Sinanation

Sinanation thanks Musa Yesil for his surprising idea to create a Wanted for Sinan. It also thanks Yasmin Salfati, Gorkem Guler, Selim Aykut, Burak Tutar, Aydin Aras, Luis Raul Cerna, Asli Baysan and Ekin Carmikli for their contribution on this post.

Name: Sinan Bastas

Nickname: Himbil, Sino, Tasbas, Lord, Pasa Cocugu, Sefa Pezevengi, Wannabe Artist, Gosterislerin Adami

Notable Appearance: Trimmed body hair with a light beard hiding a sarcastic smile…  Buffalo style thighs and legs creating his signature walk, best viewed from behind.

Can’t do without: Wine, Cheese, McChicken, Chipotle, Ipod, Flushable Wet Wipes, Drawing islands on gray tshirts, anti-perspirant deodorants, black & white t-shirts, McChicken, oven roasted turkey, steamed rice, parsley, Tomatoes, Honey, Kraft White American Cheese, Saying the Wrong Thing in the Wrong Places, Going thru people’s stuff, McChicken, hair gel, Pretending to be a DJ, Rose Wine, Preppy Clothing, green Ralph Lauren belt, colorful shirts and shorts, McChicken, Doorman size huge umbrellas, rulokat, Rebul Kolonya, Chino pants, Tod’s flats, Izzy Sparkling Clementine Juice, steak, mustard, McChicken & McChicken…

Notable Hobbies: Mixing Songs, Updating Itunes playlists, Cursing, Attending any event where he can show off his Tuxedos, Wakeboarding, Skiing, Posing for tabloids, Painting, Blogging & then commenting on his own blog from Musa’s computer, fantasizing about multi-million dollar cars, yachts and mansions, walking LONG distances, wining & dining, teasing Yasmin, Shopping for his Sister, happy hours,  Art (and seek?), Watching Old Victoria’s Secret Shows

Weakness: Sweating, Cilantro, sports games that involve teams, Foot Odor, Miranda Kerr, bees, Sake, diarrhea, Cleavage, blond girls with innocent looks, brunettes with voluptuous bodies, reds with beautiful voices – basically anything female that moves..

Favorite Quote: Igrenc bi adamsin abi, Inek!, Citira bak!, Simdi bildircin’i aliyosun…, Erzurum’un tamami bizim, Yunus Memesi Roll, Pat!, Zart, Zonk, Ben yasli sevmem bolesini gormedim!, “I am throwing the lyrics”

Last Seen: Istanbul, Alem Magazine, Manhattan & Mashattan Istanbul, Commerce NYC, Sushi Samba 7, Ciragan, Hillside Beach Club, Bodrum, Alem, Minetta Tavern (finally), Vermont, Long Island, Tomoe Sushi, NYC, Le Bilboquet, tasting truffle at Murrays’ Cheese, Alem, Kıyı Balikci, French Laundry Napa, Gary Danko San Francisco, Alem and at JKF Terminal 1 about to leave NYC (offering everything he has to be upgraded to business class)…

I remember the days when I would drive her crazy. Her hair cut short, her tiny sneakers on, her cheeks peach red she would run into the living room her eyes sparkling with the grandeur of the Christmas tree. “Sinan are you decorating the tree!” she would yell her voice trembling with her tiny heart pounding with excitement. She would come back her hands washed and stand next to my feet waiting for an order to hang an ornament on the pine tree. Annoyed by her tiny presence, careless of her excitement I would pick a tiny damaged red ball from a bunch of huge ones and ask her to put it in a place where no one can see. I was an immature brother too selfish to observe his sister’s incredible spirit and blossom.

Even though the age difference, I have always been addicted to her company. She was my cabin crew when I turned my bed into an airplane. She was my gatekeeper when I turned the living room sofa into a cave of wonders. She was my avid shopper when I turned my room into a shop of weird gadgets. She was my forced wingman when I watched horror movies. She was my financier when I ran out of my weekly allowance. She was always there for me (although sometimes unwillingly). She has changed a lot since then, but never ceased to stand beside me for the good and the bad.

It took me a while to catch up after I left for college. 8 years away from home overseas, I kept thinking it was only her voice that changed. First she was smart enough to decorate the tree before I made it home. Then came the high heels. I was shorter. Then the trips to the hairdressers. I was bolder. Then the switch to a healthy diet. I was chubbier. I no longer dived into her room without knocking. She was strong enough to watch the horror movies alone in a dark room (although she might end up sneaking to grandma’s after the movie). I would have never imagined her to grow up so fast. Never imagined to be the one taking advice. Never imagined to be the one so proud of her decisions and determination. I felt privileged to be the cavalier to my tall, sexy and confident sister. We had our ups and downs, but she has always been the princess of our home.

On my most recent trip back, she found his prince to become the queen of her own home. I am heavy with emotions, motivated with pride, happy with her happiness and somber with farewell. Her engagement was the first step. Her wedding will be the next to a new life she is set to build up with her husband. Her address might change, but she will always be a call away from me to bug her anytime, anywhere. This time I promise to be a little more mature and call during reasonable hours.

Congrats to my princess, Ayse and her prince I welcome as a brother, Serkan.

Name: Cemi Almazlinos

Nickname: Cemceminay, Cemile

Notable Appearance: Beardless face with a sloppy smile

Can’t do without:Pigging out, pranks, smiling, jeans, crew neck shirts, hoodies, Converse shoes, couscous with mushroom at House Café Istanbul, junk food, Fenerbahce, pickled food

Notable Hobbies:Eating, PlayStation, eating from someone else’s plate, skiing

Weakness: Big balloons, rice, hair loss

Last Seen:Level Istanbul, Lucca Bar Istanbul, House Café Ortakoy Istanbul, Washington D.C., Burdur, Antalya

Name: Leslie Abuaf

Nickname: Abu

Notable Appearance: Petite figure, huge smile.

Can’t do without: Blackberries, Zara, pickles, capers, champagne, aviator sunglasses, small purses, tank-tops, tight jeans, the NY Mag, Cesme, Turkey, Blackberry Curve, hair-grips, flats

Notable Hobbies: Dancing, cooking on Fridays, jumping around, water fights, skiing, having pasta to cure hangover, motivating people around her with a great attitude

Weakness: Allergic to blackberries, yet can’t stop eating them; dresses, trash bins, shrimps

Favorite Quote: “Ya bu sarki neeee? Degistirsene bunuuu…”

Last Seen: Cesme, Turkey, Southside NYC, Sushi Samba 7 NYC, Central Park, Poconos Ski Resort, www.sinanbastas.com, Geneva

Name: Cem Ciprut

Nickname: Cipo

Notable Appearance: Shaved beard, short hair, green eyes. Unique and very enthusiastic laughter.

Can’t do without: V-neck sweaters on top of dress shirts, jeans, bright black leather shoes, Panerai Watches, Osmancan Ongun, knee-length black coats, Saturday Brunch by Sinan

Notable Hobbies: Clubbing, traveling, solving mathematical equations

Weakness: Banana milkshake, alcohol shots

Last Seen: Eclipse Bar London, Bijoux London, Anjelique Istanbul, Le Cave St. Stropez, Pisarou Beach Mykonos, Turkbuku Bodrum, Eftelya Istanbul, Lucca Bar Istanbul

Frank Sinatra once said “I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps” and pointed towards New York. Since then New York’s lights have never faded. 24 hours a day and 7 days a week there was one city that had something to do, someone to be with and some place to have fun. Sinatra might have gone a little too far.

There have been days when I thought the whole city was asleep. I would be comfortably positioned behind the TV, desperate yet unsuccessful to find a “partner-in-crime” or an event to take on the city. This was especially the case on Monday nights. Known as the nightmare of the workers, the first work day after an extremely peaceful and lazy Sunday had to have some kind of a plan to look forward to. Sinatra definitely forgot to mention that even in “the city that never sleeps” such plans are very hard to find.

This is where my friends Daniel and Derek Koch come in.

These two unbelievably driven event managers/promoters have been on the backstage of some of the best events I have been to in this city. I met them as waiters and watched them grow into managers of their own entertainment company, Day & Night. From happy hours, dinners to benefits, they have been working hard to make sure Sinatra’s lyrics rely on hard evidence. They decorated the dreams of women who brunched at Le Bilboquet on Saturdays. They amazed the gourmets with a delicious menu at their Jour et Nuit restaurant. They made sunglasses a fashion at Merkato 55 & Bijoux to hide from the sparkles fired up on Rose and Champagne bottles.

I fell in love with their model bouncers. I climbed on tables to dance to their DJs. We celebrated birthdays and we cried to farewells at their events. I have been there because they have never ceased to value personal attention.

They are still on fire Saturdays with their brunch at Revel in meatpacking, but I have been bugging both for a while to put together an event that can ease the pain of Mondays. The happy news came unexpectedly. They prepare to take on La Zarza (166 First Ave. between 10th and 11th st.) with two DJs from Madrid, Spain and a crowd that is ready to let it loose.

Hope to see you there. Party starts March 1st.

Name: Janos Papai

Nickname: Papa, Papai

Notable Appearance: Thick, gelled hair with a goatee. Heavy Hungarian accent

Can’t do without: Light blue jeans, plaid lumberjack shirts, glasses to protect the eyes from the rays of computer screens, heavy breakfasts, scarfs

Notable Hobbies: Travelling, going to bars, test driving cars, fixing and building stuff, quick workouts

Weakness: Sadwiches, India, Indian food

Favorite Quote: “Bastas!”

Last Seen: London, New York, Mumbai, Budapest, Latin America

Name: Andrea Favale

Nickname: Fava, the Italian Stallion

Notable Appearance: On the brink of being built up. Failure to do so would make him chubby. Loaded with Italian Merino body hair.

Can’t do without: Black cotton t-shirts, black shirts, jeans, Argentinian Malbec red wine, Red wine from Puglia, Las Vegas, California, entrepreneurship, Porsche Carrera, fiery Latin women, big breasts, curvy buttocks, Brazil, the Internet, Patrick Bateman’s vision of life, steakhouses, coffee in the morning, the afternoon and the evening, mineral water, tomatoes, funk & soul music, Rustico, Ford Con-Fusion

Notable Hobbies: Investing in real estate, starting companies, reading about the progress in the media and technology, traveling, contemplating, diversifying, watching action movies, blogging, taking a shower each time before leaving the apartment, speeding, afternoon Siestas

Weakness: Peas, Vintage Italian Songs, Sunscreen

Favorite Quote: “What’s up SinanBa?”, Gringo

Last Seen: London, Istanbul, Lecce, New York, Cambridge, Trancoso/Brazil, www.artandseek.com, TheWaterRat, Old Homestead Steakhouse NYC, CityandOut

Sinanation thanks Fuat Pamukcu, Yusuf Ruso and Selim Aykut for their contribution to this post.

Name: Osman Can Ongun

Nickname: Oshmo, Osho

Notable Appearance: Tall, muscular built. Short hair with long sideburns featuring organic hair gel.

Can’t do without: Eating like there is no tomorrow, rowing, safe boxes, jogging, plaid shirts, blazers, knitted sweaters over the shoulders, networking, wrestling

Notable Hobbies: Introducing himself with a faux British accent, wearing a female-fedora, naming his chest muscles “Edi” and “Budu” and flexing them one at a time, enjoying life in frat parties, becoming a member of exclusive gentleman’s clubs

Weakness: Business cards

Last seen: Burdur, 58. Piyade Alay Komutanligi, in camouflage, enjoying is faux-military career for 21 days, Anjelique Istanbul, London

Name: Ayse Bastas

Nickname: Citir, Kendra

Notable Appearance: Nicely done hair and nails, dark eyelashes and a small beauty mark on the top of her upper lip

Can’t do without: Hairdressers, numerous perfumes, vampire movies, Digiturk, the Girls Next Door, the E! Channel, Domino’s Pizza, huge handbags, Norah Jones, FG Music Radio, iPhone, large sunglasses, horror movies, Twilight, fresh juices, puppies, makeup, UGGs, funny home slippers, DVDs, high heels, Miu Mui, large earrings, popcorn, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, BCBG

Notable Hobbies: Chatting on the Internet, spending time in bed, nibbling food from the refrigerator, being extremely indecisive on what to wear when getting ready to go out, watching movies, misplacing the DVDs and their covers, cooking, changing her hair color

Notable Weakness: Ghosts, bugs, chocolate, junk food, phone calls and recovering from jet lag

Favorite Quote: Tiyzeee naber?

Last Seen: Istinye Park, Kanyon, Anjelique Istanbul, New York, Bodrum