Category Archives: Life

Asia, Europe, Life, Travel, Turkey

Handy Guide For Istanbul

1 Comment

After publishing “Handy Guide for Singapore” two weeks ago, I have been asked by many followers to publish an article on my native land, Istanbul.

Thanks to my wife, Dilek Haskan, we managed to bring out our wealth of experience in Istanbul.

Istanbul_panorama_and_skyline

SIGHTSEEING/NEIGHBOURHOODS

Historical peninsula: This neighbourhood should be your first stop in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, The Basilica Cistern and Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts are the must-see sites.

For shopping and the ultimate eye indulgence, sample various spices from around the world in Spice Market and visit Grand Bazaar for a shopping experience unique to Turkey.

  • Grand Bazaar/Historical Peninsula Shopping:

Iznik Art and Iznik Works for Iznik pottery and tiles

Armaggan for jewellery, objects d’art and homeware. They also have a boutique hotel located in a ‘yali’ on Bosphorus.

Dhoku for great carpets – they even sell to my wife’s favourite stores Anthropologie and ABC Home in the US.

Taksim: Historical street with lots of cafes and restaurants. Visit Galata Tower here. You should also visit Serdar-i Ekrem Street for local designer stores.

Besiktas/Ortakoy/Bebek: You can take a boat from Besiktas and have a tour on Bosphorus, enjoy great views of both European and Anatolian side.

While you’re here, stock Turkish delights at Lokum Istanbul.

Nisantasi: Hip district for shopping, in-demand restaurants and cafes

EATING OUT

Traditional restaurants:

  • Mikla in Taksim district for modern Ottoman style cuisine
  • Hamdi in historical peninsula for Turkish meat dishes; you should try pistachio kebab here
  • Hunkar in Nisantasi
  • Pandeli Restaurant in Spice Market is dated back to 1901 and visited by historical figures and American actors such as Audrey Hepburn and Robert De Niro
  • Karakoy Lokantasi for traditional Ottoman cuisine; try Hunkar Begendi here
  • Ciya Sofrasi if you visit Anatolian side

Modern restaurants:

Turkey doesn’t have Michelin star restaurants yet but we definitely have some restaurants that deserves it such as Nicole and Alancha.

  • Nicole in Taksim
  • Alancha in Nisantasi
  • Colonie and Gaspar in Karakoy with a bar and restaurant
  • Munferit in Taksim (closed on Sundays)
  • Changa in Taksim; this is a very well decorated restaurant (Wallpaper Design Award in 2007) with good food
  • Sunset in Ulus; great food and an accompanying great view
  • While you’re here, you can stop by Ulus 29 which is nearby to have drinks over views

Seafood/Fish restaurant:

You should try one of these while you are in Istanbul

  • Rumelihisari Iskele Restaurant: This is my favourite fish restaurant..
  • Kandilli Suna’nin Yeri: Humble fish restaurant in Uskudar on Anatolian side; you can take the boat from Besiktas and go to Uskudar in 5 mins
  • Kiyi: in Tarabya

Night life (these bars/clubs have restaurants too)

  • Reina on Bosphorus; one of the usual suspects. Not always the best crowd but spectacular view
  • Anjelique on Bosphorus; I like this one better than Reina
  • Nuteras in Taksim overseeing old town
  • Su Ada: If  you are in Istanbul in summer. It’s an artificial island in the middle of the sea with bars and restaurants and a pool.
  • 360 Istanbul in Taksim; 360 degree views of the city

SHOPPING

  • Galata neighbourhood in Taksim is the area that has many Turkish designer shops on Serdar-I Ekrem Street

While you’re here, visit Dogan Apartmani – a spectacular building of Italian architecture built in 1800s and Georges Hotel (a design boutique hotel) for drinks over views

Visit Asli Tunca’s luxury interior boutique which is located in the residence that is decorated with a modernized Ottoman style

  • Nisantasi

Beymen is a very popular high end department store

Haremlique for high quality bed and bath products

Yastik by Rifat Ozbek for hand woven pillows with Ikats and Suzani embroideries

Machka and Yargici are ladies’ favourite Turkish stores, you can find both in Nisantasi. You can have lunch in Delicatessen or Beymen Brasserie while you are here.

If you are into Turkish style decoration items, one store to visit is Pasabahce. There is another great store you should visit called Hiref. This store is not in Nisantasi but in a shopping mall called Istinye Park.

Midnight Express is another favourite boutique of my wife carrying a good selection of Turkish and foreign designers.

Fey: A vintage boutique highly coveted by my wife

Modern Museums: Both are on Bosphorus and have great exhibitions all year round.

  • Istanbul Modern
  • Sabanci Museum

WHERE TO STAY

If you want to be close to the old city and museums, you should stay at Sultanahmet and Hotel Amira is the best place to stay here.

They are currently number one on TripAdvisor and they treat their guests like family.

Alternatively, depending on your budget you may like to stay in Kempsinki Ciragan Palace. It used to be an Ottoman Palace and is situated on the Bosphorus.

All the best from Singapore,
Sukru Haskan
Twitter: @sukru_haskan

Life, Personal Development

Are you passionate enough?

1 Comment

The Oxford dictionary defines the word passion as ‘strong and barely controllable emotion’ and passionate as ‘having, showing or caused by strong feelings or beliefs‘ .

What great definitions!

To succeed, be meaningful and happy, you need to be passionate about something.

Untitled-1

If you want to stay an average person, you may not bother at all, but then you will have a dull life.

I strongly believe that we are all living on this planet to change things.

Changing things is easier said than done.

You can be passionate about anything: a football team, your family, friends, food, business, travelling and so on.

But there has to be something in your life that you are really passionate about.

What are you passionate about? 

200309-omag-beck-passion-600x411

Going back to the Oxford dictionary definition of passion, it is a strong and barely controllable emotion.

It is really important that you can control it, but only barely. It should be such a strong feeling.

If it is not controllable, it is not your friend any more.

Making things worse, it is actually your enemy.

There is a very fine line between being passionate and obsessive.

The Oxford dictionary defines obsession as ‘an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind’ and obsessive as ‘of the nature of an obsession’ .

When you are obsessed with something, you cannot control your emotion. In other words, you are not your own boss any more.

That feeling/emotion starts controlling you and can potentially destroy you.

From my experience, educated and self-confident people are more likely to control their emotions.

Emotions help them to succeed and be happy in their lives.

Someone with a high ego very likely means someone with less knowledge and less self-confidence who tries to overcome these problems by increasing their own self-importance.

When you hear ‘I am important’ type of statements from someone, just walk away…

I am personally very passionate about Besiktas (a Turkish football team), reading, travelling, technology and meeting new people.

I am passionate about Besiktas, not because Besiktas is a good sports club, but more importantly because it has a unique type of supporter who is quite sensitive to domestic and global issues. Besiktas is a very good platform for good companionship, to channel your knowledge and, if necessary, help those who need them.

I am passionate about reading; as I read more, I develop my thinking, how I see the world, what has shaped the world and the people. More importantly, each book makes me so curious that I want to jump into any different book.

To give you an example, last year I read The World Order by Henry Kissinger, which made me read Hillary Clinton’s recent book, Hard Choices. After reading Hillary Clinton’s book, I wanted to learn more about the Saudis and it made me read Inside the Kingdom by Robert Lacey.

I am passionate about travelling because the more I travel, the more I understand people with different backgrounds. So far, I have been to only 51 countries and knowing there are many more to go keeps me very motivated. In addition, I know that even if I visit every single country one day, I will need to go to those countries again.

Why? Nothing stands still and I have to be updated!

I am passionate about people because everybody has a unique life story. I am quite privileged to work in the banking profession as it is part of my job to meet new people, understand them and bring unique solutions to each of them.

Am I obsessed with something?

I hope I am not. People who know me should answer this rather than me.

If you cannot find something that you are passionate about in your life, you should start searching for it.

If you can connect your passion with your job, success is inevitable, then! Instead of looking for a living or an extra earning, do not sell your passion for temporary means!

It should wake you up early, always have that in mind and get excited and think positively about the future.

More importantly, it should help you to be meaningful and happy in our limited time on this planet!

All the best from Singapore.

Sukru Haskan
Twitter: @sukru_haskan