Sinanation

I do not have anything against Mexican food. Actually I love the tacos, burritos, guacamole and quesadillas, but please keep me away from cilantro. I don’t get it. How could a green plant taste like white soap? There is no way around it. It just kills my appetite. It is a shame. I am a big fan of its cousin, parsley.

If you have time, read this great article from the New York Times (thanks to my friend Nichol who forwarded it) that focuses on the cilantro haters and the reason behind it: Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault

I saw the most recent Harry Portter movie this weekend, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince. After the movie I tried to find my own  reason to why Harry Potter is so special to me and the other fans.

I can almost say that the reason is not the character, Harry Potter. In my opinion he is made more than what he appears to be by the people around him. Granted that I feel sorry for the kid for losing his parents in a tragedy, he is too confused and most of the time awkward in any social setting. He has too much to carry as a teenager and usually it makes me uncomfortable to watch him cope with the realities of his life. That is why I believe not Harry Potter alone, but Harry Potter together with all the muggles, owls, wands and the attendees of Hogwarts is what draws me into Rowling’s world of magic.

The idea of having a world outside of our “own” is not a new concept to us. It was apparent in Alice in the Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and the Matrix. Most of us (like me) love the idea of having an escape pod to a completely different world where the indefinite problems and conflicts we face here  are no longer valid. Grocery shopping is no longer an activity at Hogwarts and it is just a wand hit away. Walking no longer makes sense as one can fly anywhere with the magic brooms. Broken noses can be fixed right away and the train ride is just to majestic to ever let go.

Once the movie starts we are all hypnotized with the famous Potter theme song, flying above the muggle world to Hogwarts where we focus on the ideals of a magical world and forget about everything else. We desperately wish to be behind the white screen, running around the ancient castle-like buildings with our own wands.

I guess we are all a bit disappointed. Until now we have all been stuck with a soda and popcorn instead.

Name: Burak Tutar

Nickname: Tutariye, Tutti

Notable Appearance: Curly hair gelled back on top of deep well-rounded dimples

Can’t do without: Hair gel, goggles, helmet, black leather belt, penny loafers for work, Tod’s shoes, portable external hard drive, doner sandwich from Yatagan NYC, Macallan Scotch Whiskey, song: “Orgasmus” by Claude Challe, decaf espresso, Burger King, John Varvatos

Notable Hobbies: Snoring, trading, interpreting everything in finance terms, obeying extreme safety cautions, placing his blackberry face-down on tables, cost-cutting, jogging, weight lifting

Notable Weakness: Champagne, Red-haired Women, Homeless people

Favorite Quote: “You can negotiate anything”

Last Seen: Bianca NYC, Yatagan NYC, Rivington 205 NYC, Beyti Istanbul, Anjelique Istanbul, Reina Istanbul

Name: Yasmin Salfati

Nickname: Patbin or Bin

Notable Appearance: Dark, curly hair usually straightened

Can’t do without: Vintage Ray-Bans, Chloe handbags, cigarettes, cozy and comfortable clothing, vests, blazers, flats, custom jewelery earrings, furniture from West Elm, Starbucks non-fat latte, Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTI Camera with 10.1 MP, feta cheese, black olive spread, Woody Allen Movies, Black Label on the rocks

Notable Hobbies: Slumbering, smoking, watching international drama, photography, deep groovy house music, customizing birthday gifts

Notable Weakness: Indecisiveness, garlic

Favorite Quote: “I wait you on five floor”, “Gozlugumu takip sungur sungur agladim”, “Cool’lugumdan damla taviz vermedim! I liked me”

Last Seen: Anjelique in Istanbul, Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, antique shops in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn, Gemma NYC, Barney’s Uptown NYC, Apple SoHo NYC, Angelika Film Center NYC

The Wanted Series is meant to celebrate and bring forth the friends that have an impact in my life. Each entry with the title “Wanted” will be dedicated to one person and will contain well-known traits from his/her life. Please bear in mind that the order in this series does not have any meaning and since it is public I will keep humor at a maximum while preserving full privacy. I hope all the readers will enjoy them including the friends who will become the characters of Wanted.

We have taken the traditional Long Island wine tasting trip again this summer. The first and only wine tasting stop this time was the Roanoke Vineyard in Riverhead, NY. This place produces my favorite local Merlot, the vintage “The Grapes of Roth” and desert wine. From outside Roanoke is the least glittery with not many cars in the parking lot, but it is surely my favorite among all the others. Compared to other vineyards such as Pindar, the smaller tasting room is just big enough to accommodate 8 to 10 tasters at a time. Outside you will find the most comfortable lounge chairs on the grass to enjoy a glass of wine and a platter of cheese. You can also walk around the grape gardens.

Roanoke Vineyards (www.roanokevineyards.com)

3543 Sound Ave. Riverhead, NY 11901

I admit it. I am addicted to cartoons. Some friends get really annoyed by the fact that I can watch a cartoon over and over again without ever getting bored. I believe that they are therapeutic. Maybe the kid in me never died or it is just to suppressed that it wants to come out however possible.

I believe the cartoons take the viewer to a new world which has no relation with the one we are living in. Talking furniture, genius animals and exaggerated characters all come together to freeze your thoughts for the duration of the movie. Tom & Jerry never get tired of running. The coyote keeps contemplating only on how to catch the road runner. The target is simple and the road to it is hilarious.

I certainly have a few favorites: Disney’s Aladdin, Emperor’s New Groove and Ice Age. So give it up for the Genie, Iago, Yzma, ChaCha, Sid, Manny and Diego!

I just read about SoundCloud (www.soundcloud.com) by chance in an announcement by WordPress. So far I am really impressed with what I have seen. From my understanding it is basically a music hub where anyone can post his/her mix of music and the listeners have the option to browse numerous categories and bloggers can share the stuff they like on their own pages by just copying the link of a specific set. I guess Pandora now has a real competitor.

Here is an example from one of my favorite mixes, enjoy:

I should have written this post a long time ago. Maybe I just avoided it because these little round desert cushions are so hard to find. Macarons, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle are the biggest inventions of the  Paris-based bakery Laduree. Working in the family business it was the founder’s cousin Pierre Desfontaines who have thought of creating the first macaron with a ganache filling in the middle. According to Laduree once prepared the macarons are put aside for two days to be hardened and served to its customers. I have first tried this unavoidable desert in the famous Champs-Elysees store randomly in the summer of 2004. The light green color of the bakery glittered with yellow gold looked really inviting. Once we were inside it was bakery heaven with tens of different kinds of deserts displayed over a long cold marble with hundreds of different flavored macarons decorating one corner. I can’t remember how many times we have devoured numerous macarons on the chairs outside the bakery. I believe I tried every flavor to be able to say that the vanilla macaron is certainly the best.

Besides my obsession with Turkish feta cheese and green olives, I have one more rather unexpected obsession from my home country. Cizmeci Gida’s (www.cizmecigida.com) waffle cookies made with nuts and cocoa have a taste I haven’t been able to match anywhere around the world so far. The company, founded in 1993 currently houses close to 35 products mainly focusing on waffle cookies and coated biscuits. So whenever I am back in Istanbul I try to get a few of the 400g boxes and preserve them in the refrigerator. The cold makes these cookies even better with milk. Be careful though these cookies are certainly in the “once you pop you can’t stop” category.