Taxi and Eco Vehicle Designs

Taxi Design I chose

Currently Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is holding a design competition in several categories. The most famous category is the Taxi Design Contest. People of Istanbul can vote for their new taxi's from this link. There are 4 different taxi designs and I think they are all very modern looking and thoughtfully designed. However, I voted for design B since I had to choose one. You can vote by selecting "OY VER" which is written under the photos of the designs. I am not sure if people living outside Istanbul's votes also count but I'm guessing they do since there is a website that you can vote from anywhere around the world.

Eco Vehicle Fayton

The other categories include Eco Vehicle Design, Taxi Stop Building Design and Communication and Design. Among the Eco Vehicle Design finalists there is one that is being advertised by one of my friends. I think she knows the designer or someone close to the designer. "Eco Vehicle Design" is written as "Eko Arac Tasarim" in Turkish on the website I gave the link of. There are 3 finalists and even if my friend hadn't advertised Fayton, the name of the eco vehicle, I would've given my vote to it anyway. I think the design is very original, fayton means carriage in English but fayton refers to carriages drawn by horses, and as you might have noticed the eco vehicle does remind you of a horse carriage. So, in short vote for Fayton! :) You can vote for any design until June 29th. Also I believe that you can vote each day, so there is no restriction of voting only once.

Before Sunrise - Before Sunset

We recently watched two movies from Netflix. My husband insisted on watching since he had heard that they were great movies but I hadn't heard anything about them before. As you may have guessed the movies are related. Before Sunset is a sequel to Before Sunrise. Both movies basically have two characters, a man (played by Ethan Hawke) and a woman (played by Julie Delpy). If you're looking for some action these movies will not give you that because they are based on the dialogues between the two characters. IMDB categorizes both of the movies as romance and drama.

Before Sunrise Poster

The first movie, Before Sunrise was released in 1995. In the story a man and a woman meet on a train in Europe. The man is a young American who will be going back to his country the next morning and the woman is from France. The young man needs to get off the train in Vienna because his flight will be leaving from this city the next morning and he does not have money to spend on a hotel so he asks the young French girl if she will join him until he has to leave for his flight the next morning. And to his luck the French girl says yes! They spend the night walking the streets of Vienna talking about, well, anything really :). So there is a lot of talking going on in the movie and to admit at first I was a little bored but I kept watching. Finally when the movie was over I thought it was very different from the movies I watched recently and was I glad that I kept watching!

Before Sunset Poster

The second movie, Before Sunset was released in 2004, 9 years after the initial movie. The same characters from the first movie reunite after 9 years. The young American man has written a book about his encounter with a French girl in Europe 9 years ago and that same French girl has read the book. The man comes to Europe to promote his book and in his final destination, which is Paris, the French girl makes an appearance at his last interview. Afterwards, they spend the rest of the day together until the man has to leave for America again. As expected they do a lot of talking and catching up :). They are both curious about what the other one was up to during the 9 years they were apart.

Both of the movies' ratings are the same, 8.1 out of 10 on IMDB and this means a lot of people liked it :). If you're looking for something original I can definitely suggest this series. However, if you're in the mood for a classic Hollywood movie you may get bored while watching.

Human Planet

We started watching Human Planet last week. We watched  "Episode 2: Deserts: Life in the Furnace" and "Episode 3: Arctic: Life in the Deep Freeze". Actually my husband also watched "Episode 1: Oceans: In to the Blue" so I have to watch that on my own.

IMDB categorizes Human Planet as a documentary and yet its rating is 9.2/10. I think the rating truly reflects how well the series is. The show takes us to places where Mother Nature's hostility shapes the way humans live.I was never bored while watching the episodes, everything was fascinating! I got to learn many things.

For example, in Episode 2 the men of Niger’s Woodabe tribe put themselves on display. These men actually enter a beauty contest and dance for the judges. The judges are women and if they choose a man, the chosen man gets the honor of spending the night with the judge who picked him. Even if the men are married their wives do not protest because if a judge chooses their husband this means that he is very beautiful and it is an honor to be married to such a man. I've put a picture of the men that are competing in the beauty contest. As you can see they also paint their faces for the judges.

From Episode 2: Deserts: Life in the Furnace

In Episode 3, we learned that you can eat fermented sea birds. In the Arctic, more specifically several families in the far north of Greenland catch sea birds during the summer and wait until the summer is over to eat them. The winters are very harsh in this part of the world so they prepare food for the coming winter by fermenting sea birds. During the summer the sea birds are placed inside seal skin that contains fat. A single seal skin can hold up to 200 sea birds. After the seal skin is full of sea birds it is sewn up so that it is airtight. To avoid flies the sewn part of the seal skin is rubbed with seal fat. Finally, the seal skin full of sea birds is placed under a pile of rocks until the sea birds are fermented and ready to eat. This dish is called kiviaq and loved by the Inuit families.

Main ingredient of kiviaq: Auk birds

 

 

 

 

There are so many other interesting things I haven't mentioned here. You have to watch at least 1 episode and see the fascinating lives of people that stand up to very harsh living conditions!

Red Lentil Curry Recipe

Red Lentil Curry

We will be away for nearly a month starting on June 30th that's why I'm trying to empty the pantry as much as I can. I had red lentils and I didn't want to make lentil soup. I was looking for a recipe that would be considered a meal. I found a red lentil curry recipe. It didn't take long to make and we really liked it. I'm sure you'll love it if you're craving for Indian food or curry. I know it doesn't look very nice but it tastes good. I think it is pretty healthy considering you're mostly eating protein and carbohydrates. There is very little fat in this recipe. Also as the link suggests it doesn't take more than 40 minutes to prepare and cook it.

Craving for Chocolate

Aghh it's not even 9 am but I am craving for chocolate and I unfortunately know the reason for this. I hadn't been eating chocolate for a while and last night I ate a Twix bar. Now, I can't stop thinking of chocolate! I may as well get dressed and go to Giant Eagle to buy some chocolate for breakfast :).

The devil :P

I've read here that 1 package of Twix bar has 280 calories and has SATURATED FAT EQUIVALENT to11 strips of bacon. I don't eat bacon but I've found out that 11 strips of bacon is a lot so eating a Twix bar should definitely be considered! The link I've given also lists America's Worst Supermarket Foods and gives alternative choices. For example instead of eating a Twix bar we can eat a 100 Grand bar which has 190 calories and has less than half of the saturated fat found in 1 package of Twix.

Healthier compared to Twix

 

I haven't tried a 100 Grand bar yet but I'm going to keep this in mind before buying a Twix bar. If you're determined not to eat chocolate but don't know what to do I suggest you read How to Stop Sweet Cravings and 13 Ways to Stop Sugar Cravings.

Update: I ate the fresh blackberries I bought last week to get rid off my chocolate craving and so far I'm feeling satisfied. 

TV Show Psych

About a month ago I wrote about Psych however my opinions about the show has changed since then so I have to write about it again. First of all I have to admit it is great! I just can't get enough, I'm already watching episodes from Season 4 and unfortunately there aren't many episodes left from this season. It is sooo funny, especially the lead character Shawn is amazing. I strongly suggest that you watch this show if you're interested in crime and comedy genres. However, you have to keep on watching if you don't like it at first because all the characters are great and it takes some time to get to know them. Also in contrast to every other crime show out there this show doesn't take itself so seriously. You get to laugh a lot instead of becoming depressed.

The show wrapped up its 5th season at the end of last December. It seems like there is going to be a 6th season, yay! I did some research and found out the most interesting Psych Trivia.

1)  Creator Steve Franks was inspired by his father, who was a Los Angeles Police officer, would teach him how to be observant. (To people who haven't watched the show yet, almost every episode starts with memories from the past. In these memories we see how Shawn's dad teaches him to be more observant and these memories are somehow related to the content of the crime in that same episode)

2) Shawn (James Roday) and Detective O'Hara (Maggie Lawson) are dating in real life.

3) A pineapple appears somewhere on-screen in most episodes. (I haven't noticed this that much so I'll be keeping an eye out for pineapples in the next episode I watch)

By the way I also looove the shows theme song. It is performed by the friendly indians which is a band and creator Steve Franks is also a member.

Columbus Convention Center Events

Yesterday we decided to study on campus and when we were done with studying we went to see X-Men: First Class. We enjoyed the movie, it met our expectations. If you want to see an action movie with a story I suggest you see the latest X-Men movie. To tell you the truth I liked it more than I would have guessed. I am not a die hard fan of the X-Men series but have watched all the movies except, X-Men Origins: Wolverine,  which hit theaters on 2009.

After watching the movie we took the bus home. Unfortunately when we got off the bus it started pouring rain and although it is a 5-7 min walk from the bus stop to our apartment we headed to the Columbus Convention Center, which is just across the road from the bus stop where we usually get off, to wait until the rain stopped.

We were surprised with the amount of people in the convention center and realized that there were two events going on in the convention center at the same time. Major League Gaming a.k.a. MLG was in Columbus. There were people playing Halo:Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Starcraft 2. Also we saw many people dressed up in scary outfits. It was like Halloween. After walking around the convention center searching for the food court we also found out why people had dressed like that. The midwest haunters convention was in Columbus. There were two very interesting events going on in the convention center. Due to the pouring rain we realized that the convention center could be home to very different events so for the future we decided to keep track of the events in the convention center to not miss out on great activities :).

Lens Solutions for Soft Contact Lenses

Since we came to the United States I've been using renu fresh multi-purpose solution as my lens solution. I had been using renu back in Turkey so it was a brand that I trusted. However, I was having a burning feeling in my eyes when I put on my lenses in the mornings. Also I sometimes would have watery eyes during the day. I always blamed myself that the lenses were getting old and I should change them but I learned that this wasn't the case.

renu fresh multi-purpose solution

CVS no rub disinfecting
lens care solution

I have been using CVS no rub disinfecting lens care solution for 10 days and I am much happier. My eyes do not burn in the mornings and rarely get watery. However, I don't think it is fair to compare them because they have different ingredients and usage directions. I originally bought the CVS lens solution for my husband but he found it inconvenient. Due to the ingredients of the CVS lens solution you cannot rub your lens with the solution and directly wear them. The lenses have to be put in a special lens case that contains a neutralizing disc and you have to wait at least 6 hours before you can wear them (CVS's product also gives 1 free lens case with neutralizing disc). Well, you can wear them without waiting for 6 hours but you have to buy a saline solution that you can use to clean the contact lenses with before you actually put on the contact lenses. Compared to all the lens solutions I've known and used the product I got from CVS is different, you cannot clean your lens and put them in your eyes immediately. There are other well known brands that are similar to this lens solution type I'm currently using. I have to say though, CVS's lens solution was very cheap, $4.19 and I'm so far satisfied with it. You can also buy a pair of CVS saline solution for $2.69 but I haven't tried their saline solution yet since I've been waiting for 6 hours before putting my lenses on.

Birthday Girl :)

OSU Cup and OSU Football PEZ

Yesterday, a.k.a. June 3rd was my birthday. I'm one year older and wiser I hope :). It was a lovely day, we went shopping and grabbed dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. The weather was warm but definitely not hot so we sat outside and enjoyed the summery weather.

If you go to The Cheesecake Factory then you have to eat desert and it should be cheesecake. We followed the tradition and got ourselves a 7-inch Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake to go. Actually my friends bought the cheesecake as a birthday cake for me :). It was delicious, we ate half of it when we came home and ate the other half today.

Cheesecake Birthday Cake

I've received lovely notes and gifts from my family and friends. I love them all very much, they are very special. I posted pics of my gifts, they may give you ideas for your loved ones' special days. None of the pictures do justice due to our old camera :(. Especially to the necklace which is green-pink and really shiny in real life.

A timeless Swarovski necklace

Edible Arrangements

Opening the package!

Yummy fruits up close

Bath Gel & Soap with box

Bath Soap up close

Bath Gel up close

 

New Offers - Deals

I received two new offers today. One is from Best Turkish Food and the other one is from Netflix.

If your order is $50 or more you save $5 with the promotional code "TURKILI" at Best Turkish Food. The code expires on 06/05/2011.

Netflix has sent me an email saying that they give a 1 month free trial to people I forward the email to. The offer ends on 06/15/2011 so if you want a 1 month free trial just let me know by writing a comment to this post and I'll forward the email to you and you will be able to take advantage of this offer.
*(or send me your email address to breadcrumbsonmycountertop@gmail.com)

Buying a Used Car

We started looking for used cars again. It is such a tiring process for us because we have no idea about cars and are skeptic about each car we like. One of our friends suggested a website that we can use to check the history of the vehicles that we are interested in. Here is the link. We only new about carfax which charges you $34.99 for 1 report and $44.99 for 5 reports. The link I suggested gives you free access to vehicle history reports but you have to create an account and can only look up 3 vehicle history reports per day. 

Buying a used car is very risky and currently we're trying to find ways to minimize that risk. Our more experienced friends suggested that we should definitely show the car to a mechanic before we actually buy it. Showing a car to a mechanic usually costs about $50-$100 here in Columbus, OH. However, we haven't taken any car to a mechanic yet.

I am interested in smaller cars like Suzuki Reno and Honda Fit. Unfortunately, the car dealers usually have large sedans. We are still looking around for the perfect car for us that doesn't cost much.