東京 - Tokyo

No, I am not in Tokyo right now and no, I haven't been there. YET. 

But on 1/1/11, I met this person, who "accidentally" invited me to Tokyo! Gosh, I hope he doesn't regret what he did because he barely knows me, and vice versa ;) This young gentleman's name is Alper Uçar. ATurkish National Figure Skater. 

Alper and I are the same age, and have met trough a very dear friend of ours, Burak P. 

Before I met Alper, I had been hearing a lot about his journeys, accomplishments and the extreme training program. (just so you know-lighter than P90X ;) This month he will be competing in Erzurum, TURKEY and in Tokyo, JAPAN.

Erzurum? Hold on a second... Most of you may not know about this city of ours. Here's what Christopher Solomon, a New York Times journalist had to say about Erzurum, in the article "41 Places To Go in 2011" 

"Skiing in Turkey? A winter sports capital emerges in Anatolia.

Turkey may not be the first place people think of for skiing, but it’s got mountains — big, snowy ones. Now the government is making a push to turn Erzurum, a city of 785,000 in eastern Anatolia, into a winter sports capital in time for this month’s 2011 Winter Universiade (sort of an Olympics for university students). Two and a half miles from town lies the ski resort of Palandoken, which the Iranian skiers who come here know has the most challenging skiing in Turkey. Three lifts have been added to the bald mountain that rises nearly 3,000 feet from its base to its summit at 10,498. The number of runs is a modest 18 — but the fun skiing is off-piste, between the runs, on Palandoken’s 2,200 acres.

About 11 miles from Erzurum sits the new Konakli Ski Resort, which opened this winter with six chairlifts and 3,000 acres of skiing. A new five-star hotel is scheduled to open next season; until it does, rent a car for day trips and stay at Palandoken’s Renaissance Polat Erzurum Hotel."

We thank Mr. Solomon for his recommendation for the New York Times ski-lover readers and go back to where we had left off... 

Joking aside, I am in no condition for going to Tokyo, however I want to thank Alper for the kind invite anyway and mention that it was a privilege meeting him.

So here's another reason to be thankful for! - This time YOU will decide 

if it's my friend Burak, 

the Universe, or

2011?

I choose to thank YOU.

Alper, I wish you the best of luck in this busy month of January. By the way, since you haven't invited me to Italy - I consider it as a private invitation - I'll see you in Italy.

Enjoy the video. Nada-ban Ariper Ucha-san Turco  

L.O.V.E.

a.R.a.S