Israel Part 1

Just came back from my trip to Israel. It was a 7 days 5 nights trip with 18 pastors/missionaries from all over Indonesia.

Israel serves as a sacred place to 4 religions - Muslim, Catholic, Christians & Jewish. Since we were on a pilgrimage, bringing 18 pastors along, many of the places that we visited are associated with Jesus (where he did miracles, where he was born, etc). Because of that, these places have become churches/monasteries so to serve as a remembrance of what Jesus did. Even though the nation itself is politically unstable, many still journeyed to Israel for pilgrimages. This trip has given me more assurance that the Bible speaks the truth. What happened in Israel was written in the Bible. 

Day 1:

Jakarta - Dubai - Amman - Israel 

The journey to Israel itself was long and exhausting. We departed from Jakarta at 5.45pm and arrived in Dubai at 10pm (8.5hrs flight), transit for 8 hours before flying to Amman, Jordan for another 2.5 hour; Took one hour bus ride to Israel-Jordan border before finally arriving in the holyland. It was a total of 11hrs of flight, 8hrs of transit, 1 hr of bus ride & 1.5hr of crossing the border. 

TRANSIT IN DUBAI

BUS IN ISRAEL

Destination #1 Qumeran Caves 

Our first stop is the archaeological site in the West Bank called Qumran. This is where nearly 900 Dead Sea biblical scrolls were found in the caves between 1947-1956. In addition to that, cisterns, Jewish ritual baths & cemeteries were also found. Every book of the Bible were found written in the scrolls, except for the Book of Esther (because book does not mention anything about God). 

The Caves where the scrolls were found. A total of about 11 caves

View from Qumeran overlooking the Dead Sea 

Qumeran Caves

Destination #2 Dead Sea

Our second stop is to swim at the Dead Sea. The reason why they called the Dead Sea is because no living things live here due to the high salt content (about 33%). If you were to taste the water, it doesnt taste salty but bitter instead. This is also the Earth's lowest elevation on land. The seawater has extremely high density that makes swimming impossible -> you float. In addition to that, the dead sea has many mineral content that is good for the skin. Thus, there are many beauty products that is from the dead sea! Definitely worth the buy if you are interested. 

Destination #3 Mount of Temptation in Jericho

The final stop is Mount of Temptation at Jericho (Palestinian territory). It is said that this is the Mountain where Jesus was tempted by the devil. [Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.] The top of the mountain has become a Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation. 

After a long day of travel & sightseeing, we ended the night in Jerusalem. This city is a holy land to Judaism, Christianity & Islam. Also, both Israelis & Palestinians claim that Jerusalem is their capital. Thus, this city has a potential to be the center of heated conflict for the nation. 

Day 2: Bethlehem & Jerusalem
Destination #1 Bethlehem, where Jesus was born - Church of Nativity
Here is where they believe that Jesus was born. According to the Bible, Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem but we're not sure of the exact location. This location was said to be the birth of Jesus due to word of mouth. 3 different churches are built in this area. During Christmas Day, there will be a live broadcast worldwide from one of these churches to celebrate Jesus' birthday. 

Destination #2 Bethlehem, Shepherds' field

This is where the angels appeared to the shepherds telling them the good news that the son of God was born. [Luke 2:8-20]. Again, this place has become a church. 

Destination #3 Jerusalem, the upper room for the last supper & Pentecost

Once we're done with the city of Bethlehem, we proceeded back to Jerusalem to the location of the upper room for the last supper & Pentecost. The Last Supper Room is a second-story room in Jerusalem that commemorates the "last supper" Jesus had with his disciples. [Mark 14:12-15]. This is also where the disciples received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost [Acts 1:13,2:1].

Destination #4 Where Jesus was prisoned before crucifixion 

Here is where they believed that Jesus was kept the night before he was crucified. Unlike the present time prison, this place was literally prison made out of stone. There wasnt any door or stairs for prisoners to go to their cells. Instead, prisoners will be thrown into a hole about 2 meters deep and there is not way they can escape. 

Destination #5 Garden of Tomb

There are 2 versions to where Jesus was buried - Catholic & Christian beliefs. The Garden of Tomb is a rock-out tomb that Christians believed to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. This garden has been maintained as a place of Christian worship. 

The Tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected after 3 days

Destination #6 Wailing Wall & Western Tunnel 

Our final destination for the day is visiting the Wailing Wall & Western Tunnel. This wall was remains of the Temple of God (where the Ark of Convenant was kept). The Temple of God is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place to which Jews turn during prayer. Unfortunately, the place was destroyed and replaced by Al Aqsa Mosque on top of it. This has been the conflict between Jewish and Muslim.  Jewish want their Temple of God built at the exact location it was destroyed - that would mean having the mosque (3rd sacred place for Muslim) destroyed. 

Many Muslim countries said that Israel dug a tunnel underneath the Mosque so as to weaken its foundation to destroy the Mosque. I went inside the tunnel and it was definitely NOT underneath Al Aqsa. The Tunnel was directly under the wall. I guess they dug the tunnel to see if there are any remains of the Temple of God. True enough, they did found the original ritual bath before Priest enter into the Temple. 

The Wailing Wall 

The Foundation of the Wailing Wall (Original version from 2000 years), NOT UNDERNEATH ALAQSA MOSQUE

Can't really see this but it is the Original Ritual Bath Dating 2000 years

Even though it was my 2nd time visiting these places, I never fail to feel amazed by all the histories and archaeological remains found in Israel. 

- to be continued - 

With Lots of Love, 
Claraaaa <3 

The Necessities

Now that I am in Asia, there's few items that I bring for my travel, esp when there's the SUN... Looooveeeeee the sun & beaches but somewhat allergic to the sun. ==" If I am out in the sun for more than an hour without sunblock, my whole face will have rashes for the next week. Like ew-disgusting... This syndrome happened 2 years ago. So ever since then, I made sure that I bring my essentials whenever I travel.

#1 Sunblock - I am trying to find the best brand for facial & body sunblocks. Currently using Gisele Delorme for facial & the regular Nivea Sunblock for body. Not really into these 2 sunblocks because they tend to be sticky in the skin. But so far so good, they prevented me from getting too tanned.. !

#2 Cortizone - In case sunblocks don't work and I get rashes on my face, Cortizone will be my savior. This medicine is to reduce swelling, itching, and redness caused by insect bites, allergies & rashes. Not sure why but my skin react really well with this medication. As a matter of fact, the sun rash will get better in just one day after application. 

#3 Vaseline - I use this as a lipbalm but can also serve as other purposes - to protect skin with minor cuts & burns. The reason I started using this is because of the sun rash in my face and lips. You will not want to see the rashes in my face and lips - it's disgusting beyond words. I didnt even want to leave the house because of how horrible it looked. I have a very sensitive lips; it gets allergic reactions to flavored lip balms. So Vaseline is the only lip balm that does not contain any flavors and works well with my lips & skin. 

#4 Umbrella with UV protection - bought this umbrella in Tokyo, Japan for USD$20. (who in the world would buy such an expensive umbrella?! -> only Japanese & my mum). BUT, this is one of the better 'investment' my mum made. haha. Not only is the umbrella small, lightweight & colorful, it is also UV protected! WHOOTS. You can use this for rain & shine. 

#5 Hat - bought this $10 hat from Walgreens in Chicago last year. It was super impromtu because my face was starting to show symptoms of the rash and I needed to protect it from the sun. Couldnt find any hat shop, so bought this random pink hat. Been using this hat wherever I go. It might not be the fanciest hat, but it serves its purpose in protecting my face against the sun. 

#6 Sunglass - One last essential is to bring sunglasses, especially when the sun is staring right into your eyes. In fact, sunglasses offer protection against excessive exposure to sunlight! Fashion trends can be another reason for wearing sunglasses. One might look better and 'cooler' in photos when they wear designer sunglasses.  

These are my 6 must bring items when traveling. What are yours? 

The older you get, the more you bring. It is the "just in case I need it" excuse that resulted you bringing the 'extras'. When I was younger, I could care less about bringing anything for my trip. Right now, a 4 day trip will get me about 6 sets of clothes.
oh my! 

With lots of love,

Claraaaa <3

Vancouver, Canada

23; You are a young adult trying to figure out what you can offer to the world and vice versa. You want to be independent, but yet you're so dependent. And before you realize you are turning 24... :O!

Anyways, back to my travelogue. Even though Canada is just a drive away from Seattle/Buffalo, I have only been there twice - once when I was really young and the second time in August. 

Facts about Canada:
World's second largest country by total area
Official languages are French & English
Member of Commonwealth Nations
Is a federal parliamentary democracy & a constitutional monarchy.
Uses the metric system

I used to think that USA & Canada are somewhat similar. But if you think about it, they are totally different from each other. They just happen to share the same language and continent. Also, everything is 1.5 more expensive in Canada. People tend to be friendlier and more polite too. It is a VERY clean country. The cleanliness makes me feel like I am in Singapore. 

Vancouver is 3.5hrs away from Seattle by car. In the 4 days that I visited Vancouver, we managed to visit Victoria Island (Butchart Garden & Legislature Building), Capilano Bridge & Old Town Vancouver. There aren't many tourist attractions there, unless you love natures & mountains. One thing I noticed about Vancouver is that there are many Asians, particularly Hong Kong people.  

Hotel:
La Grande Residence Vancouver at the Sutton Place
855 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z2K7, Canada
It is a 5 star hotel located at the heart of Vancouver. The concept of the hotel is like a service apartment. One night at the hotel can easily cost you USD$300-400. Again, everything is expensive in Canada. However, the location of the hotel is favorable. There is a supermarket that is one block away and there are many restaurants nearby.

Food:
As I mentioned earlier, there are many Asians in Vancouver. Thus, it is no surprise that the city has many good Asian food. 

1. Japadog (www.japadog.com) - a Japanese Style Hot Dog. This is not just another hotdog, but one of the best hotdog I've tasted. You can taste the juiceness of the meat and the perfect blend of the sauces. Those are the 3 hotdogs that we tried, my favorite is the Kurobuta Terimayo Hotdog. YUMMMM.. 

Kurobuta Terimayo

Okonomi

Oroshi

2. Salathai (www.salathai.ca) - this is a normal Thai restaurant located just across our hotel. Mum usually takes her group to this restaurant so I guess it must have tasted decent. True enough, none of the food we ordered taste bad. One downside about this restaurant is that the service is EXTREMELY slow. It took us 10 minutes to order our food, and drinks came 10 minutes after.

3. Kirin (www.kirinrestaurants.com) - we had dimsum at this restaurant. It is about 10 minute walk from the hotel. Everything we ordered tasted good. I guess the restaurant is popular among Indonesians because even the server could speak Bahasa! 

Attractions:
1. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park: 
3735 Capilano Road, North Vancouver, BC V7R4J1, Canada

Admission Fee to Capilano Bridge

Capilano Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge is 140 meters long and 70 meters above the river. Aside from the suspension bridge, it is also a national park. The park is well known for having many suspension bridges. I would say that Canada has one of the cleanest and well-kept parks/gardens  in the world.  There are 3 main places/attractions that you should visit while in the park - first being the Capilano suspension bridge, second the cliffwalk and third the treetops adventure. 

Capilano Suspension Bridge

View from the suspension bridge

View from the suspension bridge

2. Butchart Garden 
800 Benvenuto Ave, Brentwood Bay, BC V8M1J8, Canada

Entrance to this beautiful park ranges from low CAD$30s to high CAD$30s, depending on the time of the year. The high season would be in Summer and that would be about CAD$37. Imagine an entrance fee to a garden for that much! You will NOT be disappoint once you get into the garden and see how well-kept it is. 
I was fortunate enough to visit the garden in the Summer. It was a really sunny day and all the flowers were blooming. I love LOVE flowers and this garden is definitely one of the best gardens filled with variety of flowers. Everything looked way too surreal because it's been so well-kept. 

All the pretty flowers

3. Victoria Island - Legislature Buiding 
We managed to visit the Parliament building that is located near a dock. The area itself reminds you of Fishermen's Wharf & Santa Monica Pier. Really pretty place and the whole area is very lively with people playing music and many tourists. You can go inside the viewing gallery of the legislative chamber. Even though it is a sunny day, bring your jacket along because it can get very windy since it is by the pier. 

4. Lions Gate Bridge
Our final location is the Lions Gate Bridge. This bridge is a suspension bridge connecting Stanley Park/downtown to the North Shore. If you are driving, you can stop over before crossing the bridge to have a photo session. This area can get windy and foggy, but I was lucky enough to have a clear and sunny day during the visit. 

Lions Gate Bridge

This pretty much sums up our trip to Vancouver, Canada! 

Stay tune for my upcoming trips which I am very excited:

- Israel: It is mind-blowing to know that the holy land is a living proof of God & the Bible. Will be my 2nd time visiting the country

- Toraja: Very intrigued about this city in Sulawesi Island. They have a unique tradition of honoring the dead people.

- Japan: Will be my 3rd time visiting Japan but I never get enough of it.

I might visit New York & Los Angeles for Christmas and New Year. :D :D :D 

2014 is coming to an end and I might not have accomplished much success in terms on monetary value. However, everyone has their own definition of successes in their lives. Some consider finding the love of their life a success, some even define success as having excess amount of monetary value and/or knowledge. As for me, being able to travel so much in a year is a huge accomplishment. I am truly blessed to be given this opportunity and would love to travel and explore the different cities & cultures in the coming year. 

With lots of love,

Claraaaa <3