Have You Really Lived??

Found this off another blog and thought it'll be fun to share. THINGS I HAVE DONE is in BOLD and PINK...

200 THINGS OF HAVES AND HAVE NOTS.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe (don't ever see that happening! ;p)
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise (I threatened to quit in the process of achieving it, does it matter?)
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight (lied I'm heavier in oppose to other women)
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Commented on a friend's blog today.


Well.. what about you?

No Grey Eyed Me! ;o(

I got back a while ago (just done with fixing myself some grilled salmon and steamed rice in the kitchen... now anxiously waiting for them to be done! yum!) and needless to say, it's a disappointment alright. I couldn't get my colored lenses, they don't have it in my degrees and the ones that are available is from a brand which's lenses don't fit my iris. I think my iris' too small and the colored lenses size is usually bigger than the average transparent lenses. Oh well. Maybe this's God's way of telling me, "Be grateful of yourself bitch. I don't create you only for you to change my work of art." I know God, I know.

I'm gonna continue with my S.K novel now while digging in some choc biscuits with cream. It's strange - every since I got here, I've been indulging myself to junk food which is SO NOT ME. I usually don't eat junk food nor drink soft drinks and I hate chocolates and ice-creams!!!! What have I become?!!! Anyways, not gonna be so melodramatic here, gonna hit the book and then off to do my lesson plans for tomorrow and the weekends.

Really waiting for my gorgeous salmon to be ready... I could smell the beautiful aroma, so inviting... could just picture and taste the fish melting in my mouth... so fresh, juicy and heavenly... tasting of all the natural ingredients I stuffed along with it. lol... Till then, enjoy your evening!! xoxo

Off to Get Myself Pair of Grey Eyes

It's been a lazy lazy Thursday for me today. Weather's been really cold at 5 degrees. I found myself curled on a couch reading my Sophie Kinsella novel. Strange when I've only maybe 2-3 chapters to go before I finish my Paulo Coelho's Winner Stands Alone novel. It's a good read yes but it gets quite draggy sometimes but given the fact I haven't really ditch my short attention span nature, it proves to be quite a feat to finishing it. I decided to read something light hearted instead thus my Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess. Her books are getting to be quite predictable in her signature style plot and writing though... but hey, it's light, entertaining and serves its purpose.

Yes as the title of my post reveals, I'm off to get myself a pair of grey eyes. No, I'm not about to poke my eyes with a silver fork, I reckon it's more convenient to just drop by an optical shop for it.

I'm kinda bored of my look now hence I'm looking for a new look. Grey eyes and jet black hair. I dunno how appealing that sounds but I'm kinda a hasty person and if I set myself on something, I'll probably execute it with such urgency. Problem being, as according to my enquiries to couple of optical shops here, they don't really carry colored lenses in high degrees. Mine is 6.5 or as in Singapore, we refer it to as 650 degrees per eye. The colored lenses here usually stops at around 5.0 or 500. I have problems with colored lenses honestly as their cutting or curves aren't really fitting for my iris thus sometimes my lenses starts roaming around my eyes and especially if they are colored, they are bound to freak some people out.

I dunno, I'll get ready soon and try my luck again at Baghdad Streets. I doubt I'll manage to get a compatible pair which if that's the case, I'd have to scrape off my jet black hair plan and stick to browns. Black eyes, jet black hair and flawed skin doesn't do it for me I think. A gf of mine once told me I'll look 'depressed' in jet black hair.

I'm still trying to figure out how exactly can a hair color makes a person look 'depressed'. I suppose I'll look like I'll jump off a building any moment..I dunno. Anyways, will write more later I hope. Hope you guys're having a good day!

Spring's Coming, Goodbye Winter!

Spring's coming in less than 10 days time and I'm freaking THRILLED! After months of shivering to my spine, it's about time I shed off those multiple layers of under clothes, my highly unflattering long johns and my heavy trench coat. I CAN'T WAIT.

However, I'll always remember the joy I felt experiencing my FIRST snow here. Though it was only for a couple of days, it was memorable enough to cast a smile on my face every time I think about it. Here are a couple of shots I took in January this year...


This is the entrance of my apartment building... made me squeal in delight having seen my first snowman greeting me.


Few meters away, another snowman was in sight. This time kinda mutilated.


Was so excited I couldn't even keep my eyes open! lol


This pretty pretty shot was taken from my bedroom balcony. Soooo pretty aint it?? Like a sweet little white town. :)

Before I finish off this post, a dear Turkish friend of mine saw my previous post on communal spoons and told me there is a good number of households in Turkey that practice them. Thank dear God. :) Thank you (you know who you are) for that enlightening info and correction. :) Till then, enjoy!

P/S- Bad things do happen for a reason I guess. Remember my past post about me getting fired cos I was too sick (and was hospitalised) to report to work on my first day? I was upset in beginning but now I realise maybe it's God's way of telling me to chill and relax dudeeee! lol... I was working lotsa hours just for the money, getting myself sick, stressed and down. Since losing that job in M.E College, I've had more time to myself to appreciate life and people around me and I'm still working in 2 other schools so I think it's a great balance for work and leisure time. Thank you God, I promise to take better care of myself and love myself more!! xoxo

Those Strange Table Habits!

One peculiar habit of the Turks that I find almost disturbing when it comes to the dining table is the lack of COMMUNAL SPOONS. I have no idea if this practice is a common sight in other countries but generally for the Asian culture, we do use communal spoons on the dining table mainly for hygiene reason.



I don't really get invitations to have dinners with Turkish families here, honestly I don't have loads of Turkish friends. I remembered my first time dining with with a Turkish family, everyone was digging their spoons in the same tub of youghurt and I watched in horror as the food residue from their spoons lingered around in the tub of youghurt. Though I had planned to have some youghurt with my pilav (rice) and meat, I decided against it eventually. I didn't have any salad either - the very salad whom everyone else dig into with gusto.

When I dined with E's family, it was de ja vu all over again as everyone started making their marks with their spoons and forks. I just don't understand why the idea of using communal spoons had never dawned to them. Don't get me wrong, I love his family, they are such good, kind people but no matter how good the food is, I just can't eat with ease.



Few days ago, I had dinner at E's family's again. His dad reached out for a couple of olives from a communal bowl using his bare hands. E's mom slapped his hand and scolded her husband in Turkish. I thought that was hilarious and I laughed at him. They don't speak English thus we have the funniest yet strangest way of communicating. Laughing at one another is one of them.

Later on, I noticed a weird thing happening like his mom running to the kitchen at the last minute before we started to bite in, and coming back with COMMUNAL SPOONS which she placed at each of the side dishes laid on the table. I smiled in approval though minutes later I started wondering why the change. E. Who else could it be?

I called E this morning and asked if he has anything to do with it and he said yea, I simply told my mom you don't like people shoving their cutleries in the shared dishes. I was like, "WHAT?! How could you tell her that?? She's probably think I'm such a freaking fussy princess!" He didn't think it was a big deal and I promised myself not to tell him anything anymore!

Another funny table habit is, Turks tend to place their bread or pastries on the dining table. Yea, you might think what's so strange? I meant placing their bread directly on the naked table, no plates or napkins whatsoever. So you'll see their bowl of salad, bowl of soup and their main dish and bread/pastries smacked right on the table. Ok maybe I'm being too anal about this but you know, my take is, the naked table isn't exactly CLEAN. Sometimes we rest our arms on the table, sometimes we spill stuff on the table only to wipe it with a 2 day old table cloth. Putting your bread on it can only makes it easier for your food to absorb all the germs and bacteria on the table! The very same bread you tear out into small pieces and have it with your soup!



Turks are also amusingly anal about...FISH. I find it truly amusing in a way. They are highly sensitive to fish's smell and some of my students told me they don't eat fish just cos they can't stand the smell! Weird huh? I personally have no problems with fish or their smell or whatsoever, in fact, I LOVE MY FISH! I don't mind going to the wet market with the strong smell of freshly caught fish - in fact, it's kinda therapeutic! lol... Whenever E's mom cooks fish for dinner, she'll make sure she wash and scrub the plates several times just to get rid of the smell... I mean, really? What smell? It just totally baffles me.



My Turkish friends find it darn weird too that I have fish for breakfast sometimes. I love my good old fish fingers, who cares in the morning, afternoon or night?! They generally don't eat fish for breakfast, they find it so gag-worthy. Strange. Needless to say, fish burgers in Burger Kings aren't really their best selling items. They don't even have my fave 'fish fillet' burger in Mc Donalds! Yes, absolutely no fish burgers in Mc D. Shame.



I guess how interesting can the world be if everyone's the same huh? :)

Too Busy to Write but Random Pics to Share...

Went to a Fashion Week event late last year. The event was meant as a platform for local inspiring fashion designers there to showcase their work.


I REALLY REALLY love this piece but it was around 70-80lira and I was on tight budget...It's just so unique and pretty... very lacy, Victorian inspired and love the magenta color against the sexy black lace. I really would have bought that had I had some extra dough to spare!!!! Urghh!








Galata Tower was nearby... went up there at their 360 degrees tower where I got a bird's eye view of the city... Feeling was amazing, such beauty presented in front of me... however it was FREAKING COLD.




What can I say.... I love Istanbul. ;)

My First Turkish Class

Slightly over 6 months of being here, the only sentence I could make in Turkish is - Benim adim V (My name is V). I need help, I know I do. Turkish is no joke yea, it's really hard to adopt and master. For once, their sentence structure is just so different from English.

How it works for the Turkish language is, the verb will come in the end. For example, in English, it's a grammatically correct sentence to be saying: I come home at 6 everyday. In Turkish, the sentence structure would have to be: Everyday 6 at home I come. See how crazy that is??!



Needless to say, whenever E or my other Turkish friends tried to teach me Turkish, I LITERALLY have a headache, no joke. It's just way tooooo foreign and being a very slow learner, it's not that appealing to me!

However, being here for half a year, I've met pretty awesome Turks that I would simply love to have a conversation with but can't due to language barrier. For this reason, I badly want to learn Turkish. And yes, also for survival cos I can barely get around without knowing Turkish here.

O School is offering free informal Turkish conversational class for the foreign teachers as of today. It's a once a week thingy and the director, an American, has kindly offered to teach. He has been here for 2.5 years and speaks very fluent Turkish - pretty impressive I must say.

During the class, N, the director, spoke in Turkish and NOT A SINGLE WORD OF ENGLISH. I started to rub my temples... my headache was starting to stir. The more I tried to concentrate, the more dizzy I get! lol... From wild gesturing and simply common sense, I understood couple of things he said.



There were 3 foreign teachers there - a Scottish lady J, an English guy T, and myself. J's pretty decent in her basic Turkish, she's been here for 2 years. T, like myself, has been here for slightly over 6 months and our Turkish's pretty much rubbish or non existent to say the least. But... come to think of it, mine's worse than T!

We learnt things like: Ismin ne? (Ismim V) Nerede oturuyorsun? (Bostancida oturuyorum) Nerelisin? (Singapurlayim) Ne is yapiyorsun? (Ben ingilizce ogretmenim) etc... Honestly it's in the right ear and out the left for me. I could barely remember a thing now! I had to refer to my notebook just to cite these Turkish examples down. Oh God bless me.

It made me think how my students must have felt. In the Turkish class just now, everything was said in Turkish. Even when I had a question, I have to struggle to ask and it was mostly in shattered and broken Turkish like, " Pardon, bir soru..ne?" (Sorry, what bir soru? which I meant to ask, Sorry what's 'bir soru'?)
My thoughts went back to my students whom I kept on chiding, "Guys, NO TURKISH in MY CLASS. English please!" How helpless they must have felt, at not being able to express themselves! Not to mention my pre schoolers whom I teach purely in English, and whom I only shook my head to and said, "English please?" when they tugged my jeans and spoke/pleaded to me in Turkish in their little high pitched voices.



Putting myself in their shoes made me understand and respect them more... for their dedication and peserverance in mastering what must have been a totally new and foreign language to them - ENGLISH.

Since I was fired from M.E College, I won't have any class tomorrow thus I'll put in time to study my Turkish and to prepare my lesson plans for my weekend classes in advance. Oh well we can always make good from the bad things that happened! :) Till then, hope you guys have had a great day today!

Sick and FIRED

Last week I was EXTREMELY sick. I've been sick for quite some time, especially in this unpredictable weather. Nonetheless I still work like a dog cos no work = no money. I'm on an hourly wage here and there's no such thing as medical nor vacation leave. Yearly bonus??? NON EXISTENT.

I was really sick last week, especially on Tuesday. I felt like fainting literally but still dragged myself to class on Tuesday morning in O school. 3 hours felt so freaking long especially when I have to be bloody entertaining, energetic and forever on a roll in class. Schools and students don't really give a damn if ya sick - you are paid to perform and you are paid to do it well. Which is really understood, I mean I've never expected any form of compromise on my performance to deliver when it comes to work even when I'm sick... When I was in the design industry back in Singapore, sick or not, I have to make the deadlines- basically clients don't care even if ya working whilst on a drip. That's the working world alright.

Anyways back to the story, on that very Tuesday, I have another class in the evening with M.E College. It'll be my first day with them thus I did not want to call in sick. Though I was REALLY feeling like crap when I got home from my morning class, I still intend to teach in the evening. First day of work and calling in sick is definitely NOT a good thing.

However 2 hours before I was suppose to teach, my temperature rapidly shot up to 38.7degrees and by then I couldn't even sit straight. I was so freaking weak, I couldn't think and I was shivering non stop. I knew then it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to go for my evening class. E helped me up to go to the hospital and to call the school to inform them of the situation.

In the hospital, I was sent to the emergency ward and had to be put on a drip for hours.





I have no idea what liquid that is... looked like diluted urine huh? I suppose it's glucose... I don't know. I was too weak and just layed in the hospital bed, going in and out of consciousness.

To cut the story shot, M.E College decided they do not wish for me to return back to teaching the class that I was suppose to. They simply said they'll call me when they want me to come. To put it simply, I was fired. Nice.

Aah well... I guess health is far more important than work or rather money. I wish I can drill that in my head, I think my health got worse simply cos I continued to work, putting in the late hours and having the stress got to me. I guess I should be kinder to myself cos seriously, no one else will...

GROW HAIR GROW!

This is my current do which I really hate. It appears decent now but only God knows how many hours I spent on a bloody flat iron! I miss my long hair where I can just bun up on a bad hair day! ;( Grow hair grow....

Hell in Cyprus Part II

I'm still sick as it is now so doubt I'll go into much details in this post. Basically I didn't enjoy my N.Cyprus trip at all... The only close contact to a Turkish Cypriot I've had was my cab driver. Though English is more widely spoken there than in Istanbul, I think the people of Istanbul are far more friendlier and approachable.

My cab driver, Camil, drove me to Nicosia from Lefkosia airport. He tried to make conversation with me in his limited English and likewise, I did the same with my utterly pathetic Turkish. After Camil dropped me off at Nicosia, I asked him if he can pick me up at half past 4 to send me back to the airport and he readily agreed. Why wouldn't he...It's 40+lira per trip!

Like I mentioned before, I was merely walking around in the heavy rain, not finding anything nice or interesting to buy. There were some small and humble cafes there, barely with anyone around. At times, there'll be some over friendly waiters who'd shout at me from afar in halting English, asking me to have tea at their cafes. They were mostly filled with men and I just politely declined, sometimes it can be a curse to be a female foreigner travelling alone. I spent my next two hours in an internet cafe.

At 4pm, I left the internet cafe and decided to make my way to the venue where I was suppose to meet Camil, my cab driver. On my way there, I heard someone shouting, "Hello!!! HELLO!!!!" I turned and there Camil was, outside a cafe, waving at me to come over. He was having his lunch there and I decided to join him cos I was just famished. We ate in silence, conscious of our differences in languages and limitations of communication. But despite that, I was happy for his company. I was just happy to eat silently in his company, he was like a father figure in some ways like how he pulled my arm when I was standing too near the road or how he just nudge me to look at the news flash on tv in the cafe on the flooded areas in Cyprus.

Father figure or not, he still did try to cheat me of 10 lira when we reached the airport! haha... He asked for 50lira and I sulked in disapproval. I gestured wildly with my hands on how I paid 40 lira to go Nicosia and how can it be 50 lira to go back tot he airport from the place he first dropped me off. He grunted and agreed to let me pay 40 lira. He then tapped my shoulder and said sorry. I smiled and touched my heart to show my appreciation and said 'Tessekur ederim (thank you) Camil'. He then passed me his namecard and asked me to call him next time I visit N.Cyprus again...(err never?).

In the aiport, my flight back was delayed. Announcements were all made in Turkish. It was a very small terminal and I was going from one end to another cos there was no gate number information on my ticket thus whenever there was a queue, I dragged my backpack along to wherever the queue was just to check if it was indeed my flight. I thought I got smarter when I simply sat down and relied on the flight information on the tvs there. My flight was delayed to 20:05 and it was 20:00, there were still no updated information on the screen. Announcements were still made in Turkish and my eyes stayed glued to the screen, waiting for my gate info to appear. Nothing.

For some reason, my gut instincts told me to go to the security officers to enquire. I walked over to them and was stunned to see my flight number flashing at one of the gates! For gawds sake, flight information wasn't updated on the television screen, announcements were all done in Turkish, how on earth could I know when it was time for me to board?!! I passed my boarding pass to the security and he said something through his walkie talkie and the whole lot of them gathered around me. They then told me to hurry up as the plane was leaving. I ran all the way to the flight of steps leading up to the plane. Everyone was there.

I was just darn pissed. It's like it's their own little world, it's not foreigner-friendly at all. When I got in the plane, the steward said in English,"We are all waiting for you." Everyone was staring at me. Wow. I caused the whole plane to delay.

I was so darn pissed, I just snapped,"I know, I know, I'm sorry ok! I just don't understand a single thing here and..." My voice just trailed off. What's the use really? What's the use of telling them or even bothering to explain? I'll end up looking like a deranged foreigner anyways. "It's ok, it's ok," the steward replied, kindly this time, perhaps noticing my exasperated look.

A kind man seated beside me helped me to store my heavy backpack on the top shelf. Thanking him, I retreated back to my seat as tears flowed down my cheeks. It was just horrible.

Back in the Istanbul airport, when it was my turn to have my passport stamped, the officer did the typical routine I've gotten used to - making calls, reading out my passport number to the other person on the line, forever taking ages to scan my passport and going through all the previous stamps I've had in my passport.

"Take off your hat, stand back and look at the camera," the officer ordered, interrupting my thoughts.

"I really have a bad hair day," I told the officer. Tough luck, so what, he's not gonna hand you a hair spray, idiot, I scolded myself. He didn't look amused too. I shrugged, took off my hat and my half straight-half curled hair (all the walking around in the rain in Cyprus ruined it!) sprang out in the most unglamourous way. There goes whatever remaining dignity I had, I thought. haha.... He must have pitied me for in a very dramatic way, he stamped really hard on my passport and passed it to me. I was grinning at this time and thanked him. 90 days!!! WOoohoo....

Was it all worth it? I don't know. I'm never gonna return back to Cyprus ever. That much I know.

Northern Cyprus Pics...

This is the Lefkosa Airport....



This is what greets me when I stepped out of the airport...





This is basically what Nicosia has to offer... I was walking in the heavy rain around streets like this just to find souvenirs for friends back home but alas, NOTHING.




It was raining so bad, I believe some parts of Cyprus were flooded. These pics were taken when I was in a cab on the way back to the airport.