We live in Mahmut, baby

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…or Aziz Mahmut Hudai, to be exact. We arrived three whole weeks ago and I’ve been very slack about posting (nay, taking) photos. Which isn’t to say that none have been taken at all, it’s just that I have been…well, indisposed. So far our wee family has;

 

Found a job for Dad (that’s me)

Had adventures with paperwork

Stood around uselessly while workmen demolished the walls of our new flat and built new ones

Interjected now and then when a decision needed to be made

Had a LOT of cups of tea

Been to IKEA

Had a number of naps

Found an amazing record store (more on that later)

Chosen tiles, a toilet, and shower stuff for our bathroom

Sweet-talked a building inspector

…and taken our toddler for ever more, ever-longer walks. She rocks. She is our rock.

 

Now that the dust has begun to settle, it’s time to get started with this project – steppist – a visual exploaration of Istanbul. Our new city. Far out.

Istanbul 70 - Turkish Psycho-Disco

You might have seen this fantastic series selling out quick in your local record store. If, like me, you weren’t quite quick or canny enough to grab one of the limited vinyl copies in person, fear not, a CD has been issued and can be got online at the ever-reliable giant sell-everything stores (not plugging any particular one here!). The picture here is of a record sleeve because, honestly, I love the vinyl and always want it, but the CD features a photo of a van on the front.

These are old Turkish nuggets edited and pushed around with the more leftfield 21stC clubs in mind by a digger nut named Baris K who clearly knows what he is doing. From three 12″s there are a variety of tunes which will appeal in different times and places. Personal favorites of mine, for their sheer trippiness, are Derdiyoklar’s “Yaz Gazeteci” which my Turkish wife tells me was quite the wedding party tune back in the day (and that she and her sister “hated it” – a sure endorsement!) and Mogollar’s “Muzik Mogollar”.

A fun and odd collection of retro grooves. Recommend.

We’re going to be about 5 minutes’ walk from the Maiden’s Tower, so I might take quite a few photos of it just to add to the archive, you know…

The seawall cafe along there, while quite pricey for just the same old cay and coca-cola, is such a beautiful spot to sit and chill out that I’m sure we are going to be down there a LOT. It is the nearest outdoor space to our new house, after all. Who knows – maybe the owner will give us mates’ rates after a while.

From one house to another

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We are leaving Osaka in about 6 weeks. Our spare room is full of full boxes, but our closets and kitchen cupboards are still jampacked. Going to need to get ruthless soon. Bits of furniture and houseplants are one by one being claimed by friends and neighbours. I’m going to miss our Pine Brook home.

Meanwhile, our Uskudar flat has been cleared out – and that includes everything; the walls have been knocked down, the old awful bathroom is gone, and we have a concrete box and some drawings from the draftsman Ayfer’s parents used for their place upstairs. We are going to stay with them while things get ready. I guess we should work on the floor and walls first…