Dearest Members,
Having
lived through a life as tempestuous
(fırtınalı) as I could make it, I have now
come to
believe that indeed "We are such stuff as dreams are made on
and
our little life is rounded with a sleep..." And thereby hangs my tale
today...
[ "And
thereby hangs a tale..." This well-known expression comes from
As You Like It,
by William Shakespeare.
It means roughly “There’s in fact a real and interesting story behind this.”
You can use it as a linking sentence when you are going to talk about the
background of an interesting object, incident, or idea: “The old man said,
‘See that tatty-looking pocket watch in the box? It saved my life during the
war, and
thereby hangs a
tale.’” ]
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Last night I
dreamt I was in New York. Following a comfortable flight, during which we
had enjoyed the extraordinary sight of endless cloud plains that stretched
before our eyes, the plane had landed at Kennedy Airport in the late
afternoon. I had taken a cab straight to the Waldorf-Astoria...
Here I was at
the reception area now, and had the following conversation with the friendly
beauty at the reception desk:
RECEPTIONIST:
Good evening, sir. Can I help you?
İZBUL:
Yes, please. I'd like a DOUBLE room for the night. You do have some
vacancies?
RECEPTIONIST:
Do you have a reservation, sir?
İZBUL:
I'm afraid not.
RECEPTIONIST:
I'm sorry, but we're fully booked.
İZBUL:
But my dear friend MADONNA called me only yesterday to say she'd meet me
here. She said I should have no problem getting a room at this time of year.
RECEPTIONIST:
You're a friend of MADONNA's?!
İZBUL:
Why, yes. We're long time friends, actually...
RECEPTIONIST:
In that case, if you would just sign here, please, sir...
İZBUL:
Can I pay by credit card?
RECEPTIONIST:
Certainly. We take Visa, Master Card and American Express. Could you fill in
this form, please?
İZBUL:
Do you need my passport number?
RECEPTIONIST:
No, just your address and your signature will do.
İZBUL: (After I filled out
the form) Here you are.
RECEPTIONIST:
Thank you. If you need anything, dial "0" for the reception area. Have a good
stay!
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The next
evening, Madonna arrived from Hollywood. She and myself met for an evening
meal at some posh restaurant downtown...
MADONNA:
I want a table for two, please.
HEAD
WAITER: Yes, ma'am.
Right this way, please... There is a nice view of the city from this
table.
MADONNA: Splendid! Now, what
shall we have for dinner this evening？
What do you have today?
WAITER:
Here's the
menu... May I take your order?
MADONNA:
I'd like a fruit cup, lobster with string beans, and French fried
potatoes.
İZBUL:
I'll have a bowl of tomato soup and a nice steak with carrots and a baked
potato.
WAITER:
How would you
like your steak?
İZBUL:
Rare, please. Very rare...
MADONNA:
How about a green salad for each of us?
İZBUL:
That's fine.
WAITER:
What would you
like to drink?
MADONNA:
Let's have some wine with the meal.
İZBUL:
Yes, let's.
MADONNA:
Château d’Yquem 1995?
İZBUL:
Just Papaz Karasi will do fine for me, thanks.
WAITER:
What would you
like for dessert?
İZBUL:
I'd like a ton of apple brown betty with rum whipped cream. (Wow!!)
MADONNA:
I'll have assorted TURKISH DELIGHT -- rose, pistachio, hazelnut, cream and
cucumber flavoured. (Wow!!)
WAITER:
Certainly.
(While eating)
İZBUL:
This steak is really superb!
MADONNA:
I'm glad you like it. My lobster tastes great, too.
İZBUL:
Will you please pass me the salt?
MADONNA:
All right. Do you want the pepper, too?
İZBUL:
No, thank you.
(After dinner)
İZBUL:
That was a nice dinner.
MADONNA:
It certainly was.
(She then called out to the waiter)
Waiter, please let me have the check.
(In Britain, you'd say: "May I
have the bill, please?")
WAITER:
Here you are, ma’am.
-------------------------------------------------------
Now, it was time for
drinks...
MADONNA: Where
shall we go tonight, Yalçın?
(She pronounced my name as melodiously as a love
bird would sing.)
İZBUL:
Do you remember the place we went to the last time? What a great time we
had that night. Let's go there again.
MADONNA:
Okay. Let's go there. But there's one condition. You're my guest tonight.
İZBUL:
Oh, no. Let's split the bill.
MADONNA:
No, no. I insist.
İZBUL:
Well, if you insist....
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(Inside the bar)
MADONNA: Well, I'll have a manhattan. What
will you have,
Yalçın?
İZBUL:
Me? Scotch on the rocks. And a COLA TURKA to go with it...
(later on...)
MADONNA:
Would you like another drink?
İZBUL:
Well, I'd like to try a Manhattan.
MADONNA:
Waiter... Uh, excuse me, would you please give us two Manhattans.
(After drinking)
MADONNA:
How about another one?
İZBUL:
No, thank you. I've had enough.
MADONNA:
This is just right for me, too. We have a long night before us...
Shall we go, then?
İZBUL:
Yes, Thank you very much for your treat tonight.
MADONNA:
Don't mention it. It was really nice to have your company.
-------------------------------------------------------
The next
morning, WE checked out of The Waldorf-Astoria, and took an early flight
to Hollywood, where I would be the guest of honour at a dinner party for
close family friends. Here is a picture of me as the "gentleman of honour"
at the table:
And here is
a summary diagrammatic view of the table they laid for us:
