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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
Oh what a day.We were all geared up for the trip to UK tomorrow and thinking of an early start to do the final things, such as update the laptop with the latest web detail, so that I could maintain things whilst staying with our friends.Unfortunately we had a tremendous thunder storm starting in the early hours. Finally at 7 a.m. there was the most tremendous thunder clap right overhead and then the lights went out. We were without electric for the whole of the day, which sort of buggered up our plans.
Finally when Joan and I had decided that the only thing to do was to go out to eat, mainly because we did not want to open the freezer, we realised that it was only our little road that was now without electric.When we got home from the restaurant, we turned on the external trip and on came our electric, apart from one little problem, the downstairs trip kept popping out, so I had to isolate the circuit. Finally decided that it was my office area, where the computer is. By this time it was around 9 p.m. and we were due to get up at 4 a.m., so I quickly tried to switch things on the see where the problem was. There was a small flash and a bang and smell of something burning. At this time I had no idea what the problem was, so just packed the laptop ready for the morning, took out all the plugs and left the problem for our return, just hope that it is not too expensive.
On a positive note, we went to the Sevena Restaurant at the junction of the Alsancak turning and had an excellent meal. Well worth a visit folks.
Good trip over to UK and the flight was on time. We had arranged, in advance, to hire a car from a company called "1car1" at Stanstead and they met us with a courtesy car within 10 minutes of clearing customs. The car was ready, a 1 year old Vauxhall Corsa, two drivers and full comp. insurance at a price of only £119.00 for 7 days. A good deal that is worth a note as it was much cheaper than anything else we could come up with. They have an e-mail address of stanstead@1car1.com .
It was great to see Les and Jill again and we had a really pleasant evening catching up on all the things that we have missed over the last 12 months. Have to admit though that Joan and I took to our bed at around 9 p.m. as we had worked out that our 4 a.m. early start gave us a 26 hour day and we started to feel shattered.
I took the girls out shopping for the day and Joan was successful in getting many of the things she was specifically looking for. We are lucky down this area of Kent as there is a McArther Glen Outlet Centre just outside Ashford and most major retail businesses are represented. Have to admit that Joan was quite lenient on the plastic card, but suppose there is time yet.
Joan and I went over to Chestfield, on the outskirts of Canterbury this evening, to have dinner with Bill and Margaret. Bill and Joan had worked together at the University College for a number of years and they had been over to visit us last year. Bill is coming up to retirement this year and it sounds as though he was getting ready for it and beginning to plan ahead.
Naturally we had to spend a couple of hours in the Canterbury shops before going on for dinner, but I suppose that was only to be assumed anyway.
Spent some time today reverse loading this website from the server to my laptop as I have no idea what I am to expect when we get back home and I had not saved the latest version on to here, before the power failure. I also managed to get in to my e-mail server and discovered the disadvantage of not having a spam blocker on this machine. 241 e-mails of which I was able to delete all but eleven. I could have had about 20 new mortgages, around the same number of special loans, a bucket full of Viagra and quite a few female contacts. Maybe that's what the Viagra is for, but at my age who knows or cares.
Anyway the important thing is that tomorrow morning I should be able to update the site with the happenings here in not so sunny Kent.
This evening we went down to one of our old favourite restaurant haunts here in New Romney. A restaurant that has been run for very many years by a family of Greek Cypriots, who came over to the UK back in the 1950's. Jill and Les had arranged for us to meet Peter and Ann there also so that gave us a chance to see them again during our brief visit. After the restaurant we all retired to The Prince of Wales pub for a few real ales, very nice.
Traditional English Sunday. The full fry up breakfastat Les and Jill's, followed by a visit toThe Prince of Wales pub where we enjoyed a couple of beers. The following two pictures are specials for Michael and George.Now you see it followed by now you don't. Sorry lads but I can't resist.
Yesterday I took the ladies into Ashford for another spell around the shops, at least this time I got to spend some time in the big B & Q warehouse, something I miss over here. Something that I don't miss though, is the £4.00 for a few hours parking, we only pay 20p for the whole day here. Joan seemed to come away happy with her little trip so I guess the suitcases are going to be a little heavier now.In the evening Joan and I went back to Ashford, to visit our friends Paul and Lynn. We have not seen them since out leaving party in July 2002, despite numerous promises to visit. These two have quite a large family and a couple of grandchildren who they spoil rotten, so they don't seem to have had much time to themselves, on top of that Lynn has not been too well during this time, as she suffers from MS and sometimes finds it a bit wearing. Hopefully they will make the effort later this year, a lazy couple of weeks in the sun would do Lynn some good maybe.Today, the 8th, Joan and I went to the big Tesco supermarket on the outskirts of Ashford to do the shopping as ordered by the Lapta lot. Melton Mowbray pies, Cheddar cheese etc., then we spent some of the afternoon trying to spread the load around our suitcases. In the evening we all four walked up the high street to The Cinque Ports Arms, a 16th century building turned in to a pub/restaurant some years ago. Ownership has changed since we left but we all four hada superb dinner so the old quality remains.A short visit but we had a good time staying with our very dear friends, who we miss lots and also getting the chance to meet up with other old friends and catch up on the gossip
A good trip back yesterday with everything more or less on time. Michael and Barbara picked us up at the airport and we were able to unpack and clear up before going to bed. One thing for sure is that the pussy cats were glad to see us and very pleased that we had put on some heating.This morning I had the task of trying to identify the electrical problem which we walked away from last week. By eliminating things in stages I was able to establish that the problem lay in my main computer tower, so I took it down town to the repair shop and now it's fingers crossed that there is not too much expensive damage. It must have been a direct strike of lightening as I have two surge protectors in line, in my office and the strike actually blew one of these as well
Well I got my computer tower back this afternoon and it would seem that the lightening strike had blown my power pack only, so with that; and a replacement surge protection device, I got away with just under £50.00, Could have been a lot worse.
The weather is still very cold over here, so Joan's plans to get in to the garden are confined to a couple of hours in the middle of the day only. February is the best month to do all the pruning etc., so she wanted to get stuck in to it before going back to school next week, guess we are going to have to do all this work as and when during the next few weeks.
Friday night, so guess what, down to Deano's with the gang.
This morning we took a trip over to the hypermarket across the border to stock up the freezer. Michael and Barbara joined us so we stopped off for a light lunch before returning then it was a quiet evening in, in front of a big log fire with one of the DVD's we had brought back from the UK with us.
Valentines day. Joan and I are meeting Pat and John Creasey at the Grapevine restaurant this evening to celebrate the occasion. They are over here this week to inspect progress on their house in Alagadi. They hope to be able to move over sometime in the spring, early summer if all goes to plan.
Over the weekend there were some points of interest to you which have been reported in the local press and we understand also on UK television.
Firstly, the proposal to introduce a 15% tax on all property bought by foreign buyers. This new tax was introduced on 1st January and there has been a storm of protest over what in effect would be a threefold increase in tax due. The tax was introduced to partly offset the losses incurred by zero rating tax on basic foodstuffs, but clearly no consideration was given to the thousands of non-citizens whose buying permits had been sitting in the system, for many months. The Interior Minister said that there is no intention to reconsider the KDV (VAT) for those who agreed to purchase after the 1st of January, but that the government has a notion of evaluating the issue according to permission application date. He also said that they were studying the long drawn out system of issuing purchase permissions to foreigners, with a view to speeding up the process. But then we have all heard this one before. It looks like the government has put its foot in it again, but at least those of you who signed up during last year won't suddenly experience a tax hike on your property.
Other local news headlines. "Power cuts may go on for years", that's nice to know, means that we are back to thinking about generators again. "Planning for direct flight links". It would seem that a Turkish team has begun work aimed at readying Ercan Airport for direct international flights, but that it is a sizeable project, so watch this space.
We understand that over in the UK the Greek Cypriot propaganda machine has been working again and that an ITN news item mentioned the Oram's case, which has gone through the Greek Cypriot courts. It is a great shame that the TRNC propaganda machine is not as effective and that nobody mentions the thousands of acres of land in the south which is owned by Turkish Cypriots exiled in the North. I have been told, but cannot vouch for the truth, that Pathos Airport is built, on hundreds of acres of vineyards, owned by Turkish Cypriots, perhaps the Geek Cypriots would like to demolish that. One thing that you should all understand, the UK Foreign Office has always issued a statement saying that it would advise against buying in TRNC, it has to say that, as the only country in the world that recognises this part of the island is Turkey. Maybe in 2005 things will change, there are general elections here this month which hopefully will mean a more stable government and slowly some form form of recognition from the outside world which will help to resolve these issues. In the meantime this remains a wonderful place to live, beautiful mountains,sandy beaches and some even more remote, warm friendly people, warm climate (except in the winter - brrrr) , little or no crime, dreadful drivers and frustrations by the bucket full that you learn to live with. Come and enjoy, most of us who live here have no regrets and think the future will resolve the issues for us all.
Not masses of news for you this week, we seem to just be doing things related to the home, like shopping etc. This evening we did go, together with George and Susan, to The Farmhouse Restaurant, where they have a "Moo Bar". The occasion was a charity dinner in aid of a special cancer patient, a young local girl who needs a brain operation to remove a tumour. The tickets said fancy dress optional and because of the Moo Bar many at least wore cowboy hats. We had an excellent three course meal, the quality of which would suggest that the restaurant might be worthy of a visit. They had organiseda two piece band to entertain us, but as the room was very small it got a bit loud and we have to admit that the four of us bailed out around 11 p.m. and went round to Deano's for a last drink. The good news about the whole evening was that Christine, the organiser, told us that with this do and three previous things she had arranged, a total of 2,000 Euros had now been collected for the girls operation.
Bits of news out of the Saturday newspaper.
A complete U-turn on the 15% VAT rule for foreign buyers has now been confirmed. This will in future, only apply, to anybody who signed a contract after 1st January 2005. As tomorrow is election day here in the TRNC then maybe next week that will change things again, stranger things have happened over here.
It would seem that there are almost 150,000 Turkish Cypriots voting tomorrow. Polling stations open at 8 a.m. and the sale of alcohol is banned until after they close at 6 p.m., that probably would not include the supermarkets and like places, so there you go again with strange rules. There is a strong possibility that we will end up in the same situation again, a consortium with the current prime minister back in office, which of course means more of the silly sorts of legislation being proposed that we have had recently.
A US trade delegation flew in directly to Ercan airport this week, much to the annoyance of our neighbours in the south,. They say that they are working to boost Turkish Cypriot trade as a means of breaking their isolation. Well, well things may be moving along at last.
On the negative side there was a fire in the power station this week, as if we don't get enough power cuts now.
VERY URGENT.
I am jumping the gun a bit as this one is urgent. Yesterday evening I had my mobile phone cut off and now have a new number which is 0533 868 8579. Why was it cut off you may ask, did he not pay the bill, well no not exactly because it was a pay as you go system, so no credit, no calls, simple really.
Three years ago almost, when we arrived over here, the phone company had a system which prohibited non residents to own a mobile phone. A bit silly really because you could hardly run and scarper with a pay as you go system, leaving huge bills behind. At the time, we were going through the complicated process of obtaining a residents permit and we were aided by a man called Kemal, who knew his way around the system and did this sort of thing for a living. Every time we went with Kemal for some arranged meeting we seemed to hand over large lumps of money and never received a receipt for anything. A bit naive really, it was only later when talking to others we realised the error of our ways. One thing that Kemal did for us was to sign up for our mobile phone number and this is what I have been using for almost three years, buying new scratch cards each time.
I had for some time wanted to transfer to a contract account as I use my phone a lot and it is cheaper. I had also been told that you can now do this and retain your old number. Brilliant, no need to confuse anybody. So yesterday I went to the Turkcell office and asked them to contact Kemal and get his agreement and then give me a contract account. He agreed with the young lady in the Turkcell office that he would come down and transfer the original account to my name, that afternoon, then his lovely wife intervened.
Kemal's wife is Stacey, who now owns Abbey Estates in Bellapais and who once worked at Unwin Estates, before leaving very quickly one day. She was also very close friends with the Chandlers, our then next door neighbours, who buggered off to New Zealand and had the courage to write loads of, what can only be described as crap, on their website, three weeks after they left the country. When I called Kemal to find out why he had blocked the account, I got Stacey on the line and she made it very clear that it was because I had been slating her and her company to all and sundry and clearly she thought that this was a way of getting her own back. After some thought I decided that it was not worth a major argument as that would be stooping to her level, so hence the new phone number, as there is only one word to describe this action. PATHETIC and a bit of a pain in the ass!
Finally, if anyone out there knows of any instance when I have either verbally, or on this website, criticised her or her company, or any other company for that matter, then please send me an e-mail, I would be more than happy to apologise. I do know one thing though, I have to date never recommended her company and am very unlikely to do so in the future.
Thanks for the many e-mails supporting my comments of the 22nd. I was a bit uncertain initially, of airing the dirty washing this way, as it is not normally my style, but sometimes people irritate you more than normal. Anyway enough now.
I received a lovely picture this morning from my mate Les, showing his back garden scene when he got out of bed. This is the home we stayed in two weeks ago and I must say, you lot can keep it to yourselves. This is especially true when you think that Joan and I are having breakfast al-fresco most mornings now and that's at 7.30 a.m. Now we know that during this time of the year we can get varying temperatures and dry/wet days, but this is one hell of a lot better than that white stuff.
One other opportunity that I must tell you about. There is a "Grand Real Estate Raffle" being run at this time here in TRNC. This is in aid of both the Cancer and the Orthopedic Disability charities. The tickets are £5.00 each and the winner gets a choice of either a two bed bungalow or a 3 bed apartment. What a chance to own that home over here for only £5.00. Take a look at the followinglink to the detail and then e-mail Victorian homes who are donating the prize, I feel sure that they are willing to take a credit card payment off you.
This evening in the absence of many members of the Lapta Layabouts; they have gone off to Egypt for the week on a sightseeing tour, Joan and I went with Gill and Roger to the Shanghai Chinese restaurant by way of a change. It is a little while since Joan and I last went there but it makes a very pleasant change and the food is excellent. To round the evening off of course, we had a last drink at Deano's cabin where Joan got roped in for the ladies darts team, first match next Tuesday, that should be fun to report on.
This morning we had an early start to get over to the hypermarket in the south. We had promised Richard and Paul that we would take them over there and at the last minute, Richard came up with a customer who wanted to see him at 1 p.m. So it was off early and back in time for him to meet his customer.
This evening Joan and I had quiet evening in and after dinner dug out an old DVD, Alfie with Michael Caine. It might be getting a bit long in the tooth but still very funny.
Sunday, chores day. Joan in the garden pruning everything in sight and me painting the wrought iron work on the patio table. When "Metal Mickey", as we fondly call him, first brought us the table two years ago we thought lovely design. Now when I had to paint all those swirls with Hammerite, twice in one day, I was thinking,not so nice swirly bits. Unfortunately this year I have had to lift all the tiles I had used to top the table with, as the grouting I had used, left by the builders, turned out not to be waterproof. The consequence of this of course was that the fibre board I had used underneath had swollen up and started to force the tiles off. This time I have been lucky, I managed to locate a 4 x 2 meter piece of marine ply, very expensive at £24.00, but it should at least stand the weather if I use the proper grout.
As a result of our visit to the south yesterday we had bought a nice looking large fresh chicken for roasting and as Richard and Paul were spending the day moving office, we cooked the dinner. The lads brought a bottle of wine and some individual blackcurrant cheesecakes, so we were all prepared to enjoy. We where in fact very lucky. Dinner was ready, just, when the lights went out to herald another celebrated Cyprus power cut. No problem, with the aid of candles and a gas Tilley lamp in the kitchen, we were soon able to carve the poor old chicken and enjoy. We always know where to find the corkscrew, even in the dark. Every time this happens I get more determined to find a sensibly priced generator. In this instance the power didn't come back on again until 2.30 in the morning. We know that for a fact because having switched off all lights etc. that we were sure had been turned on, we forgot the kitchen extractor fan and the noise finally penetrated our sleep.
Finally news from the weekend English newspaper:-
Election results from last Sunday. The previous prime ministers party scored 44% of the vote, which leaves them in a slightly stronger position than before, but still needing a coalition partner to give them enough seats to govern. His aim is still to reunify the island and get into the EU. Is it me or do some of these people still believe that the EU is the ultimate golden chalice that will lead them to prosperity via handouts, without having to pump anything in to the central funds.
A new property owners group has been launched. Eupro, specifically set up to represent the interests of foreign property owners in the TRNC. The groups aim, amongst other things, is to counter Greek Cypriot propaganda on the property issue in the North. Already court orders are being sought, by a number of foreign residents, against the lawyer who brought the case against the Orams. Looks like the tables are being turned and personally we are certainly going to join this little group at only £25.00 per person or per individual property. For those of you in the UK there is an address. Eupro Limited, 26 York Street, London W1U 6PZ as the company is incorporated in the UK. As I get more information I will let you know.
More on the 15% tax levied on foreign property buyers. A Nicosia based lawyer is now suggesting that the whole law is illegal as it applies only to non-citizens and therefore breaches the regulations defined in the TRNC constitution. Also he suggests that the original 1992 KDV (VAT to you) law did not include immovable property on its listing of vatable items.
Finally this week, or maybe this short month, I have an apology to make. No not to the nice lady who had my phone cut off, but about the charity thingy we went to last week. I was given duff gen. about the reasons for raising all this money and Christine, who spends lots of her time on these valuable charity pursuits, sent me an e-mail to straighten me out, so here in her words are the real reasons for the fund raising:-
Thanks also for the mention of the 'Hoe Down' - not important but just in case.... (hope you don't mind).... it was actually in aid of Ciprian, who's a Romanian man and is now in Russia having some kind of pioneering stem cell surgery to hopefully help him recover some motor skills after having broken his spine (or maybe neck - not exactly sure) in a diving accident in the sea whilst on holiday a couple of years ago. He's 24 and whilst formerly very athletic, being an ex-student of Veronika (Club Lapethos), is now a tetraplegic and understandably very despondent about his current situation. Traian (the keyboard player - Veronika's son) is a personal friend of Ciprian's and keeps us in touch re. Ciprian's progress; both musicians gave their services free that night to help us raise money for Ciprian - an excellent example of how we can achieve more by working together, eh?
Suitably chastised Christine, next time I will ask the person doing the organising. Nice of you to say "hope you don't mind" before slapping my wrist.
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