Once upon One week

We just got back from sending the 4 guests to the airport. Yes. They were here one full week. Thursday to thursday.

I cant lie by saying that i do not feel sad that they have left. I do. Inanmicaksınız ama.. i do feel sad inside...

True. I dreaded the fact that 4 people i barely know in my life wouldl be coming..n my teacher wont be one of them..True, i was worried about the sleeping arrangement. True, i was very jumpy at the fact that this was the first time that many guests will be coming to my home, staying over for a week.. and i dunno how to be a gracious host. True to many things...

Hatice n Baddin were the happiest to have someone from Malaysia staying over our house for that one week. They have people to play with (bully) that i think the guests r quite in phobia of my kids right now hehehehehe Hatice was busy flaunting her English as well n baddin was just right behind her saying things in English as best as he could. Hatice suprised me really. Indeed, she has a lot to learn when it comes to the english language but she proved that with an enhancement of vocabulary..she will be able to speak decent English. The basic grammer framework of english is already planted in her brain. I am really happy about that. Baddin needs more work but he is interested in the language as well.. I do not forsee much problem for him to learn english in the future.

Anyway, Yup! my kids managed to converse somehow with the guests..and for that duration i think the guests began to love the kids a lot..My daughter..hmm remember how i used to fight with her everyday just to get her to comb the hair? For that one week, she would not leave the room (after she woke up) without combing her hair!!!!! Baru kecik dah pandai nak impress orang heheheheeh

It was all totally turkish cooking all the way. Me cooking Malaysian food?? hahahaha.. jangan buat lawak...mana i reti...but i did cook cucur kodok pisang (mashed banana fritters),cucur kodok ikan bilis (anchovies fritters), roti telur n bihun ala simah n keropok udang (made in thailand) during their stay exclusively for them..These things *chuckles* i can count how many times i cooked them while i am in turkey...7 years n only once or twice..there is no fun eating alone. Halil doesnt like them...

One thing i noticed about Malaysians is the "KeTcHuP"...akak " Cili Sos"..Where ever we go, we cannot live without them!! I remember my sister yana who came here last year. In the flight, she asked for "chilli sauce" from the air hostess and she got a blur look in reply. The guests did the same thing too. For those first timers..Only in Malaysia we call cili sos (Malay) as Chilli sauce ..Everywhere else in this world, the Malaysian chilli sauce is called "KetChUp" ..though "kichap" in Malay will be referred to as "Thick Soy sauce". And the amount of ketchap that we Malaysians consume!! hehehehehe U can imagine right?? 6 people at the eating table ..and 5 were attacking the ketchup to go with everything even omelette!!! Halil was impressed at the speed of the lifetime of the ketchup bottles in our house!! :0)

We, Malaysians eat using our hands. Turks eat using forks n knives. The guests in a turkish home?? They ate using forks n spoons. I am not making fun of everyone pls dont get me wrong. This is a Malaysian specialty i think because i remember before i coming to turkey, if i am to ever eat anything using forks like eating bihun sup or mee kuah, i will also use forks n spoons. It is only after i come to turkey that i learn that u eat everything with forks n knives.

Another interesting culture i notice is the position of the forks n knives on the turkish tables. The westerners i.e in normal restaurants for example, the fork will be placed on the left side while the knife on the right side. The westerners eat using the left hands. Because we are muslims n we use the left hand to clean our private parts after the *big business* in the toıilet, we all eat using the right hands. Therefore, the position of the fork is on the right side.

And soup eating... I think (i am not sure) but i think Malaysians when they are served with soup n bread, we tend to *cicah* (what is cicah in English? i forgot the term)..the bread on the soup.I remember doing it too in Malaysia especially when i was eating my fav chicken or mushroom cream soup at pizza hut. But one story from halil about his experience while living in Saudi Arabia years ago...about how the arabs did what I used to do n it was weird to them coz turks drink the soup...and later they eat the bread..one spoon of soup..one bread..no cicah cicah like us.. that reminded me not to do the same while i am in turkey n that was what i jokingly told the guests as to save them from any embarassement while eating at turkish tables :0)

The food..it was really interesting to see them try the turksih breatfast. I noticed that the guests did not like cheese (even my sister yana when she was here). They all tried the cheese once but i could see that cheese is not their cup of tea. I dont blame them. Malaysians r more into nasi lemak n that sort. Salam .. almost similar to salami..that they like. The other interesting thing was watching them eating the green olive n the black olive during breakfast. They exceeded my expectation by at least taking one black olive during breakfast. The black olive has such a strong salty n weird taste that i never expect malaysians to like. Turkish breakfast is so different from the Malay breakfast that i made it a point to make something somehow malaysian like cucur for breakfast. This also reminded me of a conversation i had with the guests... I mean like in turkey, for breakfast, turkish bread is a must have. The guests commented that if we r living in Malaysia n we serve the guests bread, we will be considered a "tembel" aka lazy hosts!! It is true of course..i do remember when i was young, somebody's mother in law was complaining that her bride was lazy coz she served bread for breakfast. Hey!! she may be following the turkish culture..who knows??? The conclusion is.. DONt SERve BRead for ur GUEsts in Malaysia for breakfast.... but PLEASE PLEASE do serVE Bread in Turkey!!

The drinks -- Let us just say that we had a great laugh when i managed to force 2 of the lady guests to try out the turkish coffee. The look on their faces..how they screwed their faces in great torture..pahittttttttttt..turkish coffee is really really thick!! but the mom of the guests..bravo!! she finished the whole coffee and even admitted to liking it. (i had written an entry about turkish coffee.It is in the first month of the archive) ..n for that i bought them a present of the turkish cezve n a small packet of the turkish coffee..

Tea was the norm in the house of course..for breakfast n any other time of the day. I think they have enjoyed the experience of drinking the tea from the small turkish tea glass n the fact that u can choose whether to drink a dark or light tea and the amount of sugar to add inside the tea coz sugar cubes will be added by the drinker herself or himself .

Ayran is a famous drink in turkey. It is made from the turkish yogurt, water and salt. I made for them to try out that day... NOBODY DARED to try it hahahahahah

There was one point hatice asked me "Anne, bu Malaysialar kokusu mu"?? (Is this the smell of Malaysians?) Can u guess why? She is for the first time being exposed to the smell of minyak gamat n bam halia or pokok serai?... that the guests were using *chuckles* .. it was weird for her smell bud..and that question was asked to me again by halil at another point. heheheh Tu la... orang turki...biasa biasakan la dengan bau orang malaysia!! heheheheh i pon dah lama tak bau benda ni walaupun i ada segala ubat tu..tak pernah pakai pon ..sebab orang turki tak tahan bau dia ..

And anyone... DONT BRing the LAdieS from MalaySia to PaZAR (the weekly market)!! hahahahaha I think somebody shopped at least 200 Turkish lira while somebody was there!! hahahahahahaha

That is among the main highlight of that one week..Why am i using red for the writing? MY SON is right behind me as i type..never leaving me behind for one minute...bugging his mom coz he wants to play the game on the pc ...(tapi i dah lembutkan kaler merah tu sebab sakit mata nak baca nanti)

It is true..it is always nice to have someone from the homeland coming to the house. I was reluctant at the beginning but during all that time, i think i have changed my mind..i was sad in the end..The kids were sad as well..I had tried my best to be a gracious host..exerting myself to the limit beyond my capabilities. We have created a bond among us for that one week..even halil...

To the guests..Kalau ada apa apa kekurangan dalam layanan kami semasa semua berada di sini..kami sekeluarga mintak maaf. Semoga bertemu lagi disuatu hari nanti :0)

Have a nice Weekend everyone!!
I have put up a notice to halil n kids...
Friday anne is on holiday!! hahahaha