Soba

Wednesday night we decided to eat out. My classmate Arina had recommended a soba restaurant, which she said was superb, so I really wanted to try it. Soba is noodles made of buckwheat. I think they are my favourite among all types of oriental noodles.


Carsamba aksami disarda yiyelim dedik. Sinif arkadasim Arina bana bir soba lokantasi onermisti, hakikaten sahane demisti, ben de o yuzden mutlaka denemek istiyordum. Soba, karabugdaydan yapilan bir cesit eriste. Benim de sark eristeleri arasinda en sevdigim cesit bu.


The restaurant had a very homely feel with the wooden interior. Just at the entrance I could watch soba being made, absolutely by hand (kneading, cutting). We had to wait about 15 minutes before we could take a seat, although we saw there were many seats available once we went upstairs from the lobby. I think they had temporarily run out of noodles :-)


Her taraf ahsap oldugundan ev havasinda bir lokantaydi burasi. Giriste soba yapimini izledim; hersey tamamen el yapimiydi (yogurmasi, kesmesi). Yukari cikip da oturana kadar lobide 15 dakika beklememiz gerekti. Halbuki ust kata ciktigimizda pek cok bos yer oldugunu gorduk. Galiba o sirada taze ersite bitmisti.


I ordered hot soba with season veggies. Caline ordered with fried shrimps (Ebi Tempura). Then we both ordered  what we thought was a cup of sake. Then the guy came with a huge bottle and filled up the square dishes, what I'd though was for stock. He actually overfilled it until the dish under the glass dish was also full. You had to drink the first sips without lifting the dish. Whichever you look at it, it was at least 4-5 shots all in all.


Ben mevsim sebzeli, sicak eriste ismarladim. Caline de karides kizartmali (Ebi Tempura). Sonra birer sake ismarladik. Biz normal likor bardaginda bekliyoruz ama, arkadas elinde kocaman bir sise ile gelip, benim et suyu koyulacak sandigim koca kare tabaga basladi doldurmaya. Tasti, yine durmadi, altindaki kabi da doldurdu. Ilk yudumlari tabagi kaldirmadan hupletmek gerekti. Nerden baksan 4-5 tek sake etti doldurdugu.


Soba was indeed very well made. I intend to go back probably once more before I leave and try something else.


Soba hakikaten cok iyi hazirlanmisti. Donmeden once, bu sefer baska bir sey denemek icin yine gitmek niyetindeyim.

Kinkaku-ji

After the unsightly divergence we go to the number 1 sight in Japan (according to guides); Kinkaku-ji, The Golden Pavillion.

It was striking, conspicius and quite ostentatious. You can't enter it, but gardens were pleasant enough.

This gold post serves as my celebration of the Golden Week that is starting today (although I'll still have school on Friday)

Nahos sapmadan sonra gelelim Japonya'nin 1 numarali gorulecek hos yerine (rehberlere gore): Kinkaku-ji: Altin Tapinak.

Gozaliciydi, barizdi ve hatta rukustu. Iceri girilemiyor ama bahceleri yeterince guzeldi.

Bu altin post da benim bugun baslayan Altin Hafta kutlamalarimin baslangici olsun. Gerci benim yine de Cuma okulum var ama...

Not Quite So Perfect / Oyle Kusursuz Degil

Last Saturday, when I recovered a little in the morning I wanted to get out as soon as possible. The  weather was nice, too. We went to a temple to see some mask dance. Unfortunately photography was prohibited, so no pics from there. The setting was fabolous, the masks were interesting. The clothes they had on was sooo beautiful.

Gecen Cumartesi biraz iyilesince hemen kendimi disari atmak istedim. Hava da guzeldi. Bir tapinaga gidip maskeli dans izledik. Ama fotograf cekmek yasakti, maalesef paylasacak bir sey yok. Mekan harikaydi, maskeler ilgincti, giysileri de oyle guzeldi ki.

On my way to the temple I thought of making some pictures of the streets, where everything is not so neat and tidy. These are representative shots, meaning you will see them anywhere, everyday. It's not always clean temples and kimonos in Kyoto.

Tapinak yolunda sokaklarda oyle cok da duzenli, temiz olmayan seylerin fotograflarini cekeyim dedim. Bunlar burayi temsil eden fotograflar, yani her gun, her yerde goreceginiz manzaralar. Her sey temiz tapinaklar ve kimonolardan ibaret degil Kyoto'da.

No architectural unity or pleasure; cables dangling everywhere; electricity poles always bang on the road, where there are no pavements; garbage on the roadside in front of every building (stays there all day). They live in prison-like buildings, in cell-like rooms. I didn't want to focus on this, because I got tired of this mindset after 10 shots.

Mimari butunluk veya zevk yok; kablolar her yerden sarkiyor; elektrik direkleri yol uzerinde, ustelik kaldirim da yok; copler adim basi, her binanin onunde, yol kenarina birakiliyor (butun gun de orda duruyor). Hapishane gibi binalarda, hucre gibi odalarda yasiyorlar. Bunlarin uzerine yogunlasmak hic istemedim, cunku 10 kareden sonra yordu beni.

There is stuff I can't make pics of...like how they push you around in transport, how the cars have a self-claimed priority at crossings, etc. 

Fotografi cekilemeyecek seyler de var...mesela tasima araclarinda nasil itip kaktiklari, araclarin isiklarda, gecitlerde kendi tayin ettikleri oncelikleri olmasi, vs.