Istanbul is ready for the new year night (Erkan is not though)

Special new year lightning-work at Beyoğlu, Taksim. Technicalities given here in Turkish.

Sofyali 9: Keeping it Real in Asmalimescit

It?s hard not to feel pangs of nostalgia when walking through Beyoglu?s booming Asmalimescit neighborhood these days (and nights). The old corner butcher shop with its window display of lamb carcasses? Gone and replaced by a generic bar imaginatively named ?The Corner.? The veteran grocery store where the colorful and meticulous arrangement of products was an accidental pop art masterpiece? Gone and replaced by an utterly forgettable Chinese restaurant. The laid-back café and bar run by a colorful character who always sat in a corner wearing a fedora? Kicked out by a rapacious landlord and replaced by a bar so faceless that it actually had to be named ?Faces.?

This Malaysian guy has a good and long post on his Istanbul trip with many photos.

In Istanbul, Where Breakfast Is King
New York Times (blog)
But travelers to Istanbul don’t have to venture nearly 900 miles eastward to sample this authentic regional specialty. Locals trudging the hills of Beyoglu

Istanbul Eats » Beans: An Investigative Report
By admin
Until visiting some of Istanbul’s shrines to the baked bean, we generally regarded the dish as something eaten out of a can beside railroad tracks. But Turkey takes this humble food seriously; that means chefs in tall toques carefully

Experience gained, experience lost on Istanbul’s 2010 agency
Hurriyet Daily News
After a year dogged by embezzlement allegations and resignations, Istanbul will officially become the 2010 European Capital of Culture on Jan. 16.