Journey to the other side of the world

on Graduation, Next Steps, and Anxiety

2008-07-03T19:45:00.002+02:00

So I just left the INSEAD graduation a few minutes ago. There is further celebrating to be done tonight at our last party, followed by the long journey home to NYC tomorrow morning from Orly Airport. What a journey it has been over the last year... I truly am a changed man, different in several key ways from when I left last June for Tel Aviv. I am now a well-travelled young person, who can converse in basic Mandarin, has friends on every continent, with a new home in nearly every major city across the globe, and a great job beginning in September in NYC, then Hertziliya.

And yet, its hard to walk away... I guess I suffer from some form of anxiety whenever I have accomplished something and am in transition before the next big thing. What should I do now? Where can I go? What should I read? Who should I meet? What have I done that I should think about more deeply?

The graduation ceremony, for what its worth, was quite lovely. I have been quick to criticize INSEAD for the shortcomings I perceived in the program, wherever they might have been. Part of that comes from my absolute adoration for Cornell, my undergrad institution. Part of it comes from the importance I place on good customer service, particularly on my largest personal investment to date ($50k Euros has that effect on people). However, the ceremony reminded me of the great parts of INSEAD, and particularly, the potential the institution possesses. One alum, who chairs the board of directors, spoke quite graciously about his time at INSEAD back in 1967, and gave a few words of advice - pick a job that makes you happy and helps you go down the road you want to be on, not the job that gives you the best financial reward.

Ultimately, he felt that there were three stages/elements to life that must be focused on and nourished:
1) Learn - Ensure you have gained practical knowledge that can be used to succeed in your line of work.
2) Do - Work as hard/smart as you can, letting nothing stand in your way.
3) Return - Give back to the community in some shape or form

Fairly simple, but strong argument. I was quite impressed.

The rest of the ceremony was quite nice, including a speech by a colleague, Anil, which was quite entertaining. Then, they handed out the diplomas, and took individual photos with each recipient and the 2 deans (INSEAD Dean Frank Brown, and INSEAD MBA Dean Antonio Fatas). This process took quite a while for the 400+ students who graduated in Fonty. The tent where the event was held was also quite packed and led to hot temperatures, which did not help things...

Following the ceremony, there were drinks and light refreshments as we all said hello to family and friends of our colleagues - nice, until it started to rain, and our dinner plans began to 'call'.

So now, I sit on my couch in Moret Sur Loing, France, an hour south of Paris, awaiting the return of my roommate and his wife, whom I'll be eating dinner with. Its a bit of an interesting scene: I'm sitting on a white couch in front of a fireplace in an old-school french house, easily 100 years old... I'm feeling a bit uneasy about a few things in my life, namely:

1) Where will I live in NYC? Should I go back to living at home for a few months? Can I stomach it? What will it be like to be back in my old stomping grounds? What has changed (has anything stayed the same)?
2) How should I prioritize my Hebrew and Chinese learning? What else can I do to stay away from absolute boredem? I think I want to take a Chinese calligraphy course? Maybe get back into painting as well...
3) What will it be like to go to Israel? How much do I need to organize in the next few weeks? How can I best transition?
4) My personal life is at a weird point right now. I've got to move on from my Singapore girlfriend (2 months already, pretty much), but its always hard. We had a long discussion the other day, following several weeks of no communication, then too much communication, in which she shared a fairly disturbing view on our relationship - what I viewed as serious and potentially meaningful was not that way at all. In fact, she was not willing to open herself to that possibility, due to several reasons that frankly, I have little to do with. Needless to say, tt was hard to take, but made sense as she explained it. There's nothing worse than being told that you've been 'used' - it actually taints all the memories that I hold and cherish from our time together. Regardless of how reasonable the reasoning, its a hard pill to swallow. However, it does provide excellent closure ;-) So what now? (I left that one deliberately wide open...)

Time to go... Off to dinner, party and the flight home... Drop me a line, if you've got any thoughts...

on Attention Deficit Disorder

2008-06-24T15:46:00.003+02:00

Ok, the last post was just published, but I figured i'd give y'all a double whammy. To be fair, it took me some time to finish the last one, since its a tough topic to write about...

Ah, ADD. This is a funny one for me, because I have never been diagnosed with ADD. However, I can definitely tell you I have ADD. How do I know? Well, at this very moment, I am carrying on 4 IM conversations, reading e-mails, listening to the new Coldplay Album. I cannot fall asleep without the TV on, even if its the same Seinfeld episode I watched last night. I physically cannot handle sitting still for much time at all (I hate sitting on the beach, or sitting in "the park" for this exact reason). I don't have a blackberry anymore, but it would be nearly impossible for many of my colleagues to know, since I have a serious level of internet addiction (when you click Send/Receive within Microsoft Outlook, even when its set to check every minute, you know you have a problem). I subscribe (RSS Feed) to over 25 blogs, of which I respond/comment regularly on 5. I like being busy, to a fault.

Is this a bad thing? Most scientists and nearly every professor at INSEAD thinks so... One professor even suggested that we are much more likely to suffer from stress-induced heart-attacks than our parents - hence the new workout routine. Its a scary world we live in, where information is at our fingertips and overload is inevitable. I find those random moments, when I do not have access to the internet or my phone (for example, when my home, in Montigny Sur Loing, internet goes down, I am out of communication options, since there is no reception in the forest) to be at first quite anxiety driven, then often calming. There is nothing like reading a book in an obscure old house outside Fontainbleau, France, to soothe the mind and keep sanity in this hyper-stressful world.

One interesting thought comes to mind. When I was in high school, when you dated a girl, you spoke over the phone and went out on dates. Today, there are new parts that have been adding to the complexity of dating, namely "Facebook profiles", "Web Blogs", text messaging and IM chats, to name a few. Do you have your girfriend listed as such on Facebook? Did you write about something you two did or experienced together on your blog? Is she at her computer and deliberately not IMing me? This makes the entire process all the more intense and stressful, as communication frequency is artificially increased and made more complex.

The same is true in work, where a blackberry puts nearly everyone "on call" 24 hrs/day anywhere around the globe. You can no longer hide, relax and take it easy, while still feeling in relative control of your life. Its a bit of a sad existence.

I am not sure how or when, but at some point I will give up on needing to know everything at all times. The human mind cannot take it all in, and is likely to get confused more often in this new world. We'll all eventually need to slow down. Simplicity in this complex world seems to be valued greatly. No longer are the coolest hi-tech gadgets valued on their complexity alone, but on their simplicity in operation, and how they eliminate our clutter-filled lives. Hence, the iPhone excited folks who can now get rid of 2+ devices (phone, iPod, camera, PDA) and replace it with one simple gadget.

Needless to say, we live in a world where everyone has (some form of) ADD, and the "here and now" is more critical than ever. Classes and lectures will likely need to be scaled down and focused on key soundbites. The media will continue to share more sucinct news segments that can keep our attention. And our friends in the ad business will need to work even harder to keep our minds on Coca Cola and Budweiser... Welcome to the new world...

On Judaism

2008-06-22T19:07:00.003+02:00

So, its now time to tackle a major part of my life and something that I hold near and dear. Judaism is the religion and history of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It is a largely intellectually motivated religion, accompanying an ambitious sect of people who have somehow been able to survive over 5700 years of history. It's part of my life whether I like it or not.

And for the most part, I like it a great deal. As a young boy, my parents instilled in myself and my sisters the need to identify as a Jew, and to connect with the spiritual/religious reality of Judaism. My childhood education was focused on both gaining traditional secular studies in Math, Science and the Humanities, while also getting a healthy dose of Judaic Learning, including Tanakh (Bible), Talmud (Jewish Legal System), and Customs. The schools or 'yeshivot' that I attended also encouraged a healthy dose of questioning, focusing my young mind of sharpening arguments and understanding the underlying philosophy behind the basic tenets of Judaism. All in all, the education at these schools were quite strong, and helped solidify the main elements of Judaic thought in my mind.

The downside of a traditional 'yeshiva' education was also quite clear to me, particularly as I entered secular society while at Cornell. The 'safety' of being in a 'yeshiva' environment, in which all the students and faculty are religious Jews with a similar view of life and what is important, led to 'group-think'. The community was quite tight-knit and focused on maintaining its 'closed culture' to ensure future continuity. This is an entirely rational response of course, in light of anti-semitism and the lack of preparation that 'yeshiva' students have for interacting with non-religious Jewish people. However, as a member of an open, intellectually driven society at Cornell, it became clear that I was not like everyone around me, and that I would stand out like a sore thumb.

During my time at Cornell, I became fascinated with understanding even more about Judaism than I already had. Much of this stemmed from my new found interest in the other monotheistic religions, Christianty and Islam, both of which were fairly forbidden conversation topics in yeshiva. I began to read about Jewish history, and understand how we got from the old bible story of crossing the 'red sea' to Jews living in New York City, eating kosher pizza and wearing traditional garb. I needed to understand...

As I began to read, my thinking changed as well. Judaism is a beautiful religion, but ithe way it was practiced by my friends and family was not entirely fitting my comfort zone anymore. Specifically, the "modern orthodox" community, designed to retain religious conviction in light of Jewish emancipation in Europe, led by Samson Rafael Hirsch in the 1850s, had given up the traditional intellectual roots of the religion, in favor of maintaining the traditional lifestyle. The concept of Modern Orthodoxy has primarily failed, due to the fundamental difficulty that nearly every political or religiously liberal movement has - the contradictory nature of its underlying value system. Modern Orthodoxy encouraged young people to enter the upper echelons of society while maintaining Jewish tradition. Walking around Wall Street in New York City, one can clearly see this concept has succeeded, at least artificially. It is hard to find a trading floor, research desk or other function in the financial services business that does not have at least one Jewish boy with a yarmulke. However, by encouraging its youth to take on these kinds of roles, and not roles within Jewish academia, the Modern Orthodox lost sight of a fundamental need for sustainability of the movement - teaching and leading the spiritual lives of the community from a young age onward through life. This left a strong vacuum, occupied by two extremes: The Charedi community (which was founded as an alternative to Reform Judaism and Hirsch's Modern Orthodox in mid 1800's as well by the Chasam Sofer in Pressburg or today's Bratislava) and the Modern Conservative/Reform communities.

On the Reform and somewhat on the Conservative sides of the table, leadership from these movements pushed Jewish people to adopt modernity to a fairly strong extent, with Reform acting (at least initially) to rapidly and radically alter the religion in favor of a the Christian "belief" model, where communal activities were reduced to once a week or a few times a year, and the practice of Judaism on a day to day basis was significantly reduced. Their argument was to fully embrace emancipation and seek to blend better with Christian Europe. This was quite a shift, including a change of Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday, and a change in prayer books from traditional Hebrew to German.

The Conservative movement, founded in the U.S., sought a compromise position between Modern Orthodoxy and Reform, and has also suffered many of the problems that Modern Orthodoxy has felt (including several identity crisis). It has struggled to find a happy medium between movements that were widening the gap for much of their existence, often failing to please anyone, including their diehard followers. As a result, Conservative Judaism has varied from city to city, synagogue to synagogue, with many looking very similar to either Reform or Modern Orthodox synagogues.

The Charedi community, led by the Chasam Sofer, took a drastic move in the opposite direction of Reform. The Chasam Sofer outwardly pushed Jews to fight emancipation, feeling that it would cause too many problems and questions of faith within his people. In fact, in 1850, he applied a fascinating concept from the Talmud, intended to cover a Jewish law about eating fruit and grain from older harvests during the "shmita year" (a year in which Jewish farmers were not supposed to farm, allowing the land to rest - probably a very intelligent model, since it elimintated overfarming problems that other communities have had over history), in which the phrase "Chadash Asur Min Ha'Torah" ("Items that are new are not permitted, according to the bible") was applied to all things new from that point on. In essence, the Chasam Sofer suggested a freezing of time, and implied that Jews should strive to live lives like their forefathers who lived during the 1850s. Hence, the Charedi community today is known to wear historical dress from the 1850s in the Eastern European region. This community and its underlying ideology has spread like wildfire, taking a major step towards adding most of the remaining Modern Orthodox people, many of whom depend on scholars from this community to teach their children (and themselves) over their Reform counterparts. The result is a very religious community, pushing for the greater community to go retro - 1850s style.

Hence the world I was brought up in. A world in which Modern Orthodox thought was losing way to Charedi Judaism, and a person seeking to study the world and be a member of greater society found less and less room to maneuver. I recall quite well my conversations with colleagues in high school, when we decided to apply to college. I was the only student in the class applying to Cornell, because it was considered a "Makom Sakana" (a "Dangerous Place"), because our ideology would be tested by the environment/surroundings. Some of my best high school friends were willing to end our friendship because I was choosing "the road not taken" - literally. It was a very tough and lonely time for me, as many of my friends took the "safe path" towards a life and career of choice for the Charedi community, namely Talmudic study, Rabbinics, and some careers oriented towards flexibility. While on some level these pursuits were intellectual and in line with my interest in being a worldly and learned person, I felt that this approach was fairly counter to my fundamental beliefs...

In fact, I felt that the choice of friends and colleagues was going to be quite difficult to swallow. In high school, my friends and I would only eat kosher, but we couldn't intelligently answer the question of why, if asked by an onlooker. We'd follow traditions that were even more obscure, using fairly ridiculous or poorly constructed arguments to back up our traditions - (Why do we celebrate Jewish holidays for 2 days outside of Israel and 1 day inside Israel? Because in the past, we didn't have a functioning Gregorian calendar to tell us when the holiday arrived, so we would rely on an inefficient mechanism of messengers to get the dates to the people in far-away towns. Should this apply today?). At the same time, the traditions were so near and dear to me that it caused internal conflict - I know this probably makes no sense to follow, but I should do it because my parents, family, and friends do.

In college, I went with a fairly open mind, convinced that I had a strong upbringing and understood the fundamentals of Jewish values. I also believed that we probably did not have a monopoly on "the truth" or "righteousness", in line with Maimonides. the pre-eminent Jewish medievil philosopher. His works are commonly used by religious scholars and philosophers everywhere, including the famous "Guide to the Perplexed". His works were influenced heavily by Aristotle and other major western philosophers. He argued profusely that Jews were not necessarily the sole owners of "the truth" and that there was an underlying value in understanding the outside world. With his words as my compass, I sought out further knowledge and began diving into all kinds of philosophical works and Jewish history accounts. I read works on all kinds of topics, including Spinoza, the Falashas (Ethiopian Jews), Sephardim (Spanish Jews, including those who ended up in the Middle East) and Ashkenazi Jews (German and Eastern European origin) history, Josephus's account of the end of the 2nd temple (and the founding of Christianity), and others.

The result was a clearer understanding of how we got here. In fact, counter to the teachings of my elementary and high school, Judaism has been adjusted many times over the course of 5000 years, particularly in the last 2500 or so, to ensure its survival. From fundamental changes, like the shift from Priest/Kohanic-led and sacrifice-oriented worship to Rabbic-led and prayer-oriented worship that occured sometime after the 1st temple was destroyed, to more minutia, such as the ability to charge interest on loans (to allow the Jews a profession within Christian Europe), and the ability to eat rice on Passover (for Sephardic Jews, in direct response to their needed diet to survive). Adaptation has been a major part of our tradition, and was encouraged, albeit responsibly, but major sages since the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism. There are countless examples, and we could spend weeks discussing them here, but i'll refrain from further boring you all...

This all changed in the 1850s, with the Chasam Sofer, and his fundamental shift towards closing the floodgates and imposing a finality on change for Judaism. This change, while arguably justifiable, does not seem intellectually honest, at least not to me. Coupled with the personalization of the world, in which everyone can have their own 'brand' of lifestyle and religion in the U.S. (and much of the western world), I find myself trying to put together a more personalized Judaism that fits me and my intellectual understanding of how things should be done. The result is a mess...

To begin with, I believe that there is beauty and truth that can be found in Judaism that is unique and provides an excellent value proposition to anyone who is interested in searching for it. I also admire how the Jewish people have stayed a relatively cohesive social network over the tough periods of 2000 years of opression, and how it has been a secret weapon to our sustainability. It's an amazing thing I hope to help further in my lifetime by helping my fellow Jewish people further grow and enhance their standing in our world.

I am also even more convinced that Judaism does not hold the only key to "the truth" nor do we own the only vehicle to interact with/please God. I have traveled across a large part of the world (according to Facebook, only 19%, but still quite a bit) and am convinced that people all over the place have found a place for spirituality and greater meaning in their lives. I don't believe we have a monopoly here. Additionally, I do not believe that a single sect of Judaism has any better sense of the truth, than any of the others. I often refer to a handful of Reform-ordained Rabbis who I find personally stimulating and significant in growing my own position, including Rabbi Ed Rosenthal in Cornell, and Rabbi Morris at the Skirball Center in New York. Both are incredibly bright, articulate and learned people who are humble enough to admit that they dont have all the answers and their approach may not have all the answers. In fact, my affinity for these guys probably speaks to my love of the Hillel organization - a student organization found on college campuses that runs events and programs for both denominational and non-denominational Jews. Its a great feeling to see students from all walks of life interact with ease, and feeling comfortable with others of differing religious views.

So, where does this all leave me? I guess one could say that in the eyes of my colleagues from elementary school and high school, I am probably a heretic and could be burned at the stake somewhere (or maybe justifiably stoned). I prefer to believe that I am on a spiritual journey that has taken a few interesting twists and turns over the last couple of years. I do not have all the answers, nor do I claim to, but I am working on understanding and finding out how best to live a moral and spiritual life. My life is probably not the one projected for me by my parents and grandparents, but it is my own and one I'm comfortable with. Frankly, thats all I can offer at this point...

Life Goals

2008-06-20T01:13:00.002+02:00

My last post had me thinking quite a bit about the direction in which my life is going and about some things I am seeking to accomplish near-term, medium-term, and long-term. To give a bit of context, I was always the ambitious planner...

As a child, I began using the family's IBM PC Jr. that my parents were fortunate to win at a Chinese Auction in 1984 or 1985. At the young age of 6 or 7, I began programming code in Basic, using the commands given in "Compute", a magazine my father started receiving at home (one of the benefits of being a doctor/dentist's child - free magazines). From this, I became addicted to early baseball games for the PC, including Earl Weaver Baseball 1.0, 1.5, and finally 2.0. Yes, this sounds totally like loser-talk (and it might be), but I used to run baseball leagues with my friends at school, printing off hundreds of pages of stats on our home dot-matrix printer (was super loud - my parents did not love it) and then running a virtual "fantasy baseball" league, in which the games were simulated on my PC. Yes, it was rudimentary, but I was always the leader, the organizer, the one thinking these ideas through. My interest in these games led to a full on obsession in middle-school, when Dynamix (became part of Sierra Online) came out with Front Page Sports Football, a game with an incredible simulation model, that was super addictive. Using this as a model, I wrote a letter when in camp one year (probably 1993 or so), suggesting they add the backend tools of FPSF to their already growing franchise football game, John Madden Football. The letter was written on camp stationary in my poor handwriting, but for some reason I did get a call from Electronic Arts later that fall to talk about my ideas (many of whom have been implemented in the series over time). Yeah, i've always been ambitious...

Regardless, here are some of my key goals:

Short Term (through the end of August)

Language Skills: Part I - I need to get my hebrew skills in order, so that I can successfully survive in Israel. I'm sure that will not be too difficult, since I used to be quite good with the language, but I need to focus on it for a few hours a day when i'm back in New York.
Language Skills: Part II - I desparately want to continue learning Mandarin Chinese, which I began while at INSEAD. This is a language that can be truly beneficial to me as I develop my career over the next few years. I have gotten over the initial hump of Chinese and feel that I can get to a point of Business Level if I keep up the learning for the next 6-12 months.
Weight Management - Yeah, this is a dumb one, but its finally time... I've toyed with all kinds of programs in the past, but I finally kicked it to the curb 2 months ago and started working out nearly every day of the week and trying to eat right. I know this is a long process, but I have already made a major lifestyle adjustment and I am focused on keeping it up.

Medium Term (through the end of 2008)

Learn the Venture Capital Business - I've spent a good amount of time at INSEAD picking up skills that should theoretically give me a good chance at success in VC. I know though that i'll need to spend a ridiculous amount of time understanding how the business works, how best to assess new ventures, and how to help entrepreneurs succeed. It will be fascinating and quite fun, but I know the challenge will be heavy.
Become an Israeli - As much as I can, that is. I need to find a place to live, a community to be a part of, and a life of my own in this new country of mine. I know all the opportunities are there, and I know i'll have family and friends there to rely on, but it will be very important for me to get my own life in order over there. Social life is even more critical than personal space.

Long Term (through the end of 2012)

Schedule Trips Around the World - As mentioned in my previous post, I am eager to further see the world, particularly: Rural China, Russia, Mongolia (Trans-Siberian Railway), Ethiopia, South Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Portugal, Ireland, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Mexico. It's important to me that I continue this journey around the world, and that it not be postponed or put off for too long...
Become Fluent in Mandarin and Business Level in Arabic Language - These are important to me, because I belive the two languages will be critical in my future success anywhere I am. Without question, these two languages are likely to grow in usage globally, not diminish, in the next 25 years
Find My Partner - Yeah, we've hit the epicenter of trite comments. OK, so I obviously have no idea when/where or how I will meet this person, but I do hope it will happen within the next 5 years (or at least before all my hair falls out). Mom and Dad - i'm working on it every day, but it cannot be forced, it has to happen organically...

OK, I should write more here, but its 2am and i'm exhausted. Let's just say its a work in progress... Let me know what you think (especially if I'm missing critical things)

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

2008-06-18T15:39:00.002+02:00

Last night, on a flight back to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I got caught up in a Jim Rogers book, "Hot Commodities". He is now my favorite finance author, replacing all those "trashy finance novels" that I used to read (think Liars Poker, Monkey Business, Ben Mezrich's stuff, Michael Lewis). He's a bit of a crazy person, but he speaks to my strong interest in independence, investing, and understanding how the world truly works. Fascinating writer...

Regardless, midway through the reading, I began to think about where I've been over the last year, how my life is different from that of my parents and grandparents, and what it all adds up to. So bear with me here...

My grandparents on my mom's side were American-born, middle-upper class people who enjoyed much of the American Dream - Beautiful house in suburban Long Island, smart children attending the right schools and universities, a family business that was well-respected in the community, community leadership positions, beautiful big Cadillac (huge, "boat-like pimp-mobile", as my sister used to call it), vacations around the U.S. and some major cities in Europe and Israel... They were domestically oriented people for the most part, fairly content living their life in the suburb, traveling mostly by car within the tri-state area, and getting on an airplane a few times a year. Most of their friends and colleagues were Americans, with a good majority from the Jewish community.

My father's parents were Hungarian, having come to the U.S. at a very early age from Budapest to avoid Nazi persecution. They lived a more modest, immigrant lifestyle, based heavily around my grandfather's various businesses. My dad was brought up in a fairly religious home, where he was strongly encouraged to become a doctor (he became a dentist). My grandparents were not necessarily very wealthy, but they did provide what they could to my dad and his sister. They lived in the Bronx, in a strong Jewish community, and were very Jewish-community oriented folks. They rarely got on an airplane (usually once or twice a year), even post-retirement when they moved to Deerfield Beach, Florida. Their lives were domestic, very focused on communal leadership and were public transportation folks (my dad used to tell me about how my grandfather used to buy hot sweet potatoes sold on the street, by the train stations on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, before taking the long trip back to the Bronx). Nearly all of my grandparents friends were Jews from Hungarian/German or otherwise Ashkenazi background.

My parents have lived in Brooklyn since they got married over 30 years ago... My mom has been trained in Occupational Therapy and has been a nursing home administrator since I was a young boy. My dad is a retired dentist. Both of them have worked in environments with mixed ethnic employees and patients, yet both have friends who are almost entirely Jewish from New York. While my parents are comfortable flying on airplanes, with regular trips to Israel and other spots each year, they travel on roughly 4-8 flights per year. My parents rely heavily on their various automobiles (at one time we had four Toyotas) to travel within the tri-state.

My sisters and I stand at a fairly great contrast, representing the time and place we live in. To begin with, my oldest sister Mechal and her husband Chaim are constantly on airplanes across the continental U.S. and sometimes in Europe for work. They are very committed to the Jewish communities they participate in, particularly the religious community in Riverdale. Both have close colleagues from outside the Jewish community, and have fairly clear Internationally -oriented careers, but they have been nearly 100% U.S. focused.

My 2nd oldest sister Miriam, and her husband Mark, are Manhattanites through and through. They are both quite well-travelled within Europe and some other choice spots for both work and pleasure, and are fairly regularly taking their daughter Charlotte (see the blog on the right hand side) on long flights across the pond to get her passport stamped. They are both internationally oriented for their careers, although it is mostly within the developed western world (think UK/US for the most part). They do own a car in the city, but are primarily taxi riders and public transport people. They definitely count multiple non-Jewish friends from several parts of the globe.

As for me, I have been all over the globe, and I feel like I've just scratched the surface. I've got friends on nearly every continent. I look at airplanes like a seasoned business-traveler, namely the "Greyhound Bus System of the 21st Century", with mostly poor accommodations, poor lighting, air and general services, but unbeatable for time to destinations... While I enjoy driving a car, I don't expect to be dependent on one (that is, after my stay in Fontainebleau, France) as my career progresses. I've been a Jewish communal leader in high school, college and post-college, and hope to continue in that respect into the future, because its something important to me. However, the religion and its various rites are more complex for me to fully accept at face value (one day i'll post my thoughts, which are very complex, to say the least). Tradition is important, as long as its taken in stride and not the sole source of value in our daily lives.

My interest is in making an impact on international business, while also enjoying a work-life balance that my parents and grandparents were not able to achieve. Whereas mediocrity in certain respects seemed acceptable to past generations ("he's very smart and accomplished, so I guess I can overcome his weight problem" or "she comes from a good family, so you shouldn't worry about her making money"), it is not something people in my generation are willing to accept bar-none. We want it all, and we see it all within our grasps, so why settle...

While I am starting my post-INSEAD career in Tel Aviv, I am not sure where I will be in 5 years, let alone 10 or 15. When I'm 50, I expect to have spent significant time in the U.S., Israel, China, Singapore, South America and Africa. Whereas previous b-school students were told to take big corporate jobs to try to become a senior manager by the age of 55, I am seeking smaller, leaner organizations to make an impact and work towards independence.

I also fully subscribe to Marc Andreseen's view on a career as "portfolio", namely each job provides additional new skills that can be leveraged in an ambiguous future job that comes about strictly based on opportunity (e.g. when opportunity knocks, answer the door - no matter what is on the other side). Kind of radical.

Basically, I think we are living in exciting times, and i'm quite excited for the future. As mentioned in a prior post, my nail-biting has been increasing lately, as a direct indication of this incredible feeling of uncertainty, adrenaline and general excitement i'm feeling about my next step... I wonder what my great-great-grandparents would think?

On ISRAEL

2008-06-10T11:41:00.006+02:00

That last post was tough to write, but i'm glad I got it off my chest... The fact is, what occupies the mind is what will come off on the page (or screen), at least for me. I tend to be very direct and clear with people, and more often than not, will dwell on a subject until it is resolved. For the last post, i'd argue i'm on my way to recovery, but am still resolving some of those issues in my mind...

Onto Israel... If you called me a year ago and asked me where I expected to be working after my year at INSEAD, I would have said:

1) Hong Kong
2) Tokyo
3) Singapore
4) London
5) New York

My thoughts on going to Israel were non-existent, not necessarily negative at the time. Of course, I had an impression from friends and colleagues who had moved there that it was a "tough place" to live and work, that the taxes were too high, that the government was disfunctional, and that the country might have seen its best years decades ago... Wow, that sounds fairly harsh when you look at it.

As such, I didn't even think about it as a real option for much of my time at INSEAD - instead I focused on opportunities in China, Japan and Singapore, since I was convinced that the far east was the place to be...

At the same time, I was also convinced that I'd want to go into Private Equity, a fairly obscure investment business, in which a PE firm purchases companies that are either distressed or just simply undervalued in the market, makes some changes within the management team or the way the company operates, potentially does some fundament fixes as needed, and then exits within 4-7 years. Now, for me, I had always enjoyed my consulting work in New York, but was convinced that Consulting, as an industry, was too risk-averse for me. Basically, you charge a standard fee for the most part, and provide advice to the company, which they then choose to accept or not. Rarely will you truly stick your neck on the line around an idea you believe in, even on projects where we included implementation. Don't get me wrong - the work was fascinating, the people were the smartest i've ever met, and the work was diverse and constantly changing, which helped me, given my strong undiagnosed case of ADD.

To me, PE would provide consulting-like diversity and excitement with the added bonus of liability and risk. This excited me greatly, to the point that I focused entirely on it while at INSEAD. However, as I moved along a bit in my time at INSEAD, I found out that much of the cool "consulting-type work" done in a PE context (the actual turnaround, day-to-day and strategic changes) are not really done by PE professionals. More often than not, they rely on existing management with a few new faces, and an outside consulting team, if needed. I was somewhat saddened to hear all that, since its information that proved my original thesis to be flawed. However, I was lucky to be introduced to a small section of the PE business, intended for startup phase businesses that just need seed funding to get going. This area requires a ton of hands-on experience, because the entrepreneurs rarely have all the skills they need on their current team. It felt like a great fit and I began to pursue it with great vigor in Asia.

Asia is a funny place - everyone says it is the next big market, and that China will be 'the force to be reckoned with' shortly. The growth in these markets is completely insane. However, when you go a level or two deeper, you'll notice a major contrast to western markets in where the growth is coming from - mostly manufacturing and the entrepreneurship of copying pre-existing business models. This clear from VC spend vs. PE spend (tons of the latter, less of the former). When I was in Singapore, there was concern about students there lacking 'creativity' (mentioned in my Singapore post), which holds true to some extent in china and other parts of Asia. They claim the education system focuses too much on hard skills and not on creative thinking. Today, VCs pay for pre-existing business models applied to China and the greater Asia. As a contrast, there is a reasonable amount of VC spend in India on new innovations, maybe due to the English education system, or the European-style beurocratic government that lends itself to ridicule, contempt and hatred, often spawning creative juices.

The U.S. by contrast, has been changing its focus from manufacturing to services for the last 50+ years. Additionally, in the U.S., Ireland and a few other spots in Europe, entrepreneurship has been embraced, with a focus on innovation, primarily in technology, medicine, and agriculture. As a result, these places have been sources of innovation for the global economy. Israel is a prominent member of this group of countries as well, with a ridiculous amount of entrepreneurship due to government encouragement, military participation and innovation needs, and a strong education system.

Hence, I found myself applying to positions in China and Israel, and began to see a real contrast in the kinds of work one would do in both places and what might differ. My take is quite simple - In Israel, I will learn classical VC from the Georges Doriot tradition and build a strong Israeli-U.S. network. In China, I will meet a bunch of cool up and comers and potentially build an interesting network in Asia. Since ultimately I see myself being in either Israel or the U.S. long-term, it made sense to go for an opportunity there.

Now, onto my thoughts on Israel. Whereas one time in my life I would have strongly considered moving strictly for Zionistic reasons, my feelings are now quite opportunistic. I do believe that Israel will be a fun environment for me to live, and certainly a change of pace from my lifestyle in New York. It has become home to Jews from all over the world, including a good number of people I knew from college and NYC. Even now, I always have strong feelings when I'm at Ben Gurion airport, either in anticipation of a fun and exciting time in Israel, or in contemplation around why I am leaving and where my 'real' home is... Israel can be an incredibly warm and inviting seductress, clearly enticing me to change my life to be there...

But, I do have some concerns...

#1 - The Culture - I am not an Israeli and was not brought up as an Israeli. I know they're a different breed, with a somewhat different value system and view on life. It will be a tough adjustment to being surrounded by these people, even though some of my closer friends today are Israeli or have Israeli parents. Will I fit into this culture and society?

#2- The Government - One of the black-eyes of Israel has to be the government, particularly of Ehud Olmert, who's approval ratings were at one point as low as 1%. This is a government that has screwed the public on a lot of occassions, despite being a fairly democratic society. They are listed regularly at a dangerous point on the "Corruption Ratings", put out by the World Bank. This is ineffective government at its best, with a country surviving and thriving despite its government. I hate to make the association, but I'd argue India and Israel have an awful lot in common in this regard...

This issue is a big one for me because i'm not a huge fan of Israeli actions in relation to the Palestinians, particularly regarding settlement development, which seems somewhat stupid at this point. I realize these are tough issues for any politician to handle, especially with the demographics in Israel moving the country towards religious and right-wing individuals, but I wonder if a political party with some courage couldn't help make those changes. I am also not a fan of pushing Israeli Army service upon myself (to some extent) or my loved ones, if I became a citizen. Not exactly the greatest idea on earth...

Additionally, I am not a fan of the high tax rates, and the global taxation model (in line with the U.S.) in which citizens pay taxes on income to Israel, regardless of where they live. Its dumb, especially in this new global economy where mobility is critical. There is a need for real improvement on these fronts...

#3 - The Stigma - For whatever reason, a Jewish person working in Israel does not necessarily gain what would otherwise be considered "international experience", because there is an underlying association of Jews with the land of Israel. As such, working in Tel Aviv is like working in New Jersey for a lot of American Jews. If you want the experience of working abroad, London, Zurich, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Tokyo are substantially better places to work, b/c they have a stronger association with "working abroad" for some reason. It's kind of unfortunate, since I can assure you that there are few scarier places for me to start working than Tel Aviv.

#4 - Travel within the Arab World - This might be a bit stupid, but honestly, I always enjoyed travelling, and had the following countries on my list that I might need to scratch off:
- United Arab Emirates - Yes, I've been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but I'm interested in seeing the other emirates, and maybe Oman
- Syria - This might seem like a strange choice, but Damascus is meant to be amazing, with one of the most interesting markets or souqs in the world.
- Lebanon - I was supposed to travel with a group of colleagues a few weeks back to Beirut, but we couldn't go at the end due to the Hezbollah takeover and the violence ensuing. However, I'd like to get there one day...
- Iraq - Yup, this one's wild, but if they ever clear up this mess over there, I'd be quite interested in seeing the birthplace of biblical Abraham, as well as other historical sites. Iraq could be a major tourist trap, if it can be sorted out...

All that being said, I am not unhappy with my choice to move to Israel. I believe the benefits and the opportunity outweighs the costs. It will however be quite an adventure...

On LOVE AND WOMEN

2008-06-08T19:17:00.007+02:00

Let me just start out this blog entry with a quick note on Parisian felafel. Yes, it exists and is quite an excellent street food. Today, I went into Les Marais and picked one up...

Needless to say, it was rather large and very very good. They really know how to feed you for 5 Euros... (YS, I know u wish you had one in Singapore... Only a few more wks)...

OK, onto my thoughts on "Love and Women"...

At the tender age of 26, almost 27, I can finally admit that I have a problem. I am a bit of a strange guy, with goals and interests that are fairly atypical of people in my age group. Specifically, as described in my prior post, I have an incredible drive to succeed in life both financially and intellectually. I'm looking to have truly lived life to its fullest, and not settle for anything less... As a result, when looking at potential mates, for either short or long-term relationships, I have a tough time identifying strong complements. Usually, i find myself entirely attracted to what would be reffered to as "the wrong people" by colleagues, friends and loved ones. This classification is made because most of these people believe I need to end up with someone who's a business-type go-getter, a religiously inclined complement, or simply someone more like them. God, it can be a nightmare sometimes...

Let me first say that I love all those people I mentioned a second ago. They are all important to me in my life for all kinds of reasons. However, I am now 100% confident that none of them have the faintest clue what I am looking for in a mate and what I need to be happy. Part of this is due to the transformation I have undergone these last 12 months, while away from these people. The other part has to do with the many hats that I wear, depending on the different people and the context I am in. As a result, there are only a handful of folks who have a clue as to my global personality, not just a single facet of such - this issue historically led to several poor "set ups" with women of all walks of life in NYC.

I stopped agreeing to be set up with people about 3.5 years ago, after I had a strong conversation with a college friend about who she had recently set me up with. I find that in a "set up" situation, you learn more about your friend/colleague/family member than you learn about your date. Who they select? Why? Was it superficial ("well, you both were single" or "she looks like your ex") or was it deeper than that? Fascinating information that one can take as a clear assessment of your friend's view of you and your value to greater society :-) (maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point).

So, what motivates this whole topic - recently a relationship that I had had in Singapore ended somewhat abruptly. She was a bright, attractive young lady that I randomly met at a Jewish singles event in Singapore (I know what you're thinking, and yes, its completely ridiculous that anyone would meet at such an event). At first, I felt that we spent time together out of complete necessity - e.g. we were the only two Jewish single people in our age range in Singapore... Additionally, I met her about 5 days into my new program in a new city/country, with new friends, etc. and was not sure where this could go, if anywhere. However, we did hit it off, and spent many nights and weekends talking, chatting, IMing, texting and hanging out.

After months of spending time together, I began to realize that she was someone who was becoming quite important to me. While we lived very different lives during the day, we were able to connect quite well and share experiences. Last December, I went on a family trip to Jerusalem, Israel. On the last day, I was spending time with my parents in Tel Aviv, and was randomly surprised by a greeting from my long-lost friend from Singapore. Well, I dont know if it was the many days I spent with my family, the big smile she gave me, the way she looked, the way she smelled, or the long, comfortable hug we took at the Dizengoff fountain, but that moment changed my life. I realized that I really wanted to be with her...

Of course, when I returned to Singapore, I realized that she would not be back for another 5 weeks or so, since she was travelling the globe. When we finally met up in late February in Singapore, we agreed to take our relationship more seriously. From then on, we had a great few weeks, spending more time together and truly getting to know one another.

During this time, I was toying with the idea of working in Shanghai or Tel Aviv post-INSEAD, and decided to ask her advice (and see if she'd be up for joining me). The conversation was a bit uneasy at first, but it seemed that she would be up for it. Over the next few weeks, we got a bit intense in some discussions, often led by me, in which we began discussing a potential future together... Things became intense...

Very intense... I recall about 2 wks later, the two of us chatted about how she did not want to go to either one of these two places, as NYC had been her focal point for some time. It was painful to hear, to be quite honest - after all, the intensity of the prior weeks had led me to think a lot more long-term than i'd normally like to...

This became a point of tension, one that would ultimately unravel the relationship at the seams. You see, the fundamental issue here was the fact that both our lives were coming to a major turning point, a fork in a road if you will, and ironically, as Robert Frost would figure, we both took the road not taken - just not the same road. After that decision, it was inevitable that the relationship would decline and fall apart. Of course, at this point I had invested a lot of my heart in this, so it was hard to see that rationale...

Ultimately, we broke up a few weeks later, after a series of crazy evenings in which 'trust', a pillar of our relationship until that turning point, came into question in a big way (for the record, I started getting paranoid, and likely did not really trust her, not necessarily the other way around). So, I left Singapore a heart-broken young man, about to spend two months in France and more importantly, about to continue my grand quest alone...

So, why did i tell you all this? Besides the general therapy it provided me to share it with people, I want to share my observations and what I learned from this relationship, and how it ties into my general philosophy on "Love and Women".

When I first left New York City all those months ago, I was not in such great spirits, having been working hard up until the minute I would leave the country and leaving behind my friends, my family, my life, everything I knew and loved to travel abroad. I was exited for the experience to come, but was also concerned about how it might impact my life. Specifically, I was convinced by many folks that if I made this kind of move and ended up in Asia, I might have a tough time meeting my eventual soulmate/partner. What I've realized, and it comes as a major principle for me, is:

#1 - Wherever you are, you can find a mate. In fact, I believe that its easier to meet Jewish girls in Singapore, Kathmandu or Shenzhen, China than it is to meet them in New York City. Why is that? Well, for me, I am looking for an oddball traveler who wants to be a citizen of the world and explore its every nook and cranny. Those people most likely do not live in New York City, a place notorious for life-longers to live and breathe. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with New Yorkers (I am one for god's sake), but they may not be as adventurous as I am, on average.

#2 - You can tell a lot about a person within 5 minutes of meeting them. Yes, this is earthsshattering, but I truly believe it, having conducted hundreds of interviews at work, met tons of people and gone on countless dates. Usually, you know if the person you're chatting with is "good different" or "bad different" within 5 minutes. If they're "the same", I get scared immediately, but maybe that's what turns you on...

#3 - Interesting alone will not work. I've dated a couple of people whom i'd love to study in a lab. They're the most fascinating creatures who are excited by things that I dont even comprehend or realize. And yet, if that's all there is, it will not last long. There must be mutual fascination and an intimacy shared between the two people in order for a real relationship to transpire.

#4 - Crazy can be a good thing. I know this sounds weird, but I believe that a partner who is crazy is not necessarily a bad thing. Now, I don't mean you should go out and date a bunch of cannibals or something, but I do believe that there is excitement involved in dating "the crazy folk". When I think crazy, i mean entrepreneurs, artists, writers, singers, novelists, poets, who live lives that are extreme by most people's standards. Why are these people fantastic - because their enthusiasm can take you by storm and set you on a path you might have otherwise never taken. Now obviously, it is so hard to cope with folks of this kind, because they "are crazy", but I'd have to argue that if a spiritual connection can be made, these are the very best people to be with.

#5 - Appearance is important. Yeah, I know its terrible. I wish I didnt have to say this, b/c i know i'll get crap for it, but I know how important appearances are. One's appearance provides the counter party a (albeit shallow) view into how you view yourself, your company, and the world. Now, that does not mean you need manicured fingers and fancy clothes to appear proper, but it does mean that one who is "put together" as my mom would say, stands out from those who don't. Its important and something I do care about.

#6 - Risk-takers and Challenge-seekers - apply here. I am addicted to risk-taking and challenges myself, often taking on unnecessary roles in order to achieve something even greater than initially anticipated. I need someone who can take a similar approach to life. "Immigrant Mentality" is a must as well...

OK, so these are my first few thoughts. Obviously, nothing is perfect and I do have more to say on this topic at some point in the future. Let me end by saying this: I will really miss my relationship with this young lady. She was my muse and a form of inspiration to me in the way she conducted herself and her life. We did not always see eye to eye, and we definitely knew how to push each other's buttons, but the fundamental chemistry was strong.

ON "THE IMMIGRANT MENTALITY"

2008-06-06T21:49:00.002+02:00

This is a new topic which is out of order, I know, but I promise to get to the others on my list soon.

The topic of the "Immigrant Mentality" has always been a passion of mine, as it seems to be a critical element for success in this now globalized world. Today, the playing field between rich and poor, have and have-not, etc, has been filled with many "hungry" people from the emerging economies. Today, there are tons of talented people from these markets eager for a life as good, if not better, than the one enjoyed in the west. What these people did not have in formal social benefits and opportunities available to many of us, they more than make up for with ambition and incredible determination. As a result, those of us educated and brought up in the western mentality must adjust our thinking to compete with these people on a global scale.

So what is the "Immigrant Mentality"? To me, it is the approach taken by 1st generation immigrants and one that is fairly personal to me. When my grandfather, Louis Weiss, first came the U.S. at an incredibly young age (early teens), he got off the boat from Hungary alone and immediately began seeking any form of work that he could do. This was a boy who should be in school by today's standards, worrying about his middle school prom date, not how he'll be able to afford bread and water for the day. It was his focus and intense interest in providing a life for himself and his family that drove him during his lifetime. His life was not easy by any means, but he was able to build a fledgling business, become a college graduate, and inspire family.

On my mother's side of the family, my great grandfather and grandmother were both Americans by birth, but also had to manage in a similar manner. After getting married, my great grandfather was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Because there were no formal cures at the time, doctors suggested that he go to upstate New York and breathe "country air". The photos of this treatment are quite amazing - men sitting in heavy coats, hats, scarves, gloves by a frozen lake. Truly amazing. My great grandmother was a brave woman to be able to handle such a radical shift in lifestyle so early in their marriage. After he was cured, the two of them opened a pharmacy and gift store in Long Island, in a strong Anglo Town. This was a hard place for them to live, given the fact that they were Jewish and were not entirely like their counterparts in this highly conservative town. Nonetheless, my great grandfather managed the business to success, building a name for himself and his family in the town, even being a Free Mason and members of the key local clubs, despite being a Jew. He was also a major participant in the building of the town's synagogue and Jewish Day School.

My grandfather was sold the business and built it into a much larger and impressive enterprise, leveraging the reputation his father had built in the community, and adding his own narrative. As a trained pharmacist, my grandfather was known to offer the best customer service in town. One particular story I recall, involved his filling a prescription and dropping it off to a customer on Christmas Eve in several feet of snow. He was a tireless leader who worked hard and played hard, for the sake of his family. He too further extended the family's commitment to the local general and Jewish communities. Unfortunately, as a sign of how unfair the world can be, he was diagnosed with Alzheimers at a relatively young age, pretty much at retirement, and died a slow, fairly painful death. Since I was the youngest in my family, and he was diagnosed with Alzheimers when I was in elementary school, I never had a great personal connection with him. In fact, I actually had a stronger relationship with my great grandparents...

OK enough about family history... I believe that to survive today in this world, with the competition that exists for talented people, one must take on the "immigrant mentality". What does it mean in practice? It means saying yes more than saying no at work. It means being aggressive all the time. It means constantly fighting mediocrity in nearly all ways - work, education, arts and culture, physical appearance, etc. It means doing the work now, not later, and becoming a go-to guy for colleagues and friends. It means always being "hungry" to suck the marrow out of life...

As I write this note from Fontainebleau, France, I cannot help but note that France is an excellent example of a market filled with talented westerners who chose not to take this exact path. Their model seems fairly obvious to me at this point - they may be the most creative, liberal-minded people in the universe. You'll never see shoes, clothing styles or cuisine quite as unique and creative as those made or thought up in France.

Why is that? I'd argue the French Revolution, which jumpstarted the secularization and westernization of societies around the globe (including the U.S. or course) gave the French the inspiration to push their limits and further personalize this country's already storied creative past. However, one of the points of the French Revolution that was not taken in the U.S. to the same extent was the pursuit of bettering one's life through a more collective, moralistic view. In the U.S., the model of laissez faire became more and more prevalent, although, to be fair, it was always driven by a deep moral base (albeit more personal or communal than government sanctioned). As a result, there were diverging views of how government should participate in the lives of constituents and the specific role of constituents in society. It seems that in France, the constituent was part of a collective, known for creativity, good food, good wine, good life, and high class. In contrast, the U.S. constituents were individual entrepreneurs known for hard work, willingness to change, energy, and aspiration.

The result is two divergent points of view, and countries in completely different places right now. The U.S. became the most wealthy nation on the planet, while France fell to obscurity in many ways (politically, financially, etc). However, when you look at a microview of the two societies, it is not clear who is actually better off - the American who works 60+ hours a week (more than our parents), highly materialistic, focused on bettering themselves, but struggling from the "rat race", or the French person who works less and less (35 hour work week) than their parents, materialistic, but not necessarily to the same extent as Americans, focused on enjoying the good life, not competing in the "rat race" by and large. I'm frankly not sure...

What complicates this whole situation is the emergence of immigrants who are eager to work in the (now post-)American world. Firstly, it means Americans must compete with people who are using the same mindset as them, for the most part. It also means that the underlying value of an American (education and skills) come into question in relation to those from these emerging countries. Herein lies the complication - do Americans have a true competitive advantage vis a vis the Indians, Chinese, or Israelis for that matter? Are we willing to put up a fight to stay on top, or are we too fat and happy at this point to care? I would argue that the French have taken a form of the latter approach, taking the "higher road" and creating an environment that is sustainable, as long as you dont care to be the best or have the best. They seem content with that solution. The French do not seem obsessed with new technology as much as Americans as the emerging East. The French have stopped innovation in some businesses a few technology generations ago, simply because they do not need to be enhanced - the added speed is not sought by the French people. This allows the company to maintain several local industries that would otherwise have been eliminated due to inefficiency many years ago (think gas station attendants)...

So, where do I stand on this whole issue - I'm a strong advocate of the immigrant mentality, of staying hungry, and seeking to be the best I can. Yeah, it leads to a lot of nail-biting and few moments of sheer bliss (I cannot sit on a beach for more than 10 minutes without needing to do something more useful), but it helps to differentiate me from my friends and colleagues. To some extent, it defines me.

Some of the downsides of being of this mentality includes "being a sucker", when confronted with folks who do not subscribe to this mentality. At work, in school and in life, I find myself often eager to get my hands dirty and push a project from idea to execution. Until recently, I was not convinced this was a unique quality or even something positive/negative. However, it became clear to me this week that I have, and likely always will be comfortable with the idea of doing more than others to achieve. Its how I was brought up, how my parents were, how my sisters are, and the only way I know to behave.

This week, we had an American party at INSEAD, which i agreed to take part in organizing. I took on the role of picking up alcohol, paper goods, food, make the jello shots, and coordinating ice. The others organized music, negotiated the space, set up, cleaned up and sent out e-mails. It was clear to me and others that I took on more than was required of me. One of my colleagues even called me "a sucker" for sweating through the whole ordeal of moving all this crap into the party... I'm not sure how to be different. I'm not sure what that might even look like? I am not convinced I could take on smaller roles and still feel comfortable? I guess i'm a micromanager... To me, it fits with my "immigrant mentailty" model, that rationalizes such an approach as necessary and useful...

Thoughts? Confused? Drop me a line...

ON SINGAPORE

2008-06-03T22:30:00.004+02:00

ON SINGAPORE
Singapore is a fabulous place to live, for those of us who are married with children. The weather is warm and predictable all year round, streets are safe, the taxes are low, the schools are top notch and society is fairly harmonious. Singaporeans seem to work more reasonable hours than their counterparts in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London or New York. That being said, there are artificial elements that make the city-state more difficult for the young, single oriented folk, like myself.

The city-state has developed a culture of fear amongst its constituents, to the point that authority figures cannot necessarily be seen all the time, but people follow the rules. Example - people DO NOT jaywalk, chew gum, eat/drink on the train, etc. These are rules that have been enforced over time and ingrained in the local's minds that they should be followed. The government seems to simply use the local news as a propoganda machine to push its agenda from time to time (including crazy stories of drug dealers and alleged terrorists from neighboring states).

The state has imposed heavy fees for smoking and drinking alcohol of any kind, making even a common beer cost more in Singapore than in Europe and most of North America (beers are in line with fancy New York bar prices, with cocktails and more complex formulations running even higher). While this encourages good behavior amongst the citizens, it takes quite a bit away from traditional night life. The Clarke Quay area, which is the official club/bar district in Singapore, seems more like "Adventure Land" in Disney World than the Village in New York City, or Lan Kwai Fung in Hong Kong. I guess the grit of a dirty, semi-dangerous city takes away from the nightlife experience, at least for me... It will be interesting to see whether the introduction of the Sands Casinos over the next few years changes this dynamic at all - my money is not on that happening.

The result is a mixed bag. Singapore is a rich state with fairly happy citizens, that is a light unto the rest of Asia. However, it has not been able to best the West in all ways, particularly creativity. As a result of the autocratic governmental system and the subsequent education system, students lack the creativity developed in countries like the U.S. and France, where students are given much more lax academic programs, with a focus on the creative side. As a result, Singapore is now building creativity into their academic program, and making it a key initiative in the country. I have no doubt they'll figure out a way to meet this goal to some extent, but it will be difficult to mimic the west on this one...

On to the positives... Singapore works. Everything functions with near-German precision, coupled with a Chinese hospitality that one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere. The trains, cabs, and buses work like clock-work, picking you up on time and delivering you on time. This is the only place in the universe where cab drivers do not expect a tip, and will round down the price to the nearest dollar for you. There is no traffic here, when you compare the city to London, New York, Los Angeles or others. Tips are not expected or required, but the service level would make high-quality American service look poor. People are generally friendly, and are eager to help you get around. English, or rather Singlish, is used everywhere. The sidewalks, parks and roads are nearly spotless, and cleaned so often you couldn't imagine them ever being dirty. Despite heavy construction all over the place, there are minimal delays to cars and pedestrians. Fairly harmonious place...

I loved living in Singapore for the 8 months that I did. I could not handle the weather at all, having been roughly between 78-90 Fahrenheit each day, with high humidity. Regardless of shape or athleticism, people walking more than 5 blocks in this weather, at nearly any point during the day, break a serious sweat. Air conditioning is quite common as a result, as is the use of public and private transportation (cabs). One note on this cab issue - very easy to use, fairly cheap, and highly recommended by the government, due to the high expense of buying a car ownership permit, which lasts for 10 years or the life of the car, whichever is shorter. Thus, Singapore has avoided a lot of the smog that other cities have built up.

The Singapore port is one of the most fascinating sites in the world and one of the crowning achievements of this city-state. Beautiful to see in action, the hi-tech port is the largest handler of shipping tonnage on the planet. It is a bastion to Singaporean efficiency, found elsewhere in such diverse places as the post office, the government offices, and the airport. The post office and government offices have complex queue systems resulting in short, clear wait times that one would wish for nearly everywhere else in the world. The airport is easily the most efficient i have ever been to in my life, with almost no lines at any point, strong security, good shopping and easy access to essentials (internet, etc) while waiting to board the plane. Oh, and when you land, immigration is never more than 8 people away, and usually takes 10 minutes max to get through. Following immigration, bags are usually nearly all off the plane by the time you get to the baggage claim. What a contrast to O'Hare, Laguardia, JFK, CDG, Heathrow, etc. In fact, many larger airports are relying on expertise from Singapore to teach them how to make their operations more efficient.

All in all, it was a great place to hang my hat for 8 months. Definitely visit and see the sites. It's an enigma and should be treasured as such... I might write a bit more on this subject at another point, but for now, i'll go to bed (1:42 am is about the time for me to hit the sack these days)...

OK... Time for an update

2008-06-02T16:12:00.002+02:00

Bonjour! Seeing that I have not written this blog in over 9 months, I realize I owe my audience some new information and insights. What can I say, these past 9 months have been a total whirlwind, as I've had life changing experiences that have altered my worldview going forward. For now, I realize that reliving all the stories of the last few months would be impossible, so i choose to move forward (I wanted to do this earlier, but i always felt guilty about stopping in the first place)...

First things first, a few thoughts on life...

ON INSEAD
This is easily the hardest section for me to write. Let me start off by saying that I came to INSEAD as a very proud card-carrying Cornellian, and expected to find Cornell in Europe/Asia. INSEAD is not that... However, there are quite a few strong reasons that I came here, and they all, for the most part, ring true...

#1 - INSEAD is all about diversity - How trite... Nearly every school in the galaxy says their program is diverse, but only INSEAD has truly achieved it. There are people from every major nationality on earth here, creating an MTV Real World-type atmosphere (usually, without the fistfights). If you don't believe me, check this one out...

My group for the first two months was six men (somewhat common on the Singapore campus, as the women tended to flock to Fonty for some reason in our promotion) on different nationalities - German, Spanish, Chilean, Japanese, Indian, and American (myself). I lived with seven people over the course of my 10 month MBA, including people from Japan, Canada (2), Iran, Spain, Israel and Belize. I played poker regularly in Singapore with people from Korea, Australia, South Africa, India, US, Canada, France and Germany. There is no place on earth that I have been able to get this kind of exposure to different nationalities in such an open and easy setting. I now can honestly say I have friends from every single continent on earth, which was definitely not the case last year (although, I did have friends from every borough of NYC last year). The value of the experiences I had with colleagues from all over the world cannot be underestimated, and should hold to be incredibly meaningful for years to come.

#2 - The Two Campus Model
The two campus model is also unique (for now), and is a great element of the INSEAD program. The value to all students to get exposure to Asia, Europe, and the US (through Wharton exchange) is invaluable and again, sets this experience apart from competing programs. However, the downside to this model is the logistical complications that become quite numerous. Think about it - how often do you see listings for 2 month rentals in big cities or towns. Even though INSEAD has some dedicated rental agencies in Singapore and France, the situation is not ideal, with students often paying a substantial premium for short-term rentals. Additional issues such as car rental (necessary for Fonty, for the most part) further complicate these logistics a bit. I can honestly tell you that I have personally spent in the avenue of 20-30 hours of my time in INSEAD, through condensed periods of time. figuring out logistics, which is quite a lot.

An additional pro/con to the whole campus exchange is the subsequent travel culture at INSEAD. Students from nearly every background have extensively traveled to the most common destinations across the globe (e.g. New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Jerusalem, Dubai, Beijing, Delhi, etc), and are eager to further explore the world around them. This makes the culture quite exciting and great to be a part of. In Singapore, I participated in trips to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand, UAE, and India. My travel schedule was fairly light, relative to my colleagues, so you get a sense of how this all works. Nearly every weekend, you're out of Singapore, b/c there's little to do there that is special on a particular weekend. Add to that the numerous cheap local airlines (TigerAirways.com, AirAsia.com and JetStar.com are the main ones), and you see why people are out and about all the time... As for Fonty, there is even less to do here, and in Paris on any given Sunday, providing ample chance for students to travel via budget airline, rail or car to Brussels, Amsterdam, various parts of Germany, London, Madrid, Morocco, and other parts of Europe.

This is seemingly a pro hands down. The only con is from an academic standpoint, as students from time to time will not attend friday or monday classes, or otherwise participate in a rather minimal way to provide the opportunity for this extensive travel. All in all, I don't know how to feel about it, since Accounting is not nearly as compelling, nor as meaningful as a trip to Siem Riep in Cambodia. If I had to say anything, it would simply be that this program provides incredible learning "outside the classroom" and as such, is for the "explorer-type" as apposed to the "bookworm-type".

#3 - Academics
I have a strong view on all this, probably stemming from my personal work style, moreso than the program itself. In fact, many have disagreed with me, including members of the administration. However, the power of the internet allows me to share my views with folks who want to read them, so here goes...

INSEAD's average student in 29 years old and has more than 5 years of experience in consulting, banking or industry. While a good number seek a switch of some kind (firm, industry, geography, position, etc), most have a good idea of who they are, what their general strengths/weaknesses are, and what they want out of the MBA. Additionally, the program is only 10 months, and the core takes up almost half of the credits required to graduate (24-25 classes, of which, 13 are core). Finally, the classes are focused on giving basics in each area, and aimed at achieving the impossible - keeping "experts" interested and teaching "novices" at the same time. As we all know from other places in life, this rarely works, and at INSEAD, it does not, by and large. As such, I'd argue that the value of the core-curriculum is somewhat diminished, and actually detracts from all students on average.

A model like that used at U of Chicago would probably be more fitting, since it allows students to take courses within specific disciplines, but at their level of both interest and skill (ironically, the reason i did not apply to u of chicago was the fact that I was not convinced this model would create a cohesive group over there, like the sections at INSEAD, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, etc). At INSEAD, the cohesiveness would likely be met anyway, given the inquisitive nature of the students and the "Real World"-like environment.

In terms of academics, the school has some incredibly talented professors, a few OK profs and some who can stand to improve. I doubt that is much different elsewhere, and students tend to flock to profs that are good, when choosing electives (often more than the course subject matter). I'd say that overall, my academic experience was quite good and challenging, with a focus on entrepreneurship and finance.

In Finance, I found the courses to be fairly strong, but preferred those with heavier workloads, because I have trouble learning finance from lectures alone. The finance profs I enjoyed the most were: Pierre Hillion (Finance II - Corporate Financial Policy, Applied Corp Finance, Hedge Funds, Options), Claudia Zeisberger (Hedge Funds), Jake Cohen (Financial Accounting, Applied Corp Reporting, Business Law), Zhang (International Financial Management/FX), Kim Wahl (Leveraged Buyouts) and Kevin Kaiser (Corp Restructuring and Value Creation).

The entrepreneurship profs I enjoyed the most were: Phil Anderson (Venture Opps and Business Ventures - best class at INSEAD, I thought; Global Trends in Private Equity), Randall Carlock (Entrepreneurial Leadership) and Patrick Turner (Entrepreneurial Field Studies, Realizing Entrepreneurial Potential/Buying a Company).

The other outstanding profs I found were Gabriel Szulanski (Intro to Management, Making of Strategy), Pushan Dutt (Microeconomics), and Doug Guthrie (Leading Organizations).

Last thing i'll say here - the classroom environment is quite distinctive from a traditional US business school. Although we use many cases, class discussions are usually formed around the prof, with commentary coming in between student comments often. Unlike HBS, the prof is quite active here, and many choose to lecture outright. On the student side, participants are a bit more lax and collaborative. There is not as big a stress on grades and high academic excellence for its own sake, rather a focus on gaining value from each class in any which way it comes. This could mean jumping off the topic at hand to discuss something on the students minds at times. Its not bad, just a tad different.

#4 - Career Services
This is a work in progress in Asia, as the school begins to benefit from its excellent placement in the earth's new hot growth market. However, we're not quite there yet. The staff works extremely hard, but is still somewhat dependent on a good economic environment to ensure placement at choice firms. Honestly, i'm fairly certain every school has this problem, but some are slightly further along with some key employers in finance and in particular regions. INSEAD acknowledges and is filling this gap, so I can't be too hard on them, although the end result can be frustrating as they work to make it better.

In Europe, INSEAD is a force to be reckoned with, and the school seems to have made strong inroads with all the key employers. There is still work to be done, and obviously, as the hot markets shifts from Europe/US to Middle East/Asia things will need to change accordingly here. I think the staff knows that quite well and is working to make it better.

One note - for students interested in working in Asia, specifically Hong Kong, Shanghai or Tokyo, it is critical that you pick up the language skills and ideally spend significant time, if not all your time in Singapore. This is not an easy market to break into, especially in a tough economic period, since locals are more than happy to work in these companies and stay in these countries now, as apposed to several years ago...

OK... I am done on INSEAD. I've loved the experiences i've had here, but do wish some of the rough edges were a tad more sharpened when i entered...

Hope to post again later this evening or tomorrow on a few more topics - Singapore, Israel, Life & Women... keep in touch...

Singapore

2007-08-15T18:00:00.000+02:00

Alright, I know i'm way behind here... It's been a week since I've last blogged and the trip officially ended (Howard left Singapore last Monday morning). Since then, I have been preparing myself for the beginning of b-school at INSEAD, which begins on August 27th (Orientation week). I had originally planned to be in a French class this week (since INSEAD has a requirement of a 3rd language to graduate), but the class got cancelled on Friday. Thus, I have the week to read, relax and generally prep for the program...

First things first... Singapore is a lovely place. I've spent the last few days travelling all over the island/city/state and can honestly say its pretty great. There are quite a few myths regarding Singapore that came from the whole Michael Fay episode back in 1994. Unfortunately, the place gets a bad rap for the incident, even though the actions of Michael Fay were bothersome and anti-social (Who thinks spray painting random cars is a normal thing to do?) Regardless, the city definitely has a protective feel to it, with lots of regulations against "vices" and disruptive behavior. For example, there are many signs warning people against smoking, and there is a heavy tax on cigarettes (oh, and the packs have those gruesome images of people who had operations due to lung and throat cancer). The same taxation applies to beer (a 6 can pack is roughly $15-20 SGD or $10-15 USD for budget stuff). They also have many signs regarding death occuring from jaywalking as well as terrorism warning videos at train stations. Yes, this place is serious, and the locals seem to think it makes sense. While I have certainly seen lots of jaywalking and beer drinking here by locals, there is a general feeling of safety and conservativism here, no question...

I spent a lot of my time this past week dealing with my Lenovo laptop (which took a bit of a beating on my trip, resulting in some serious wear and tear on the outer case) and buying some basics, like a cell phone. For the laptop, I had to lug the device all the way to Chiangi Business Center (right by the airport, about 45 minutes from home) to have them assess the damage and the warranty coverage. If I bought the laptop in Singapore, I would have had to pay for the repairs, since physical damage is never covered. However, my US coverage was sufficient for a free repair. Unfortunately, they did not have the parts on hand and needed to order them (they finally arrived today). Hopefully, I can pick it up tomorrow.

For the cell phone, I went to Funan IT Mall and Sim Lim Center. Funan is a massive semi-fancy mall by City Hall that includes boutique-type PC and cellphone shops. It was here that I realized how complicated buying a cellphone would be here. There are way too many options, and too many functions to think about. Here, cellphone service is much better (including on subways) and everyone is obsessed with the latest gadgets (MP3 player, Camera, GPS, mobile office). I got overwhelmed pretty quickly. I decided a smart phone with some of these functions could be a good idea.

I then went to Sim Lim, which is more like a flea market for high-end electronics (if you need some random cable, you can get it here). This place was filled with cell vendors touting hundreds of phones. Ultimately, I decided on the BenQ P51, a large phone that can double as a 2nd computer (I figured GPS with a Singapore map would be good for getting around here). That evening, I began to regret the purchase, finding that the device acted like a Windows PC (yes, it crashed a few times and I got some weird error messages). I went back to Sim Lim the next morning to try to return it, but the vendor did not have the replacement phone I was looking for (oh, and there are no returns at these stores). Ultimately, the vendor agreed to take the phone back, but I had to cover some of the pieces he threw in (I am now the proud owner of Singapore GPS software!). What a disaster... Finally, I found the Nokia E65 a compact slider phone with Wifi (so that I can speak to all of you via Skype for free/low cost) at another vendor. Its a very cool, small phone and i love it. For my cell plan, I got SingTel Prepaid, which is a bit complicated, but has very good service.

I also took care of my student pass documentation this week, involving a medical exam and dropping off the paperwork at the Singapore government office. The medical exam was pretty painless (even taking blood!), taking under one hour to complete. I then went to drop off the paperwork, and got onto the wrong line at the office. I waited for 1 hour only to find out that the line I was supposed to be on had a queue of 10 minutes. Whatever...

I also visited the local Jewish Community Center and the synagogue Maghain Aboth. The center was recently reconstructed (four months ago, actually) and now includes a beautiful restaurant and event space, along with the typical jewish spaces (market, offices, beit midrash, etc). There is a strong Chabad presence, led by Rabbi Abergel (who's been in Singapore for 13 years now). The community is pretty small (about 100 people) with a few studets from Israel/etc doing exchange programs here as well. The prayer services are heavily Sephardic, very different than what I am used to, but quite nice. The community is actually quite similar to the one in Hong Kong, with a similar kind of community center. Shabbat services and meals were quite nice, and I expect to enjoy the place further over the next few months.

Aside from all of this, I have met a bunch of INSEADers studying at the pre-term course as well as some living in my building (Heritage View on Dover Rise). They all seem pretty cool and excited for the program...

Finally, a note on my apartment and the complex. The apartment is a 3 bedroom with a spacious living room, kitchen w/ washer/dryer, etc. Its quite nice. The complex has 4 pools (1 kids pool, 1 very shallow pool, 1 round pool with a massive waterfall, and one lap pool w/ a curve), gym, bbq pits, etc. Its definitely a great place to hang my hat for the next 6+ months. The only issue is distance, both from the city and the synagogue. Walking on Friday evening back to my apartment took upwards of 1.5 hours (the walk is about 10 kms or 6 miles). On Shabbat morning, walking back and forth was quite brutal. I might need to come up with alternative arrangements for the upcoming weeks...

Well, that's the deal so far... Over and out. Keep in touch...

Chiang Mai

2007-08-09T18:01:00.000+02:00

We arrived at Chiang Mai late on Tuesday evening. Our hotel, the Park, is very lovely, but a bit far from city center and the night markets. Luckily the hotel offers a free shuttle, but unfortunately it only runs until around 10:30. We walked around the area quickly, then settled in, following a day of commuting, etc.

On our travels around the immediate area of the hotel, we ran into another nuance of Thai life, specific to Chiang Mai. There is a serious obsession with Karaoke, with bars lining the streets. Additionally, one unique feature is the inclusion of women "hostesses" who participate with your group or cheer you on for a fee. Clearly, this is a lot more tame than some of the theatrics we saw in Bangkok and Phuket...

The next morning, we awoke and went out to see the major tourist sights in the area. The big attractions are buddhist temples, which I was frankly tired of (between China and Thailand, I think we've visited at least 10)... Howard however was still very excited to see them, so we split up. Before we went our separate ways, we went to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep and Wat Chiang Man, both beautiful in their own ways. The first included an amazing temple building with beautifully painted murals on the walls, depicting scenes with the buddha. The second had temples housing both a marble and a crystal buddha (see what I mean :-) ):

I walked past one of the temples to the main road, where there was a massive computer shopping mall. It was certainly not an essential trip for me, but I did have a good time checking out the machines available in Thailand, as well as the cellphones. After seeing this, and knowing how much farther along Singapore is on this front, I can only say that I am very excited to be in Southeast Asia for the next several months:

That evening, Howard and I visited the Night Market, home to thousands of shops selling wares from all over Thailand (at substantially lower prices to both Bangkok and Phuket). In checking out the markets, and realizing that Chiang Mai is actually a fairly normal place, with the red-light district clearly out of the mainstream view, I made the following observation -

Thailand truly has it all for people of all ages. For young people, there is Bangkok and Phuket, which offer exciting nightlife as well as culture. For seniors, Phuket is an excellent alternative to Florida or the Bahamas. And for young/old families, Chiang Mai offers a series of activities for the whole family, without the grit/schmutz found in Bangkok and Phuket. In fact, you find these groups making up the majority of the tourist public in these areas. Maybe I should work on their next tourism ad campaign...

The only exception is the Israelis. They are just everywhere, young and old...

Israeli restaurant in the middle of the Chiang Mai beer garden section
Locals making signs in English, Thai and Hebrew

The next morning, we traveled to Chiang Rai and northern Thailand. Our tour involved stops at a hot spring, monument, wat, "The Golden Triangle", and two local villages, with lunch in between and lots of travel time. Long story shorty, the trip was a bit funny, since the content was light, in lieu of shopping destinations (much like our trip in Bangkok).

The "hot spring" was not like the photo in the brochure we had seen (a large steamy spring). It was actually just a small section by a truck stop, with a mixture of "hot spring" and cold water splashing into a pool that one can dunk their feet into. It was a bit of a sad sight, and as the German tourists with us would say, "the water was hardly 30 degrees (celsius)". Here's a photo:

No, this is not a joke...

The King Mengrai Monument, was not actually stop at all, but rather a brief mention from the van (Howard did get some kind of photo of it). That shocked us all in the van.

The next stop was an old Buddhist temple in Chedi Luang, with a nearby pagoda:

"The Golden Triangle" was pretty neat. The meeting point of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Laos, "The Golden Triangle" is actually a neat place to visit. We took a quick longboat tour that took us into Laos for about 30 minutes (of course, just to a shopping section). This section was called the "Golden Triangle" because it was the center of the Opium trade. Here's some photos of the "Golden Triangle" from our boat on the Mekong river (please note the Snake whiskey bottles, which have actual snakes and scorpions in them. Apparently, this is the "National drink of Laos"):

The water was incredibly gross, with a strong brown color

Good to the last drop (now with snakes and scorpions in the bottle)
Yes, they make a lot of it
Here's the mother load (the tasting container). They offered us each shots, but we declined (apparently, king cobra and scorpion taste like Chicken, but who knows...)

Myanmar on your left, Laos on your right, Thailand behind you...
Another big buddha...
Howard had a good time with this one... ;-)

After a quick lunch, we headed to the northernmost city in Thailand, Mai Sae, which borders on Myanmar (seemingly, the city's only redeeming quality). We opted not to enter Myanmar due to our time constraints and the recommendation of some locals (apparently, not much to see there for 5 minutes). Here's the border:

After that, we grabbed a quick lunch, then headed over to two local villages. Here too, it was a bit strange, but for a different reason. The two sites were quite poor, and the locals were asking for money. It was really awkward and kind of shameful for the tourist company to take us to these places (unknowingly). What can I say...

That night, we headed to the Night Market and grabbed some Thai food (Pad thai for 30 baht or $1usd)...

The next few days, we relaxed and took in the scenery of Chiang Mai. Specifically, on Friday we visited the Phra That Doi Suthep, another Buddhist temple on top of a mountain in the Northwestern part of Chiang Mai, above the Chiang Mai Zoo. We travelled by tuk tuk to the zoo, then picked up a bus that took us up the mountain. There are 300 steps from the top of the mountain to the temple, with an amazing staircase covered in beautiful stones and designs. Here's some photos of the site:

After we walked the site for a while, Howard and I found a food stand selling lots of products in a waffle, including bananas and hot dogs. We opted for banana waffle sticks, which were amazing:

After the bananas, we took a tuk tuk to the shopping mall for some R&R. We ended up watching "The Simpsons Movie" for 120 baht per person (~$4 USD) and another 100 baht for soda and popcorn (coming in three varieties: original, sweet and cheese). At the opening, we caught an amazing Pepsi commercial as well as several hilarious local commercials. Additionally, during coming attractions, they play a video in honor of the king, during which the entire crowd stands. It was pretty cool... As for the movie, it was just OK...

The next evening, we went back to the theatre and took in "The Bourne Ultimatum". Also, a good time... We then hit up some local bars and shops at the Night Market.

The next morning, we would fly to Singapore, our last stop on this journey...

Phuket

2007-08-06T10:08:00.000+02:00

Let me start out this blog post with a quick thought. Over the last few weeks, Howard and I have experienced this more than once... Have you ever walked into 7-Eleven seeking a Slurpee? Usually, you have Coke and another option (or two) to select from. As you walk up to the machine, you see that one flavor, inevitably Coke (because its normal) is still 100% liquid, and thus not Slurpee-worthy just yet, whereas the other flavor(s) are frozen and ready for delivery. However, the other flavors are weird/strange/awful sounding like "Coconut Delight" or "Orangutan Orange". Without a doubt, you rationalize the decision to go with this weirdo flavor, simply because you were seeking a Slurpee in the first place. Then, following the initial "brain-freeze" one gets from the initial shock of Slurpee slurping, you regret your split-second decision... We've done this about 15 times over the last three weeks, but like the insane people that we are (see: definition of insanity), each time we are placed in the same scenario, we make the same decision and expect different results... Pretty sad on our part...

We arrived at Phuket on Friday and enjoyed and quiet and relaxing evening and Saturday on the beach and at the hotel. Our bus ride to the hotel involved another "unscheduled stop", much like in Bangkok. Here, we were brought to a travel agency that tried to book us on tours to surrounding islands or get us hotel rooms (which seemed dumb, considering we all had reservations already - they were needed to get on the bus in the first place). Our hotel, the Seaview Patong, was right on the beach and has 2 excellent pools:

The excitement began on Saturday evening. Howard and I went out to the bar/restaurant scene in Bangla Road. The road is quite touristy and has a more subdued feeling than Patpong. There is still plenty of bars, clubs and random go-go bars, with the promoters outside pushing tourists to go to shows, etc. It was a weird experience, and frankly something I was kind of tired of, having just dealt with it (to a heavier degree) in Bangkok. We found a nice restaurant and ate dinner, then checked out the markets and watched an Australian Football match at a local Aussie bar.

One thing to note is that the tourists in Phuket are quite different from those in Bangkok. There are tons of Australians and Europeans, not many Chinese or Japanese. Additionally, Phuket has many older tourists and many venues for them (i.e. Elvis and light music bands). On numerous occassions, Howard and I found ourselves wondering where the young people were...

On Sunday, we took a day trip to James Bond Island (named for its prominence in "The Man with the Golden Gun". We took a tour with SIM Tourism Group, specifically because their advertisement is centered on not taking tourists to unwanted shopping stops. Since we had already experienced that, it was a great pleasure to avoid these shops this time around...

The tour included three stops: 1) Suwankuha Temple(Monkey Cave) with the Reclining Buddha statue, 2) A fishing village near James Bond Island, 3) James Bond Island itself. The last two were reached by longtail boat. The sites were quite cool, although there was minimal substance here...

Suwanka Temple was surrounded by a monkey park, in which wild monkeys walked and climbed around everywhere. There were a handful of people in the immediate area selling fruits to feed the monkeys. Boring and a bit scary (who wants Rabies!)... Inside the temple were a few cool statues, the reclining buddha and two caves (dark and light). Not a lot to do here:

i love it when people follow the rules
the wild monkeys

We then took a longtail boat to the fishing village. This was a pretty cool place to see, with amazing views of the surrounding islands:

Finally, we arrived at James Bond Island, home to a sea shell beach and a breathtaking rock formation in the bay:

the cook rock

The next 007? I think we always knew...

That evening, we ventured out again to Bangla Road, and took in the local culture. What happens in Phuket stays in Phuket, but here are some photos to give you a sense of the atmosphere:
Christin Massage Parlor - a brothel the size of a city block
Looks like one sick grandpa!
"Hard Rock" bar, with a U2, Bon Jovi, and Metallica tribute band
The concept of the tribute band was much better than the reality of it (really awful)
Howard in front of Sharkey's bar, home to dancing women in schoolgirl uniforms who like to play Connect 4
Another shot of Howard at Sharkey's

Here's some shots of the beach:
lots of mopeds/cycles/bikes for rent

Yesterday, we explored Phuket City, which was a huge letdown. We did get a chance to try some exotic fruit though, at this fruit stand:

Pineapple was amazing

We also had the chance to see the great industry of Phuket, Latex:

We ate lunch at the local mall at a Thai shabu shabu-type place - the vegetable plate for 2 was about $100 baht ($3.33 USD). After our time in the city, we took a 20 baht (roughly 66 cents) local bus back to the beach. The bus was crazy packed, leaving Howard and I sitting next to two schoolkids in a 2-seat section of the bus. We were still better off than this elderly gentleman who was asked to sit on a box next to the driver. Needless to say, he did not look happy:

Today is a travel day, with a stop over in Bangkok. Since the stopover is somewhat short, I've decided to relax in the Novotel Airport Hotel... We'll be in Chiang Mai later tonight...

Bangkok: Day Two

2007-08-02T18:50:00.000+02:00

We awoke at the ungodly hour of 5:30am to prep for our trip to the Floating Markets. Supposedly, these markets are only open in the mornings up to roughly 11:30am. We got on a minibus with a Vietnamese/Philipino family from Houston, TX. Our guide told us that she'd be taking us to some extra sites during the day, along with the floating markets and whatever the family from Houston had paid for in the afternoon. The ride out of Bangkok to the Floating markets was roughly 1.5 hours, which was a great opportunity to sleep... We awoke at our first "extra site", the coconut "farm" where locals make coconut oil, trinkets out of coconut tree bark, coconut chips, cookies, etc. This was random, and clearly a tourist trap. The locals were selling the same stuff we had seen in Patpong the night prior, only near coconuts. Neither Howard nor I were in the mood to shop, so we just walked back to the bus...

Our next stop was the floating market. First we took a speed boat to the market, which was pretty neat. The boat is the one found in an old James Bond movie (supposedly) and actually hits a reasonably fast speed (which caused a major splash of the very murky water below us):

When we got to the docks of the floating market, we switched to a canoe-like boat with four seats and a single paddler for us. This was an "extra" for our tour, and thus cost us $150 baht each ($5USD). The boat ride was interesting, taking us through a very crowded river, filled with boats of trinket, fruit, soup/food, and other vendors. Clearly, this market is entirely tourist-driven today... During our trip, we did get some amazing produce, including rambutan, mango, pineapple and other exotic fruits... The photos are pretty cool, despite the non-authentic/touristy nature of this locale:

After the floating market, we travelled to a handful of additional destinations, including the Elephant ride / Monkey zoo place, the snake farm (w/ snake show), the intricate wood cutting "factory" and finally the precious gems/jewelry "factory". All were like the coconut place in the morning, with a marginal connection to a particular theme, with vendors selling common Thai wares found on the streets of Bangkok (and surely elsewhere in Thailand) easily. What a sham... Howard did partake in the Elephant ride, while the remainder of us (me and the Houstoners) sat on the sidelines:

Turns out the father is an engineer at Shell Oil, and decided to take the family on a one week vacation to Bangkok (wife and 4 boys) to vacation and show their kids what life was kind of like for them when they grew up in the Philipines and Vietnam. They shared stories of the fruit they used to eat, and how it compared to what was available in Thailand (very similar). The boys had not been to Southeast Asia in their lives, so this was a very special experience for them.

Here's some photos from the Snake farm and Wood carving places:

By the time we got to the precious gems place, Howard and I could not stop laughing at how ridiculous this whole process had been. Our first image of this place was following entry. Tons of buses had been in the parking lot, meaning many other tourists were here against their will as well... As we entered the facility, we saw a young American guy with his wife slouched over a chair, desparate to get out of there. Funniest thing I had seen all day...

We finally were brought back to our hotel late afternoon. We trekked back to the Chabad House and grabbed an early linner. The food was again quite good. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel, rested up for the evening, then ventured out again. This time, we went to the Japanese-oriented block 2 blocks over from Patpong. Similar kind of place (i.e. still skuzzy) but interesting. We grabbed a quick dinner and walked around for a while. We then decided to call it a night, after such a long day...

Finally back on track with this blog... Tomorrow we go to Phuket for the weekend...

Bangkok: Day One

2007-08-02T14:55:00.000+02:00

We arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday evening... We took an airport shuttle from the Bangkok airport to what was supposed to be near our hotel, but we decided (mostly due to my poor judgement and a lack of english speaking bus staff) to get off the bus about 15 minutes from our hotel. About 2 minutes later, it began to rain. Not just any rain, but huge gobs of rain, in a monsoon-like manner. The streets were flooded in seconds and Howard and I were drenched. We decided to stop under a canopy for 10 minutes, while we reviewed our map. When the rain did not let up, we decided to grab our bags and run for it. Ultimately, we did get to the hotel, but only after getting drenched from head to toe, with no sign of dryness anywhere. We walked into the hotel complex (2 shopping centers and the hotel) and immediately stood out as the two people without umbrellas walking through this mess. The hotel gave us our key and we immediately ran upstairs to change/shower...

That evening, we decided to venture out to Patpong, the infamous "red-light" district and night market in Silom, Bangkok. It was a relatively clear night, but still quite warm (despite the heavy rain earlier). We found a charming Japanese restaurant with a "buffet" menu which was entirely ordered through the sushi chef at the sushi counter for the equivalent of $15. As we began eating in Bangkok, we realized just how cheap things here were. Needless to say, this was a good deal... We grabbed as much salmon and tuna as we could, then ventured into the markets.
Patpong is a space unlike any other, with go-go bars and massage parlors being touted by all walks of life to all walks of life (I saw a one-legged man suggesting a hardcore show to a boy who couldn't have been older than 15). There is little shame here, with prostitutes and masseuses touting their services openly, bargaining with local men and women for services. Along with these services, there are several stalls all around selling all kinds of local and counterfeit wares. It's a sad state of affairs, but nonetheless, an interesting market. For the life of me, I don't understand parents who bring their (young) children to the market, but to each his own... We walked through, avoiding solicitation as much as possible, while trying not to laugh at their tactics ("no charge for looking!"). After a little while, we called it a night...

One editors note: To be honest, the idea of a massage in Thailand is quite tempting on the face of it. It New York, a comparable massage would cost five times what it costs here, and the hospitality is superb (at least from everything else we've participated in). Even the concept of exotic women masseuses is tempting, since its an experience that cannot be had elsewhere. However, the way it is presented and cheapened through the so-called "promoters" is a massive turnoff. It's really unfortunate... Brutal honesty people...

Yesterday, we ventured out to two major tourist sites, the Wat Po and the Grand Palace. Funny story - When we got to Wat Po, a man approached us and told us it was only open to Thai people that day, but that we could go somewhere else with him. Yeah, right... So, we disregarded him, only to find that he was trying to "scam" us. Then, when we got close another man approached us and told us that I needed to wear long pants at the site, and that he could direct me to a store. We disregarded him as well (luckily they offer a free pants rental at sites where they are required). On both occassions, there were guards standing near us who gave us a look like "these guys are full of it". Thus, Howard and I came up with a general rule for Thailand - "Whatever the guys with the guns/bayonettes say, goes. Everyone else is full of it". Words to live by...

Wat Po is home to magnificent Thai architecture, complete with amazing shingled roofs of multiple colors, intricate sculptures of wood and stone and of course budda, in this case a large (understatement of the year) reclining buddha. Here's some photos of the grounds and the reclining buddha:

big shoes, for a big buddha

The Grand Palace is another amazing site, with two sections, namely the Wat Phra Kaew, which includes the temple with the Emerald Buddha, and Chakri Mahaprasad Hall, the old palace of Thai Royalty. The first section is a huge complex with similar buildings as found in Wat Po (nice shingles, intricate work, etc.), with a few distinguishing structures such as the golden chedi called the Phra Sri Ratana and several amazing statues. It's a wonderful site to see, so check it out:

The actual palace is a bit of a letdown, with the only main attraction coming in form of guards who must stand their post while tourists photograph themselves with them:

After the Grand Palace, Howard and I ventured to Bunglampoo to eat lunch at the Chabad House. To get there, we took a Tuk Tuk. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tuk Tuk, its an excellent 3-wheeled vehicle that is sort of like a motorcycle with a bench in the back that is enclosed. One note on transport in Bangkok - dirt cheap. A cab starts at 35 baht (roughy $1.15 USD) and goes up by 2 baht every km or minute in traffic. Thus, a 45 minute ride (which is common, given the terrible Bangkok traffic) costs about $75-90 baht, or $2.50-3.00 USD. The Tuk Tuk's are usually quite a bit less, with several offering to take us for 5-10 baht per hour. Here's some photos from the Tuk Tuk:

Here's a photo of the Chabad restaurant sign from a distance (it's in the middle of a backpackers district) :

You'll notice an Israeli hostel right up the block as well. Lots and lots of Israelis everThe food at Chabad is amazing, and since they keep prices at local levels (and have a local shochet), the meal is quite inexpensive. Howard and I had appetizers, a full lunch, dessert and drinks for about $12 USD with tip. Not bad...

After lunch (roughly 3pm) we walked around the area by the Chabad house. We came across a fruit stand for Rambutan. Howard had never tried them, so I encouraged him to get one. He asked the price, and was told 20 baht. He paid, and received 1 kg of Rambutan, which is roughly 30 pieces. A Rambutan is like quite tasty, but 30 is a bit much... After Howard ate all the Rambutan, we headed back to the hotel to rest up, prior to the evenings festivities. We walked by Patpong as they were setting up:Why do they do this every night? Why not just leave the tables up each day? Good question posed by Howard. When we find out, we'll let you know...

That night we walked into Patpong. On our way, we ran into an elephant on the sidewalk (which is of couse completely normal). Yes, it was weird, and no we did not pay for photos. It was just kind of crazy. After being turned off again to the thought of a massage and a quick dinner, we both sought refuge at the Montien Hotel, listening to music of a local Thai woman. She was singing Whitney Houston and other American music pretty poorly. However, it was fun for a while... We headed back to the hotel around midnight to prep for the next day's early adventures to the floating markets...

Macau

2007-08-01T18:10:00.000+02:00

We got to Macau late on Sunday evening, and began our adventure from there. The Casa Real Casino Hotel had a shuttle bus that picked us up right at the airport. We arrived, and decided to venture out, checking out the Golden Dragon and Sands Casino hotels, in the nearby vicinity. These casinos were not nearly as interesting as US ones, with less glitz and glamour. Additionally, there were seedy activities at the hotels, including one "Crazy Happy Show" at the Golden Dragon which was just a strip-club front for a brothel. Very disturbing...

The next morning, we ventured to the town square to see the main attractions in Macau. For those of you who do not know, Macau was once a Portugese colony, and much of the Portugese architecture style can be found here. Additionally, there are several Christian sites due to this connection. Here's some photos of the town square:We got to Macau late on Sunday evening, and began our adventure from there. The Casa Real Casino Hotel had a shuttle bus that picked us up right at the airport. We arrived, and decided to venture out, checking out the Golden Dragon and Sands Casino hotels, in the nearby vicinity. These casinos were not nearly as interesting as US ones, with less glitz and glamour. Additionally, there were seedy activities at the hotels, including one "Crazy Happy Show" at the Golden Dragon which was just a strip-club front for a brothel. Very disturbing...

The next morning, we ventured to the town square to see the main attractions in Macau. For those of you who do not know, Macau was once a Portugese colony, and much of the Portugese architecture style can be found here. Additionally, there are several Christian sites due to this connection. Here's some photos of the town square:

Next, we visited the ruins of the Saint Paul's. This structure is pretty small, but cool looking and includes a crypt and small museum with old Christian art. One piece of note involves a group of Japanese Christian monks:

Next we visitied the Monte Fort. What can I say, it was a huge letdown. Boring site, with little but a few cannons to see:

After the Fort, we travelled to Macau Tower, for a great view of the city. There is a Hacker Challenge post here, involving three stunts that people can participate in. One is walking around the ring at the top of the tower. The next is scaling the top of the tower. The last is bungee jumping off the top of the tower, apparently the largest drop available globally (233 M or 765 ft). No, we did not do any of that, but we did take some photos (the last one is from the glass floor of the observation point):

From the Macau Towers, we ventured to the Hotel Lisboa, the old-school casino/hotel of Macau. There, we found a delightful Japanese restaurant and had an amazing lunch (tuna was the best i've had):

After lunch we went to the Wynn, which is nearly identical to the structure in Las Vegas:

We spent the evening venturing the local hotels, found a bite to eat and went to bed. The next morning we were off to the airport to fly to Bangkok...

Photos from Shenzhen and Hong Kong

2007-07-30T16:41:00.000+02:00

Here are the much anticipated photos from Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Enjoy!

Shenzhen
The city is new and expanding significantly. Here's a few pics of the skyline:

Here's the Lowu Commercial Center from the outside as well as a photo with our tailors:

Hong Kong

Here's some photos from the skyline and the city:

The Peak Tram:

Here's the subway:

Simposons Movie in Chinese...

10,000 Buddha's Monastary:

- no unibrow here...

Drinking on Saturday Night in Lan Kwai Fong:

Escalators:

Floating Restaurant:

Ferry to Macau:

Hong Kong: Day Three

2007-07-29T19:22:00.000+02:00

On Saturday night, we ventured out to a few hotspots, including the Lan Kwai Fong beer festival, the Temple Street Night Markets, and the local arcade. The Lan Kwai Fong beer festival is held annually and is a true frat party on several social blocks on Hong Kong Island. The area is filled with bars, restaurants and clubs, and is thus quite lively in its own right. However, during the festival, yards of beer are served on the street and people are openly gulping beer, grabbing finger foods, and singing karaoke on the streets. It was a real sight to see...

The Temple Street Night Markets are more of the same from Beijing and Shenzhen, namely knock offs and other random Chinese goods sold by vendors on a particular block. Since we had seen so much of it already, neither of us were particularly excited by this. At the end of the evening, we found a local arcade and decided to go in. I got whipped several times by a few locals in Virtua Tennis, which I guess I am not very good at (nothing like 4 straight 40-love matches to give you that impression)...

The next morning, we decided to really dive into Hong Kong on Day Three. Specifically, we went to Stanley Market, right by the water in southern Hong Kong Island. Its home to an amazing market and some very nice sites. I'll post some pics shortly. At Stanley, I picked up a few paintings for my parents and sister Mechal/bro-in-law Chaim. They'll be in NYC in about 2 weeks, so enjoy...

Additionally, I picked up an ipod remote control for about $11 USD, much less than the retail price in NY. Finally, I picked up a random t-shirt depicting a kung fu master in the battles with "Noodles of Death". Yup, cool shirt. Howard also picked up a painting...

We decided to lunch at the infamous "Jumbo" floating restaurant. We took a small boat from the dock to the ship, and found one of the 6 restaurants suitable for our budget and palate. We ordered typical vegetarian food, but did not get our order for roughly 1 hour. We both complained, but got little response from the manager. Oh well... I won't be going back there anytime soon...

In the afternoon, we took the escalators to the Mid-levels on Hong Kong Island, on our way to the JCC for an all-you-can-eat BBQ. This was an amazing dinner, possibly the best of our trip, and only cost $220 HKD (~$28 USD). We ate sushi, salads, fish, steak, kebabs, sausage (yes, Howard had sausage!), chicken and lamb. Great times... The desserts were also amazing...

In the evening, we took the ferry to Macau, which took about 45 minutes. At Macau, we got stuck on the worst immigration line, which took another 30 minutes to get through (literally the entire ship was through immigration when we got through)... Once in Macau, we took the shuttle bus to our casino/hotel, the Casa Real. Our room is quite nice and we've enjoyed checking out the adjoining hotels this evening (The Golden Dragon and the Sands). Howard and I are both down, $18 USD and $30 USD respectively... We'll see what happens tomorrow...

Hong Kong: Day Two / Shenzhen: Day Three

2007-07-29T19:06:00.000+02:00

My Friday was particularly interesting... I travelled in the morning back to Shenzhen to pick up our suits. We were both a bit concerned about getting them via our tailor's transport guy who would drop it off at the hotel for $10 USD. I wanted to verify the pickup, and since I had a multi-entry visa, agreed to travel alone back to the abyss... At Shenzhen, I picked up two "Ralph Lauren" polos for about $30 USD, an ipod case for $3USD, a replacement bag strap for Howard's bag for $3USD, and two "Mont Blanc" pens for $6USD. Then I picked up the suits, and let me tell you, the extra fitting was huge. These suits looked awesome... Not a bad morning...

I met Howard at the DHL in Mong Kok trainstation, which had a student rate for packages sent to Singapore. A 5kg package (roughly 10 lbs) would cost about $40 USD and get to Singapore in a day. Given that we needed to drop weight in our bags for our flights through Thailand (15kg max, which is pretty low, especially when Howard's bag alone is 7kg), we packed the suits and random items into the boxes and shipped them off.

After the shipping, we travelled off to the Monastary of the 10,000 Buddhas, which is on the northern end of Kowloon. We reached it by KCR (the train to Shenzhen). This was an amazing buddhist temple, with a massive staircase housing hundreds of buddha statues showing different faces and accents. At the top, the temple is very elegant with many smaller buddhas from floor to ceiling. Additionally, there are several buddha statues on the top platform, along with a beautiful pagoda. It's an amazing place and the amazing craftmanship of the buddha statues is quite breathtaking.

Shabbat was quiet... We rested from our long journeys thus far and reflected on our next few weeks in China and Thailand.

Shenzhen: Day Two / Hong Kong: Day One

2007-07-29T18:46:00.000+02:00

After a full evening the night before, we headed out of our Shenzhen hotel towards Lowu for our first suit fittings. Our tailor brought the partially completed suit jackets and pants for Howard and I to try, making adjustments accordingly. I added custom buttons from the shops nearby to finalize the look I was seeking from the suits. After the fitting, we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed back to Hong Kong. I would travel the following day to pick up the final products.

Prior to leaving Shenzhen, Howard and I ran to an ATM to try to get cash for the train to Hong Kong (roughly $73 HKG for First Class - i.e. a seat). We waited for nearly 20 minutes on a line, only to have the guy in front of me jam his card into the slot. I have never seen or experienced this before and was truly dumbfounded. It was fascinating to see a guy force the card into the slot, when it was clear the machine did not want it. After about a minute, it was confirmed that he jammed the machine, and looking proud of himself, the guy ran off. Howard and I were utterly confused...

The train to Hong Kong was not too bad, roughly 45 minutes. When we arrived, we went to the YMCA hotel next to the Peninsula, since our reservation was at the YMCA. For those of you who do not know, the Peninsula is an old, posh hotel known for its amazing tea service (a must do for tourists, apparently). Unfortunately, our reservation was for another YMCA in a poorer location. The hotel was a nightmare - no internet, small room, hard beds, remote control malfuctioning. We were able to survive nonetheless.

That evening we travelled to Victoria Peak, taking the Star Ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and the Peak Tram up the mountain. At the peak, we took in some amazing views (to be shared tomorrow) and had a nice quiet dinner. We then went back to the hotel for some rest...

Shenzhen: Day 1

2007-07-25T17:55:00.000+02:00

We arrived at Shenzhen at around 1pm, following an 8:30am flight on China Southern airlines from Beijing. The first thing we noticed was the nice weather and blue sky, which we had not seen in Beijing. We immediately checked into our hotel, then ventured out to Lowu Commercial City for some suit shopping. First things first, Shenzhen is a magnificent city, much larger and substantial than just four years ago, when I was last here. The Commercial City is a massive "shopping mall", with five floors of brand knock-offs in handbags, clothing, watches, shoes, luggage, jewelry, etc. The fifth floor is home to the fabric market and various tailors who make custom clothing.

Howard and I went first to the fabric market on the 5th floor and found the same vendor for suit material that I went to four years ago (still the best quality mens suiting fabric in Lowu). We both found two nice suiting fabrics, one summer and one winter weight in Super 150's and negotiated a price of around $700 RMB (or $93 USD) for the fabric. We then negotiated with a a woman named Kelly who directed us to a fine tailor named Zhang Xiao Lin, who offered to cut the suits for us in roughly 24-36 hours, with a fitting tomorrow morning. The price of the tailoring is roughly $450 per suit or $60 USD each, bringing each of our totals to roughly $213 USD for two suits of roughly $700 USD value each. Additionally, I was pretty specific in my requests of the tailor, asking for high lapels, a tapered suit that was form-fitting, flat front pants, sleeve buttons that open, open stitching on the lapels, proper horn buttons, a cool colored lining (in this case, I went all Boateng with bring Orange), and side vents. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited for the fittings in the morning...

After getting our suits, Howard and I grabbed a late lunch, then ventured through the mall. I got some much-needed foot attention (it's tough walking on sandals for nearly 5 weeks) with a massage/pedicure. We visited several electronics and watch shops, as well as a few DVD vendors and some jewelers. Despite several trys, we were unsuccessful in making a deal on anything. I guess we didn't really need any of this stuff...

One thing that is pretty neat about the knock-off market is the model of operation. At each station, be it watch, DVD, or handbag, a catalog of products is handed to you and you pick out what you'd like. Within 5 minutes, the items you request are in your hand. I picked out a few Tag, Mont Blanc, and Omega watches, all of which were exactly identical to their commercial counterparts (as per advertisements from the vendor). These knock offs are pretty impressive. However, they wanted nearly $450 RMB or $60 USD for the fake Omega. I dont know if a fake $1000 watch constitutes a $60 purchase... Maybe i'm just naive.

After a full day at the Lowu Commercial City, we went back to the hotel and then headed out to dinner at an obscure pizza joint named NYPD Pizza. Although it was off the beaten path and very difficult to find, the pizza was quite good, made fresh before our eyes. A nice end to a long day...

Beijing: Day Three

2007-07-24T16:41:00.000+02:00

This morning, we woke up in time to catch the bus to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. We got to the ticket office around 9:15am and were put on a random coach bus, filled with random Chinese and European tourists (roughy 80% Chinese). Our guide was a small Chinese woman who took the microphone upon disembarkment from the station and spoke for nearly 45 minutes entirely in Chinese. She then came over to us and the random Europeans and told us that the trip was 8 hours, we'd be first eating lunch at the Ming Tombs, then exploring them, then getting on the bus to go to the Great Wall. This whole message took 2 minutes in English and 45 in Chinese! Confusing...

When we got to the Ming Tombs, we grabbed lunch at a cafeteria onsite. We sat down and were immediately surrounded by the other caucasions on the bus. The servers brought out a massive bowl of rice, then some random chinese dishes to consume with the rice. The food was shockingly not terrible. Here's a photo of the rice and our Spanish bus mates:

Well, after lunch we explored the Ming Tombs for roughly an hour. This could've been greatly interesting, but instead was an utterly aweful experience. The tomb is way underground, with just a handful of huge red boxes and some thrones. Not too exciting. Here's some photos:

Photo of the State Operated Souvenier Store

One of many poorly phrased signs at the Ming Tombs

After the Ming Tombs, we took a 30-45 minute ride to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. We were given 2 hours at the site, so Howard and I decided to take the "cable car" up the mountain, and walk to the highest points of the Wall from there. As it turns out, the "cable car" is actually just a simple one seater "bumper car"-like seat with a harness. The seat is taken on a track up the mountain, at pretty sharp angles. When you arrive at the top, you are roughly half way up the mountain, with a good walk to the top of the Great Wall:

Apparently getting off the ride while its at an 75 degree angle is dangerous (who knew?)

Finally, Howard and I got moving up the Great Wall. At points, the path is very steep, without stairs, making it difficult and somewhat slippery to walk on. Additionally, there were so many tourists, it was often difficult to maneuver. In about 45 minutes, we were able to reach the top of our section of the wall. What an amazing view:

We walked back, but could not find the path down the mountain. Alas, we ended up taking the "cable car" back down the mountain. On the way down, the ride is quite faster, and with the windy path of the cables, it could easily double as a roller coaster, with the right conductor. Unfortunately, our conductor followed the rules and rode the hand brake all the way down:

At the bottom, we found a bunch of bears in a mini-zoo, which is apparently an attraction by the Great Wall (yes, this is about as random as it comes, but I now finally understand what a "Bear Circus in Elmira" means). By each bear section there are plates of food to throw at the bears. This was a fun pastime for about 5 minutes. The result was a few good bear pics:

We then got on the bus and took the 2 hour ride back to Beijing, by Tiannamen square. Exhausted from a full day, Howard and I grabbed a quick dinner at a local tea house restaurant, with live entertainment, including a band for chinese folk music and shadowboxing. Here's some photos:

The next morning, we'd fly to Shenzhen...

Beijing: Day One & Two

2007-07-24T14:49:00.000+02:00

We left Istanbul via Emirates Airlines en route to Beijing with a stopover in Dubai. Emirates is a truly amazing airline, offering top notch service and amenities to its customers. On our flight to Dubai, we had an advanced TV system that included more than 500 TV shows, movies, video games and other forms of entertainment. Pretty awesome. On our flight to Beijing, the system was a bit more limited, but we were still given several video and audio channels. Additionally, since this flight was overnight, they gave us a nice overnight pack with socks, a toothbrush, blindfold, etc. When we arrived in Beijing, we walked right through customs pretty quickly, and were in our hotel shortly after (roughly 40 minutes from the airport). We both immediately grabbed some sleep and awoke the next morning for some exploring.

Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven, part of a large park roughly 20 minutes from our hotel. This was the place where the Emperors would come to worship. Here's a few photos:

On our way around the park, we saw a group of pre-teens and teens who were cheering for a Chinese pop star as part of commercial for TV. What was weird was this one random caucasion guy right in the center of the chinese teens. Needless to say, it served as a good laugh:

Our next stop was Tiannamen Square. This was beyond belief. The space is enormous and seemed to go on forever (think Washington Monument Plaza times ten). There were several statues representing communist values, glorifying the worker, on display. Here's some photos:

At the square, we ran into a couple of Chinese students learning English in the university. They escorted us around the square and to the Forbidden City, where they took us to an Art Exhibition. In there, we saw some magnificent works on rice paper and on canvas. I picked up one painting on rice paper depicting the game of 'Go' being played by two elders.

After that, we grabbed a quick lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, before heading into the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is another huge facility, housing the emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties in a one million square meter space (almost 11 million square feet). It's too difficult to describe without photos, so here ya go:

We finished up the Forbidden City around 6pm and headed back to the hotel. After a short rest, we grabbed dinner at a local place (American food, shockingly) and went back to bed...

The next day, we woke late and tried to get on a bus to the Great Wall, only to find out that we missed the last bus of the morning. We decided to walk around the city, head to the Pearl Market and see local life. The merchants were very pushy, holding our hands and forcing us to see their merchandise. It was a strong contrast to the markets in Morocco, where the merchants were verbally pushy, but not physical. We did manage to buy Beijing Olympic 2008 hats (also a Nutrilite ad from the subway and a photo of Pearl Market):

For dinner, we went to a Japanese restaurant. Check out this awesome tuna roll:

Good times all in all...

Istanbul: 3rd Day

2007-07-23T16:58:00.000+02:00

After an eventful 2nd day in Istanbul, Howard and I decided to take it easy on our last day in Istanbul. Specifically, we went to both the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar in search of a Turkish tea set for Howard. The markets in Istanbul are quite a bit tamer than the ones in both Morocco and Egypt, resembling a more normal shopping environment. In fact, the Grand Bazaar is quite a bit like a shopping mall, with various "stores" or "stalls" selling the various wares of Turkey, including gold/silver, spices, clothing, games, tea, etc. Howard ultimately found a very nice set with a silver teapot and tray for around $60 Turkish Lira. Not bad:

In the afternoon, we took a boat cruise on the Bosphorus River. We climbed on a large boat/ship and sailed the river with many Turkish people, while listening to local musical favorites. The path took us up the river all the way past the bridge between the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, past several maginificent homes on the water, past several amazing mosques and other historical sites of Istanbul/Constantinople/Byzantium. It was really fun:

After the cruise, we settled in for a nice Turkish lunch. At the restaurant, we heard music from the Dolapdere Big Gang, a Turkish band that covers American band music with a turkish twist. The music is pretty good, covering "Smoke on the Water", "Losing my Religion", and "Billie Jean". Check it out, if u get the chance...

Istanbul: 2nd Day

2007-07-22T13:35:00.000+02:00

Having felt recovered enough, I ventured out with Howard to a few of the major sites in Istanbul. Our first stop was the Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia), a magnificent church built by the Byzantines in 532, converted to a mosque in the 1450's by the Ottoman Turks. In the conversion, the magnificent Christian mosaics were covered by plaster, and two minarets were constructed on the outside. Here's some photos of the space:

In the 1920's, the archaeological society coverted the mosque into a museum and began pulling the plaster off the old mosaics. Here's some of those mosaics here:

After the Hagia Sofia, Howard and I travelled to the Basilica Cistern, one oa massive underground facility that was used to bring water to the city. First, we got a wonderful view of the Blue Mosque, which can be seen below:

The Basilica Cistern was built by the Greeks during the Byzantine empire (6th Century), and had several uniquely greek features, including two Medusa head statues used to reinforce the pillars in the back of the cistern:

The best reason for why the Medusa heads are upside down and on their sides was explained to me as strictly utilitarian (they needed them to fill in the gap between the pillar and the ground. Pretty cool.

After the Basilica Cistern, we travelled to the Topkapi Sarayi, an Ottoman palace built in the 1400's. The palace was quite large and pretty overbearing. Here's some photos:

After the Topkapi Palace, we travelled to the Istiklal Caddesi street for lunch/dinner at a local italian place. Here's a photo from that street, which includes a trolley that goes down the center:

When we finished eating, we headed back to the hotel. On the way, we passed a campaign tent for the Justice and Development Party (the leading party, representing Islamic and anti-corruption ideas). The prior day, we passed a politician from the party walking with a slew of supporters/security personnel. It was pretty neat (I asked them if they had any openings for campaign staff, but alas the election is too soon at this point):

Needless to say, a full day. The next day would be our last full day in Istanbul...

Istanbul: 1st Night After

2007-07-19T23:32:00.000+02:00

Wednesday, after nearly 80% recovery I decided to venture out with Howard. Around 2pm, we began a walk to the Galata Tower, which has excellent views of the whole city. Istanbul truly is a city of contrasts, with a heavy presence of both the old-style Muslim cities that I had seen in Egypt and Morocco, and European elegance/convenience/modernism. Thus, there's a good public transportation system (trams and subways), good restaurants and bars, along with the "call to prayer" chants via loudspeaker, coming from the various mosques. It's pretty interesting. Here's some photos from the tower:

After the tower, Howard and I travelled to a more modern part of the city, on our way to the nice kosher restaurant in town, Carne. On our way, we passed the Cultural Center, where I noticed that a Michael Bolton concert was on the board. I guess they like Michael Bolton on this side of the world!

Carne is the cleanest and nicest kosher restaurant I have been to in a while. The restaurant serves real Sephardi food (Howard had Lachmagin). It was really quite good. Following dinner, I went back to the hotel to rest, with the plan of seeing a few key sites on Thursday...

Carne Entrance

Adventures in Dusseldorf

2007-07-19T07:04:00.000+02:00

I want to first apologize to all my avid blog readers. As you'll see in a few moments, the blog was not entirely on my mind this week, but I'm going to get us up to date today, if that works. Sorry.

We got to Dusseldorf late on Saturday night. Incidentally, at Passport Control, the officer kept speaking to me in German, thinking that I was German ("you do have a German name, right?" he kept saying).

After checking into the hotel, Howard and I decided we would venture out for some food (having eaten very little that day in Marrakech and in transit). The hotel recommended the Kirmes funfair, a wonderful fair held annually during the summer that has nearly 1,500 attractions, including roller coasters, rides, shows, etc. On our way down there (and across the Rhine) we shared a Tram/Trolley with two groups of bachelorette parties, each with its own unique theme (complete with customized shirts, with the participant's name), Tonja's Bunnies and Lucy's Luau. Both groups brought champagne, beer and other beverages on the tram and were openly serving and drinking it while singing some pop songs, including "Sweet Home Alabama" and "99 Luftballons" (the best had to be "Jump in My Car", a classic David Hasselhoff song, further proving that Germans love David Hasselhoff).

When we got to the fair, Howard and I immediately found the Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancake) saleslady and got three with applesauce (yes, it did feel like Chanukah!). We then walked around for a bit, taking in all the weird rides and attractions, including a massive log flume, roller coaster, and "Jurassic Park"-inspired ride. It was pretty interesting:

A few minutes later, we found the appropriate bar tender and picked up 2 large beers (roughly 32 oz) for 3 euros each (the glass was 2 euros - unfortunately, neither of us had room for the glasses in our bags, so we gave them back in - sorry Arie):

After grabbing a few slices of pizza, we headed for this large area, where tons of people were standing and watching this "boxing promotion". Turns out, one of the big attractions is amateur boxing, with random fighters from the crowd (3-4) fighting professionals for a few minutes in the ring. Howard and I figured we needed to see this, so we went on in, and had great seats ringside:

While waiting for the matches to begin, we ran into a German stag party for a guy names Andrew. He was dressed as some kind of woman, but he didn't pull it off that well. He asked Howard to fight with him in the ring, but Howard declined, saying he didn't want to hurt his (Andrew's) beautiful face. We asked him why everyone seemed to be having stag/engagement parties now, and he told us that the most popular wedding days of the year in Germany this year were July 7th and July 20th (07/07/07 and 20/07/2007 respectively) , and that he'd been roped into the latter. At the very start of the event, Andrew was asked to dance around the ring, before fighting commenced. Here's Andrew:

When fighting started, we saw 3 fairly intense matches between amateurs and pros. There was some very heavy hitting, but no blood and no knockdowns. It was pretty cool nonetheless:

After these contests, the promoter, named "Rocky", but looking a lot more like a old Sargent Slaughter, faced off with the referee from the amateur matches. After being knocked down once, he knocked out the referee twice in a row, with some fairly crushing blows. While i'm sure this was choreographed (the crowd was chanting "Rocky, Rocky" the entire time, and Rocky was wearing jeans, so it couldn't have been that intense), it looked pretty painful. Good show:

After boxing, we walked around further and found the "Gurken Fas Frisch" (pickle vendor) and picked up a very tasty pickle to wash down all we'd consumed up to that point:

Then Howard picked up a crepe with banana, nutella and avocado liquor, for dessert and I picked up a local dessert, made up of "sponge cake"-like dough covered in vanilla and cherry sauce. This actually looked good at the time I ate it:

We got back to the hotel at some god forsaken hour and immediately hit the hay... At around 1pm, we ventured out for lunch and ended up at an Italian place. I didn't feel all that hungry, and my stomach started bothering me. After lunch, I went back to the hotel to rest, only to realize that I had a much more serious issue than just a stomach ache. Without going through the gory details, I ended up with food poisoning of some kind, either from Marrakech or Dusseldorf, that kept me in bed for a day and a half in Dusseldorf, sick on the plane to Istanbul, and in bed for the 1st day and a half in Istanbul. I am feeling a lot better now, and will hopefully take in some of Istanbul over the next day and a half to make up for the lost time...

Marrakech: Part II

2007-07-13T18:57:00.000+02:00

Last night was a bit crazy. Howard and I ventured out on two separate occassions to the Kosher restaurant in town, the infamous "Palmier Club". First, we went to the Jewish quarter. After walking aimlessley with a less than ideal map, we realized that the synagogue and the restaurant were not there. We then went to the new city, Guiliz, where the restaurant was, supposedly. Our taxi driver took us on a wild goose chase for almost an hour, showing us the Palm Club, the Premier Club, and several other venues, but not the restaurant. Our map was not much help either. Ultimately, we had the driver drop us off at the city square, paid him reluctantly, and ventured off to a local restaurant for dinner. Needless to say it was frustrating.

It was particularly trying for Howard, who was sitting in the front seat and had to directly deal with our nutcase driver. After calming him down, we were able to grab some dinner at a local place. We had vegetarian Tajine, which is simply a stew that is quite common in Morocco (it has a cone-shaped lid). Here's a few photos:

The night markets at the town square, the Djemma al Fna, are incredible. The energy is quite high, with all kinds of entertainers, food and music. We walked around and saw snake charmers, people with exotic animals (like the monkey from last post), singing circles and even an interesting carnival-type game involving coke bottles (which Howard participated in). Here's some photos of the market (including one of a singing circle leader who was wearing a chicken on his head):

A quick note: The man with the chicken on his head insisted that Howard pay him following this photograph. Howard had no small coins left, and decided to yell at the man instead, saying "Photos are free". Enough was enough! We had been accosted by everyone for money for every reason known to man... Howard had broken out of his shell, with great confidence and furious anger. At first, I was scared, but then I realized he was on our side, so I was happy to see him fighting back...

As for the game Howard was playing, let me explain the rules. You need to use this fishing rod-type device with a donut-shaped metal ring on the end to pick up a bottle. We watched one guy consistently get the ring around the coke bottle, but not being able to yank the bottle into the air. Needless to say, this was a difficult, if not impossible task. Howard tried valiently, but failed to yank a bottle into the air within the alotted "6 minutes" (more like 15). Luckily, it was only 5 dirham... I'm sure some of our more crafty, engineering-type guys would be able to do this in no time flat (Oren and Jon, get started building the model)...

The next game involved two small sticks and a soccer ball. The sticks are placed down with the ball in between and then the ball is moved about a foot away. The contestant must kick the ball through the two sticks without them falling over. Now this, I know is impossible:

It was all good fun... Here are some photos from the Riad:
Entrance
Breakfast (really cool donuts)
Our room
Room's entrance
Bathroom

Today, we woke up and went on a 2nd wild goose chase to the Synagogue, hoping to find it. First, we passed the square in the morning, which was definitely a different feeling. We did come across this guy selling teeth, which is aparently a popular pastime in Marrakech. Pretty wild, what can I say:

Our trip to the synagogue came up short again this morning, but did end up at a lovely vietnamese restaurant for lunch(see the photo below):

This afternoon, we decided to cool off and hang out in the Riad, finishing up some laundry, etc. Following shabbat, we will be rushing to Dusseldorf tomorrow... Keep in touch.

Marrakech: Part I

2007-07-12T20:45:00.000+02:00

When we arrived at Marrakech train station, Howard and I immediately got accosted by a taxi driver, who took us to the town square for roughly $100 dirham. We were then escorted by a young boy (younger than 10) to our Riad, the Riad Marhaba, which is a beautiful Riad in the heart of the Medina. For those of you who do not know, a Riad is a converted mansion that has several rooms and a bed&breakfast type feel... When we arrived, we found a very nice staff, and a room with no real door (a curtain separated the bathroom and the room, and a curtain separated the room from the center of the house. Nonetheless, the place had a feeling of safety, because the people were quite genuine and the Riad itself was fairly secluded and locked away by a heavy steel door.

This morning, we ventured into the markets of the Medina, ultimately going to an artist and purchasing some paintings. Howard bought a beautiful painting mostly in blue for $350 dirham (down from $600 dirham, through bargaining) and I bought a bit larger painting for $400 dirham (down from $700 dirham through bargaining). My painting depicts three arab horsemen and looks really neat. I sent it off to Miriam and Mark (my sister and bro-in-law) for their new housewarming gift (Hey guys - it should be there in 2-3 weeks and is pretty large, so be prepared; We'll need to get it mounted). Needless to say, this was a fun experience.

Here's some photos from the Medina this morning, including one of me and a monkey. Funny story - I was looking around the square at a group of snake charmers, when I literally walked into the Monkey Man. Without any opportunity to avoid it, he placed the monkey on my hand. Howard took a quick photo and we walked away as quickly as possible. :-) Pretty funny. Also note the Schwarma guy, that seems quite a bit more appealing than Alibaba on the UWS:

After taking care of the paintings, we travelled to the Majorelle garden, home to exotic plants from all five continents that were organized by a french artist, Jacque Majorelle, in 1924. This is a pretty cool place (literally cooler than the 105 degrees of the city) and i'd recommend to all travelers to this area, especially in the summer. Here's some photos, including a few of people's etched names, etc into the plants:

Tonight, we plan to hit the markets in the square, which runs usually until 2am, after we grab dinner in the Jewish quarter of the medina, the Mellah...

From Fez with Love

2007-07-12T20:23:00.001+02:00

This week has been a bit of a blur, with tons of stimulation mixed in with a series of travel-esque days. Needless to say, its been totally amazing. After leaving Madrid on early Tuesday morning, we began our voyage down to Algeceiras (by train) then to Tarifa (by bus) and finally to Tangier (by ship). The entire experience took most of the day, with our boat landing in Tangier around 5:15pm (Please note that Morocco is 2 hours ahead of Spain, meaning it is only 4 hrs off from the US during daylight savings- Thus, the whole thing with Spanish people eating dinner around 10:30 makes more sense, because their day begins later and ends later than normal countries – i.e. sunrise in the summer around 8 or 9 and sunset around 9:30pm). The only frustrating thing about the boat was the fact that it was promoted as a 35 minute voyage, but ultimately took > 2 hours, leading to us taking a later train that got us to Fez around 2am. As such, we were stuck in Tangier for nearly 3.5 hours before the next train for Fez. Howard ventured out of the train station for some quick eats, returning with some weirdo cheese sandwiches and a chocolate marble cake that could've easily come from a bakery in Brooklyn (had the same tasteless, sponge-like texture, but was surprisingly dense). Here’s some photos:

When we arrived at Fez, we immediately rushed to our hotel, conveniently located right next to the train station. The next morning, we ventured into the old Medina (or town center) where there are several key mosques and the large, unadultered markets that have stood for hundreds of years. The craftsmanship along with the friendliness of merchants was truly a contrast to the pushy Egyptians in their market, which ultimately led to my purchase of a few key items, namely Moroccan shoes/slippers (one pair for walking, one pair for lounging - both in incredibly soft and durable leather) and a leather motorcycle jacket (pretty cool, nice stitching). For both, the haggling skills came out, and while I am sure I could've done a bit better, I am satisfied with the purchase price. For the shoes, the original price was $400 dirham (~$49 USD) for each pair. I bargained him down to $350 (~$42 USD) for both. For the jacket, he started at $3,500 dirham ($429 USD) to $1,365 ($168 USD). Not bad... Howard also got into the bargaining, buying a braided belt for roughly $200 dirham (~$25 USD).

Here's some photo's from Fez, including several from the Tanning Pits, where I got the leather goods:

Around 5pm, we trekked back to the train station to head to Marrakech, with the goal of getting there by midnight...

Madrid Photos

2007-07-12T19:57:00.001+02:00

Here's some photos from Madrid, since I missed them in my last post.
The city is quite beautiful and certainly has that European vibe...

You'll notice that the park had several "artists" making baloon animals for children, while wearing costumes of Cartoon and Disney characters. It was a bit weird (hope they have a license):

Here are some photos from the Egyptian tomb in Madrid:

Here are some photos from elsewhere in Madrid, including the town square. There is one of another artist, who looks like she recently got out of a massive pit of quicksand:

Needless to say, it was a fun time and a good transition city on our way to Morocco...

Madrid

2007-07-09T15:35:00.000+02:00

After landing in Madrid, I met up with Howard at the airport at a little known bar/restaurant in the airport called ROBOT (it was so little known that the place was in a run-down portion of the airport, near new construction, and was being shut down and replaced, making it a poor meeting up point). We then took the Madrid Metro to our Hotel, near Gran Via and Callao. Our hotel is decent, but unfortunately does not have internet access (thus, we´ve been in cafes and there are no picture uploads).

Yesterday, we walked around Madrid to a Retiro Park. There were some absolutely amazing views and pictures, which I hope to share in the next couple days. I´ll comment then...

Last night we went to dinner at a Jewish restaurant called La Escudilla (www.laescudilla.com). It was a true Sefaradi restaurant (in Sefarad, no less), I had the lamb with prunes and almonds, which was quite good. I don´t recall what Howard had, but it too looked good. It was interesting to note that we got to the restaurant at roughly 10pm and were the first ones there. The sun goes down at roughly 9:30pm here, and people regularly eat dinner up until midnight, then go out afterwards (some clubs first open at 2 or 4am). Crazy place...

Today, we walked around to several locations, including an Egyptian temple that was transported over to Spain as a thank you for Spanish help in Aswan excavation. It was pretty neat. Additionally, we went to this old castle, but were not allowed in (most museums are closed on Mondays). We walked around the town for nearly the whole day, looking for internet cafes and exploring the locales. For lunch we went to an Israeli-owned Felafel bar (vegetarian) called Maoz www.maozveg.com). Quite good.

We are both pretty excited to be waking up at 6am tomorrow to take a train at 8:30 to Algeceiras (southern Spain) on our way to the boat that will take us across the mediteranean sea to Morocco later tomorrow evening. By 2am, we will be in Fez, Morocco...

Keep in touch...

Israel: The morning after

2007-07-08T02:38:00.000+02:00

After arriving from Cairo early on Friday morning, I travelled to Jerusalem via taxi. Immediately found out that the driver was from Tel Aviv and had never been to Jerusalem, and had no idea where the Old City was, let alone my cousins apartment. After conversing with several fellow motorists and my cousin (via cellphone) the driver decided to use his GPS, which did not work very well in the Old City. Eventually, we found the Tower of David and I agreed to get out of the cab and walk from there, ending the misery of my driver.

That day, I spent a few hours walking around the Old City, including the Arab market (shuq), Christian and Armenian Quarters and the Jewish Quarter. It was quite a contrast to what I had seen in Egypt (the Arab Shuk had much the same products of lesser quality for more money). I guess I had been spoiled there. That afternoon, I helped my cousins cook for Shabbat.

I spent Shabbat with my cousins Chani, Rivki and Ellie. It was nice to see Ellie, since she had just finished her 3 yr commitment in the army, and was in "withdrawal". She seems particularly keen on taking some time off before heading off to school, doing some travelling domestically and possibly abroad. I'm just impressed that she made it through the grueling process of being a Chayal (soldier) in the Israeli Army. Needless to say, I think she's a heck of a lot stronger than I am...

Friday Night, I went down the stairs to the Kotel and joined the Chabad minyan (service). During some of the singing, I happened to be standing next to a norweigan man, his son and an Israeli tour guide (I got the impression that the two of them were not Jewish). The tour guide described the various services going on around the tourists as "chaos" and "competing minyanim", which made sense at least artificially, given that there were roughly 15-20 services going on at once, and each was at a different point in the service, using different tunes, etc. It was difficult to follow the Chabad minyan, which was easily the loudest one at the Kotel. Needless to say, I think a bit of organization would be very helpful at the Kotel. If there are several minyans praying using Carlebach music, why couldn't they all pray together? Why cant there be several set minyan start times at the Kotel, so that people showed up at particular times for services? Why must this "chaos" exist, which arguably detracts from everyone's participation and enjoyment of the services? I just don't know. If anyone out there knows someone to speak to on this, i'd be glad to voice my views and help rectify the issue.

The rest of Shabbat was enjoyable and quiet. I rested quite a bit and nursed a pretty bad sunburn that I took home as a souveneir from Cairo (who knew that sitting in the 100 degree sun by the pool for 2 hours would yield a full-body burn like you wouldn't believe). Well, its subsided a bit, but I am quite red (particularly shoulders, back and chest). Yup, this hurts.

After Shabbat, my cousins took me out to an Italian Gelato place, where I had this interesting Banana-Caramel-Waffle combination. It was pretty good, actually. I then went back to the apartment and packed.

On the way to the airport, I began to reflect on my journey thusfar, and was given additional thoughts to further complicate them. The driver, Boaz, was a really nice man, who shared a few thoughts with me on the ride to Ben Gurion Airport:

1) I'm no longer young and I should get married (I dont know if I agree with this). When he was 26 (which i'll be in 5 days - July 12th for those of you who forgot :-) ), he had three kids and a job in Israel. At 26, I have a career and a place at a prestigious business school. No girlfriend ;-)

2) Israelis are dependent on American generosity. He mentioned that his daughter was injured in the infamous terrorist attack at the Machane Yehudah market attack almost 6 yrs ago (I was just there a week ago - check the old post). She is having an operation in a few weeks on her legs, which have not been operating properly since the terrorist attack. Before the surgery, she is going to America, thanks to a program called The One Family Fund, which is flying her to the US and putting her up at a family that will take her around and let her see New York City (and feel like a normal person). It's a wonderful program, and something I hope to contribute to, following this post. I will also put a link to it on my blog, in case you'd like to donate as well.

3) His life is pretty difficult, given that he has a toddler who has been keeping him up at night. He's been through this already, but apparently #4 does not make anything easier. It's part of life.

Hmm... What can I say. I loved being in Israel and truly felt at home. Unlike other locations across the globe that have been nice or pretty or fun, Israel transcends these elements and stands alone as the only other place in the world I think I can truly feel at home. Crazy, I guess, but every time I leave, the question of why I don't live here comes up in my mind. I guess that's why I am going to INSEAD and exploring possibilities in Israel. This could one day be my home.

Back to the matter at hand, I can say that I am very excited to be on my way to Madrid, now at 4:08am. This flight was overbooked, and I could have been bumped, but I promised to meet Howard at the Madrid airport and don't want to miss the connection. That free flight would've been sweet, though...

Final thing... As I entered the departures section of the airport, passed the security, I noticed that there was a Kosher McDonalds there. I had been avoiding this temptation since I got here, but at 3am, it was a necessity (i was hungry, tired, bored, with hours to kill). I guess i'm just a sucker for the novelty of a Kosher McDonalds... Good burger... Good burger...

When I went to throw out the remains of my McD meal, I dropped my garbage into a "smart receptical", known as the SmartPack, which automatically opens when you bring garbage near, closes the door when you're done and then compacts the garbage onsite (it also speaks to you, saying "Thank You"). Pretty neat device... Over and out.

Cairo: One last post

2007-07-06T01:20:00.000+02:00

It's 2:20am in Cairo Airport, and I'll be waiting another 1.5 hrs before my flight begins boarding. Yes, its that incredibly sought after time slot of 4:45am that i'm taking this morning via El Al. Needless to say, Egypt does not give El Al very good windows for travel into and out of the country (my flight in left tel aviv at 1:15am).

I had the chance to return to reality this afternoon/evening, once I dropped off my bags at the hotel bell counter to hold them until the ungodly hour that I needed to travel. I was returning to a land that might have superficially seemed fairly similar to Egypt, but was in fact very different. Whereas Egypt is a fun tourist destination, with little else going on (where the avg person takes home $800 annually), Israel has sort of grown out of that. There's a lot more at stake there. People are less layed back, due to that. Additionally, the threat of terrorism, which is clearly happening in both countries, is taken much more seriously there, than in Egypt. Point in fact: The malls in Egypt require you to walk through a metal detector before gaining entry, as do the Israeli malls. However, if you walk through the "Out" door (which incidentally is very common) no one cares. Most people did that, in fact. Additionally, I recall going through the metal detector in Egypt, having the buzzer go off wildly, and then continuing on, because everyone was doing it. Strange...

The most interesting thing that came to mind was tonight at the airport. Walking in, I realized that Cairo Airport is about as disorganized as the whole of Cairo. On this whole trip, I counted only 2 traffic lights in Cairo, with mayhem on the roads for pedestrians and drivers, a direct result. In the airport, you go through metal detectors before checking in (like in Israel), only they do not tell you which line to go to for particular airlines/flights. Additionally, the same security that was offered in the malls is taken in the airport here. Literally, people who are clearly wearing metal or what have you walk through metal detectors, the buzzers sound, and no one stops them. Its a bit ridiculous.

When I got to the El Al security check they reminded me that Israel is technically at war with Palestinians who have access to Egypt, and thus need to be extra cautious here. They opened my bags and checked every single item, because they do not trust the Egyptian security. Additionally, there have been instances of bag tampering, etc. at top hotels in Cairo, especially on bags going to Israel (supposedly). Thus, El Al is this thorough with everyone and asks passengers to arrive 4 hours early to ensure on-time departure. What a world...

Once I got through security, I went upstairs to the cafeteria to buy a coffee at the local Coffee Bean. The server did not have change for my purchase (it was $15 EGP, I gave him $50 EGP), but offered to find some for me. I thought nothing of it. Then, another American guy who had been sitting there for a while eating/drinking mentioned that he had the same trouble, and that the server asked for the change to be his 'tip' . Apparently he gets away with this... This guy and I went up the server and demanded every last penny of our change, because we were insulted by his approach with foreigners (having observed him do that to an old european women moments prior to the outburst). Why is it reasonable for these guys to try to cheat me out of $35 EGP. We're not talking loads of cash here, maybe $7. Its just crazy...

Hope to be leaving soon. I will try to stay awake for another 1+ hour. Thanks for listening...

Cairo: Day 3 & 4

2007-07-05T13:25:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I spent nearly 7 hours at the Khan El Khalil market. The market has several sections, including a section for tourists, a spice market, cotton market, papyrus market, silver/gold, and perfumes/oils/essence. It was very interesting, especially in the less touristy sections. I finally found a place to buy cheap safron (100 grams, which is a large bag of the spice for 25 piastres (that's 1/4 of an EGP or roughly $0.045!). Certainly beats the $4 for an ounce!

The markets were filled with amazing smells, colors and shapes, with pushy but friendly salesmen everywhere. Given that I will be travelling for the next 6+ weeks, I figured i'd only pick up items that really blew me away, saving room in my bag for future momentos. Unfortunately, I did not find much that I was really excited about.

One thing to note, for starters, is that the number system used in the markets here (and for time, license plates, addresses, etc) is Arabic. You will rarely see the western numeral system. Thus, I figured it would be a good idea to brush up on the Arabic number system. Here's the numbers 0-9 in Arabic:

At the markets, I ran into several shop owners who offered to show me their products. Mostly, I accepted the invitation, but did not purchase much. One such fellow, Ali ("Ali, not Mohammed Ali" was what he would always say), showed me around the markets for nearly 2-3 hours. He introduced himself as a man shopping in the market, but soon it became quite clear that he was a merchant. I must tell you that he was an excellent guide and someone I enjoyed chatting with for several hours. Unlike the prior few days, during which I met "tour guides", he was a merchant, and thus did not expect to be paid for the guide, rather through purchase of merchandise. Unfortunately for him, his business was in oils/essense/frangrance, which is just not something I wanted to buy in bulk.

When he finally brought me to his store, he suggested that I buy four bottles of essence of "Acqua Di Gio" (as he saw it; did not smell much like the real thing, nor did it last like the real thing). He asked for $1000 EGP, which is roughly $200. I said that was out of my league, and that I only had $50 EGP to spend at his store. He countered with $900 EGP. I still said, I have only $50 EGP. Needless to say, our conversation went back and forth for a while, until he finally pushed me over the edge. Around $250 EGP, I said to him that he was now wasting my time, given that I would not spend more than $50 EGP at this shop. I got up and began to walk out. As I did that, he agreed to $50 EGP. At that point, I had been so disgusted by the "negotiation" that I walked out entirely, with no interest in looking back. Yes, it was an intense discussion, filled with weird "Jewish-eque" guilt that frankly I did not need. Of all things I was looking for at this market, essense/oil was the last. Ali and I had several wonderful conversations prior to our "business", but clearly we were not on the same page. Here's some photos of the market and Ali's shop:

All in all the debate with Ali was well over 1 hour, with him trying several incentives to entice me to buy his products. I learned quite a bit about myself and about salesmanship during this debate, especially relating to understanding the psychology of the salesman. Ali, knowing full well that I was an American staying at a nice hotel, decided that I could spend lots of money, but wanted to feel like I was getting a deal. However, he read me wrong... I mentioned to him several times that I was a rich American (his term, not mine), but that I was now a student and had little money to spend. I also said several times that this was not something high on my wishlist. Furthermore, I told him that I liked him, and wanted to spend the $50 EGP (he had shown me around for 3 hrs). I would've taken a tiny token, or even left $50 for the companionship during those prior hours. Unfortunately, we did not understand each other.

A few notes on Egypt that I have picked up: Everyone seems to be pretty nice and interested in your money (not stealing it, just outwitting you in a deal). I noticed this immediately with the cab drivers and restauranteurs. However, these people fail to realize the mindset of the American. In a country like Egypt, the difference between paying $5 EGP and $1.50 EFP for a bottle of water is practically nothing. It's not worth the argument. To the Egyptian it is. I recall going into the Felafilo restaurant down the block and getting a Felafel sandwich for $0.60 EGP and being laughed at for paying too much. I don't know about the rest of you, but i'm glad to pay $0.11 for a Felafel. Of course, a $0.05 Felafel is cheaper, but its not the end of the world for me. I guess i'm a sucker...

The price of an item in any market should be close to the intrinsic value that the buyer assesses to that product. Thus, an American will always pay more than an Egyptian for things in Cairo. Fundamentally, I have accepted paying $1-2 USD for a bottle of water. Sure, i'll pay $.20, but I can handle the $1 purchase as well, without feeling taken. Here, that difference is much larger to the locals, and thus they pay much less. My $25 EGP cab ride to the market would probably cost $5-10 EGP to a local, but i'm ok with $25 EGP (the cab ride is roughly 30 minutes in awful traffic - well worth $5 USD to me).

Last night, after being in the heat for the bulk of the day, I relaxed in the hotel, talking with a handful of locals at the Hilton restaurant downstairs. The restaurant has great local entertainment, including belly dancers and a guest singerplaying some good local stuff. It was nice. I turned in around 1am.

This morning, I woke up, had breakfast and set out for a quick walk of the neighborhood. Afterwards, I came back to the hotel, sunbathed and swam by the pool, and generally relaxed. I need to check out shortly, and will then have a few hours (ok, many hours (like 9ish) to hang out before having to travel to Cairo Airport. What a dumb flight time (4:45am). It should make for some interesting times at the airport.

All in all, I had an interesting experience in Cairo and truly enjoyed meeting the locals. While its not my favorite travel destination, I would suggest that others come here and experience it for themselves. I can honestly say that after 4 days here, I can walk like an egyptian (and avoid traffic)... Tomorrow, back to Jerusalem for my last Shabbat there...

Cairo: Day 2

2007-07-03T20:49:00.000+02:00

What a difference a day makes... Today, I woke up early and went to the Pyramids in Giza. Much like Rome, where ancient ruins are just another part of the city, the pyramids have a similar feel. I arrived at the Sphinx, and began walking around the desert area, until I came upon a nice tour-guide named Amal, who showed me around. Needless to say, the sites were truly breathtaking, and speak for themselves, so here they are:

After the morning at the Pyramids, walking through tombs and exploring the surrounding desert, I decided to take a breather back at the hotel. It was easily the hottest day i've been out in yet, and my t-shirt was soaked through. I decided to wash my clothes by hand and hang them to dry in the bathroom. A little while later, I ventured out again, this time with the intention of going to the infamous Khan El Khalili markets. I jumped in a cab and began the journey there, when all of a sudden a random Muslim guy jumped into the backseat of the cab (male cab passengers sit in the front, next to the driver), since he was going to roughly the same spot. We began chatting about politics and his strong opposition to the Bush administration (shocking, of course). When we arrived by the markets, the passenger suggested I check out the El Azhar Mosque prior. When I walked into the Mosque, I realized that I had stepped into a very important place. The mosque was built in 971 AD, and also doubled as a university (first in the world, supposedly). I met a student there named Fahd, who I subsequently discussed Islam and its difference with Judaism. The conversation was fairly open, respectable and interesting (nearly 2 hours, with him bringing in sources from the study room). At the end, he offered to walk me around the area, seeing some of the other key sites. I took him up on the offer, checking out the Wikala al-Bazara, Bab an-Nasr, the northern wall and gates. Here's some photos:

After climbing and walking for most of the day, I took a quiet supper at a local Tamia restaurant and headed for the hotel, exhausted. I will wake up in the morning and check out the local markets at Khan El Khalili...

BTW, that movie "Fun with Dick and Jane" is on, and I must say its pretty entertaining...

Cairo: Day 1

2007-07-03T00:39:00.001+02:00

Welcome to Cairo! Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, I immediately realized the contrast with Israel. Firstly, the airport uses the old bus system to move you from plane to terminal. Second, the arrivals hall is very small and the lines are incredibly slow (they use two officers to review visas and enter information into their systems for tracking). After getting my bags, I was asked by nearly two dozen drivers if I'd need a ride to Cairo. The time was roughly 3:15am. I grabbed one, and for 85 EGP (roughly $15) we took the 30-45 minute ride to my hotel, the Hilton Ramses, on the Nile River. Along the way, the driver stopped for gas and filled up. His entire gas tank required ~50 EGP or $9 (check out the picture below). Yes, gas is cheap here:

At the Ramses, I was given a room on the Executive Floor, with a beautiful view of the Nile River. It's a pretty big room, with a couch and chair. In the closet, there were two safes (one large safe with multiple sections, like those private safes that people put in their homes, and a standard hotel safe). Check it out:

Here's a pic of the amazing view:

After unpacking, I went to bed, at nearly 5am. This morning, I woke up at 11:30 or so, and decided to go the Egyptian Museum, only a few blocks away. Cairo is very warm, but not humid, which makes it easier to tolerate than the Tel Aviv weather. I tried walking to the Egyptian Museum, and immediately realized that Cairo would be a bit more tricky to navigate than elsewhere. Here, there is minimal traffic laws, and people literally run across the street, trying to avoid the cars and oncoming traffic. It's basically the most extreme kind of jaywalking. The guidebooks suggest that you use a local person as a "human shield", and that you keep very close to them as you scurry across the street. I certainly learned the ways of native Egyptians pretty quickly in that manner. Here's a few photos of the jaywalkers:

Here's a photo of the highway from the bus station. Note the car next to the bus has nearly a dozen young men sitting on it in the midst of traffic. This is pretty common here in Cairo. Additionally, I have seen buses not fully stop at their designated stops, instead, making people jump on and off while it rolls. Not sure why that is... :

The Cairo museum was amazing, with tons and tons of exhibits from several pharoatic dynasties. There are fully restored chariots, mummies, jewelry, and other objects that are exquisite and incredibly interesting. The only problem with the museum is that you cannot take photos and that there is no air conditioning. After walking around the museum for over 2 hours, I began to feel light headed and decided to drink some more water and go back to the hotel. On the way back, I walked through a few local streets and attempted to take a photo. A local woman came by and respectfully asked me not to do that (the locals are not here for photographs). She's right. I ended up going back to the hotel, gambling for a little bit in the casino by the pool and resting. Here's some photos from outside the Museum, and downtown Cairo:

This evening, I ventured out to the Nile River, walking up and down the side of the river, until I finally decided to "felucca cruise". There are tons of these small boats leaving the side of the Nile every few minutes. Everyone on my boat was local, with few English speakers, but I still enjoyed talking with one guy. During the "cruise" arabic music played in the background and the women danced around, mostly belly dancing style. It was kind of interesting seeing young Cairoians hanging out and just enjoying life on a Monday evening. The cruise was roughly 45 minutes and cost me 30 EGP (~$5) and included a drink of Pepsi. Here's a few photos from shore (Le Pacha 1901 is apparently an Italian restaurant ship):

After the cruise, the young Arab guy who I had been talking to on the cruise invited me to drink at a local bar where they were watching the end of a football match (to be exact, the Egyptian Cup). I decided to go along, drank a few beers, ate a felafel (called Tamia here, and served as 2 pitas, each with a single patty rather than individual balls), smoked a sheesha (apple flavored) and ordered a large bottle of water at the end. The total cost for the time at the bar was 33 EGP (<$6) including tip. Oh and Ahli won the cup, beating Zamalek on an amazing goal from Osama Husni during extra time...

Time for bed... Tomorrow, I will travel to the pyramids in the morning and the Khan El Khalil markets in the afternoon.

Tel Aviv (part II)

2007-07-02T23:18:00.000+02:00

Following Shabbat at my cousins in Ra'anana I went to Herziliyah-Pituach on Sunday morning to learn more about the Israeli economy and recruiting practices at the Technion. I went to the office of JobInfo, a recruiting firm that helps place new graduates and experienced Israelis into mostly hi-tech and banking positions. The conversation went quite well, and it gave me several ideas on how to expand my connections in Israel and one day build an office or practice in Israel. Here's some photos from that building:

After the meeting, I took a Sheirut to the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, then took a bus to the Yemenite section, home to the "Carmel Markets". I perused the markets for a little bit, looking at fresh produce, fish, and meat. Unlike in Tel Aviv, the products here are less Jewishly ethnic, with foods from Korea, China, Thailand and elsewhere highly visible. Additionally, there is a large market for knockoff clothing products. Here's a few photos (including one of the ever-important "candy man"):

After the markets, I decided it was finally time to spend some time at the beaches of Tel Aviv. As you may or may not know, Tel Aviv has some amazing beaches, with some variety relating to the waves/current and clientele. I did a quick walk starting from the "Jerusalem Beach", going north along the water to the Sheraton Beach. I stopped a few times along the way to take quick photos and sit and grab a cold Goldstar beer. Unfortunately, since I was flying out of Tel Aviv that evening, with no guaranteed shower prior to that, I did not swim in the water, but did go up to my knees. Here's some photos from the beach:

After the beach, I met a friend of mine from Cornell, Batya, at PizzaFino (on Ben Yehuda, parallel to the beach). We reminisced about old times and discussed her lifestyle in Israel. Life in Israel is tough for the young architect. Unlike engineering/hi-tech, banking, diamonds/precious stones and tourism, where jobs are easier to find, architecture is particularly difficult to come by. That being said, I think she is enjoying Israel and was happy to move here a few years back. Batya gave me one nugget of information that I figured i'd share: The buildings in Israel are mostly made of Concrete, not steel, due to two reasons: 1) Steel is expensive and hard to come by in the region 2) As in 9/11, Steel will melt/buckle under high temperatures, making it a greater terrorism threat

The downside of concrete construction is buildings that are less sleek and more difficult to build (you'll see in the next set of pictures for the Azrieli shopping mall how the building has walls of windows with frames).

After lunch, I headed over to the Azrieli shopping mall, where I was going to have dinner with Adam Farber later that evening. We decided on dinner at a South American, kosher all-you-can-eat restaurant, Papagaio. Prior to dinner, I grabbed a pair of sandals at Naot, the Israeli sandal company. I also grabbed a few shirts at "Pull and Bear" (yes, that is random), since I needed something light to wear on this trip to Egypt.

Dinner was excellent. We had a variety of 11 types of meat, including beef ribs (w/ and w/0 bones), steak (spicy and regular), chicken (w/ and w/0 bones), liver, sweetbreads, lamb kebob, beef kebob, and spicy sausage. To say the least, it was a great time.

After dinner, I ran over to the Tel Aviv Opera House to see Il Trittico with my Aunt Riva. The theatre is quite lovely and the performance was top notch. Il Trittico is a series of three short operas (tragedies of course), in Italian: Sour Angelica, Il tabarro, and Gianni Schicchi. Having spent a fair amount of time at the Met Opera in New York, I can tell you that the performance was definitely on par, with excellent scenery, musicians and performers/singers.

The storyline for Sour Angelica was a bit weak, focused on a nun's turmoil over the child she had out of wedlock (her wealthy family sent her to the convent 1 hr after giving birth to her son and avoided communicating with her for 7 yrs). Her aunt arrives one day and tells her that her son has died. It's a very disturbing scene as Sister Angelica allows her torment to overcome her.

The storyline for Il tabarro involves a ship captain and his wife, who is unfaithful. When he learns of her infidelity, he exacts revenge on her lover (one of his crew), sneaking up on him and murdering him. Then, keeping the corpse concealed in his cloak, he meets his wife and has her admit to the affair. At the last moment, he shows her the corpse.

Very powerful stories. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay for the third section, since my flight was at 1:15am to Cairo, and I needed to get to the airport. Here's some photos from the Opera house:

Jerusalem (part II)

2007-06-30T22:06:00.000+02:00

Following prayer at the Western Wall, I ventured out to the city for a few hours prior to Shabbat. The plan was to spend until roughly 12:30 in the city, then travel back to Ra'anana to visit with my cousins (both from Jerusalem with their parents and siblings and my cousins from Bet Shemesh) there for Shabbat. My first stop was the Jaffa Gate again, since my plan was to walk to Machane Yehuda Market, Ben Yehuda Street and then Meah Shearim. Here's the Jaffa gate during the day, including the Tower of David in the backgroung:

The view of the new city from outside the gates of the old city is quite pretty. Check it out below:

After walking for a few minutes up and down the hills of Jerusalem, I came upon Ben Yehuda Street. For those who do not know, Ben Yehuda is somewhat of an outdoor mall, with many specialty shops, eateries and a beautiful plaza in the center to eat and schmooze with friends, colleagues, etc:

On Ben Yehuda Street, I found the "Steve's Pack" store, which had the water reservoir for my backpack that I so desperately needed for the last few days here (hot and humid = not so fun). From here, I walked up a few more blocks to the infamous Machane Yehuda Market, where Jerusalemites travel on Fridays to pick up fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, and baked goods L'chvod Shabbat (for the sanctity of the Sabbath). As you can see, its a serious market, with many many merchants marketing to even more customers. A bit of a madhouse, but the produce is amazing, and at great prices...

After making some purchases at Machane Yehuda, I traveled to Meah Shearim, a section of Jerusalem occupied by Chassidic Jews stemming from multiple communities in Europe. I went there to find some specific Judaica, since it is really the best place in the world to find obscure books as well as essentials. To respect their wishes, I did not photograph the block, as per the sign below (which incidentally, I did photograph).

I don't believe they intend to be mean by their asking outsiders to keep out of their neighborhood. Their focus is simply on maintaining the traditions, and limiting their people's exposure to outsiders who might require them to stray from their daily activities. They live a simple life of Torah study and would like to be left alone to this pursuit. While I certainly do not live that way, I completely understand their goals on this level.

After Me'ah Shearim, I rushed back to the Old City to meet Chani for a ride to Ra'anana. On the way, I ran into an Israeli clothing shop "Zip" (www.zipnet.co.il) and picked up a few shirts for the hot climate...

Shabbat in Ra'anana was quite lovely. I played a fierce game of table tennis with my cousin Aaroni right before Shabbat, then went to synagogue with Aaroni, Ephraim, and my new cousin Donny (through marriage to my cousin Baila this past year). The synagogue my cousins go to is enjoyable and efficient, with a service that has singing and spiritual elements packed into a short time frame. After synagogue, we met with the rest of the family (Uncle Mark, Aunt Riva, Chani, Rivki, Boobie, and Baila) and had a wonderful Shabbat dinner, with singing and great conversation.

This morning, we went to synagogue again (starting around 8:30) and returned around 11:15. We had a festive Shabbat lunch - ate, drank and sang. Following lunch, we played an intense game of "Bang", a european (Italian) card game similar to the game of "Mafia" that I used to play with some of my friends on the Upper West Side. At the conclusion of Shabbat, everyone went their separate ways, but I stayed around, since my meeting is now at 9am in the morning with the Israeli recruiting office.

I hope to share some new insights tomorrow with all of you...

Jerusalem (part I)

2007-06-30T21:33:00.000+02:00

When I arrived in Jerusalem, it was almost 7pm. The new bus station (Tachana HaMerkazit) is very nice and modern, looking like a pretty fancy mall. The last time I was in Jerusalem, the bus terminal had not yet been built and the old terminal was entirely outdoors. The old terminal had its charms, including an excellent bus-side Schwarma (lamb gyro) salesman/haircutter. Talk about business synergy! The only problem I had with the station was the mislabelled location of the Bank HaPoalim ATM machines, which are on the 1st floor, not the second (after doing an exhaustive search for them on the 2nd floor, where the signs had suggested they were). When I left the station, I took a cab to the parking lot outside the Jewish Quarter of the old city of Jerusalem, because it was the closest place I could be to my cousins apartment before having to travel by foot.

The apartment is on a side street/corridor only steps from the Kotel (Western Wall), with an amazing picture window overlooking the Kotel and access to a rooftop with an amazing view as well. I was incredibly glad to finally be in Jerusalem! Here are a few quick photos of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount at night from the apartment:

After showering and changing into clean clothes, I travelled into town with my cousin Chani, who has been leading tours around Israel for quite a while now (and is subsequently a Jewish History major at Hebrew University in Jerusalem). I had the chance to quiz her on some of the books I have recently picked up in leisure covering topics from the Ethiopian Jewish community and Jerusalem during the 2nd Temple period. It was very nice to see her and hear about her thoughts on these issues and the future of Israel and the Jewish nation. We stopped off for a quick dinner at a Schnitzel (breaded chicken cutlet) place, named Schnitzi, near Ben Yehuda Street (I had the "Spanish" sandwich, which had some chili powder or something... I must say, quite tasty). On the walk back, we went through the Jaffa Gate, near the Tower of David (Migdal David):

As part of my master plan, I had negotiated an unofficial tour/prayer session at the Tunnel Tour at the Kotel with Chani. Since Jerusalem and specifically the Temple Mount has traditionally expanded upwards (with new construction built on top of old construction), the Tunnel Tour allows one to see what the Temple Mount looked like many thousands of years ago, prior to the relatively recent construction of the Dome of the Rock by the Muslims. The plan was to go during unofficial touring hours (prior to 9am) and try to sneak a tour in. Unforunately, the next morning at 7:15am, we found out that only women are allowed in during early mornings, since there are women-only prayer groups in there. Instead of the tour, I decided to pray at the Kotel instead. Here's the Kotel, the opposite side of the Kotel and the "street" to my cousins apartment:

Tel Aviv

2007-06-30T20:50:00.000+02:00

Sorry to not get to this earlier, but the last few days have been particularly hectic. To make up for it, I will write a couple of posts to cover each day individually... First Thursday...

Having went to sleep on Wednesday evening/Thursday night at the ungodly hour of 5am, I woke up late on Thursday at roughly 11:30. I immediately went out to explore parts of Tel Aviv that I did not have a chance to visit all that much on my prior visits. My plan was to try to stay indoors as much as possible, since I had been burnt pretty bad in the Haifa/Akko sun the day before.

First, I went to the corner and took a Sheirut taxi (taxi with multiple passengers that mimics the route of a specific bus) to the Tachana HaMerkazit (main bus terminal) in Tel Aviv. I remember spending minutes in this terminal as I switched from one bus from Haifa-Tel Aviv to another going from Tel Aviv-Jerusalem. This time, I had the chance to explore the station for a few minutes, primarily to find out how long my bus to Jerusalem later that day would take (~1-1:30 hours, depending on traffic). The bus station is filled with little shops and fast food restaurants, but still resembles a shuk (open air market) for some reason. Here's a photo to explain what I mean (maybe):

Once I left the station, I immediately felt the difference between Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel. As you'll see in my pictures from Jerusalem, you'll be hard-pressed to find food/drink that are not kosher there. In Tel Aviv, right outside the bus station is a Pork dealer:

I then took a Dan bus (Dan is the main bus operator in Tel Aviv, whereas Egged runs the main lines nearly everywhere else) to Dizengoff St and specifically, the Dizengoff Kinyon (Mall). Dizengoff is a pretty cool space, with levels on inclines that feed into the next level (think a spiral configuration, similar to the Guggenheim museum in Manhattan). Here's a few photos from there:

After spending some time in the shops, I decided to explore the rest of R'chov Dizengoff, ultimately bringing me to this modern-esque sculpture/fountain. It's pretty interesting, so I figured I would take a photo and see what y'all thought:

After taking this photo, I grabbed a fresh fruit juice at this lovely establishment:

At this point, I had been outdoors for some time and the time was getting late. I needed to be on a bus by 4:30 or so, to ensure that I got to Jerusalem by 6-6:30 to meet my cousins Rivki and Chani. Initially, I looked for the same Sheirut taxi that picked me up in Ramat Aviv that morning, but I could not find one (in fact, these Sheiruts travel to major cities from major cities, so there would not be one that travels specifically within Tel Aviv (of course I did not realize that until another 30+ minutes went by. I rushed back to the apartment with a regular taxi (cost 55 NIS or roughly ~$12-14). I got upstairs, grabbed my bags and rushed out to the bus to the Tachana HaMerkazit.

Unfortunately, the bus was held up in some heavy Tel Aviv traffic and I got to the Tachana late. First of all, I did not realize that they would thoroughly examine my suitcase as well as my backpack, asking me to open it, etc. In hindsight, it was dumb for me not to anticipate that, since they had been examining my backpack in every public place throughout this trip. Nonetheless, I held up a group of 10 Chayalim (soldiers) trying to get home for their weekend (Fri-Sat, not Sat-Sun).

When I finally made it to the gate for the bus, I immediately realized that I would be late to Jerusalem. There were about 90 people waiting on line for the 5:12 bus. That bus came and went, with many many people still trying to get on. The 5:24 bus came and went, and I was nowhere near the entrance to the bus. Finally, I was able to put my bag on the 5:36 bus and take it to Jerusalem. Luckily, I was sitting to a young South African computer programmer who was happy to let me borrow his cell phone, so that I could call my cousins and tell them I would be late...

Haifa & Akko

2007-06-28T02:44:00.000+02:00

Since I'm up watching the Mets game at 4:30am Tel Aviv time, and its in rain delay, I figured i'd update y'all on my travels. I ventured north today to my old stomping grounds in Haifa. For those of you who do not know, Haifa is a bustling city (3rd largest in Israel behind Jerusalem and Tel Aviv), home to the top technology university in Israel, the Technion, offices/labs of top hi-tech firms (a la Microsoft, Intel) and a major seaport. I woke up at roughly 5am, fresh off my jetlag and set off for the train station.

I must say, the last time I was in Israel (roughly 4 yrs ago) it was common for Israelis to compare taking the train to watching paint dry, since the system was poorly maintained and had few reasonable itineraries for normal passengers. Thus, I assumed that I'd be taking an Egged Bus to Haifa, which could take over 2 hrs. However, to my surprise, the system has been vastly improved and seems to have taken off here, with tons of passengers. I took the direct train to Haifa, and it was a real pleasure (roughly 50 minutes and at times it actually goes along the edge of the beach, with the Mediterranean Sea in full view - its quite a view). Here's a few photos from the station:

When I got to the Haifa Mercaz Rakevent (main train station), I was at the bottom of Mt Carmel, right near the seaport. I immediately took these pictures, one showing the mountain in the context of office space and businesses by the seaport and one prominently showing the Bahai temple and its grounds on the mountain range:

The Technion is near the top of the mountain, so I took a taxi up there. When I arrived on campus, I instinctively went up to my old dorm room, to see whether the building was still there (given that the Technion has grown substantially in the last 8-9 years, I figured it was a 50-50). Context: I was at the Technion for two summers in '97 and '98 on the Scitech program, which offers high school students from across the globe the chance to do engineering research projects (as an alternative to say Harvard Summer School). Well it was there, and the building looked better than when I was there last...

I then decided to walk down to the Student Center and try to grab a quick lunch before exploring the rest of the new campus. At this point, I was physically exhausted, having been in the 100 degree heat for several hours. Unfortunately, the Student Center is being completely rebuilt, much to my dismay:

I spent the remainder of the time exploring the new facilities, including the new Computer Science facilities and other others. Students that I spoke to along the way were all very excited about their futures in Israel of abroad, working in the Engineering discipline. In fact, it felt eerily like MIT, a campus I recently spent lots of time on recruiting candidates for Opera. As such, I figured I'd stop by the recruiting office and ask about recruiting procedures.

Finally, after several hours in Haifa, I decided to travel a bit farther north to Akko, home to the infamous old city markets. These markets are open air and home to some of the best produce, baked goods, fish, spices and tobbacco products in Israel. I took in all the great colors and tastes for some time, trying to cool off from the blistering heat. Unfortunately, the only photos I have from Akko are from etnry into the old city (Citadel and Mosque) as well as the harbor, which is beautiful and on the Mediterranean Sea:

That's it. Looks like this rain delay is serious. Too bad, Tom Glavine's having a great night... I hope to visit Tel Aviv today and spend some time in doors, since I took a real beating in the heat today...

Bruchim Habaim!

2007-06-26T17:50:00.000+02:00

Welcome to Israel! Arriving in Ben Gurion Airport no longer has that unique Israeli feel, with all passengers walking onto the tarmac and then into mini buses that drive you to arrivals and extremely long immigration lines. Now, its a fancy airport that seems eerily similar to those of New York, Minneapolis and Cologne (my most recent destinations). Too bad, I guess, although the airport now has dozens of beautiful shops and a prettier exterior.

The flight was pretty interesting. Upon arriving at the airport, I was immediately informed that Delta Medallion cardholders get no special privelages on El Al (even though the flight was a codeshare). Additionally, I was set to sit in the very last row of the plane, in the only middle seat available. Luckily, I was able to adjust that quickly and avoid that fate. The plane was an El Al 767, which is the only model that does not have personal entertainment units for all passengers. On top of that, I was sitting near the front, where a young child had brought a dog onboard. I have never seen this before, but apparently its legal... Finally, the flight was intended to leave NY at 8pm but ended up leaving nearly 2 hrs late. Needless to say, I was confused for much of the ~11 hour flight... Here's a photo of the plane in question (from Ben Gurion Airport - plane with Israeli flag next to a Sun D'or plane):

After landing in Israel, I took a Sheirut (Taxi) to my friend Farber's home in Ramat Aviv (neighborhood in Tel Aviv). It's a beautiful up and coming neighborhood that is steps from Tel Aviv beach, and Tel Aviv University. Here's a few photos:

We went out shopping for some food for a BBQ, and I realized that the mall next door to his apartment is actually one that I shopped in regularly when I was at Tel Aviv University for the summer on an Israel Advocacy program. In fact, the supermarket we went to was the place that Arie and I bought the infamous pony kegs of Heineken that were a big hit with people in our program.

OK then... It's roughly 7:20 in Israel now and I'm exhausted. Hope to enjoy a light evening, get some sleep and prepare for tomorrow's adventure in Haifa...

The Airport

2007-06-25T23:44:00.000+02:00

With little more than an hour until boarding, i've decided to write a quick note regarding my thoughts on leaving. I've been avoiding this for quite some time, but I think its finally set in. While this trip sounds very cool and INSEAD will be an awesome experience, I am starting to feel a bit sad to leave NYC.

There were several moments during the last week that really drove home the point that I was leaving for some time. On Monday I met with my client for the final time, and when he said goodbye, unlike previous meetings when he sort of looked back at his laptop and began to work on other things, this time he seemed a bit hesitant to get to his next activity. In fact, the whole meeting was much less focused on "Next Steps", (key Consulting lingo) and much more oriented to the work we had done and our accomplishments. At the time, it didn't really set in that that would be our last big meeting as a team with the client.

Monday night, I joined the Cornell Hillel board of directors for my final meeting. I gave a final report on the state of IT at Hillel (something I have spent the last year perfecting) and was met with applause and many kind words from the rest of the crowd. Hillel is something that has been a part of my life for the better part of 8 years now. It is part of my life, part of every breath. I care. It didn't occur to me at the time that this would be the close of one chapter in my Hillel life.
On Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure to go out with my recent project team for a dinner at Buddakhan. During dinner, I began to notice that a real transition on the team had taken place and that I would no longer be privy to the witty remarks of my co-workers or these fab dinners. A bit weird to be honest.

Wednesday and Thursday, I finally took some time to pack all my things. Even at that point, it hadn't occured to me that packing up all my memories into storage boxes and suitcases would mark the culmination of the collecting I had done over the last 8+ years. At this point, I was starting to sense that my life was going to change dramatically.

Thursday evening, I went to my firm's last social event at The Delancey. What a great venue and what an awesome time... Here's a few photos:

Even Friday, during my last day at work, I did not fully appreciate the fact that I was leaving. My colleagues took me out to lunch and we talked about the next year and my plans. The rest of the afternoon was a total blur talking to colleagues, transitioning work, and discussing my future. The entire day went by incredibly fast, but was not an eye-opener. Not until I went to my dry-cleaner and picked up my last set of shirts did it finally register that this was it. I had never shared more than 5 words with the woman, namely the starch and hangar/box combination I wanted. As I was leaving with my shirts, I mentioned I was leaving the neighborhood to move to Singapore. She began telling me how sorry she was to see me go. What a weird thing to say! I guess we had built a particularly comfortable relationship, since I was there twice a week, every week for a year. Interesting moment to say the least...

That evening and the following day I spent time with my parents, sister and brother in law, niece and grandmother. It was nice to reminisce about the last few years and talk about our future travel plans.

On Saturday evening, I went out for one last time, having invited many colleagues and friends to attend. During a random lapse of judgement, I decided not to travel down with some friends, figuring i'd meet people at the bar... Low and behold, I got there before my friends (of course they wouldn't show up at the immediate beginning. What a funny situation and props to Chia Hsun who came to my rescue... The night was a good time, with lots of friends and co-workers showing up at random points until closing time at Luna Park bar, 2am. From there a small group ventured uptown to Japas38 for a little Karaoke action, followed by an early morning brunch and goodbye. Thanks again for all those who attended... it really meant a lot.

Sunday morning I moved my final stuff out of the apartment and went to my sister's home for a baby shower-eque event. It was great to see family, friends, cousins, etc. even though I was really quite tired. By 3pm we were done entertaining and I was able to collect some odds and ends before eating my final sushi dinner in NYC...

And now, since my flight is being called for boarding, I must go. Thanks again for all those who are reading. I should land in Tel Aviv around 2pm... Check back for more tomorrow.

The Adventure Awaits

2007-06-25T21:34:00.000+02:00

These last few weeks have been a total blur... I've been putting off writing this blog, in part because I felt that I had too much going on and in part because I was concerned that this would symbolize the end of my 4 year stint in NYC following Cornell (and my nearly 26 yr stint in New York) as I embark on a new adventure.

Well, the time has finally come. With only 40 minutes to go before I need to leave for the airport, I've decided to note some of my thoughts on life in NYC and my expectations for the year ahead.

First and foremost, I have loved living in the greatest city in the world for the last several years. Where else can you find a grocery store that will deliver groceries at 3am? I have loved living on the Upper West Side and participating in several cultural and spiritual activities in the Jewish Community. Again, here too NYC is unique, with a large, diverse and relatively open community where nearly everyone can find a brand of Judaism that is meaningful to them. I have truly appreciated participating in several synagogue services on the UWS, particularly at Bnai Jeshurun on 88th as well as communal activities, such as the Tikkun Leil Shavuot program at the JCC. While I know the community will not be as large or likely as vibrant in Singapore and Southeast Asia, I do look forward to participating there as well.

Last Sunday, I had the chance to go to the Idan Raichel Project concert at Central Park's Summer Stage. It was am amazing concert, with a great cover reggae band. The brilliance of Idan Raichel is the positive, simple messages in their songs and the use of Amharaic and Hebrew together to bring an exotic flavor to the music. Since last year I've had their music (thanks to iTunes) and hope to continue adding to that collection in Israel and abroad.

My work at Opera Solutions has been an amazing experience. I truly love the people and the work that we do. At my going away party on Saturday night, i'm glad to say that nearly half of all attendees were Operaites. Great people...

Despite the fact that Management Consulting is a particularly difficult business to be in long-term, due to heavy travel requirements and long hours at all levels, I believe my experience at Opera has convinced me that this could be a great career fit for me. At INSEAD, I will need to further assess whether this is the right place for me, but Opera will always be near and dear to me.

My family is going through quite a transition right now as well. My parents are now the proud grandparents of a wonderful little girl (BD 6/28/07 - Charlotte Louise), daughter of my sister Miriam and her husband Mark. I am sad to say that I will miss much of her first year on earth, but I hope to make up for lost time in the future.

Sadly, I will be leaving many great friends from Brooklyn, Cornell and the UWS. Its amazing to look back and see how much my life have changed since my graduation from Cornell in 2003. I will truly miss every one of them for their uniqueness and talent. Stay in touch and come to visit soon.

Well, its time to go now... I will try to drop another note in the airport prior to my flight. INSEAD is going to be an amazing experience and I hope to share it as well as my travels with you along the way. Thanks again for reading...

Over and out...