Lavishly exquisite ... in Istanbul

a Lavishly exquisite Hotel in Istanbul. Yes, it is the Ritz Carlton. Over looking the Bosphorus and right opposite to the phenomenal Dolmabahce palace at the European side of Istanbul. No wonder why the Ritz Carlton group was rated a Strong First "Most Prestigious Luxury Hotel Brand" among 15 rated luxury brand beating the Four Seasons (which came second). This however, comes with a staggering price tag. eg, the lentil soup costs 13 JD (19 USD), Turkish Coffee 11 JD and snickers chocolate costs you something like 12 JD (The bar only not the entire pack). The service is amazingly superb and the staff are astonishingly friend (compared to Turks), but you feel that they were taught lessons. Once you have an eye contact with any of them , you feel that, some where in the system, a push button action is invoked and SMILE event executed. I tried to observe this performance over a period of time; it is so robotically crafted and this seemingly unconditional loop keeps iterating over and over without reporting a single bug in its logic. I guess the EXIT statement takes place when they leave the hotel to get a chance to immensely indulge themselves frenzy Istanbulian lifestyle caused by a spaghetti styled coded system.

The first language in Turky is obviously Turkish
The Second Language in Turky is strangely Turkish
The Third Language in Turkey is (unbelievably) Turksih
The fourth Lauguage in Tureky is sadly Turkish
The fifth language is normally a mix (some German, some Arabic and some English ..)

I wanted to ask what people learn as a second language at schools, but could not pose this question in any of the most popular 4 languages in Turkey!

What was most interesting for me was the fact that I went to Friday prayers at the DolmaBahce mosque (By the way i don’t know the root of the name, i know Dolma is stuffed vegetables Ya3ni Ma7ashi in Arabic). Same rituals as in any other friday prayer, but most intriguing was the fact that Salah is preceded by Quran read quite nicely in 90% near perfect pronunciation. Then the speech started with "Alsalat 3la Alnabi" Also in Arabic and many Du3a in Arabic by a Turksih Imam. Then the speach is Turkish {very short , just a few minutes, but i understood exactly what he was saying since, he was introducing some Quranic verses every now and then} The speech was about Isra and Miraj. Then the Salah took place in less than 2 minutes, (Al-fatiha and a small verses afterwards, i mean really really small) Looks like this Friday Prayer is well suited for tourist. A good offer (Iqama, speech and salat in less than 7 minutes,, we beat any other offer!!)

To treat yourself well foodwise, Balikçi Sabahattin is a fish restuarant that serves really good food. This is a place i would come back to. That was not only my opinion , but the entire group unanamously agreed (Price is about 50 USD / person -no Alcohol)

The most religious belief that the Turks observe seem to be Halal meat (kosher). It is kind of fun to notice how Infuriate they could become when you ask them if the meat is Halah (The answer is predictably Al-Hamdulila), immediatly then, they ask you if you care for a beer!

Anyway, the question that is still unanswered:

Are they proud of being Muslims???

So far, i could not mingle with the right people to get answers

Finally, it could possible be appropriate for me to mention at this stsage that my grandfather is half turkish!

We left Istabul two days back, we are now in an area called Turkbuku in Bodrum province. Our hotel is very big, it more like Spa. Some Russian Tourists but surprisingly, mostly Turks are staying in the hotel. Very little from the eastern med. We ran across two jordanian families that we know from Amman! and could over hear and Eyptian family and that is about it. More about Pricess hotel and Turkbuku later

Ammar

Untitled

maybe it is LIS (Lack of Interest Syndrome) or my every-once-in-a-while mood swing cycle. Not been in the mood.
As a remedial, i am taking a break, Yeh, i am traveling ! What is unique this time is the fact that I shall be traveling on vacation with family and relatives. The initial plan was to Spain (i declined then since it was going to be hectic), but joined in, when the destination was changed to a near by country. Two days at Istanbul, then some place called Bodrum. I have been to Istanbul some 10 years back and I thought it was a great City, I am keen to see it again, and feel any change. Also would like to sense Turks perception (especially those who are living in major cities) about the ruling party. Bodrun??? Really have no idea! hope it is better than Antalya. Only time will tell

Turkey, i must be getting something wrong

I meet people of Turkish descent on frequent occasions, who still pledge allegence to Mustapha Kamal Ataturk, ,who properly cry his memory as we speak, who pay attribute to his grave and offer flowers, who never visited Mecca and probably is not on their agenda, who never spilled a tear for prophet mohamad or any other prophet for that matter. A few month back, huge masses organized public demonstration calling for a wildly secular Turkey. I cannot but be forced to believe that separation between State and Religion is so explicit over there. Today I find out that Turkey's ruling AKP won 48.1 percent of the vote in a landslide national election victory after two thirds of votes had been counted. The AKP has presented itself consistently and credibly as a new type of Islamic-oriented party. Who voted for AKP then?

Ammar Sajdi

Starting Salaries, how much should you be making

Average Starting Salaries in the USA witnessed 3-6% increase this year.
Compared to starting salaries in Jordan, the figures shown below are obviously sky high. However, it is worth mentioning that the taxing system in the US is also equally unforgiving
Engineering, by far is the best paying job




Source: Yahoo finance

Zade Dirani returns to Jordan! musical performance

Accompanied by a 30 piece orchestra, Zade returns to Jordan for his first public performance in more than six years. Anybody can suggest if this worth attending


ammar

Mish Tabee3i

Where else could you possibly witness such a scene?
pciture taken by Ayaa Almusa

Similar Minds

http://similarminds.com/

most of us have some personality issues; compare your personality to the norms

http://similarminds.com/personality_disorder.html

ammar

Mabruk -- engagement season @work

A substantial percentage of ppl were I work are getting engaged/married . i mean in the last few month and until the end of this year, the percentage is more than 50%. Two men from Informobility (mobile based software development company) got engaged to Two women from REALSOFT. This month one person got married at PALCO, Next month 2 people from REALSOFT are getting married. The month of Oct, two couples, and the month after another 2 couples, at the end of year one person, and just now, i received an email announcing that another women in REALSOFT got engaged. Never before, REALSOFT, Informobility and PALCO witnessed that high rate of coupling. Anybody would like to apply for job, get paid and become a potential marriage candidate.

female circumcision

I was shocked to learn that female circumcision is widely practiced in many countries especially in Africa. It was the death of a 12-year-old girl in Upper Egypt a few days ago that triggered an angry barrage of appeals from human rights groups to both the government and the medical profession to act swiftly and stamp out the practice.

after this incident, Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban
on female circumcision (also known as genital mutilation)

Why do people conduct this practice, Does it really inhibit women excitation. I though this is all in the mind anyway?

additionally, i do not recall having come across any Islamic recitation in support of female circumcision. However, male circumcision is widely practiced all over the word for Hygienic reason (if among other things)

Bahrain and Iran

I read a Local Bahraini newspaper yesterday an article quoting high ranking Iranian official as saying that Bahrain is an Iranian Island. Bahrainis of Iranian decedent tend to agree while Bahrainis of Arab decendent do not agree.

The following extract from wikipeadia sheds some light into Bahrain modern history

From the sixteenth century to 1743, control of Bahrain drifted between the Portuguese and the Persians. Ultimately, the Persian Afsharid king, Nadir Shah, invaded and took control of Bahrain.
In the late eighteenth century, the al-Khalifa family invaded and captured the islands from their base in neighbouring Qatar. In order to secure Bahrain from returning to Persian control, the Emirate entered into a treaty relationship with the United Kingdom and became a British protectorate. The population of the island was estimated at less then 10,000 persons.
The British withdrew from Bahrain on August 15, 1971, making Bahrain an independent emirate

By The way, Bahrain was the first country to find oil in the region and that was back in 1932.

Suffice it to say that even though i only spend a few days in Bahrain on monthly basis, but i do enjoy my stay and get very well with the Bahrainis. I drive illegally in Bahrain because the Bahraini authorities do not acknowledge Jordanian Drivers licenses nor an International Driver license issues from Jordan. Taxis (not only expensive) but are rare commodities, you could easily wait for 45 minutes (under 44 Degree temperature) waiting for a Taxi, which incidentally happened to me and my colleague Mohammad Mansour outside the Ministry of Social Development. Even after the 45 minutes, we ended up calling a friend.

I will travel back to Amman tomorrow early in the morning, it is only 2 hour flight.

Bahrain is also known for the best quality natural pearls, In fact, the government of Bahrain prohibits the sale on industrial pearls in the island of Bahrian. A certificate is issued to prove the authenticity of every purchase. I Went to buy a pearl necklace for my wife, but i went late and the market was closed. maybe next time

I think PETRA desrved it