365 #22 Of snow, jobs and fine dining in Istanbul

I have a confession to make. I am a snow-bringer.

When we were in Luxembourg for our first winter the year before, the country (and Europe as a whole) experienced the craziest and heaviest snowfall that has never been seen for more than 30 years.

This year, in Istanbul, our turkish friends are shocked at how bad the snow has been. I mean, I have literally been cooped up in the house for almost four days now. Six, if you don't count 'going out' as just running out to get some water and milk and bread. The 'being cooped up' doesn't reflect the state of the city being at a standstill, of course. Though I wouldn't know for sure. Just my general laziness and unwillingness to get all dressed up and made up only to have blasts of snow blowing in my face. This state of being stuck has seen a lot of activity in my (e)mailbox, and I have officially exhausted my list of contacts (and random email addresses found off the internet) to send my resume to. The good news? To stop myself from clicking the 'refresh' button on my mailbox every 2 seconds 5 minutes, I may force myself to brave the snow and make some snowballs to throw at random passersby in hopes to ease my frustration tomorrow. Which may lead to an exciting blog entry about being thrown in a Turkish jail. Who knows?

A note of caution to every person who has ideas of giving up their career for a year or two and going back again after: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

Anyway. I'm gonna make good on my promise to dear M of Chocolate, Cookies and Candies, to write a bit more about life in Istanbul. She is, by the way, an extremely kind and wonderful soul, who, from all the way in the UK (and despite never having met her before), sent me a care package when I had just moved to Istanbul. She knew how much I missed Malaysian food, and how there are no Asian supermarkets in Istanbul and got me a bunch of curries and tomyam goodies so I could satisfy my very very very intense cravings. Thanks to her, my first few meals at our new house were all things Malaysian, and I ate with such a happy smile on my face. Thank you again, M. You have no idea how happy you made me. :))

In that vein (erm, food, that is), let's talk about food in Istanbul. Today, we'll talk about fine dining.

In general, Istanbul (expensive) dining (notice I don't say 'fine') is more of a social thing. You go to see and be seen, you go for the view, and you go just to say, in everyday conversations with so and so, that you've been. I go every now and then, because I have a social life to keep up with here, and because I like the atmosphere. I call it 'fun dining'. For the tourist with very refined tastes, you will probably need to redial your gastronomical expectations when dining in a few spots that I will not mention here. But! It's not all that bad. I have my favorite, which serves the amazingly beautiful and awesomely tasty food on the pictures I have shown here, but you can email me if you want to know which restaurant it is. I do not want to be accused of being biased. :p.

That aside, and taking a point of 'the views' that I just mentioned in the previous paragraph, I must say that what many high-end restaurants here lack in delicate and fine taste, they more than make up for in lush, plush, creative, delightful restaurant design and in their views. These restaurants have the absolute best views in the entire city that no hole in the wall place can lay claim to. I've been to at least 6, and they're all situated at the rooftops of buildings or at the edges of cliffs, where you can see different and breathtaking perspectives of the city. And those views are money-views. With the sun setting slowly, watching houses being lit up one by one, a gorgeous city with no end, old and new, against the azure blue of the Marmara sea. Sitting at one of those restaurants can literally make you feel like the luckiest person in the world at that point in time. So, if you do happen to be here in summer and get a chance to get a place on the terraces of Istanbul's 'best restaurants', do it. And for one night, dress up, and dine in Istanbul in style.

Hope you enjoyed this, and tomorrow, we will continue with local eats.