I’ve been busy being very lazy and uninspired for the last two weeks. For some reason I’m having blank moments where all I want to do is veg out infront of my computer and watch movies. (in all legality)
This sunday is my managers wedding and I can’t wait, I’m sure it’s going to be lots of fun. The bride to be is a lovely young lady who I love to bits, one of the sweetest and nicest person I know. My managers assistant sent out an email asking if we wanted to contribute to getting them a wedding present, which in Turkey, always consists of gold. I’m against offering gold when the couple doesn’t really need it, I find it impersonal and vulgar so I decided to get my own present, and ultimately, get my team to contribute to it.
After much thought, considering necklaces, bracelets, homeware, silver tray (which is also a tradition, but only as a house warming gift), I had the idea of getting her a pearl necklace. I thought that it was the perfect present for her, it would suit her so well. After consulting everyone in my team, we decided to go for the pearls so I set a date with a friend for when we’d go to the Grand Bazaar near Eminonu, in the historical side of the city, and get the wedding pearls.
In Istanbul, when you want to get to the historical side of the city, especially Eminonu, from Arnavutkoy, you’d have to simply catch a bus that would pass by my house and travel for half an hour before you got there. The smart people who make the decisions regarding the transport in Istanbul decided that there would not be a bus that goes to Eminonu anymore. To get there, you need to grab a bus till Kabatas which is half way through and then jump onto a metro. God was that hell. The bus stop was not next to the tram stop so we had to walk there under the torrid heat and just when we got there, the tram left without us, leaving us standing there like turds. The problem with this system isn’t getting to Eminonu, it’s coming back. See, I have to grab the tram back from Eminonu to Kabatas to be able to get on a bus that will take me along the shore of the Bosphorus back home which means that I’m obviously not the only one trying to catch the bus. 200 people got off that tram and threw themselves into the buses, which caused a huge jam and I had to wait 45 mns to get on a bus which would take me home.
Their new system is terrible.
We got the pearls for 200YTL and they’re lovely, we also got a nice velvet box to offer it in and a card that everyone who contributed could sign. We got the pearls off the wholesaler that sells pearls to all of the Grand Bazaar which is why it wasn’t all that expensive. I’ll certainly return to get some for myself.
I still have nothing to wear for the wedding..