The Corona Boat Trip, 2008
A thank you to the outgoing committee, May 2008
Mehmet Çetinkaya Gallery : photos courtesy Elaine Graham
Jo Malone : fragrances in Kanyon, 4 April 2008 : pictures
Coffee Morning at the Austrian Consulate, 2 April 2008 : thank you from the hostess
Good Friday / Easter Coffee Morning, 20th March 2008 : thank yous and pictures
Christmas Coffee Morning 2007 (photos courtesy Elaine Graham)
Corona Day Trip to Büyükada (Prince’s Island), 17th October 2007 : Jenny Smith : account and pictures
Cakes and puddings at the Ceylan, October 2007 : pictures
John Freely lecture, 14th March 2006 : review
Colour analysis, March 2006 : review
Vietnamese cooking demo, 10th March 2006 : review
Assorted pictures : pictures

Newsletter : June 2008
Newsletter : April / May 2008
Newsletter : March / April 2008
Newsletter : January / February 2008
Newsletter : December 2007
Newsletter : November/ December 2007
Newsletter : October / November 2007
 

Christmas 2007 - Coffee Morning

IWI bazaar November 2006

2005 and earlier...
 

Great Bake, November 2005

REVIEWS

March 2006

John Freely lecture
On the night of the 14th of March, 56 Corona members and friends were gathered in the Ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton for the love and interest of this beautiful city we live in. We felt so honored to have world-renowned Prof. John Freely give us a lecture on the Byzantine monuments of Istanbul. Prof. Freely is indeed a prolific writer so full of wisdom yet so modest and humble. A writer who looks like the legendary Ernest Hemingway and so friendly and sincere. I couldn’t describe how thrilled I was when I first contacted him over the phone and he agreed right away to give us a lecture. We were so fortunate to have not only Prof. Freely but also Prof. Hadi Ozbal to give us a brief presentation on the ancient capitals of Anatolia. In fact, Prof. Freely was Prof. Ozbal’s Physics professor when he was a student at Bosphrous University. Prof. Hadi has been teaching at Bosphrous University for 35 years. The last 25 years, he’s been carrying out research in Archaeometry, a new field where many physical and biological sciences examine archaeological materials. He specializes in ancient metals and metallurgy and in carrying out surveys in ancient Anatolian mines. With PowerPoint slides, he briefly showed us the ancient capitals of Turkey starting with the Hittites and continuing into late antiquity. This served to introduce a lecture series organized by the Archaeometry Research Center of the Bosphorus University. Prof. Ozbal then introduced Prof. Freely to us for the lecture on the Byzantine monuments of Istanbul. In the medieval period, Istanbul was known as Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire from 330 until 1453. For about an hour, Prof. Freely showed us with PowerPoint slides some extant Byzantine monuments which include the remains of the land and sea walls, the Hippodrome, imperial palaces, commemorative columns, reservoirs and cisterns, an aqueduct, a triumphal archway, a fortified port and some churches. It’s indeed a pity that we had only one hour and that Prof. Freely could not cover all the monuments and go into the details of the churches -- most notably Hagia Sophia, as well as the Church of the Pammakaristos (Fethiye Camii) and Church of Christ in Chora (Kariye Camii), which are my personal favorites. After the lecture, there were several requests from members for a follow-up lecture or, better yet, a day walk to be led by Prof. Freely. Unfortunately, his schedule is pretty full till mid-December when he has a deadline for publishing his new book. 

Colour Analysis
The sun was shining last Tuesday morning and I must admit feeling rather resentful at having committed myself to this "colour analysis" morning. Truthfully, I was skeptical on the whole colour analysis theory but curiosity and the promise of Corona members' biscuits made me think it was worth a go. As with most Corona events, once we arrived at Jax's lovely Zekirekoy villa (and we gasped at the forest views) we immediately got busy in depleting all her caffeine supplies. Diets out of the window as biscuits and cakes starting emerging. Having forgotten all about colours and merrily catching up with old friends and meeting new members; Jax expertly rounded us up and sat us down in front of a table that resembled a bazaar shop full of pashmina's- they were in fact a number of colour samples. She started her introduction to colour analysis by questioning us on what and how colours make us feel. I muttered that bright colours make me feel cheerful (although I have only worn black since starting my diet), someone else shouted out that deep lush colours made them feel sexy whilst another corner of the room mentioned that blue tones make them feel relaxed. The discussion had begun! Obviously pleased at provoking such different reactions, Jax then went on to ask us which categories we would use to divide colours. Seasons, tones, moods- everyone had an opinion! We then got a brief introduction to the various studies conducted on how colours affect people and the extensive process involved in how different colours affect an individual, which colours are best suited and will affect the individual's life in a positive way. Confidence was the key word. Regaining lost confidence or building one's confidence is what I believe is the main objective of colour analysis. Looking at my black trousers and top that have been my staple uniform since deciding I needed to lose weight, I was now hanging onto Jax's every single word! As Jax explained the different colour categories she uses: Light, Dark, Bright, Muted, Warm & Cool. We then all had a fun time chatting to each other trying to guess what category we fit into and were quite surprised at how instinctive the decision is when looking at someone else! We had a giggle trying different fabric colour samples against different categories and were constantly surprised by the results. I look great in fuschia! I am now hoping for another 80's revival in fashion! All in all, the colour analysis introduction resulted in being a thought provoking exercise that gave us all a little ego-boost!

Vietnamese cooking demo
10th March saw 10 enthusiastic Corona ladies turning up for Hoai’s Vietnamese cooking demo. Our appetites were whetted when we saw the array of ingredients ready on the table; shiny fresh levrek, beautiful aromatic fresh herbs, ginger, lemon grass and pineapple. Haoi started with Goi Bo (which everyone knows is Lime-Cured beef salad) very simply made but looked wonderful. Then onto Fresh Fish Roll with Herbs, the levrek being stuffed, marinated and then baked with loads of herbs, mushrooms, spring onions etc. As for the ‘Roll’ part, more of that later! The final dish was Chicken in Caramel Sauce. Caramel sauce???? Of course, someone (who shall be nameless….) had to say “Is this dessert?”

It had been quite hands-on with everyone helping to chop ingredients, but when it came to serving it became very ‘hands-on’ and we had to make our own ‘fish rolls!’ Oh to have had a video to capture 10 starving ladies huddled around the table rolling up fish, herbs, ginger, pineapple and other yummies in ever-so thin rice wrappers, dipping them in sauce and then…. the faces and expressions of delight! It was beautiful! So fresh and vibrant tasting! The Beef Salad was wonderful, and the Chicken in Caramel Sauce, very unusual but very good indeed.

Hoai finished this superb meal by serving us a very unusual dessert (yes, the real dessert) of pineapple flower cooked with black sesame. Ever tried that? It was quite different to anything we had ever tasted before.

Thanks to Hoai, for such a wonderful demonstration of Vietnamese food. Of course, it was so good you will just have to do it again …….and soon please!

The Corona Committee would like to thank the Corona members who kindly took the time to emails with suggestions for alternative Charities that we could support in the future. We are now following up on these ideas to identify how we might be able to help them by providing support via our fundraising activities. Watch this space!