9 days in Israel have been fantastic for me and my family. It's been 5 years since my family and I travelled together.Our family loves travelling and Israel will be added at the Santiago Wall of the World.
Thanks to the World Electronics Forum or WEF (http://www.wefonline.org/), they encouraged all the country heads to bring their families. This year's forum was hosted by the Israel Association of Electronics & Software Industries. When my dad told my mom and myself about this trip, we were so excited about it. I also needed to take a big vacation from all the corporate toxicities. And Israel, I've heard so many wonderful stories about that country so might as well grab this opportunity! Okay so enough with the intro...
Let's get started!
My folks and I went to our hotel called Dan Panorama and I was so amazed with the hotel view: Mediterranean Sea! Amazing. I mean if that sea could talk, it witnessed so many historical events and it's surrounded by powerful countries: Spain, France, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Greece and Morocco (i know there are more pa but that's what I can recall at the top of my head). While taking a videocam of the view, I couldn't help but take a picture of this one:
It's actually FTV's Fashionbar. I see this in Fashion TV. This is where they hold bongga parties, of course sponsored by FTV. They also have Fashionbars in most of the European countries (and to my surprise those places which used to be part of USSR) and in Singapore ata.
Lady selling olives
Turkish Delights
Got some nuts?
Souvenirs people!
We went to the other side of the street and we saw an interesting flea market. It had a bohemian feeling as the sellers were artists. So many items were for sale: kaleidoscopes, furniture, kitchenware and many more. Oh yeah, there were so many nice accessories. Most of their accessories were made of glass and they have been beautifully designed. At the same time, street performances occurred such as a quartet playing Mozart's pieces, a guy in dreadlocks (which by the way, ang gwapo! sayang wala akong picture, super na-mesmerize ako ang ganda ng boses nakalimutan kong picturan..hehe!) singing Sade's song "Your Love is King" and a robotic act dressed like a frog. Some people were so chill, they were just playing chess (Jewish version) in the midst of the bargaining and marketing around. With all the actions and activities that occurred, we got fascinated at Israeli's way of life.
The flea market at Hacarmel Street (that's my dad in a red-orange beret hat)
Sunny Friday afternoon at the flea market
Lovely accessories!
"Checkmate" - Jewish grampies playing chess (Jewish version)
Day 2: Feel Tel Aviv
Day 2 was held on a Saturday, which means that it's Sabbath Day or in the Jewish community, they call it Shabbat. Because they take Shabbat day seriously, 99% of the establishments were closed. As in, windows shut closed, ganun level ah. And so my folks and I went around the streets of Tel Aviv. We went for a walk at a place called Rothschild Boulevard. It was named after the Rothschild family (apparently they're like the richest Jewish family in the world and I read that one of the kids established Philip Morris). It was packed with families playing & running around and senior citizens just chilling out. In the middle of the boulevard, there were globes in different designs. It was so cute because it made the whole strip so colorful.
Mom and Pops posing at a beautiful Jewish home in Rothschild Boulevard
"I have the keys to the world" - One of the colorful globes at Rothschild Blvd.
"Round o'clock" - One of the colorful globes at Rothschild Blvd.
"Red white and black theme" - One of the colorful globes at Rothschild Blvd.
After walking at Rothschild Boulevard, we went all the way to Tel Aviv Marina. People were at the beach on a hot Saturday afternoon, doing fun-filled beach activities: getting a tan, playing Frisbee (and I missed playing ultimate with the tara-tara warriors so much!) and wind surfing around the Mediterranean waters.
Tara-tara sa beach!
Day 3: Trip to Jerusalem
The World Electronics Forum officially started. We were with other families of the delegates from different countries: Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, USA, Belgium, South Africa, Israel, Romania, Slovakia, France, Australia and United Kingdom. Before our fathers and their husbands went into business mode, the leaders (Schlomo, the adorable general director of the association and Uri, the past president who reminded me of Walter Matthau) of the Israel Association of Electronics & Software Industries started the event by having a tour in Jerusalem. That day, I met Jennifer Chan from Hong Kong. At first, I thought she was serious (coming from an Ivy League school, speaking 5 languages and has established her business in medical diagnostics) but this girl's one heck of a crazy-ass fella!
Jen, my newfound friend from HK
The tour was led by Eran Tearosh, better known as Joey. He's a cool Israeli big guy with an American accent and mentioned "Mind You" most of the time. We went to so many historical and spiritual places in Jerusalem. The tour in Jerusalem served as my refresher course in Theology or CLE. At the Jerusalem Architectural Park, fortuitous events such as Jesus in the market and his Way of the Cross occurred. At the western part of the wall, there's the wailing wall. It's famous for Jews' praying ground and what surprised me was that after they place their prayers and intentions, they walk backwards, so that they will not turn their backs to God. At the same time, the wall is divided by gender: one side for the male and the other side for the female. I honestly don't have an idea why they had to segregate it, I guess it's just the way it is. Oh yeah, and men were required to wear those Jewish head dress. So my dad had to wear one of those. Cute!
City of Jerusalem. Gold roof is a synagogue
Jewish ladies at the Wailing wall
Big dude Joey at Via Dolorosa or the Station of the Cross
At that part of the wall, where my mom placed her hand, that's where Jesus got tired from walking and leaned on that wall
My dad on the other side of the Wailing Wall... check out that Jewish cap!
Inside those walls, biblical events also occurred such as Jesus' death and resurrection. I felt like it was a Days With The Lord weekend.
On that ground, Mary wept when Jesus died
This is where Jesus was buried before he resurrected. See those ladies going under? That's where Jesus was buried.
Quaint Ethiopian Catholic chapel
Amazing part about Jerusalem was that there were so many people from different beliefs: you got your Roman Catholics, Greek & Russian Orthodox Catholics, Jews, Orthodox Jews and Protestants. Even if these people have different methodologies in expressing their faith, we essentially believe in one God. Whew serious itowww pero totoo.
After our full tour in Jerusalem, we had a fantastic late lunch at Nafoura Restaurant. Aside from the great food and excellent Turkish coffee, the ambiance was just lovely!
At Nafoura Restaurant for a late lunch
Day 4: Nazareth
While the electronics dudes had their meeting, the spouses and kids went to Nazareth, also known as the place where Mary found out that she's gonna be a mommy. Famous places found in the bible were also at Nazareth, such as the Sea of Galilee and Capernaeum. Okay CLE or Values Ed recall: Sea of Galilee: this is were Jesus found Peter, James and John; Capernaeum: Multiplication of Loaves. Astig!
Tabgha - This place is where the multiplication of fish and loaves was held, back in Jesus' time
Later on, Joey showed us a church called "The Synagogue Church". Talk about irony all over the place and we asked Joey what's up with that. He said that Christ, as a Jew, when he was alive, preached there. Since Christianity was born, they placed that church.
Ironic isn't it?
The Synagogue Church: This is where Jesus preached
The Church of Annunciation was dedicated to Mary. What amazed me was that there were a lot of pictures of Mary, in different versions on a per-country basis at the surrounding perimeters of the church. So for instance, in the Philippines, Mary was wearing a patajong, while in Japan, Mary was wearing a kimono. In essence, the whole world is celebrating the existence of Mary, as she gave birth to the Messiah. (whoa I sounded like I'm writing my Theo reflection paper). See picture below.
"Pinoy version" of Mary's picture at The Church of Annunciation
Wow so many cardinals at the church!
A statue of Mary when she was 16
The group went to the Sea of Galilee. No we didn't fish or ride on a boat but we did see a boat.... and it's 2000 years old! To make the long story short, just within the late 20th century someone was walking around the sea when he saw an old-fashioned nail and so he brought it up to the authorities. People got excited about it, they started to excavate the boat and woopeedoo they saw a boat! After carefully retrieving it from somewhere, they let it drift at the waters of Galilee and felt in awe about it because they felt that it had a historical and spiritual foundation. People thought that it was used by the disciples of Christ.
2000-year old boat... to whom could it be??
After Galilee, we went to River Jordan. This is where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. As of this day, the river is used for Christian and Jewish baptisms. That day, it was the "Christian day" so a lot of Christians from different countries were there to get baptized.
Baptism rites at the River Jordan
Day 5: Southern Israel
The working electronics men took themselves a break from wearing suits and so we all went to the Southern part of Israel. Part of the tour was to visit the plants of Intel and Motorola (hhmmm mejo part of work for them but in fairness it was educational!), the plateau of Masada and the Dead Sea.
Just found out from our tour that the Israel semiconductor & electronics industry is the hub of research, design and development. Basically R&D and design are their cup of tea. If you look at it in a process-based perspective, the Philippine plants do assembly and testing of the stuff, 3rd to 4th process. Israel is at the first process, how to make that wafer fab or chip function. Although Israel and the Philippines have the same amount in investments, just look at the value-add of Israel to the industry.
Anyhoo after the plant tours, we went to Masada. That place has been historical to the Jews. If you've seen the Masada series by Peter O'Toole, then I guess you know the story. But to give you a macropersective of Masada, here's its tale. The community in Masada was built by King Herod, so he formed houses and even spas and a sauna bath (take note, Herod's gay and so vanity for him was a must!). The place became prevalent after Christ's death. There were Jewish rebels that were against the Romans and so they would fight the Romans. But the Jews knew that they were outnumbered by the Romans and that they will lose. So these Jewish rebels and their would go up the plateau. The Romans tried so hard to go up that plateau but they couldn't. Finally after 50(?) years, the Romans were approaching the top of Masada. The Jews found out that the Romans were near and so they decided to make a big-time sacrifice: to kill all the Jews at Masada. Sounds bloody? Hell yeah! But the significance of this action was that they would rather be dead, than be slaves by the Romans. Heavy noh! So finally the Romans reached the top part of the plateau but it was too late for them, as all the Jews were dead.
Masada, located at the Judean Desert
I dunno if Joey was for real or he was pulling my leg. He said that 30 years ago, he raised with his friend to go up at the top of the plateau. He made it for 26 minutes but he kept on panting for 75 minutes. Some hiking Joey did... Hehe, in fairness that was a good story.
After an educational tour at the Masada, the group went to the Dead Sea. They say it's the saltiest sea in the world. Well, after having an intimate moment with the sea... hell yeah!! Hahaha!! Legend has it that the Dead sea used to be as big and deep as the normal sea around the globe, you know, as big as South China Sea or something. Then it got dried up and so what remained was a few amount of water, leaving a mass of salt. Today, it has become a tourist attraction and a factory of beauty products. From the Dead Sea, they have been producing lotions, facial scrubs, mud pack and other beauty stuffies. We changed into our swimwear and swam or rather floated at the Dead Sea.
They say that people are more buouyant at the sea because of the salt content. They advise people to lie at their back and nature will take its course.... and so we did and HOLY MOTHER OF... WE FLOATED!!! Surreal...
I said to myself "Dang this is so cool!" And so I grabbed my camera and tried to get a vanity shot. I mean it's not like everyday you get to float at the Dead Sea. And so i did. But as I attempted, I lost my balance. I didn't want the camera to get damaged and so I raised my hands to save my camera and I kinda went under the water. Good thing I didn't drown since it was shallow (and I was at the sea shore), but dudes this was worst than drowning. The water was so salty, I kinda inhaled the water and it went inside my eyes. Thank heavens Jenny was there and so she brought me to the lifeguard. The lifeguard started to hose fresh water on my face. Wow that felt so good! At the end of the day, we concluded that I did have an intimate moment with the Dead Sea. =P
Rock on dudes I'm floating!
Funny floating pose by Jen
Day 6: Tour of Tel Aviv & Old City of Jaffa and WEF's Dinner Celebration
While the electronics dudes continued their meeting, Joey brought us around Tel Aviv. We went to different museums in the capital. Joey showed us different mosaics and pictures on how Tel Aviv started and how Jewish migrants started their way of lives in the city.
Lovely mosaic at the museum... think it's about the Jewish community in Tel Aviv
Another lovely mosaic... think it's about someone above them watching over the Israeli people
I gotta affirm Tel Aviv, they have Illy Coffee everywhere! Even if people find it really strong, I love Illy Coffee! During the tour, I was so sleepy and my head started to hurt. Well what can I say, "Hi my name is Gladys and I am a coffee addict." So I grabbed a cup of joe or a cup of Illy, the caffeine kicked-in and I felt better already. Jen found it strong though, and Joey was like "you guys must be used to your American coffee." Then he shared that a few years ago, Starbucks came in Israel, thinking that they could teach the Israelis how to drink coffee. Little did Starbucks know that Israeli's are coffee drinkers and the peeps prefer strong coffee, as strong as a cup of Turkish coffee (damn that coffee's really strong, it kicked my nerves to extra hyper mode... and halurvit!). When Starbucks was in Israel, the people found the coffee so weak. People didn't go to Starbucks and after four months, goodbye green lady. Interesting.
After Tel Aviv we went to the old city of Jaffa. It's an ancient port city located at the southern part of Tel Aviv (like it's so near, it's just a few minutes away from our hotel). A lot of biblical and historical events happened in Jaffa: Jonah was swallowed by the big whale; Napoleon went to Jaffa to conquer the country; and the Arab-Israeli war was occured (oh yeah tidbit: Before 20th century, it was the Arab people who were at that city. Through the years, lots of Jewish people from different countries migrated to Jaffa. From there, the Jews slowly moved to Tel Aviv). Those were some of the many events in Jaffa, which is why it has become a vital tourist attraction.
Municipal Center at the Old City of Jaffa
Jaffa reminded me of Fort Santiago because of the cobbled stoned streets and old buildings. Their street signs were so cute as it's hand-painted. They also have the "hanging orange tree." It's so cute, we couldn't help but bring out the camwhores in us. We went to the wishing bridge, wherein the zodiac signs are placed at the rails of the bridge, people will touch their zodiac sign and will make their wish. And so we did.
The famous hanging orange tree
The Wishing Bridge
Look at the bread and cheese!! Yummy!!!
Jen and I dancing the night away!
Then we were called to go downstairs for dinner. I just love the setting of the place: an old chandelier with a big wine cellar on one side and a chimney on the other side. I love the table runner, as it was done handmade. The way they did the beading and embroidery... fabulous! The furnishings looked like they inherited it from their ancestors and it's just lovely. It's like I was in an ancestral home. Before dinner started, the owner of the house introduced herself and shared the meals to be served. She also introduced the chef, who's Turkish and apparently her husband. When the food arrived, mama mia ang sarap!! It was like yumfest galore!!
It's dinnertime!!
A piece of my Baklava
During dinner, the musicians continued playing festive songs. Some people even danced at the middle and Jen & I kept on eating and taking pictures.
With George from Beijing, China. He's the director assistant of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce and intepreter of Mr. Wang, the executive director
That's Rachel Waxe, Schlomo's wife. She's so cool, she even went back to school to study Tourism, just for fun. She told us millions of stories about anything under the sun. She has a pleasant disposition and she's so fun to talk to.
At their performance level
It was a fun-filled dinner. It was like watching it in movies and then suddenly, I was actually experiencing this kind of dinner. First-class Mediterranean style. I just love it!
Day 7: Haifa
Elijah at Mt. Carmel
Our new tour guide, Zirit, narrated us about a community called Druze (durūz). According to Zirit, the Druze is a religious sect, based from Islam. In a nutshell, Druze spinned-off from the Islam religion. Cool huh?
After the electronics dudes' meeting, they joined us to go to the downtown of Haifa. We went to the Baha'i Garden. And take note, Baha'i is another religion... Oh deebuh? I've never seen such lush garden. According to Zirit, Baha'i was formed like more than 50 years ago. It essentially gives importance to equality among men and women. At the garden, we saw a lot of staircases. They said that non-Baha'i people are not supposed to go upstairs, just downstairs. Only Baha'i people are allowed to go upstairs.
Downtown of Haifa: A view from the Baha'i Garden
Beautiful Baha'i Garden
Look at the trunk of that tree!! Dang!!!
That day, I learned two religions... Neat!
After a long day at Haifa, we all bode our goodbyes to the delegates and their families. We gained new friends from different countries and we made sure that we'll keep in touch. Next WEF Forum will be in India... Hmmm... Hehehhe!!
Day 8: Walked around Jaffa
My family and I went around Jaffa. My mom and I showed my dad what Jaffa looked like. We went around the street markets of Jaffa and we went shopping some vintage items. The street market looked like a big ukay-ukay, wherein people sold anything and everything, from old books to vinyls, up to 19th-century door knobs and venetian blinds.
We just chilled at the seafront. Since the waves were pretty strong, surfers were surfing away. At the same time, it was pretty breezy and it was just a perfect time to walk around.
Surfers
The view of the Old City of Jaffa... Love this picture!
Day 9: Last day
Last day in Israel. But since our flight was at 10pm, we spent our last hours doing two things: went on a tour, which was provided by the hotel and ate at this famous seafood restaurant called Manta Ray.
We spent our morning touring Jewish villages, which were near our hotel. The tourgroup's name was Tarbush (http://www.tarbush.org/) and we were toured by a young man named Yakov. It was pretty neat he wore a cute Fez (that red Turkish hat). He told us stories on how these villages were established and what are the typical activities done by the Jews in those villages.
Houses at a Jewish village
There's our tour guide Yakov
After the tour, we went for a late lunch at Manta Ray (http://www.mantaray.co.il/). The food was so delicious, we forgot our names. Hehe joke lang! It was like "freshly-fished" from the Mediterranean sea. The food was just so fresh and tender. The service was excellent, the food arrived fast. Oh yeah, the bartenders were cute!! Woohoo!! And we didn't feel so bloated because the only meat we consumed was basically seafood goodies. Yum!! It's a must for those visiting Tel Aviv in the future.
Manta Ray, the seafood resto located at the seafront
Yummy Food no. 1: A bucket of seafood treats!
Yummy Food no.2: Grilled shrimps and scallops with mushrooms... i think that's basil...
Yummy Food no. 3: Calamares (well that's their version) with cherry tomatoes and pesto... well mejo paubos na siya... hehe!
As we boarded the plane, I have so many memories that I have kept in my heart. It's like going back to school, I've never learned so many things. More than that, I was actually at significant places wherein it contributed to the history of man. I felt like a giddy student eager to listen and learn historical events and natural science (take Dead Sea for example).
If given an opportunity to visit Israel the second time around, I'll definitely not hesitate and ride on the next plane to that country. I just love that country so much!
Shalom. =)
9 comments:
A very educational blog indeed. :) Maybe I'll visit this country in the future hehe and see and hear all the historical sites and sounds and float in the dead sea! :) Coolness mare!
i wanna go too!!
@joe: mare, talk about coolness deebuh??!!
@cez: yeah go to israel!! im sure you'll love it there and take so many nice pictures!!
Haba! Hahaha!! Thanks for the goodies. Hehe. :P
Ooh daddy-o's wearing a kippah! :P
oh so that's what you call it... hehehehe!! kippah... ooohhh interesting...
pag-ukulan mo ng panahon basahin yan... kinareer ko yang entry na yan... ehhehehe!
So...how does regular chess differ from the Jewish version?
Divided wall...parang MRT lang 'yan. Hahaha. I'm guessing it's so there won't be any distractions from what you're supposed to be doing while you're there (offering prayers)?
well, in terms of the rules & regulations of the game... i honestly have no clue... hehehe! i just noticed that it's much faster than the regular chess... as in ang bilis nila galawin yung mga piyesa.. parang hahabulin ng daga yung mga movements sa bilis.
the divided wall? well you got it right!! total concentration to the max! hahahaha!!
nice pics of u guys floating.. lovely food.. its always nice to travel with family.. bonding time.
yeah floating at the dead sea was a cool and interesting experience.
food in israel is just great! =) you gotta go there one of these days to have major food fest.
indeed, travelling with family is the best!
thanks for the comment!
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