My favourite Turkish soap operas

Merhaba herkese!

Since I'm a huge lover of Turkish dizis aka TV series I've decided to dedicate this post to them. I apologise in advance for not using proper Turkish letters, but I don't have them on my laptop keyboard, so forgive me.

The first dizi I've watched in my life was Dikkat Bebek Var. Anyone remembers baby Baris and his dog? It was filmed in early 2000s and I think I've watched when I was in third or fourth grade,some time around year 2006. Can you imagine how in love I was with that baby!? I even wanted to name my son after him. So, since this was the first dizi that lured me in this world of Turkish soap operas, I'll have to say it holds a dear place in my heart. To be honest, I don't remember much about his show but I can't find it anywhere on the Internet to rewatch it. I remember that the parents divorced and then got married again and Baris the baby was also present at the wedding, I remember the adventures of Baris and the dog. I remember the nanny, who I think was a thief or something. Don't blame me if I remember it wrong. I wish that this dizi existed somewhere on the Internet, like whole episodes, so I could watch it on repeat. If someone knows anything about this, please let me know, I'd be forever grateful.

The second dizi I watched was Ezel. I remember how all the girls in my school were head over heals in love with Ezel. I remember crying when Omer was in jail, and there was this scene where a guard or the director was beating him with a sack full of oranges. I remember feeling sorry for him. Honestly, I was so happy with him later for wanting the revenge. But despite everything I rooted for him and Eysan to end up together. If you love romance-crime-mystery-dramas then this is the one for you.

Honestly, this started looking as a timeline of all the good soap operas I've watched since around 2006. Mind you, after Dikkat Bebek Var I didn't watch another dizi for several years. Mostly, because I didn't have those good channels that used to buy them at the time. So I had to wait until the channels we had decided to buy the rights for showing it for their audience.

So, the next soap opera I watched was Ask ve Ceza. And it also happens to be one of my favourites. I remember that time so good. Ezel was on one channel and an hour later Ask ve Ceza would start on another channel. I remember the first time I saw Savas, and I immediately dropped Ezel. I would tell my Mom "hey, look it's your son-in-law" despite him being like 30 years older than me. Nothing mattered at the time. One scene that will forever be my favourite scene of all Turkish shows was when Savas learned the truth about his son and then him going to Bodrum to see him knowing the whole truth now. I even watched it on YouTube before it was shown on the TV. And to this day, I still love that scene, and often find myself searching for that episode to see the scene again and again.

And after Ask ve Ceza is the season when I started watching the dizis on the Internet. I simply couldn't wait for someone to buy the rights when there were people online who would post the subtitled episodes. And that was when I fell in love with Asi. Honestly, I gotta admit I've seen one episode like around the time when Ask ve Ceza was on TV, and I've seen that episode when I was at my aunt's because she had that channel. It was the hospital scene of Demir and Asya, after he was released. Whoever's seen this dizi will know what I'm talking about. Then I got home and spent hours searching for it online with subtitles in my mother language. It was hard, I admit. I didn't even use the Internet for that kind of stuff before so I didn't even know where to look. And imagine my luck when I found it on one website. I stayed up until 3am like every night watching it. That was also the time when I started staying up late and going to sleep at almost dawn. I was already 15 by that time, so it was kinda alright. And I was on my summer break, which was awesome. But get this. As soon as school year started one of the channels we had decided to buy rights for Asi. And of course I watched it again on TV. Who could blame me!! After Savas, of course I'd love Demir as well. After all, it was the same actor who played both characters.

Adini Feriha Koydum is the show that I kinda learned about on the go. One school night my parents let me spend the night at my best friend's, and the neighbour girl came over that night and said "hey, can you change it to that channel, Emir is about to start". So of course my friend changed the channel and we watched the episode together. The next day I went home. And that night I took the remote and told my parents we're watching a dizi that I've seen last night at my friend's house. And so the obsession began. I even got my parents obsessed with it, and I loved it. By the way, the scene that hooked me in was the one when Emir was in hospital after he and the blonde girl had an accident, and Feriha came to visit him. And I remember how sad I was after it ended abruptly. 

So, after all these soap operas from 2000s, now it's time to write about some newer dizis that I love. One dizi that I'm in love with (this is a strong word since I only love the first half of the dizi) is Siyah Beyaz Ask. I was in love with AsFer and the chemistry Ibrahim and Birce had. But I stopped watching it some time after the 20th episode. It just stopped having the charm it had before. But I can't deny loving that first half of the dizi. Those episodes were awesome and I plan on rewatching them.

Another newer dizi that I'm absolutely fascinated with is Hayat Sarkisi. Have you seen Kerim's curles? I feel like I'm repeating myself non-stop with saying this but I can't help it: I'm in love. Seriously, why are 90% of Turkish actors hot as hell!? You can't not fall in love with them. And even if they're bastards in the dizi you still fall in love, because no one can resist their looks. I heard about Hayat Sarkisi when it first began airing in Turkey but I didn't start watching it until like 18th or 19th episode. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea. But one I caught up, I was so hooked I felt sorry for myself for not waiting fall and the start of second season. And the second season was also amazing. The way they showed us HulKer love is simply magnificent. And those times when they pulled pranks on each others were awesome. If you haven't seen this one yet but love cute romantic comedies with some family drama, then this one is for you. 

And we've come to my currently favourite dizi, Elimi Birakma. Is there someone who doesn't love AzCen and why? I think it sgould be a serious crime if you're not watching this dizi. I mean, how can you resist the Cenk Celen charm!? Is that even possible? I'm so in love with Alp Navruz, that I don't know what I'd do if I'r've never come upon him. I remember seeing him in Ask Laftan Anlamaz and thinking he's cute but I didn't pay him much attention there because, hello Burak Deniz! But I noticed him in fazilet Hanim and Kizlari. And roothed for him, of course. Well, until a certain point. At one time I wanted him to give up on his love and for the writers to get him a new girl who would love him the way he deserved, but it didn't happen. And I didn't like Sinan's ending either. But whatever, now ANFC's getting that well deserved justice with Cenk Celen who is just perfect. Do I even have to talk about Alp's chemistry with Alina Boz!? These two are the definition of a perfect dizi couple, both in dizi and in real life. Can you  honestly deny that you don't ship Alpina even a little bit?! But all this aside, this dizi is just awesome in every meaning of that word. I love how they portray the family values, and relationships in general. Yes, there are some characters that are acting like they're the God, but they'll get what they deserve in the end.

Well, I hope you like this post. Honestly, I didn't put much thoughts into it. I was thinking about what I could write about next and a switch turned on and I was like, okay I love Turkish soap operas so why not write about them for a change?! And here it is. These are the dizis that I will always love and dizis that I could always watch no matter how many times I've watched them already. Who cares about that anyway!? I hope you've seen one of these soap operaas, and if not, then what are you waiting for!? Go and Google them, make some popcorn, press the play button and just sit and enjoy it.

Forever and All the Afters by K. I. Lynn

Hola amigos!

As you can see from the title, this post is going to be a review of the book Forever and All the afters by K. I. Lynn.

This book's male character is probably the only reason why I'd recommend this book. I'm in love with Pike. He was so empathic, affectionate, understanding. And he was so in love with the heroine. I loved how he tried convincing her what she was doing is wrong and later being by her side, protecting her from evil. But honestly, I want to focus this review on Aubrey. I don't really like how the author portrayed her like in the first half of this book. She was shown as weak, seeking love no matter the consequences. I honestly wanted her to have a backbone since the first chapter of this book, but that's not the case. I don't think she'd have the courage to do what she did later in the book had the evil not shown. She's still be insecure, wanting to please. I felt like she'd pay whatever price, no matter the cost, just to please the evil. (Note: evil is a person, if you didn't figure it already by now.) This is a quote from the book that I thought described her perfectly until Pike opened her eyes:

"Scratch the surface, and there was nothing of substance holding us together but the strings attached to me that he was pulling. Strings he sewed into my mind without me even noticing. A puppet for him to play with and manipulate into what he wanted."

Honestly, I think there are many people out there who are led by their insecurities and being manipulated easily by using those same insecurities. I don't know the feeling, and I hope to never learn it. What I think of this book is that it gives us an insight into the world of those whose lives are led by their insecurities and how (if) they overcome those. I hope everyone eventually finds a way to overcome everything. But I also know that there are people imprisoned in their own bodies and minds, people who are manipulated by their "significant" others. I would recommend this book to everyone, just so they can see what being manipulated means and what it actually is. That under many so called compliments are hundreds of insults. I want you to read this book to see those manipulations and to think how that happens in real life. Be careful around others, think about things you say, because sometimes even little things said like a joke can hurt more that the biggest insult ever. And I want you to read it to see that everyone has people around them that will support them unconditionally and that all of us can stand up for ourselves.

"I love you. From now until forever, I love you."
His eyes shine, and he drops his forehead down against mine. "My love has no conditions. There are no strings. I love you uncoditionally."

Author's words about this book: "I wanted to explore how the loss of a first love can affect a person years later. How insecurities can grow and warp a person's internal view of themselves. And how there are people who will take advantage of those that have been beaten down, whether by their own doing or an outside factor."

Synopsis:
"He promised me forever.

Then he boarded a plane for a college a thousand miles away and never returned. A decade later there’s a ring on my finger with a new promise from a new love.

Just as my life falls into place, pretty as the pages of a magazine, my world is knocked over. The moment he touches me everything around me begins to crack, exposing all the lies I’ve told myself.

Every glance reminds me. Every touch ignites.

Things aren’t how they used to be.

Love isn’t easy."

P. S. Here's the link to my goodreads account.

My trip to Munich

Hallo, Leute!

I feel like I always start my posts with "sorry, i haven't written in a while..." but seriously, I planned to post something earlier but I just wasn't in the mood for writing.  I had no idea what to write about in this post and, suddenly, I got the idea to write about my experience in Munich.

When I first got there I felt like I was in this huge city, which in reality is the truth. My whole life I've lived in villages and small towns. I only go to the city when I have classes or just for shopping, which doesn't happen very often. So, coming to Munich was such a new experience that i loved very much. to be honest, I almost started crying when I had to leave. It was probably because I left earlier than I was supposed to, but I didn't feel like I had any other choice other than to pack my bags and go home to my small town on the other half of the continent.

 

I wanted to tell you how beautiful that city truly is. It's magnificent. I fell in love with it. Well, I have to admit it wasn't really love on the first sight but some time while I was there, a love was born. Now I'm just sitting at home, dreaming about going back there one day.

I didn't see much while I was there, but the few things I got to see were quite enough for me to fall in love with it. My cousin happened to be there at the same time I was, so he took me out sight seeing once. And what a night it was. We went to the center of Munich, Marienplatz. It was so beautiful and so amazing. We just walked around for like two hours. Spent a lot of that time watching talented people perform. We got to see a magician doing some tricks, and in the end he performed a trick in which he literally choked himself with a rope but then, suddently, while he was tightening it around his neck it appeared in someone else's hands. We also saw a boy who was doing some tricks with his dog. But that did not go well as the dog was more amazed with the public watching them than fulfilling the expectations. I laughed a bit there. The best part were the break dancers. Three guys played music on their phones and danced around. And some kids joined them and the guys taught those kids some tricks as well. It was truly amazing. I'm gonna post a video for you guys, too.

This trip, as I like calling it, will forever be remembered as my first real trip ever.