engrossed with the games that he peed in his pants!!) hahahahaha... Hatice? she was not home until almost 9.30pm coz she went to her friend's house for iftar..When she came back, everyone was saying how tall she has become coz i think the last time they saw her was before halil did his military service..

Anyway.. it was a nice night.. i was tired naturally.. the food took a lot of time in the preparation..but it was worth it..Suleyman even requested that we do this as part of a tradition now that halil is working somewhere else..i suppose we will accept the suggestion......Next year... Size yine bekleriz.. (we will be waiting for you all again)

And less then a week... Bayram.. Hari Raya Aidilfitri is just around the corner...We will be here in istanbul for Bayram... will update u on the Bayram Celebration in Turkey..so stay tuned...:0) I promise after the bayram, i wont be lazy in updating my blog anymore...:0)

I had written a lot of entries in this blog.. And during that time... i have made many friends here... their friendship which i value so much though we have never met.. i probably have made enemies too unknowingly....simah being simah that is...i may have made u smile... i may have made u cry... i also may have made u feel like vomitting in disgust while reading my entries...u may be shocked with some of the things i had written..

With the coming of Bayram..I sincerely ask for ur forgiveness... for all the things i have done that might have offended you....Dari hujung rambut he hujung kaki...from the tip of my hair to the tip of my toes... MAAF ZAHİR dan BATİN..TO ALL whom i know... who knows me...n all the muslims in the world...

HAYIRLI BAYRAM KUTLU OLSUN

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDİLFİTRI

HAPPY EİD MUBARAK

P.s -Adik Bongsuku Muhammad Sabri.. Terima kasih sebab bagi kat orang lagu ni..orang memang suka sangat lagu ni...ni ha dah letak dah kat blog ni... sayanggggggggg kat abi...kalau ada lagi lagu compile la bagi kat orang.. hatice suruh hang compile lagi lagu lagu disney tu.. dia nak lagu dari filem cinderella... beauty n the beast...dan sebagainya heheheh

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..nak balik ghumah nak raya...suruh mak masak rendang ngan lontong tahun ni ..abi makan utk simah :0)

Thank You for hopping by..Hope to see U again next time....