My trip to Istanbul

Some delicious looking mosque

Okay, flay me alive and call me a suitcase! I actually came home from Istanbul on SUNDAY, which is several days ago. And I am so sorry for not telling you "all about it" and posting pictures, or anything at all. Accept my humble apologies!

But yes. I wont bore you more. Here are all the juicy, not so juicy and all the dry details!

Dad and stepmum enjoying some  Lokma Tatlisi

I travelled with my dad, my stepmum and Helge last Thursday like at the crack of dawn. The trip was originally a gift from my dad for my 18th birthday, which is three years ago. And now we had finally found the time to go! We had a flight connection through Riga, Latvia and landed at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul where we sat and watched our own perspiration for half an hour because the driver was stuck in traffic. They really do drive like mad men those Turks! I tell you that much. But somehow he got us to our small hotel close to Sultanahmed on the Golden Horn (which we may consider the "old" part of town, even though most of the city is so old anyway that it really doesn't make that much sense).

Balik Ekmek! Nom nom!

The staff at our hotel were so strange. During a power cut one night we approached the hotel doors and the receptionist pretended to give us a sci-fi face scan in the dark with sound effects and all to see if we would be allowed to enter. It was hilarious! And the waiters at the rooftop restaurants were so animated and gesticulated so wildly that we were entertained every minute we sat there. It would appear the Turks have a really inclusive sense of humour.

All over Istanbul there were old Hamam's (Turkish baths), mosques, remnants of Byzantine city walls, fantastic wooden palaces and parks, pavilions, side walks the size of dachshunds, and stalls selling assorted Turkish fast food. Of which I loved the most the Simit (the skinny bagel-shaped breads covered in toasted sesame seeds),  Lokma Tatlisi (sweet, deep fried doughnuts smothered in syrup, cinnamon and ground pistachio), and the Balik Ekmek (fresh grilled fish sandwiches with onion).

They also had stalls all over selling grilled or boiled sweetcorn, roasted chestnuts and their famous "stretchy" icecream, Dondurma. Of which the latter the Turkish eat a staggering 2,8 litres each a year! This strange icecream is made of a product derived from orchids called "salep" and also arabic gum ("mastic" - not the same as gum arabic!), which is why it is so stretchy. I thought it was quite nice, but as with all other Turkish desserts it is intensely sweet. I wonder what they think of our desserts.

The Bagdad pavillion inside the palace

Detail from a door inside the harem

Anyway, we visited the Topkapi palace which was the home of the Ottoman sultans for 400 years. It was extremely big, and we got to hear of the grand viziers and the concubines - which was exotic to say the least. By the way the audio tour is a grand ripoff and it basically just reads you what it says on the plaques positioned around the palace. Actually - it doesn't even do that. It said less. Anyway. We didn't get to see the treasury because of all the crazy tourist people that had formed a line the length of the great wall of China. We did however get to see the relics - including a golden cast of the hand of John the Baptist, the turban of Joseph, the sword, a cloak and some of the Prophet Mohammed's beard(!). Oh, and of course the staff of Moses - which if I may add - looked very springy despite being about 3500 years old.

Detail from one of the harem windows.

The view from the palace was grand, the harem was the most interesting bit, we saw the guards gigantic mirrors that allowed them to keep watch around corners - the hamam (Turkish bath) of the concubines, the sultan's mother's quarters and even the sultan's toilet! We also visited the large swimming pool "where the dwarves did tricks" according to the audio guide. The dwarves were not mentioned before nor after this statement was made during the tour. But apparently it was probably good entertainment when you were sick of toying with your 300 concubines. 

We also saw the Blue Mosque which wasn't really as impressive as I'd expected. First of all it wasn't nearly blue enough, and though the grand dome and the intricate iznik tiles were very splendid indeed - the spectacular mosque seemed somewhat smaller on the inside because of the low wrought iron chandeliers that hung low above the floor. But now I've been there and at least that's one more thing checked off my list!

One of the gold streets in the Grand Bazaar

We did spend hours traversing the Grand Bazaar which is one of the largest indoor markets in the world. They mostly sold a lot of junk to be honest, we did buy Turkish tea, teacups and a gunmetal hookah that is quite awesome if I may say so myself. I also got a longer gold chain for my opal necklace. The carpets and the jewellery was simply amazing and among the things that are definitely worth purchasing when in Turkey.

Iskender kebab. Really nice!

I would've bought tons more myself, I am just not cut out for haggling it appears. And being a naive Norwegian I absolutely hated to make purchases. They were always trying to rip you off, quite nastily. And because everything is so sickeningly expensive where I come from - then how could I possibly tell? Luckily my stepmum is a badass haggler and dad drove a carpetseller to the edge of madness. He wanted to sell his 250€ carpet for 50€ because he got so desperate when dad didn't want it. Giggle.

So the haggle culture was what I disliked the most, definitely - that and that it felt as if I couldn't trust anyone, they would take my tourist money without blinking if the situation allowed it.

Constantine's Pillar was really nice, and positioned quite near one of the Grand Bazaar entrances. Constantine himself had it brought over at around year 330 to mark the transfer of the seat of the Roman empire from Rome to Istanbul (Constantinople). He also supposedly buried some relics beneath the fantastical porphyry pillar, like the axe Noah used to build the Ark. Yay!

The Bosporus strait

We went on a boat trip up the Bosporus (the strait separating east from west) and saw all the fantastic luxury hotels and houses, the old fortress, a graveyard and countless amazing mosques and wooden palaces.I will definitely recommend such a trip to anyone who wants to see as much of Istanbul as they can if they don't have a lot of time on their hands.

Hagia Sophia from a distance

But there you go. We saved the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofia) for last. Thank goodness, or nothing else would've seemed impressive. The huge structure is a 1500 year old church that served as a mosque during the 1500s and is now a museum. Kind of both, but neither. Underneath painted plaster are amazing, ancient mosaics of Christ and standard motives - while the world's biggest calligraphy plaques are hung in four corners of the dome. The stained glass are with calligraphic motives, there is a mihrab, minbar and outside is an Islamic washing font. A religious fusion cocktail. At the southern entrance there are Byzantine bronze doors that were added around year 800, really beautiful.

The dome of the Hagia Sophia, if you enlarge it you can see the masked and unmasked angels - the faces were discovered earlier this year!

The dome which is almost 60 metres above the floor took my breath away. It was created by some Greek architects that also decided that the centre of the earth was within the church, slightly to the right in the main hall. It was seriously huge. From the outside it looked like a city all in itself, and it still holds many uncovered secrets as a lot of the original mosaics are still plastered up. It was built with a lot of stolen goods from plundered pagan temples such as some incredible Hellenistic porphyry columns. You see the Byzantine were incredible at recycling. It was the most amazing thing we visited that didn't include food on this trip!

Hagia Sophia seen from the side

We ate insane amounts of kebab and köfte (Turkish meatballs) and drank litres of Turkish apple tea whenever possible. We journeyed home, had some depressing "Soviet-pizza" at the airport in Riga (although it tasted nice!) and when we came home our house wasn't on fire. That's nice.

So yes. I don't think I could've made that any more informative and dry. Sorry. But it's all true what happened. And I am thoroughly fascinated, so forgive me. I am guessing it is TLDR anyway.

Sunset over Istanbul.

Thanks for a fantastic trip everyone!

Help needed!

Err, this is an old (quite disturbing) doodle I found that I did in Paint.NET in its day.

I absolutely love snailmail! It is so amazing! It is almost as good as lights, or as lights in different colours. But yes. You people need to help me out some, and I mean it this time. I need a good concept for my NaNoWriMo in November (and I am totally planning ahead, as usual - even though it has helped me SQWAT! before) But there you go. I am a person of irreversible bad habits, like craving sugar first thing in the morning, always cross the road looking both ways (even though I KNOW it's a one way street). But there you go, again. I can't help myself.

I just better never start smoking. Sorry, I'll stop raving -- now, to the point. Yes! I need a concept, ladies. That's what I'm saying. I am usually never stripped for ideas, I have a couple on hold, but none that seem deep enough if you get me. It has to be a 50 000 word-proof idea. And that proves easier said than done. Every year. It has to be novel material, and I guess that shouldn't be all that hard *cough*TWILIGHT*cough* but at the same time we can't all write swooning romantic vampire novels. I guess that would make us all senile.

So yes. I'm happy to take ANY idea, please. Be it funny, sad, fantastic - yes, or even romantic, if we have to. And usually, the more psychedelic the better. It is easier that way. Please you guys, I really could use some input if you hear me, and it can't be more True Blood, because we all know where that'll take me *cough*. Yes.

My Fable II Adventure

I never thought I was going to be one of those puny nerds that sat drooling over Fable for long, intense hours. It's the roleplayinggames I have ever played - but on steroids. And I am completely obsessed with remaining pure and good. At least as much as I can. And I wouldn't have thought - either - that I was going to get married four times, of which twice to other women, become an artisan blacksmith (which took hours of mindless grinding) - or a parent. Twice.

But there you go. I married a villager that I bought a pleasant house for, and we had a son together. I then went off and married a thug in a dress with a club. I gave her her own house, but I was an idiot and didn't pay enough attention to detail. I'd put them in the same city district. so of course they found out about my bigami, took it very personal and divorced me. AND took the child, too, which I haven't seen since, and that I am still slightly sore about.

Then I married another thug with a coarse voice. She had big earrings and dark, soft hair - and a sword. Built like a carpenter. But it was love. And I gave her a ring, and my lush summerhouse. I paid her an outrrrrageous upkeep of 30 gold a day, and gave her a life way beyond her dreams. I gave her some new clothes, but she wouldn't wear them. She wanted to be my sturdy, slightly greasy and damp monsterwife.

I went away for ten years on a mission to save the kingdom, and my precious thug waited for me! I came back and she was there in our home! With a present! I could cry. The brute just loved me.

But I was hungry for more, I wanted kids, again - though having one womb each didn't make things easier it appeared. And so I married the noble Andrew. Funny and romantic. Gave me books for presents, wore a top hat, even on mondays. I'd just bought a new place - and I was extremely excited. But nerves from the past had me in a jitter, I was terrified they would find out, and it would all end in divorce once more. But even when they met (as I by mistake took Andrew for a romantic weekend in our summerhouse) - he wasn't at all surprised, he didn't even say anything. But my thug, she was furious and unforgiving. She divorced me immediately and left the region. She, who had waited for me for TEN YEARS. I'm a bitch.

I learned my lesson and remained true. I worked hard and bought us a manor that I decorated with luxurious items. We then had a child together and all was well. At least so far. You never know. I want more kids, but Andrew is slightly afraid of me, because I keep hitting the "cast spell" button when I am only trying to find out what his favourite present is again. But there you go. And that just about sums up my summer outside work. Well, with the exception of a few trips to the movies, some pints a concert and some dinners out.

What about you? How was/is your summer?

Happy Birthday!

Thank goodness there is nothing good on tv in the middle of the night. If the distractions of the insanely addictive internet weren't bad enough - well let's just say I'm grateful. And I should be sleeping.

Today has been my birthday! And my 21st. one at that! Turns out my boss had given me the day off because it was my birthday, even though I hadn't asked for it! It was a lovely thing to do, but I should've known sooner and I could've made more exciting plans for the day!

We had a lazy morning, then met Tink for lunch at a Korean-Thai (Asian fusion) place. (No wonder everyone get so confused by the differences in Asian cuisine when all the Asian places serve food from all over their continent but are usually only named after one or two random countries). But either way - Helge and Tink had sushi while I had some really nice spicy green chicken curry with lots of mysterious vegetables. Tink and I then shared a fried banana for dessert, which was luscious. Nom nom!

We then proceeded to do pretty much nothing. I fell asleep at some point. Then I was awoken by Helge and that we had to leave for our table reservation at six thirty. It was a completely random idea grown from the discovery of a tiny restaurant called "Smia" ("The smithy"), which is not far from us and that we found randomly once when on a walk. It was the menu that got us interested. A very short, seasonal menu with some very ... different flavour combinations. And, obviously - covered in snobbery, serving desserts like "Pineapple carpaccio" which was raw pineapple thinly sliced on a plate (but delicious!).

And yeah, so - we had dinner there! Helge had the entrecôte, while I had whale, he had the carpaccio for dessert while I had the pavlova. Honestly - it has been a long time since I've eaten something so expensive, but at the same time it was a lovely place, the mood was right, the service was great. And the food was different, but delightful. Very inspiring. And because it was my birthday I was given a wrought iron rose! What do you know?

When we came home we were so full we wanted to die, seriously. I played Deathspank! Which was awesome, and I got to answer all the greetings on Facebook and we listened to the rain outside. Thanks everyone for having my phone buzzing practically all day, absolutely lovely.

Happy birthday, Tora!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Oh delight! Oh Joy!

There is definitely a lot of The Wind Waker in this one, the cell-shading, the bright colours and something about the lightness of atmosphere. But still all we can see here is gameplay related and there's nothing on the story yet! The puzzles in Zelda have always been the best bit, but solving them wouldn't have felt so important if the story hadn't been so immersive. So I am very excited about that, the story in Twilight Princess was stunning and beautiful and I cried at the end :(

I am so happy they are going along with the cartoonish cell shading, I loved the theme and the freedom of The Wind Waker, I spent hours just roaming around in the boat on the massive seas - feeling the wind in my ears. And I totally fell in love with the look - it was a very daring move at the time - as far as I recall it wasn't very popular, even with the fans, but most were able to set the graphical appearance aside and still appreciate it for the excellent game it was.

Skyward Sword has already received a lot of praise for its graphics, especially from Vooks.net that seems pretty in love after giving it a go hands on at E3. Crystal clear, sharp cell shading, with divine colouring. I'm excited about the music as well, nothing makes the cockles of my heart jiggle like the intro to Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The psycho theme of Major Mask can really make me shiver. And so many of the tracks for Twilight Princess were breathtaking too. Zelda is always a full package for me. Interesting level design, great puzzles, weird characters, polished gameplay, wonderful music and a delightful atmosphere.

Now we just have to think of a way to make the time pass while we're waiting....

Zomg! Brink and Distant Worlds... and Deathspank!!!

Goodness me, does the gaming world offer a lot of goodies indeed. Even I am slightly excited about the single-multiplayer combo "Brink" - which has an incredible trailer (please go enjoy here). And what can I say? It's a highly customizable shooter, a shooter! I can't explain why, but this just looks very very good. And if I'll ever work up the nerve - I'd gladly give it a go! So smooth! And I love the graphical style a lot, it's got a little "Team Fortress" - maybe a splash of "Borderlands" I figure it even catches some "Mirrors Edge" - because of the consistent theme of the scenery.

There'll be character appearance customization, weapon, class, skills customization - there'll be factions and lots of level-based tasks to perform. It just seems to me they are really on to something when combining classical shooting with more mobility ("Mirror's Edge" kicks in here too!), strategy, class and faction specific tasks - more interaction with the actual levels (opening up new paths, hacking computers etc.) and of course its futuristic, catastrophic setting. And back to that bit on character appearance - the size of your character will mean something to the game, if you're small you can traverse more difficult terrain, climbing and jumping. While if you're a big guy, well, you get to play with the bigger guns. Finally, a touch of sensible logic (not harming gameplay (hopefully)) might kiss this genre. Mmm! *rubs hands* I hope they nail it!

And good news for all Wookies: There's yet another Star Wars MMO coming out, this fall. It'll be closely related to the animated "The Clone Wars" and will be free to play. I don't know what to say to that. Something along the lines of: Good for you - I'll be over here.

Splendid weather today! I bought a porcelain cupcake that I can put things in. I really needed it, so don't come here and tell me anything else. Such a practical household item, you wont do without it, sir!

Also for being the only creature on our planet (I am sure) that loved the space-exploration part of "Spore"! I might dabble in "Distant Worlds" an immensely complicated space-based real-time strategy game (actually graphically described by gamer.no as "a science fiction-version of Microsoft Excel and a reasonably unstructured collection of marbles") But I am not put off by that at all - I must say, honestly, it intrigued me! It is known to be vastly complex and refreshingly dynamic - and though it looks really ugly (really) I wont judge this book by its cover. No sir. "Distant Worlds" here I come!

And then there's "Deathspank".

Now I'm really sorry, but I don't even know where to begin with this one. I am so excited I might cry. I really could cry right now. *Gasp* Cry. Really. But... Well, here goes, I will try and keep it nice and short for you, so we don't get any inappropriate dribble on your desk.

"Deathspank" is the odd cousin of all the games we've ever loved - "Psychonauts", "Grim Fandango", "Curse of Monkey Island" and "Secret of Monkey Island", even - all the LucasArts gems. Brilliant, intelligent, stunningly funny, random, captivating. I might need a pause to breathe. And "Deathspank", ladies and gentlemen is an action-adventure of massive proportions - told to be about 15 hours of insane gameplay. Lots of hack n' slash - strange enemies hitting you with fish, even more strange quests given to you by locals - a witch, an artefact - and a humour that has been told (as well) to be closely related to that of our beloved Terry Pratchett.

The hero, "Deathspank" himself - wears a purple thong beneath all his armour and is described as such: "Charming. Intelligent. Enigmatic. These are just a few words that nobody ever uses when describing DeathSpank. He doesn't shoot first and ask questions later. He doesn't even realize there are questions". This is not a game that takes itself seriously - and not because it is trying to excuse why it sucks - but because it is just too flippin' awesome to be pompous. Even their newsletter is called "Deathspam" - I mean, how is that not funny? There are tons of different weapons and armours to use, a gigantic map with bright pop-up book scenery with lots of purple in it and hopefully - the game story of the year. Do enjoy yourself with some madness on their website - Deathspank.com while you're waiting, but I can't wait. I really can't wait. And all I know is that "it is coming soon". GAAaah!

I just have to stop there, and I'll go shake a pigeon out the window until the abstinences pass for a bit. Because this will be so much fun! Too much fun, really. I might die, that's how fun it's going to be.

"So why do you need orphans anyway? Build a house?"