Mission Israel - First Day: Yom Shlishi

Another busy fascinating day in the Holy Land.

We were woken at 06h30!! A tasty healthy Israeli breakfast of olives, cheeses, yogurts of varied and Mediterranean types with salads and other foods. there were also pastries and eggs, but I kept well away from those.

We had a breakfast briefing by Gerald Steinberg, a political specialist. he highlighted Israel's difficulties in the world forums, especially in the current unstable middle eastern climate. It was scary to hear both the pessimistic and the optimistic points of view.

We left the hotel to visit the Yitzchak Rabin Centre and Museum. It was extremely interesting and very heart wrenching. There were many aspects that struck us as fascinating. This is a visit well worth doing.

After the museum visit, we spent almost two hours in the Carmel market in Tel Aviv. The craft market was taking place at the same time. Ingrid's friend Lynn, who had just flown on from visiting the USA, surprised us in the market. Because we had been to the market twice already, we found a small coffee shop called Coffee Lab. It turned out that they manufactured their own coffee and distributed it to the surrounding shops. We spent an enjoyable hour there. The fact that they had free internet was an added bonus.

We then drove for an hour to the Leo Beack school in Haifa. At this KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Programme) school spends considerable time and effort assimilating very young Ethiopean jews to a stage where they can enter grade one as regular little Israelis. Another interesting visit.

We left the school for an hour and a half drive to Sefad to the Canaan Spa. Here we had dinner with a young Israeli soldier. The soldier at our table was 21 years old, a staff sergeant in hos platoon and still a young man. He told us many stories of his life as a soldier in the Israeli army. Another very interesting evening over a good meal.

After dinner, we sat in the hotel's lounge drinking fragrant fruit tea. The ambiance and friendship is wonderful.

It's late. we're tired. So far a most enjoyable, educational and fascinating tour.

Mission Israel - Meeting Day & Yom Sheini

Today was an interesting one. After waiting for Harold to return from getting his cell phone data plan working, we walked to the Michal Negri store; the original one. The area was most interesting with small boutiques and coffee shops. From there we walked to the Carmel Market where we bought a few small items and fruit to take with us on our journey. Unexpectedly, we met up with cousin Barbie and hubbie Paul.

We checked out of the Best Western and moved to the David Intercontinental a short way down the road. Because we had lots of luggage, three of us took a taxi with the luggage while two walked the ten minute stroll to the hotel.

This is a very luxurious expensive Western style hotel. As usual, the better the hotel the less you get. The internet cost is $22 plus tax per day. Crazy. The room is great though.

We met up with many of the Houston Mission group when we checked in. Somehow they forgot to give is a room, but eventually they came through with Club rooms, although we did not have lounge access. No problem as we did not have enough time in the room, anyhow.

We met up with the majority of the group in the lobby and boarded our bus (number 3) to drive the Petach Tikvah. When we got there, we entered an auditorium in the Josephdal-Dodi community. This is a community which has been assisted by the Houston Jewish Federation for many years. They were extremely welcoming. There was young girls handing out flowers to us, the guests, and saying "Welcome to Israel." Very sweet.

There were a few short speeches before we met up with our host family for the evening. We walked to their house about ten minutes away. This turned out to be a totally unexpected joy. The family of Yuval, Havatzelet and four of their five children were an absolute delight. Yuval spoke good English and we made do with the others. The conversation was fascinating, discussing many aspects of their lives in Israel. The food was absolutely amazing. We had at least ten courses of fish, meat and chicken with many salads. There was delicious Yemeni soup, deserts, home made wine, drinks, fragrant tea, nuts and other tasty dishes.

The evening flew past. We were sad to eventually have to say goodbye, until we hopefully see them again one day soon.

We returned on the bus, before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is an early 06h30 wake-up for the busy day ahead!

Mission Israel - Pre-mission Shabbat & Yom Rishon

Shabbat in Tel Aviv. Sleep late. Have breakfast in our suite in the Best Western Regency. We bought some cream cheese, some cereal and yogurt the night before at the AM-PM store near the hotel. The hotel suite includes basic cutlery (silverware) and crockery.

Cousin Lynette picked us up for a family dinner in her lovely apartment. Husband Amitai, brother Lesley and his wife Gali were gracious hosts. From barely knowing Lynette and not knowing the rest of the family at all, we nopw have some new close cousins in Tel Aviv. The mission is already a success and it hasn't even started yet! The food was tasty. We enjoyed the meal, the company and the afternoon to such an extent that we only left after 5pm.

We met Harold and Brigitte at our hotel on our return. they had just flown in on Lufthansa, who they said were fantastic, making sure that they made the connection in Frankfurt. Kudos to them.

We went for a walk up to Dizengoff Circle, Dizengoff Centre and then down towards Allenby street and back to our hotel. The weather was great for walking, cool but not cold. We stopped for an ice cream on the way. Yum.

This morning we started with a business meeting on one of the highest floors of the Moshe Aviv tower. We had a spectacular view of Tel Aviv.

After returning to the hotel on the bus, which was a bit of an adventure, we took a long walk to Jaffa, whcih took us forty minutes to get there. After wandering around, we took a detour through some side streets of antique stores and quaint artifact stores.

We then walked back down to the seaside and back to the hotel, walking a total of two and a half hours.

After relaxing for a while and doing e-mail, watching Tv and reading on my kindle, we met Harold and Brigitte in their hotel room. they had returned from their excursion with friends, buying grenadillas and "mon" cake which were both delicious.

We then walked the short distance to the "best" falafel place in Tel Aviv, Gabai Falafel on Borkushov Street. It turned out to be an absolute delight. The food was excellent, the staff were unbelievably friendly and fun. We spoke to fellow patrons sitting outside with us at the sidewalk tables. We will definitely return there.

We came back to the hotel. It is now 10pm. Time for an early night before we meet the rest of the mission group tomorrow afternoon.

Until tomorrow....

Mission Israel - Travel to the Holy Land

We're here, in Tel Aviv, Israel, after a long but enjoyable journey.

We left Houston at 9am on Wednesday morning. Luckily for us, brother Harold was able to give us a ride to the airport. We checked in at Terminal E with absolutely no problem. Continental upgraded all three of us!!! We had a wonderful short flight to New York La Guardia. We were served a delicious lunch on the plane.

We rented a car in New York from National. They are a pleasure to deal with. On arriving at their office, we simply walked to the Emerald row of cars, selected a vehicle of our choice and drove out. The lady at the drive through counter looked at my driving licence, gave me a toll tag and some directions. Quick and easy.

We drove to the Mahway Sheraton, about an hours drive. The Garmin GPS worked well, except for a small hiccup through the tunnels and under the overhead expressway.

The Sheraton in Mahway was ok, but a bit noisy because of the elevators, even though they were three rooms away. The room as clean and confortable.

We spent the evening with our famous cousin, Rabbi Henoch Moshe. He and his family are an absolute delight. It was a thoroughly enjoyable dinner with superb and fun company. Can't wait to do it again. We may have persuaded him to visit us in Houston for a Shabbaton.

The next morning; Thursday, we slept late in our comfortable hotel rooms. We made coffee in the rooms, after which we drove the few miles to Monsey, where we met Rabbi Henoch Moshe for brunch at the Avenue R Cafe. The food was good but very rich. Again we had a very enjoyable morning. We enjoyed ourselves so much we hardly noticed the time, having to rush thereafter to Newark airport to catch our flight to Tel Aviv.

Checking in at Newark was easy. We spent some time in the Presidents' Club lounge which was packed.

Security at the gate was very tight, as could have been expected, but bot a problem at all.

The flight to tel Aviv was terrific. Again we were upgraded to the superb Continental business/first class, equivalent to any carrier in the world. The food was good, the service was quietly efficient and friendly.

The flat beds allowed us an excellent night's sleep. The movie we watched was very good, especially on the large screen.

Getting through customs and immigration in Israel was no problem. We were met at the airport by David, a school friend whom I have not seen since at least 1977. He hasn't changed (much). It was wonderful catching up with him as we drove to our hotel a block away from the Tel Aviv beach. We hope to meet up with him and his family again while we are here.

After doing a bit of unpacking, we went for a long walk to the nearby market. It was bustling, noisy and full of different wares from handicrafts, food, clothing and a variety of other stores. We eventually walked along the beachfront towards Jaffa. We found a seaside "restaurant" where we enjoyed a light lunch. I had a local beer. Pretty good.

We walked back to our hotel for a rest before starting more energetic touring tomorrow.

Until next time....

Federation Mission Rev 0.1

So.... we are getting excited about our forthcoming trip to Israel on the Houston Federation mission. The e-mails are becoming much more numerous, detailing all aspects of the journey.

Yesterday I bough a small extension cord at the dollar store. I added a small power adapter to the male end to adapt it to Israeli (European) power outlets. This way we can plug in three devices such as my laptop, a cell phone charger and one other device. Neat!

Also, my new Kindle arrived so it will not be necessary to "schlepp" a pile of books around the world. Travel light where possible.

Having said this, we will be "schlepping" four huge medical tomes for an old friend in Israel; saving him a great deal. This is a pleasure, after all a friend in need is a friend in deed. I haven't seen this friend since 1977, so I am really looking forward to chatting with him and his family.

My mom arrived in Houston yesterday after an extended stay in Australia. She has a week to prepare for our much anticipated journey.

This is all very exciting, as said earlier.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said that 90% of the fun is in the anticipation and not the journey itself.

Houston-NY-HK-Perth

So..... Let me tell you about my loooooooong journey to Perth.

Continental airlines was kind enough to give me an upgrade for my flight from Houston to New York. This was much appreciated considering we have been having a ten day Barmitzvah party. I was pretty exhausted, having to leave home at 6.30am on Sunday. So it was a pleasant relaxing flight.

On arriving in New York, I found my way to the Continental President's Club lounge. It was quite full. As I had just had a decent breakfast of corn flakes, yoghurt, fressh fruit and coffee on the plane, I did not really want more to eat. I got a cup of tea and went to sit in the quiet TV viewing room to watch the football. The TV colors were on the blink, so it was not so good.

The monitors showed that the flight to Hong Kong was on time, so I went to the gate. When I got there, it was obvious that the plane was not there. They announved that there was some issue with getting the aircraft to the gate, so we should return to the lounge and await an announcement. To get back into the lounge it was necessary to "check in" again. No problem.

After another half hour they asked us to return to the gate. We did. The plane was there, but they said it would be a fifteen minutes more before we could board. After thirty minutes they said we should return to the lounge as they expected another hour delay. So... back to the lounge and at least ten minutes to "check in" once again.

As soon as we were allowed back in they announced that we should return IMMEDIATELY to the gate for boarding. Ho Hum!

Luckily for me, they decided to upgrade me into business/first class. It was fantastic! 180 Degree sleeper bed. Good food. Good drink. Lage TV screen. Kudos to Continental. Even the service was excellent.

I arrived in Hong Kong feeling good. Immigration took only a few minutes. luckily. I had no checked-in luggage, so I merely walked out of the customs and went directly to catch the quick, clean and efficient airport express train to Kowloon station. From there, I got onto a small shuttle bus which took me to the Shangri-la hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Now this is an experience of quality! As I stepped off the shuttle, a uniformed lady met me and insisted on pulling my small roll-a-board case. She escorted me to the registration desk for the hotel in the Horizon Club on the 20th floor. She effectively handed me over to the staff at th desk. I sat down and handed them my passport and credit card. The registration papers had been pre-printed, so check in took only a few minutes. I was in my room shortly: Free internet, comfortable bed, fresh fruit, free bottles of drinking water. I returned to the Horizon lounge for a cup of Earle Grey tea while looking over Hong Kong harbor, before retiring for the night.

I got up early and had a delicious healthy breakfast in the lounge on the 21st floor. After catching up on e-mail, I went to the gym for a "get over jetlag" workout. The gym was remarkably well equipped for a hotel facility.

I attended my noon meeting refreshed. I decided to have the meeting in the Horizon Lounge because it is quiet and peaceful, while the staff there provide adequate refreshments and snacks with unobtrusive efficiency.

After my noon meeting, I checked out, in the lounge (easy), and was picked up for a meeting in an Hong Kong office after which I was dropped at the airport for my onward journey.

The Star Alliance gold counter at Singapore Airlines in Hong was a breeze. The man was friendly and helpful. After a very short time taken to get through emmigration and security, I went to the Kris lounge. It was quite large with good food. I had a cuppacino, and an ice-cream while doing my e-mail.

The economy flight to Singapore was pretty good. The seat was comfortable, the 0n-demand movies were current and the food was excellent. They gave me a glass of wine. Why can't American airlines do this on international flights? Go figger?

I arrived in Singapore and went to sit in the lounge while waiting for my onward flight to Perth. I totally lost track of time. Sudeenly I noticed the clock. Oops! I threw my stuff into my backpack and RAN to the gate. As luck would have it, it was the furthest gate possible. I made it, last one.

I sat in my seat to find that the man next to me was large and flowed over into my section. He slept all the time from before I sat there until after the plane had landed in Perth. I had to keep pushig him back to his side. They woke us at about 3.30am for breakfast. Wonderful! (Sarcasm) Not really Singapore Airlines' fault, but it was not a pleasant flight, at all.

So now I'm in Perth enjoying seeing my family here, while I work on confirming and rescheduling my appointments for next week.

Til next time......

Hilton Anatole Dallas

Last week I stayed in Dallas at the Hilton Anatole. What a beautiful hotel with absolutely magnificent facilities. The accommodation I was given was a King Corner room on the 24th floor with access to the executive lounge. I was really looking forward to it, as were my three colleagues from Mexico who were staying at the same hotel.

As it turns out, it was a bit disappointing. The first disappointment, as is usually the case, is the necessity to pay for an internet connection. This is one of the anomalies of staying at a four or five star hotel. It annoys me intensely. When I pay over $200 per night for a room, I would expect free internet. I can stay at the Hampton Inn or the Homewood Suites, both within the Hilton Group, and get free internet.

The other disappointment was the requirement to pay for drinks in the executive lounge during "Happy Hour." I stay at many hotels in the USA and internationally. This is the first time I have had to pay for drinks in the executive lounge during this evening time. In fact, at many hotels, basic alcoholic drinks are free any time the executive lounge is open.

Another strange aspect of the stay at this hotel was that on arrival in my room I found two bottles of water..... nice! The strange things was that they did not replace them on the next day. Odd!

Having said all this, the room itself was extremely comfortable. The desk, the sitting area, the bed and the flat screen TV were all great. I would have liked to see a DVD player in the room, though. The workout facility was fantastic, although I was far to busy to use it.

Would I stay there again? Not unless I had to. I would rather stay at the Homewood Suites for almost half the price and twice the stuff, including free breakfast, free dinner AND beer or wine.