Stam

The big icecream on the road, Tel Aviv

Do you want to go 2theloo in Tel aviv

Cute old lady playing weird music near the Dizengoff center, Tel aviv

Entry fee for the Art Museum - A good time to be a soldier. Not a good time to be an adult.

Tinkerbell/ The absinthe fairy/ a crazy girl in a green costume in Tel Aviv shuk.

What I thought was the best juice in Tel Aviv on Ben Yehuda. (the oscar was misleading)

And then I met the Juice Doctor. If only I could have juice shipped to me everyday.

Burger Loyalty in Bat Yam. If only people would learn something from this.

Vintage Guitar shop, Tel Aviv

Scary childrens Giant Octopus play area, Bat Yam.

A pet store or just a store with a dog on it, Tel aviv

Where all roads lead to a hummus place

1. Hummus 2. The road near the hummus place 3. The blue sea in bat yam 4. Wine tasting in Golan Heights 6. Wedding in Tel Aviv 7. Kinneret/ Sea of Galilee 8. Army cars 9. Happy Neha early in the morning 10. Near the Western Wall, Jerusalem 11. View of the Old City, Jerusalem 12. Me in Bethlehem 13. Divine Light, Bethlehem 14. Modern art, Jerusalem 15. A young Jewish boy, Jerusalem 16. Lotus pond, Tel Aviv 17. The Double cross, Bethlehem 18. Picnic in Kinneret 19. tree sketch by me, Bat yam 20. Somewhere between Golan heights and Kinneret.

The yearly pilgrimage

If you're wondering why I've been MIA for over a month it's because I was holidaying once again in sunny Israel and was maybe a bit lazy too.

I visited new places and had new experiences while almost being melted by the unsympathetic sun.

Last year I flew to Israel on their national airline - El Al after which I swore never to fly with them again.
They are a bit crazy about their security but they're apparently kind to animals.

With this trip being a spontaneous last minute decision, the El Al flight being the only direct flight and the cheapest flight available I caved in in about well, one second and booked my flight with them once again.

This time however I went prepared to not take any of the terrorist interrogation they put me through personally and decided to wear a smile on my face through all of it.

So they questioned me and checked my bags like last year and then decided to put me through a physical check which was almost as good as them getting me ready for the beach.

I was in 'the special interrogation room' 10 minutes before my flight took off and had to run through immigration and security check in well, 10 minutes and then was on my way to the Holy Land.

I think another girl in my place would've most probably cried but I knew what I was putting myself through and as long as I was getting on that flight I didn't really care how many more questions I was asked.

I was in Israel for 16 days which went by too fast and felt more like 4. It was great to see my friends again and be so far away from Bombay and work and everything else.

My trip can be summarised as:

- A lot of walking.

- Eating hummus/ falafel everyday.

- Drinking fruit juice like it was going out of style.

- Looking for the perfect juice place and then finding it and feeling like I had achieved something.

When you have found the one, you look no further. It was like the perfect relationship. Yes, I am still talking about juice.

- Going to the beach and snacking on fruits and veggies while having a beer. Strange!

- Eating a lot of ice-cream.

- Meeting new people.

- Trying to exercise. It happened only once.

- Trying Sabich - like a falafel but with eggplant, egg, hummus obviously and many more sauces.

- Learning many new Hebrew words.

- Hearing many Israelis using Hindi and Marathi words - I was greeted with kasa kai, sab kuch milta hai, do you want amba (mango sauce), and obviously namaste.

- Having long conversations about life, love and food.
- Breaking my sunglasses and then sticking them back with strong Israeli superglue because no other sunglasses can take their place.

- Watching The Dictator in Tel aviv which for some reason was even funnier.

- Crossing the border and visiting the Palestinian side.

- Getting excited walking around Bethlehem - the birthplace of Jesus.

- Making my third trip to Jerusalem - there is a lot of good peaceful energy there and I tried stealing some of it for myself.

- Visiting an art museum in Tel aviv.

- Piling on on my friends MBA class trip.

- Going to a winery in Golan Heights and tasting several wines before noon.

- Going swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

- Trying to surf and failing miserably miserably. It was so bad I had to say it twice.

- And then getting stung by a jellyfish.

- Seeing the Scientology centre and then coming home and googling it to try and understand what its about for the 7th time maybe.

- Having a wonderful Shabbat dinner.

- Learning new bus routes and feeling like a local.
- Learning that Yoni is a common Israeli name for a boy.
- Noticing that most men in Israel are bald yet beautiful.

- Trying to cook. Ok, I just cut the veggies and pretended to stir a bit.

- Drinking flavoured mineral water. Peach is my favourite.

- Pretending to understand Hebrew and responding with many nods.

- Being woken up by a dog at 7am everyday.

- He would also steal the blanket and take quick naps next to me.

- And follow us for lunches, dinners, on the bus, and to a movie.

- He also understood Spanish and drank water from a cup. Yes, I am still talking about the dog.

There was so much more to do but not enough time.
I was to spend a day learning cycling.
And have dinner one night at Blackout (a completely dark restaurant where you can't see your food). At first I thought it was crazy but the idea seemed more fun than crazy so I had to try it. Unfortunately there were many others like me which is why we didn't get a table before I had to return home to the motherland.
It would probably have been something like this.

Oh well! There's always next time.

Till then I'll have to find ways to beat my post-travel blues.

Shabbat Shalom

When I travel to a new country, I always look forward to enjoying their cuisine.

This time it was Levantine.

In a land where McDonald's is Kosher, you know the people take their food seriously.
And in Israel, the portions are larger than life.
Everywhere there was hummus and pita and foods laced with za'atar.

Most of my meals were pasta, sandwiches, shawermas, salads or bagels accompanied by a glass of freshly squeezed Orange juice.
And then there were those weird moments where I'd ask for a mango milkshake and they'd ask me whether I'd like it with milk or orange juice.

While Daniela was away, her friend Horin invited me for Shabbat dinners with his family.

Shabbat marks the weekend and is the day of rest in Judaism.

This means one doesn't use their computer, phone, elevator, car, kitchen or touch any switches.

Instead you spend this day resting at the beach, reading and eating meals with your family.

Doesn't that sound super?

It all started with a little prayer followed by the blessing of wine and bread followed by the meal itself.

And the food? Well, there was everything from rice, noodles, fish, schnitzel, baked beans, fried brinjal, sweet potato, some more veggies and fruits and even a special tea.

I felt so lucky to have been included in this intimate family dinner and to have been able to have experienced Shabbat in Israel.

Walking for 30 minutes from Daniela's house to Horin's house on the other hand was maybe not as fun as the meal itself.

While I was there, I even managed to learn some Israeli cooking.

So, here's how you make Ptitim.

You find a nice Israeli boy and get him to cook it for you.

Just kidding. 

That's only what I get to do.

The rest of you mortals can cook it yourself like this:

Delish!

(I came back to Bombay and tried to re-create this wonderful preparation with all the wrong ingredients. Couscous instead of Ptitim, spring onions instead of white onions and a Maggi chicken cube instead of Knorr soup powder. It wasn't the same but was close enough).

And for dessert - A Mango.

It was time for me to stop pretending to live in the Blue Lagoon and learn to cut and eat a mango. Just incase I find my ship back to San Francisco and civilisation someday.

Horin taught me how. And I decided to illustrate it for my fellow cavemen.

You can eat it with a fork.
And if you're lazy/ not ready to let go of your aboriginal habits, you can use your teeth.
Enjoy!

For me, the Mango tasted even better when it looked like a flower.

Presentation is everything.

Shabbat Shalom.
Have a super Friday.

In a Nutshell

Have you read Eat Pray Love?

Well, I read Eat and was done with it.

I took the obvious route and got the DVD and frankly Eat was the best part of it.

After traveling to Israel what I realised was, Liz Gilbert got it all wrong.

You don't need to spend a year in 3 different countries to experience all that.

I got all that and more on spending a few weeks in the Holy Land.

Israel a tiny country but with so much to offer.

And no it's not in Europe. It's in Asia.

It has a super relaxed atmosphere except for the part where you're surrounded by 20 year olds carrying guns since every Israeli joins the Israel Defense Forces at some point. It took me about 2 days to get used to it and the whole time I was thinking of Zohan from You don't mess with the Zohan.

On most days I could be found in situ on the beach sipping my OJ and relaxing until sunset.

I even played Matkot (beach tennis) with a wooden bat and a rubber ball. Fun!

Enjoyed many Cocktails of the day.
Made many visits to the supermarket and discovered some new fruits.
And there was Hummus. Everywhere.

Attended birthday parties where I think they sang Happy Birthday in Hebrew.

Finally learned to play pool.

Took a lot of photos in Auto mode.

Enjoyed experiencing Shabbat.

But I didn't find time to see a Kibbutz. Oh well. Maybe on my next trip.

I met a lot of people. A lot of whom had traveled to India.

I was greeted with Namaste, Aapka Naam Kya Hai, Chai and even Chapati.

Did I look like one? Or was that the extent of their Hindi vocab?

Impressed with how much Hindi the Israelis knew, I thought it was my turn to learn some Hebrew too.

This is how far I got.

Ken - Yes.

Lo - No.

Ma  - What

Shalosh - 3

Hamesh - 5

I don't know any other numbers.

Toda - Thank you

Tayelet - Promenade

Sababa  - Cool

Hodu - India

Ben Gurion  - Their first Prime Minister (who's picture is on their currency)

I learnt quite a lot. A lot about a whole new culture.

It felt as though I had been away for so long. Maybe because so much had happened in such a short span of time. My sister made sure she gave me regular updates. This is only a gist of what had happened:

Beyoncé was pregnant.

America experienced an earthquake.

And then a Hurricane.

There were terror attacks in Israel.

Gérard Depardieu peed on a plane.

And Anna Hazare fasted for 288 hours to bring some kind of change in India.

Which only made his Facebook fans go nuts.

During all this craziness Steve Jobs also resigned as the CEO of Apple.

My sister emailed me his parting note. Being in Israel at that point made me already feel like I was on a journey. And this parting note just took it to another level.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary"

In a nutshell, I fell in love.

In love with Israel.

In love with everything around me.

It turned my world around. 

It changed my paradigm.

Israelity

On holiday I am a moment-capturing maniac.
I enjoy taking photos of just about anything.
Here are some random photos from my travels around Israel.

Is it a flower? Or food? It's Chili pots.

When stores expand in Tel Aviv, they don't start chains. They just spill onto the street.

Tents on the street in Tel Aviv - an innovative way to bring down rent.

(Something we couldn't dream of doing in Bombay).

Advertising/ a joke/ Tel Aviv's version of Shaadi.com on Ben Yehuda street.

The award for the cutest little kitten and puppy in Israel goes to:

A painted building wall giving the illusion of people in windows in Jerusalem.

Body Shop's evil twin in Israel. Also called Body Shop.

Tel Aviv - so inviting.

And people don't believe in brands.

Something that looked like french fries growing on Bat Yam beach.

Kwality Wall's ice-cream in Jerusalem. Felt good to see a familiar logo after seeing too much Hebrew.

And then I saw the Himalaya store in Tel Aviv and felt so at home.

And found an Indian flag.

A penguin outside a restaurant in Nahariya. I couldn't understand why.

A shop selling curios?

An Army advert at the train station. How cute is he?

You don't mess with the Zohan.

The luck that carried me through my trip.

Except while playing pool.

And then I came home after being hypnotised at the airport by a man who juggled for an hour.

Back to Bombay. Back to Reality.

Going in all directions

My trip to Israel was going pretty well as you can see.

Except for the part where I had to take a rain check on going to the Red Sea due to terror attacks in Eilat.

On Daniela's return, we traveled around the country a little more.

Israel as a country is really small but you somehow never run out of beautiful places to travel to and interesting things to see. Having covered a lot of the historical/ religious sights in Jerusalem, I decided to skip Bethlehem and Nazareth and do a day trip to another city with Daniela.

Daniela being the spontaneous traveler and me trying to be one, we decided to travel somewhere North one afternoon. I had just had a shawerma at a vegan restaurant with fake meat and at that point was ready for just about anything. We took the bus to Tel Aviv station thinking that was the day we'd probably go see the Roman ruins in Caesarea or the Bahá'í gardens in Haifa.

But, on reaching the station, Daniela bumped into an old friend who highly recommended a place further North called Nahariya.

He told us that Nahariya was just beautiful. On seeing the sparkle in his eyes on speaking about the beaches and the magical river that runs through the city I began picturing something right out of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

We took the train only to stop for a minute in Haifa. We saw the Bahai gardens from a distance. I suppose it was beautiful but frankly I could barely see it. We were so close yet so far. And lazy.

A long train and bus ride later we were in Nahariya clueless about the direction of the beach or the existence of the magical river. We bought some icecreams to feel recharged and made our way to the beach.

The beach was beautiful, lined with restaurants and bars that came alive at night.

And when we asked for directions to the river, it felt like people were laughing at us.
Maybe because when we got to it, the river was more like a puddle.

So we basically traveled far and long to reach yet another beach and bum around on it till sunset. But, I wasn't complaining. We walked around and explored the city. This was difficult at times since Daniela and I were like the Hare and the Tortoise who had been forcibly programmed to walk at the same pace somehow.

After our adventurous trip to Nahariya, we woke up the next day and decided to laze around, have a late breakfast, late lunch and an unhealthy dinner - cooked by me.

Daniela was so into her health food and salads. And, me with my lack of culinary skills would try and help her make something wholesome which would usually turn out to be instant noodles, orange juice and flavoured yoghurt for dessert.

I tried looking after myself by taking Calcium supplements which I'd end up breaking with my tablet crusher since I have big tablet swallowing issues while Daniela thought I looked like I was doing some weird Indian drugs.

The rest of my days in Israel were spent mainly beach hopping.
- On Bat Yam beach and making a turtle out of shells to showoff our creative skills to the rest of the beach bums.

- Or Tel Aviv Beach where we sipped on Orange juice and ate watermelon.

We did also go shopping (which was fun since it involved more meal time than shopping time).

And then we'd go to bars and I would get a colourful girly drink - usually cocktail of the day.

We also spent a day exploring Jaffa - the old city in Tel Aviv. Here we walked along the beach and into the old city, saw newly married couples, art galleries, jewelry stores and even made a wish on a wishing bridge.

So many wishes on this wonderful holiday in a wonderful country.

I don't even remember what I had wished for, but if had anything to do with the outcome of my trip, I know it came true.