The Broadway Musical Spider-Man

We all know the story; Peter Parker is a bullied teenager and a science-geek. One day he's bitten by a genetically altered spider in a science lab and when he wakes up the next morning he's endowed with super powers. From that point his life turns upside down, now he has to fight against criminals and save both his sweetheart Mary Jane and NYC.

The Marquee of Foxwoods Theatre

Technically the set is was amazing, both The Green Goblin and The Spider-Man flies above audiences, and they have a fight scene while fling. Before buying tickets, my expectation from the show was to see stunts of spider-man and have fun. So after I left the the show I was happy and satisfied but if you want to watch great acting and theater this is not the right place. If I were a tourist and have limited time in NYC, I wouldn't choose to see The Spider-Man instead of The Phantom of the Opera or Chicago.

213 W 42nd St, Foxwoods Theatre, New York City, NY 10036

Django Unchained - Zincirsiz

Amerikan Ic Savasi'ndan iki yil once yani 1858 yilinda gecen film, Amerika'nin guney bolgesinde Kole Django ile Alman asilli Dr.Schultz'un yollarinin kesismesi ile basliyor. Dr. Schultz uzerine odul koyulmus suclulari yakalayarak para kazanan bir odul avcisi ve siradaki hedefi Brittle Kardesler. Django'nun Brittle Kardesleri tanidigini bilen Dr.Schultz, Django'ya Brittle Kardesleri yakalamasina yardimci olmasi karsiliginda, ozgurlugunu vermeyi teklif eder ve Django bu teklifi kabul eder. Fakat bu gorev tamamlandiktan sonra ikili ayrilmaz ve butun kis boyunca Django, Dr.Schultz'un suclulari yakalamasina dolayisiyla para kazanmasina yardim eder, bu arada kendisini silah kullanma konusunda cok gelistirir. Bunun karsiliginda ise Dr.Schultz, Django'nun kole ticareti nedeniyle kaybettigi karisi Broomhilda'yi bulmasina yardim edecektir. Baharin gelmesiyle birlikte Broomhilda'nin izini suren ikili onun Candyland Ciftligi'nde oldugunu ogrenir ve zalim ciftlik sahibi Calvin Candie ile ticari bir is ile ilgili gorusmek icin randevu alirlar. Fakat Calvin Candie'nin sadik yardimcisi Stephen, Dr.Schultz ve Django'nun gizli bir amaci oldugunu farkedince isler karisir. 

Filmin yazari ve yonetmeni Quentin Tarantino'nun alisik oldugumuz akici diyaloglari, kanli sahneleri ve siddet bu filmde de bolca mevcut. Film 165 dakika olmasina ragmen, senaryo o kadar akici ve oyunculuklar o kadar kaliteliki bir an bile sikilmadim. Oyunculuguna Inglorious Bastards'da hayran kaldigim Christoph Waltz, Dr.Schultz karakteriyle yine muhtesemdi. Stephen karakterini canlandiran Samuel L. Jackson ise canlandirdigi karakterden nefret ettirecek kadar basariliydi. Oyunculuklarin yaninda dikkat cekilecek diger bir nokta ise filmin muzikleri, muzikler harikaydi, ozellikle ilk duydugumda rap'in western'de ne isi var dedigim 100 Black Coffins en begendigim parcalar arasinda, dinlemek isteyenler icin linkini asagiya kopyaladim. Siradan bir izleyici olarak Django Unchained'i cok begendim, en iyi yardimci erkek oyuncu, en iyi film, en iyi ses kurgusu, en iyi ozgun senaryo ve en iyi goruntu yonetmeni olarak bes dalda Oscar adayi olan bu filmi Turkiye'de vizyona girer girmez izlemenizi tavsiye ederim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rHdyofwVlQ 

Bienvenido a Mexico

On a cold and windy New York day (the weather is 19°F) , I’m trying to keep warm by snuggling in my coach, drinking tea and looking my Mexico vacation photos. I didn’t write about my vacations before so why not Mexico be the first?

Last July, Mr.C and I went to Mexico for a 5 day vacation, and it was my best vacation ever. Our first destination was Mexico City, after five and a half hours of flight from New York we were at Mexico City. Transportation from the airport to our hotel by an authorized taxi was easy, also public buses are cheap and convenient way of transportation.

Mexico is remarkably diverse country; influence of ancient civilizations, Spanish and North American makes this country one of the most attractive travel destinations, and Mexico City with population of 20.5 million is most diverse city in Mexico. We arrived to Mexico City late in the evening so for the first day there wasn’t much to do. So we took a walk, ate something and visit Monumento a la Independencia (Independence Column). Independence Column was inaugurated on September 16, 1910 to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of Mexico’s Independence.

On the second day we woke up early and found a local tour to visit Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is one of the best archaeological sites you can visit in Mexico and it is nearly 30 miles away from Mexico City. When we arrived to Teotihuacan, we were like beamed up to thousands of years ago. Teotihuacan was the center of Mesoamerica until A.D.800. It was exciting to walk on the Avenue of the Dead, and climbing to Pyramid of the Sun and the Moon. Also there was a small local market near the archaeological site, and what a surprise, they were selling Blue amulets! (Blue circles in shape of eyes, which protects you from bad luck or sickness). When I asked sellers the meaning of these blue amulets, I’ve learned that it is exactly the same in Turkey. So people living on the different sides of Atlantic Ocean believe the same thing, interesting right? After Teotihuacan we turned back to downtown, spent some time at the Zocalo Square and prepared for the Cancun.

Pyramid of the Sun

On the 3^rd day of our vacation, we arrived Cancun after a short flight from Mexico City. While landing I saw that airstrip is in the middle of dense forest, at that moment I understood that I am in heaven. We spent two days in Cancun and stayed in the Hotel Zone. Most of the time weather of Cancun is perfect for vacation but tropical storms usually seen on September and October. We spent most of our time in the sea and on the long, white sandy beach. In the evening we took a bus to go to the downtown and enjoyed foods and drinks. By the way, when we got into the bus to go to the downtown we talked in English with bus driver and purchased our tickets, and when we got into bus to turn back our hotel from downtown Mr.C said to bus driver ‘dos personas’ and the bus driver charged half of the price we paid before. So if you can practice a bit of Spanish before coming here you can save some money.

Tulum

On our last day we stayed at Tulum. Tulum is smaller and quieter than Cancun, you can enjoy the beautiful nature without any interruption. There are lots of small boutique hotels in Tulum but we preferred to stay in hotel that is formed from cabanas. It was cool to stay in a cabana on the beach until I saw a scorpion on the floor. Apart from that, experiencing Tulum is wonderful, foods are delicious, beaches are perfect and sea is crystal clean.

Our time was not enough to visit every significant place in these three cities. There are many places from Mexico in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is the link if you want to check out. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

Bienvenido a Mexico

Disarida hava -7 Derece oldugundan, bugun yapilabilecek en iyi seyin koltugumda kivrilirken, cay icerek, Mexico seyahatimin fotograflarina bakmak oldugunu dusundum. Daha once gezilerimle ilgili bir yazi da yazmadigima gore bu gunu Meksika gezisiyle ilgili bir yazi yazarak gecirebilirim sanirim.

Gecen Temmuz'da Mr.C ile ciktigimiz 5 gunluk Meksika seyahati hayatimin en guzel tatiliydi diyebilirim. New York'dan bes bucuk saatlik bir ucus ile ilk duragimiz olan Mexico City'e vardik. Havaalanindan sehir merkezinde kalacagimiz otele havaalani taksileri ile kolayca ulastik fakat toplu tasima araclari ile de ucuz ve guvenli bir sekilde ulasiminizi saglayabilirsiniz.

Meksika cesitliligi ile goze carpan bir ulke; Antik medeniyetlerin, Ispanyol ve Kuzey Amerika Kulturlerinin sentezlendigi bu ulkenin , en tercih edilen seyahat rotalarindan biri olmamasi imkansiz. Baskent Mexico City de 20.5 milyon nufusu ile bu ulkenin cesitliligini yansitan en buyuk sehir.

Mexico City'e aksam saatlerinde vardigimiz icin ilk gun yapilacak fazla birsey yoktu. Dolayisiyla otelin cevresinda biraz dolasip yemek yedikten sonra Monumento a la Independencia' yi(Ozgurluk Abidesi) ziyaret ettik. Bu abide Meksika'nin ozgurluge kavusmasinin yuzuncu yildonumu kutlamak amaciyla 16 eylul 1910 yilinda acilmis, ve Mexico City'nin simgelerinden biri haline gelmis.

Meksika'daki ikinci gunumuze erken baslayarak, Teotihuacan'a gidebilmek icin bir tur ariyoruz. Teotihuacan Meksika'da gorulebilecek en guzel tarihi sit alanlarindan bir tanesi ve Mexico City'e sadece 50km uzaklikta. Teotihuacan'da gezmeye basladigimda kendimi bir anda binlerce yil oncesine isinlanmis gibi hissettim. 8. yuzyila kadar Orta Amerika'nin merkezi sayilan bu bolgeyi gormek, Avenue of Dead'de yurumek, Sun ve Moon Piramitleri'ne tirmanmak cok heyecan vericiydi. Teotihuacan'dan ayrilmadan once yerel urunlerin satildigi kucuk pazarlari gezerken tezgahlarda nazar boncugunun satildigini gordum, saticilara bunun ne anlama geldigini sordugumda bizimle ayni amacla kullandiklarini ogrendim. Atlantik Okyanusu'nun iki farkli kiyisindaki insanlarin  birebir ayni seye inandiklarini gormek cok ilgincti. Teotihuacan'dan sehir merkezine dondukten sonra Zocalo Meydani'nda zaman gecirip, ertesi gunku Cancun ucusu icin haziliklarimizi tamamladik.

Gezimizin ucuncu gununde artik sira Cancun'a geldi, Mexico City'den kisa bir ucusla Cancun'a vardik. Ucak inise gecerken pencereden baktigimda, pistin sik ve ucu bucagi gozukmeyen bir ormanin icinde incecik uzandigini gorunce, tamam iste tropikal tatil budur dedim. Cancun'da toplam iki gece gecirerek Oteller Bolgesi olarak adlandirilan alandaki bir otelde konakladik. Tropikal firtina ihtimalinin yuksek oldugu Eylul ve Ekim aylari disinda, Cancun'un iklimi tatil yapmak icin uygun, tabiki sicagi sevmeyenler icin bizim gibi Temmuz'da gitmelerini onermem. Buradaki zamanimizin cogunu uzun ve beyaz kumuyla unlu plajlarda ve denizde gecirdik. Karayip Denizi'ndeki dogal yasam basta ilginc gelse de, balik yakalamak icin suya dalan pelikalarla birlikte denize girmeye zamanla alistik. Bu arada Meksika'ya gelmeden once mutlaka Ispanyolcaya calismak lazim. Aksam sehir merkezine gitmek icin bindigimiz otobusde, gidis icin odedigimiz bilet ucreti, donus icin odedigimizin iki katiydi. Cunku gidis bileti almak icin otobuse bindigimizde sofore Ingilizce iki bilet lutfen derken, donerken 'dos personas' dedik. Bu tur firsatciliga Istanbul'dan alisik oldugumdan sasirmadim tabiki.

New York'a donmeden once son gecemizi gecirdigimiz yer Tulum. Cancun'a gore kucuk ve sessiz olan Tulum, doga ile ic ice zaman gecirmek isteyenler icin harika, dolayisiyla bir bucuk gun bizim icin yeterli oldu. Tulum'da bircok butik otel ve cabanalardan olusan oteller mevcut, biz otelde kalmak yerine deniz kenarinda cabanalardan olusan bir tesiste kalmayi tercih ettik. Ekoturizm ilkesi ile kurulmus bir tesiste kalmak basta eglenceliydi ta ki cabananin icerisinde akrep gorene kadar. Neyse bu ayrinti disinda, yedigimiz tum yemekler, hava, kum, deniz harikaydi. Meksika'dan UNESCO Dunya Miraslari listesine giren o kadar cok yer var ki, bunlari yazmak yerine ilgilenenler icin linki buraya kopyaliyorum.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

NYC Restaurant Week basladi !

2012’de yine NYC Restaurant Week vesilesiyle Mr.C ile gittigimiz Capital Grill’de yedigimiz Steak sonrasinda, bu seneki NYC Restaurant Week i dort gozle bekliyordum. Bilmeyenler icin kisaca aciklamam gerekirse, 14 Ocak – 8 Subat arasinda gerceklesecek bu organizasyonla amaclanan New York’daki kaliteli ve pahali olan restoranlarin menulerini ,uygun fiyatlar ile daha genis kitlelerin tadabilmesini saglamak.

Biz de firsat bu firsattir diyerek iki arkadasimiz ile birlikte, ilk aksam yemegi duragimiz olarak Hakkasan’i belirledik. Oncelikle mekanin dekorasyonu muhtesem,1021 metrekarelik alan, beyaz mermer kapli duvarlar, Cin motifleri ile bezenmis paravanlar ile masalarin yerlestirildigi kucuk bolumlere ayrilmis. Isiklandirma los ama basarisiz orneklerinde yasadigimiz gibi menuyu okumakta herhangi bir zorluk cekmiyoruz.  

Small Eat olarak ben Steamed dim sum platter, Mr.C Hakka fried dim sum platter aldi. Icerisinde karides, ordek, deniz taragi olan bu dumplingler muhtesemdi. Ana yemek olarak ise Stir-fry beef tenderloin in Sha Cha sauce with ginger and Chinese celery aldik. Sigir filetosu da Michelin yildizli bir restorandan beklenen lezzet ve kalitedeydi.

Dim Sum Platter

Hakkasan’a giderken otantik bir Cin restorani beklentisi icerisinde olmamak lazim, hem iceri girerken sizi karsilayan ince uzun boylu hostesler, hem mekanda calan muzikler, hem de tatli olarak gelen fistik ezmeli parfe ile daha cok hedef kitleyi goze alan bir restoran.

Iyi ve guler yuzlu servis elemanlari ile sonucta Hakkasan deneyimi cok guzeldi ,fakat kizarmis ordegin 59USD oldugu (ki bu menudeki en pahali ana yemek degil) bir restorana gore fiyat kalite dengesine bakildiginda tercih edilebilir degil bence.

* Fotograf icin Sadik Aydin Photography’e tesekkurler.  

How Americans respond to gun control legislation?

After Connecticut school shooting tradgedy, debates over gun control is accelerated. As a Turkish women living in New York for one year, this debate and the reaction of Americans on the debate took my attention.First of all after this tradgedy I’ve learned that there is no ban on selling assault-weapons and high-capacity clips in the U.S.A. But just a minute these kind of guns created for miltary and mass destruction, right? So why a person needs to buy that kinf of stuff? Opponents of the gun control legislation say that ‘Obama will take away our guns’ and ‘we need guns for self defence’ or ‘we need guns for hunting’.Lets read the new bill content, The bill more specifically stops the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of more than 100 specifically-named firearms and certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine. It also applies to semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.In addition, the bill stops the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. I think we don’t need semiautomatic rifles for hunting.Another issue is The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The NRA(National Rifle Association of America) emphasise that gun control bill is an attack to the Second Amendment and freedom in America. The NRA also argues that to put armed police officers every single shool in U.S.A. can reduce violance. I am not a legal expert but when lawmakers legislate they draw a frame for it, I mean you can have a right to bear arms but the limitations of having guns should be described by other laws. Furthermore no freedom is important than right to live. There has always been mass shootings in the U.S.A. and the conflict of interest between gun lobbyist, lawmakers and electors going on. Wait and see ,what will happen this time?

First Things First!!

Hello world,This is my first blog entry. I'll be talking about everything that matters :)Biraz Turkce biraz Ingilizce yazmayi dusunuyorum, hadi bakalim.Gorusuruz.