Author Topic: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days  (Read 46204 times)

Offline moisheyb

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #40 on: July 20, 2017, 01:55:14 AM »
Great TR so far. So I'm going to be the first to ask whose food was better the ritz or waldorf?
The presentation at the waldorf is outstanding, but the actual food is so so.

Also next time behind the music muesum there's 2 restaurants that are amazing pocolino and a French bakery style place both amazing dairy options.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #41 on: July 20, 2017, 08:58:14 AM »
Great TR so far. So I'm going to be the first to ask whose food was better the ritz or waldorf?
The presentation at the waldorf is outstanding, but the actual food is so so.

Also next time behind the music muesum there's 2 restaurants that are amazing pocolino and a French bakery style place both amazing dairy options.
It's a tough call between the two. Everything I had at the Waldorf was great (except for a pretzel on the last day), do it's hard for me to stay.

I knew about the two restaurants behind the museum, but we weren't the slightest bit hungry when we were there, and DD was quite fussy when we were leaving. They'll have to wait for another time.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #42 on: July 20, 2017, 10:20:01 AM »
Nice segment. Boy, this TR is made up of a lot of food. :P Really making me look forward to staying at a Kosher hotel one day.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #43 on: July 20, 2017, 10:38:00 AM »
Nice segment. Boy, this TR is made up of a lot of food. :P Really making me look forward to staying at a Kosher hotel one day.
Maybe I just took photos of more food than other things? lol

Yup, there really is nothing like staying in a hotel where the food in included. It's really something that's unique to Israel and a few properties elsewhere in the world.

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #44 on: July 20, 2017, 10:53:24 AM »
Love the trip report!

Where is the picture of the "No photography" sign at Rosh Hanikra? Without it you are not Yotzei!
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #45 on: July 20, 2017, 11:15:26 AM »
Love the trip report!

Where is the picture of the "No photography" sign at Rosh Hanikra? Without it you are not Yotzei!
Thanks! I honestly didn't see such a sign. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right places...

Offline davidmal

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #46 on: July 20, 2017, 01:16:26 PM »
While I reviewed your trip I gave you several like. I enjoyed reading and seeing it immensely!
I must say 1/2 of the pictures are food. You could have saved a lot of money and miles and just went to W. Pico!

All joking aside. Fantastic TR, pictures, schedule and all!
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #47 on: July 20, 2017, 01:19:03 PM »
While I reviewed your trip I gave you several like. I enjoyed reading and seeing it immensely!
I must say 1/2 of the pictures are food. You could have saved a lot of money and miles and just went to W. Pico!

All joking aside. Fantastic TR, pictures, schedule and all!
Haha, I have loads more pics, I'm just sharing the one's I have without DW or DD in them. Thanks, I'm glad your're enjoying.

Offline shmebeble

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #48 on: July 20, 2017, 01:19:40 PM »
Haha, I have loads more pics, I'm just sharing the one's I have without DW or DD in them. Thanks, I'm glad your're enjoying.
so give us some more of you ;)

Offline davidmal

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #49 on: July 20, 2017, 01:20:55 PM »
Haha, I have loads more pics, I'm just sharing the one's I have without DW or DD in them. Thanks, I'm glad your're enjoying.
I know. Ps. I think we eat more in israel then we do in the states.
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline shwarmabob

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #50 on: July 20, 2017, 04:42:22 PM »
very nice TR! it made me really hungry and wanting to visit EY

Offline davidmal

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #51 on: July 20, 2017, 05:51:08 PM »
very nice TR! it made me really hungry and wanting to visit EY
lol his mission was accomplished!
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #52 on: July 20, 2017, 05:52:10 PM »
very nice TR! it made me really hungry and wanting to visit EY
Thanks!

lol his mission was accomplished!
:)

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #53 on: July 20, 2017, 10:31:06 PM »
Machane Yehuda on Erev Shabbos

Friday started out without many plans. I went to the Great Synagogue for Shachris at 8am once again, and then we went to breakfast at the hotel. The plan was to eat the Friday night meal in our room and Shabbos day at my brother-in-law’s apartment in Machal.

We decided to walk to the shuk, Machane Yehuda. We loaded DD into the baby carrier and were off. With a nice stroll down Yaffo, we eventually arrived at Machane Yehuda around 11:30am. We slowly made our way through all the stalls, pushing our way amongst all the people there.

By this point, DD had fallen asleep in the baby carrier. We were looking for two things: food for Friday night, and some candy for my BIL for the next day. We first stopped to purchase some challah rolls from one stall that thankfully accepted credit card. I mean, when you get 6 rolls for under $4.50 that’s a good deal to me!

Our next stop was at a super crowded candy stall to buy a tray as a gift for Shabbos. My wife got the last tray they had and filled it up for a decent price. Our other goal was to find food for Shabbos. We looked at most of the stalls as we walked up and down the different alleyways of the market, but alas we didn’t end up finding anything worth getting.

We walked back to the WA at that point. We first stopped in a supermarket to get a dip for that evening. Our next stop was at Ma’afe Ne’eman once again to get two salads for Shabbos. We then stopped at Re:bar for a smoothie which was quite refreshing on such a hot day. We finally made it back to the hotel at around 1:15pm.

]
Future home of the Museum of Tolerance, Israel

Besides going out to look for some more dips and food for Shabbos a few hours later, we didn’t do that much else on our last full weekday in Israel. We hung around the hotel, got ready for Shabbos, and eventually went to daven at the shul in the hotel around 7:40pm.

I should mention the ordeal with the Shabbos key. All rooms come with a manual key to be used on Shabbos which you get from the front desk before. The first time I went down to get the key they said ours was missing and to come back later. An hour or two later when I showed back up they said they’d need to get an extra key from somewhere else. Finally, on the third attempt, I got them to get the key on the spot from the other location, though they did caution that it was the “extra” key and they didn’t have another. With the Shabbos key in hand, it was time for Shabbos.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #54 on: July 20, 2017, 10:32:01 PM »
Shabbos in Yerushalayim
Before shabbos started it was time to put DD to sleep. After we did, my wife went down to the lobby to light. The place to light is just in the middle of the main staircases right in front of our room, which was rather convenient.

I went to daven Mincha/Maariv, after DW came back up from lighting, in the hotel’s basement. It was a very nice davening and lasted about an hour (I’m mentioning the time on purpose). I went back up to the room to get a cup in which I’d get grape juice, and was able to get some from the hotel in the restaurant.

I brought the grape juice upstairs, and we had our meal. It basically consisted of lots of rolls (remember the salads came with rolls too, but they were mezonos), salad and dip. This was enough for us, and we were both very full. We had the chocolates they put in the room every night for dessert. We had eaten dinner in the small room as soon as you walk in which had a door we could close so the light didn’t bother our sleeping DD. I had also set the Shabbos clock in the room to have the entry way lights and bathroom lights go off that night and on again the following evening.

We finished up an hour after we started and went to bed.

The next morning I was up early to go to the Great Synagogue for shachris at 7:55 am. My thinking was that this way we’d—or more accurately I’d—be able to eat breakfast at the hotel after shachris, and the minyan at 8:30 am at the hotel would be too late.

I walked to shul and got there right around 7:55 am. The speed at which they said Pesukei D’zimra was astonishing; they were done by 8:10 am! At that pace, I figured, they’d be done by 9:30 am at the latest! Boy, was I wrong.

There were four men who got up and stood on either side of the chazzan with a choir leader in front of them. Thus began the very, very drawn out davening that the Great Synagogue is known for. We eventually made it to leining at 9:30 am, which once again moved at a normal pace, and we were done by 10:00 am.

Once they chazzan started mussaf and the choir started singing each and every word of Av HaRachamin out loud, I lost it. It was going so painfully slow, that had I stayed for the rest of davening they wouldn’t have finished until around noon! I davened mussaf by myself and went back to the WA for an abridged breakfast.

When I got back to the hotel DW and DD were already at breakfast. While there was definitely less food on Shabbos than there was during the week, there was still plenty to eat. There were bottles of grape juice to make Kiddush, which I did, and then we enjoyed a light breakfast of mainly fruit and pastries.

At around 11:00am we started our hot, hot walk to my BIL’s house. We decided to bring the stroller over the baby carrier, since I didn’t want to hold the baby carrier on my back in the heat. We took it very slow, and a mere 45 minutes later we arrived, very sweaty, at my BIL’s house. My SIL was home, but we basically just sat in front of the AC for a good while until we were nice and cool.

We had lunch, which was very good, and there was another guest there as well. After lunch, we just hung around a bit until a friend came over to visit. We visited a bit which very nice while DD was up and quite fussy. Since she didn’t nap that afternoon, by 5:00 she was getting quite fussy, so we decided to walk back and have her sleep on the way.

The walk back was a lot cooler than the walk there. Maybe it was because there was more shade, maybe because it was later in the day, I’m not sure, but we were back in our room by 5:45 pm.

It was a long day for DD without a nap, so we decided to just to get her ready for bed early. We fed her and put her to bed around 6:00 pm.

We were relaxing a bit, when I ran into friends from LA in the hotel. I knew they were staying in the hotel Saturday night, but they’d apparently walked over from the Herbert Samuel (where they had been staying) to the WA to take advantage of the hotel and see if they could check in early, which they could.

We were schmoozing with them in the small vestibule of our room with the door closed when it was time for me to go to Mincha, again at the hotel. After mincha we ate seuda shlihis in our room with the some of the leftovers we had from Friday. It was finally time to go to maariv and make havdala at the same area that candle lighting was set up in the day before.

We were some of the first ones down to make havdala; we ran down, made havdala and returned the manual key to the front desk (and got them to make us new keys for the last day). We didn’t have many plans for Motzei Shabbos, so we just kept it low key and hung around the hotel for our last night in Israel.

Online aygart

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #55 on: July 21, 2017, 12:08:14 AM »
As an aside, you could have davened next door in Heichal Shlomo.
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #56 on: July 21, 2017, 12:23:22 AM »
As an aside, you could have davened next door in Heichal Shlomo.
Now you tell me.

Offline shiframeir

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #57 on: July 21, 2017, 12:35:59 AM »
Now you tell me.
Great TR esp the pics of the Elma (did u feel it was worth it/any issues?). For next time, the best non-shleppy minyan in the area (if u wont shlep further to the Gra in Shaarei Chessed) is to daven in the Leonardo Plaza, their mashgiach/Gabbai is the best and makes sure everything moves at a good pace so people make breakfast etc.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #58 on: July 21, 2017, 12:54:07 AM »
Great TR esp the pics of the Elma (did u feel it was worth it/any issues?). For next time, the best non-shleppy minyan in the area (if u wont shlep further to the Gra in Shaarei Chessed) is to daven in the Leonardo Plaza, their mashgiach/Gabbai is the best and makes sure everything moves at a good pace so people make breakfast etc.
Glad you enjoyed! We did enjoy the Elma a lot, and were really happy with the location. It turned out to be quite a relaxing environment.

Offline Proisrael

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Re: Israel & Bali: around the world in 17 days
« Reply #59 on: July 21, 2017, 02:22:25 AM »
The highlight of my morning is reading this TR. Thank you!