Malia Yoshioka is a freelance Food & Travel Writer and ESL Tutor from Hawaii. She's slowly eating her way around the world, 43 countries and counting so far! Get behind the scenes news, travel tips and the best food stories from around the web in her weekly Aloha Friday newsletter.
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π·Istanbul's Tulips are Blooming
Published about 19 hours agoΒ β’Β 5 min read
Happy Aloha Friday!
Welcome to this week's roundup of tasty tidbits specially curated for you from Hawaii to Istanbul and everywhere in between...
π Hi friends,
Istanbul has been both in the news and on my heart recently.
I'm down to my last few days here in the city, so I've been spending quality time with friends and also revisiting some of my favorite places and taking notes to update some of my past Istanbul posts, including:
This week I went dolphin-spotting on multiple ferry rides, finally visited the Istanbul Modern museum, and played tourist with a day trip to the far end of the city to visit a friend in Tuzla! Next week will be my last full week here, I'm hoping to revisit my favorite restaurant, take in an opera at the Ataturk Kultur Merkezi and catch a sunset by the Bosphorus. (I'll be sharing via Instagram, so feel free to add me there if you'd like to follow along.)
One of the not-so-great parts of living in Istanbul is that we are right on the fault line between tectonic plates and therefore prone to earthquakes. In 2023, twin earthquakes devastated large parts of southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, and there was a massive earthquake near Istanbul in 1999 which caused widespread damage and casualties. β This past Wednesday, we experienced a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Istanbul, and it was by far the biggest one I've experienced in almost ten years living here. Thankfully, there was no major damage and although I admit it was a bit difficult to get to sleep, I wasn't one of those camping out in tents in the city's parks. You may have also seen the viral video of a news presenter who was live when the earthquake struck.
Here's hoping for fewer aftershocks in the days ahead!π€
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π£ New on Shoyu Sugar
The tulips are in bloom at the 2025 Istanbul Tulip Festival!
π·Tulips are blooming again in Istanbul
One of the things on my Istanbul "bucket list" was to see the Istanbul Tulip Festival again, which takes place annually each April. While I didn't make it all the way up the Bosphorus to Emirgan this year, but I was able to see them in Gulhane Park and they were in full bloom.
Looking for feel good "news you can use" these days? One of my favorites is to mix in some interest-themed Facebook groups. Of course, there's our Savor the Journey Facebook group for foodie travel inspiration, if you haven't joined yet. I also enjoy the Travel Books & Movies group for armchair travel inspiration!
She Hit Refresh is offering another Move Abroad Masterclass, a 4-day live experience designed for women 30+ who are ready to stop dreaming and start taking action on their move abroad. Starts on May 3rd, get the details and sign up here.
The 62nd annual Merrie Monarch Festival is taking place in Hilo this week! Tune in to the live streams to watch hula halau from all over the world compete in the beloved week-long celebration.
This Saturday is also one of my favorite quirky festivals in Hawaii - the Waikiki Spam Jam block party! Have you tried making Spam musubi yourself? I recently brought some to our Easter luncheon and won over a few new converts. (Curious about the history of Spam in Hawaii? Kiki Aranita has a great article to fill you in.)
Language Lovers π€
What can we learn from US place names? Did you notice that some places in the U.S. have nods to French, Spanish, German, and more? Find out why on the Duolingo Blog.
For fellow ESL tutors, One Stop English has resources about diversity and inclusion to develop students' awareness and values of sustainable development and global citizenship.
The Oxford English Dictionary recently added a Tagalog word to describe the feeling people get when they see someone or something cute β βa feeling so intense that it gives us the irresistible urge to squeeze whomever or whatever it is we find so adorable. π€
Feeling Luckyπ
Refer friends and enter to win $1,500 in free flights and travel cash, a $199 Elite membership, and have your trip planned by Going. Details here, offer ends 4/27.
Win a trip to Antartica with National Geographic's Our Home sweepstakes. You can enter once per day until 4/30.
Win two general admission tickets to the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival this fall by voting for your fan favorite in the Hawaii News Now Kitchen Scraps TV show. You can vote to enter once per day until 5/11.
InDepartures.com is giving away a Β£40 Trip.com certificate, check out the details and enter here by 5/31.
She Hit Refresh has another 4-day Move Abroad Masterclass starting on May 3rd for women 30+ who are ready to stop dreaming and start taking action on their move abroad.
I'm a freelance food and travel writer from Hawaii, slowly eating my way around the world and sharing the flavors with you in these weekly updates and on ShoyuSugar.com. Nice to meet you!
This newsletter is a labor of love from me to you! π
I hope you enjoy the behind the scenes look at my work as well as specially curated food, travel and language news from around the world. β If you'd like to help to support my work, please feel free to check out all of my products and services or use my virtual tip jar. β My inbox is always open and I'd love to hear from you if you have questions, feedback or suggestions. And of course if you no longer want to receive these newsletters, no hard feelings. Just click the unsubscribe button below.
Malia Yoshioka is a freelance Food & Travel Writer and ESL Tutor from Hawaii. She's slowly eating her way around the world, 43 countries and counting so far! Get behind the scenes news, travel tips and the best food stories from around the web in her weekly Aloha Friday newsletter.
Happy Aloha Friday! Welcome to this week's roundup of tasty tidbits specially curated for you from Hawaii to Istanbul and everywhere in between... π Hi friend, Big changes are brewing around here, and the countdown is on... No, it's not an April Fool's joke. I'm actually leaving Istanbul soon! I recently heard someone mention the idea of βsoulmate cities,β and if I had to pick mine, it would be Istanbul. Even with the multitude of changes β some good, some bad β in both myself and my soulmate...
β° Deal alert + special bonus! π Hi Reader, If you've ever found yourself second-guessing your travel plans or wondering whether you're missing out on the best experiences, youβre not alone. Thatβs exactly why my friend Michelle at Intentional Travelers created her Google Maps Travel Hacks course. It gives you the confidence and know-how to optimize your itinerary and navigate smoothly anywhere in the world. π Until midnight tomorrow (April 3), you can enroll for just $37 (soon going up to...
Happy Aloha Friday! Welcome to this week's roundup of tasty tidbits specially curated for you from Hawaii to Istanbul and everywhere in between... π Hi Reader, This week I've got an exciting collaboration with Michelle at Intentional Travelers as she gears up for the relaunch of her Google Maps Travel Hacks course, a step-by-step system to help you travel with confidence. You may know that I'm also a huge Google Maps fan since it's part of my own strategy to avoid tourist trap restaurants...
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