Summer is the time in Istanbul where all the locals get out of the city and all the tourist fill the vacant spots. July can be considered as the middle of summer here in Istanbul. Children are all on school breaks and their parents either send them to summer class, bring them to another city to visit relatives, or just spend time with them visiting the nearby beaches or public pools.

It’s been hot hot hot this summer here in Istanbul.  For me though, growing up in Asia, this kind of weather is just perfect.  I can go out, wear my flip flops, and just dress down. I can also go to the pool, get lazy and relax. Typical days for me and baby A are a short walk in the park, a substantial nap in the afternoon, and going to the nearby playground.

SInce I still do not have my own internet connection, my time on the world wide web is very much limited. It’s been a long time since I spent more than 15 minutes on the internet nowadays. There are even days when I do not get to go online at all. It is quite liberating at some point. I just get to enjoy quality time with family.

 Oh well, I guess I am really not back on the blogosphere after all. I will be spending more of my time enjoying the warm summer here in Istanbul with the family while I wait for my own internet connection.

Whew!

FInally, I am back in the blogosphere.

I suddenly was forced into hibernation by certain events. Three weeks ago, as I was doing my usual internet stuff, our pc decided to die on us. The power just wouldn’t come on. I tried several times to turn it on. For the frist few tries, the power came but it halted after a minute. I tried my best ( read: praying to God, crossing my fingers as I wait for the power to turn on) but I failed to make it work. It felt like I was trying to revive someone from heart failure. I thought to sleep it off and try again the next day. Of course, the day after, the pc wouldn’t even have any light at all.

In the middle of it all, we were moving flats and the in-laws were in town, plus add the fact that it was the Euro games and husband was distracted with watching the games. To make the story short,  the weeks after the pc conked out was B-U-S-Y.

We moved flats. We finally have more space! (yay!).The first few days were spent sorting out and unpacking aall our stuff. I was in shock to find all the junk I have accumulated in the last three years I’ve been living here in Istanbul. I decided to throw most of them and still, I had tons to pack.

The pc was sorted out by husband’s dad. It turns out, the power supply finally raised the white flag and we needed to replace it. It was good to have the pc working again but we didn’t have internet connection in our new flat! Actually, until now we have no internet connection, I have been a bandwidth bandit and using somone else’s broadband connection through my brand new laptop!

I celebrated my birthday last Tuesday and I had a wondeful time. Hubby made sure I was not going to forget my 30th birthday. He aranged a surprise party for me twice. Both at out friends’ house. First we had it on a Sunday, two days before the actual day and the big one on the day itself. I was really grateful to see our friends here in Istanbul coming to the party and celebrating the big day with me.  A couple of months back, I was dreading my birthday. I didn’t want to face the fact that I was turning thirty. I wanted to stay in my 20’s. But now, I don’t feel any difference. It’s just a number to me. I still feel I am in my 20’s.

To all my friends and family, thank you for all the birthday greet!  I am truly blessed to have you in my life!Now, I have to go. My limited connection is conking out on me as well. Hopefully, I will have my own internet connection next week.

a la prochaine…