Transformer movie at kiryat Ono mall

Went out to watch Transformer, the new movie at the shopping mall near my house. It's the first time I watch a movie at that shopping mall and turns out its even better than the one we always go coz the 3D glasses are much lighter. The movie is awesome, especially with the 3D effects.
Ate a cup of Nissan cup noodle juz now for dinner.
Will be going to the fabric shop in Rehovot tomorrow, yeah...I have prepared the shopping list already. Hehee....after that, we are going for a shooting game with the guys. I have never handle a gun before, hope it will be fun.
Need to wake up early tomorrow then, can't sleep now, too full of instant noodle.....

Think Poochi also can't sleep, he is busy poking his head at my bedroom door, making snorting sounds. Its like he is talking or grumbling to me in a language I cannot understand. He is still outside the door...he just don't want to go and sleep. He is really very clingy!

Fabric shipment and mini craft projects

 Fabric shipment from US

Fabric shipment from Japan.

Poochi lazing on the pillow I made for him. Hehee....he is very lazy.

Supposed to bring him to the specialist skin doctor today but his skin has become better suddenly, without any of those disgusting pus and red spots. So, we decide to postphone the visit. No point seeing the doctor in this condition. Been turning the aircon and fan for him everyday, think this dog can only survive at 25 degree celsius condition, how is he going to survive when he go back SG!! *Groan*

 Finish making my DIY strawberry felt cake. I remember I bought it a few years ago in Singapore but never have the chance to make it until now. Its actually quite fun making it.

Finished making this pouch today with a inner lining. Its my first attempt at making such a pouch. I love pouches or bags that have a nice inner lining of fabric. For this, I also used a interfacing for the first time. It gives the pouch a cringly stiff-like feel which I dont really like and also, its quite hard to turn it inside out. Think I'll try the cloth like interfacing next time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit to a Kibbutz.....

Today, we were invited to a kibbutz by my hubby's colleague. A Kibbutz is a community of people living together. Its like a huge agricultural place where people grow their crops and breed livestocks like cows, chickens etc and the proceeds from it are shared among the people. They also have their own schools, child care center, recreational places like soccer field, swimming pools etc. Very self-sufficient. The idealogy of kibbutz is something like socialism, where everyone is equal and have the same property/possessions, everyone working for the common good, meaning everyone salary is given to the kibbutz and from there, it gets distributed to everyone. I was quite shocked to hear that and I dont think I can accept that way of thinking coz its like my salary not longer belongs to me but to everyone. Basically, I dont own anything as everything I owned belonged to everyone. Sounds communist to me.....anyway, it was an interesting experience for me knowing such culture actually exist!

 The childcare center, or school. In a Kibbutz, the children don't sleep at their parents' place which the reason is because it is supposed to give the parents rest during the night, which is very important as they have to work very early the next day.

 The kids playing with junks and other abandoned parts or machines. Its like their toys. Here, the children dont have fancy toys like what kids in Singapore have. Kindda feel bad for them but they looked so happy playing with the junks using juz their imagination that they cant even be bother with us.

Entrance to the chicken farm

SO many chickens!

The blue lighting is supposed to be calming for the chickens. Here, they are breed for their meat and not their eggs. Heard that it always one or the other and never breed for both. The place is actually very clean and the chickens are free to roam about and not cage up. 

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 Taking a break outside Amit's house with light refreshment. He have 5 children! We all sat together and chit chat until the time is ready for our next stop.

 Next stop: The cow farm

 Moo.....the stench was horrid....

 New born calf, being kept separated from the rest.

 Manure from the cows were collected and used as fertilizer for the crops that they were growing. Nothing goes to waste again.

 The farm manager guy with the long pigtail. He had many coloured rubber bands on it. So interesting...wonder what is the significance of it? Behind him is the storehouse storing food such as carrots, grains etc for the cows.

The machine that mixes the food from the storehouse and makes them into food for the cow.

 The place where the cows are milked.

Last stop: the sandwich factory. Really! There's even a sandwich factory in the kibbutz. The sandwiches are then distributed and sold all over Israel, even into Lebanon.

Hubby and I getting dressed and ready to enter the kitchen of the sandwich factory. It smells really nice inside. We all have to wash our hands and clean and sanitize our shoes before stepping inside. Its a good thing this is the last stop as we are wondering how are we going to Novak's house (my hebrew teacher) after smelling off cow dung, especially since Weizhong accidentally stepped on a big pile of cow manure.

 

After this, we went to have late lunch before going for our hebrew lessons. Its been a tiring day. I cant wait to go home and take a shower.

Insomnia.....

Having insomnia again....
Drank some choya to help me feel drowsy to sleep. It works sometimes.
Went to Poochi's room and talk to him. I like talking to him when he is sleeping. It makes me feel close to him and he looked so cute sleeping so soundly. But he don't really like it coz he let out this irritated grunting sounds like I am disturbing him. Hehee.....I like to do that coz he disturb me with his scratching and licking in the day and now it's my turn to disturb him back. Revenge is sweet....
Also it feels very therapeutic talking to him and petting him which I can only do that when he is sleeping. Noticed that when he sleeps in zircon, he don't scratch. Think the heat is making him itch. How is he going to survive when he goes back to Singapore?! Poor Poochi, don't know whether he can survive the trip back home.
Whenever I can't sleep at night, I will go and find Poochi to talk to him. It makes me feel better. If only he don't snores like a bulldozer, he can sleep in the same room with me.
Yawn.....think I am getting sleepy. Hubby going to work tomorrow. End of the shabbatt weekend. Need to bath Poochi tomorrow also. It's more troublesome than before bathing him coz in this house, I can only bath him in the bath tub which is in the master bed room. I still prefer bathing him in my house back in SG. Sighs....

Visit to Soreq Cave

Yesterday, hubby and I, together with his guys went to this Nature Reserve place called Soreq Cave. It is located on the western slopes of the Judean mountain.

Scenary from outside the cave.

 Luckily we managed to get a English speaking tour guide.

Entrance to the cave

Overall, its quite a small cave compared to the ones I have been to the States but it had all the features of a stalactite cave. There were walls and columns of stalactites and stalagmites. Its actually quite humid inside. 

 Pics of inside the cave.

Din managed to take much pics inside coz the effect did not turn out quite nice. Also, its quite rush as the guide kept moving on and we had to keep up with him. Wish we had more time to slowly take some nice pics. Anyway, it was quite a good trip to stay out of the sun which is SO HOT. Cant imagine going anywhere outdoor in this weather. I actually felt like puking once I stepped out of the cave coz the sun is making me very uncomfortable. Now I can understand why people can actually puke from over heating. 

 

The goat mascot of the Israeli National Parks.

After the cave tour was over, we went to this nearby restaurant called Asa for lunch. The guys loved to eat their pork and this is one of the rare place that sells pork steak. (Jew dont eat pork so its hard to find pork in Israel) I felt too hot to eat anything so I juz shared a bit of the steak with hubby.

When we reached home around 2pm, I switched on the aircon for the rest of the day. Cannot survive without aircon. Think Poochi also coz he is very heat sensitive. His skin condition actually got better in aircon.  Yesterday when we on the aircon the whole day, his skin improved dramatically. 

Managed to complete my first sewing project. Its a drawstring pouch.

Took me quite some time as I am not used to sewing. Had to remove the stitches a few times and redo. But I can feel my sewing speed getting faster as I sewed more. My next project will be a zippered pouch. 

Today, we went to Oyaama to eat dinner as we have some special privileges with the card on our wedding anniversary. Its one of the nicest food I can find here. They served chinese fusion and Japanese. The sashimi there is the best.

 First time drinking japanese beer, I preferred Asahi as its lighter in taste.

 First time trying the wanton soup. Dont really taste like the ones I used to eat though.

 The good old kung pow chicken noodles, my all time fave.

Juz made Poochi a small pillow from the blue fabric with white poka dots. Actually made it in less than 2 hrs and hubby is amazed I completed it so fast. I like sewing, help takes my mind off things and help pass time faster. Mainly, it is good at making my brain stop worrying. I hope my remaining fabric shipments will come soon....

5 years wedding anniversary

Its a good day for me....firstly, its my 5 years wedding anniversary with my hubby today! We are officially married by law 5 years ago. I met him since year 2000, so basically we have been together for 11 years! Woah.....thats a long long time....
To celebrate, we went to a Japanese restaurant in Tel Aviv called Onami for lunch. Its considered one of the top 5 Japanese restaurants in Israel. He ordered the 100 shekels set lunch while I ordered an assortments of sushi and sashimi. 

 

 Above were the starter dish, wakame salad and ika tempura (octopus). The ika tempura tasted v nice as the octopus meat was soft and chewy.

 This was the assorted sushi and sashimi. It looked so nice! This is the only place in Israel that I can eat  hotate sashimi and tobiko inari (sweet beancurd with orange egg roe) Just 1 inari cost 22 shekels which is close to about $10 SGD! In Singapore, I can get it in a restaurants for $2 SGD for 2! Anyway, its a special occasion today so its ok. Actually wana ordered the otororo (fatty tuna) sashimi but they dont have it. I loved that they actually put a small real flower stuck on a cucumber as a decoration.

Hubby eating his set meal with the grilled fish and garlic rice. The fish was real good coz hubby (who is a eat fish expert) said its very fresh and the meat was soft and flavorful.

Then we went to find the fabric and craft shop, which is about 30 mins drive away from the restaurant. We manage to find it! Im so happy coz I bought alot of stuffs from the shop to start my fabric craft hobby. Finally got a seam ripper, a new air of tailor scissors, zippers, pins, 2 types of interfacings, chalk marker, threads, a bundle of light blue cottom fabric with white pokka dots and a magazine for sewing projects. Yeah~! I like the fabric coz it reminds me of a Cath Kidston bag print I like.

My stash for today. The website for this shop is www.pissott.co.il
The owner of the shop, Nurit is a very friendly and helpful lady and best of all, she speaks English very well!

Lastly, we went IKEA to check out whether they have restocked the bedroom slippers. Mine is filthy and probably soaked with sweat from my feet and I cant stand wearing it anymore. Luckily we managed to find it hidden away in some obscure corner and I grabbed 3 pairs for myself, 2 pairs for hubby and some for his guy colleagues (they are also looking for them).

So, in all, it had been quite a fulfilling day as I managed to get the stuffs I wanted. Feeling very tired and drowsy now so going to sleep early tonight and wake up early for a trip to visit a cave tomorrow.

My first fabric shipment has arrived!

Yeah....my first fabric shipment arrived today. Surprisingly, it came in the mailbox instead of collecting it at the post office,which is even better for me.
Below are some pics I took of my package.

The package is from a seller in Japan. I got 3 types of japanese fabrics as shown. My hubby said he preferred the white fabric on the right. I preferred the one in the middle most :) What I am most surprised is that I actually got the items within 1 week after I ordered it online. So fast! The seller is also very prompt in her email replies.This is the website that I got it from http://www.etsy.com/shop/Matatabi
Now that one of my shipment had arrived, I can finally have the excuse to buy some more fabrics online. Been eyeing some of the fabrics for quite sometime on this website www.fabricworm.com and just now I finally make the order! Hahaha....I din used paypal this time round, as the system dont accept (which I dont know why) so I used my credit card instead. I ordered 7 yards of 5 types of fabrics. I hope to get it soon! Its good to have something to look forward to. In the meantime, I can start my craft project with the Japanese fabrics I got today, thinking of making a pouch....hmmm....
Tomorrow is my 5 years wedding anniversary....hubby is taking leave from work and  we are going to a Japanese restaurant for lunch in Tel Aviv. After that, we are going to check out this place that sells fabric and craft supplies. Hopefully we can find the place and there is someone who can speak English in that shop.

My worries....

Been feeling worried about everything.....
Firstly, Poochi's skin problem is worsening and its been really bugging me. The vets we have all seen had given up hope on him, saying its a mystery and we tried ALL sorts of medications and treatment and still we cant find out what exactly is causing him the skin problem. I had given up hope, I have tried my very BEST and I just feel that Poochi is slowly draining my life out of me. Isnt its so ironical, he is the very thing that stop me from going crazing in this boring place but he is also the one driving me crazy with his skin problems....
Maybe we really need to bring him to the skin specialist (there's actually a skin specialist for dog!) here and its the last resort we can think of even though it is going to cost us a BOMB. 
I will check his skin everyday, sometimes its good and sometimes its worsen. My mood worsen together with his condition. I check his ears for odours, cleaned his face, fed him his fave fruits (apples) everyday. My life basically evolved around taking care and cleaning for him everyday....I felt like a maid to him sometimes, like he is the master and I am the dog. Sighz...I gave him the best food, best toys, best care I can possible afford. But when people see his skin problems, they thought I have neglect my dog. IT MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL!! They have NO idea how much time, effort, money and love I have poured into this dog!! I loved Poochi more than anything else and it pains me to see he has this mystery incurable skin problem for so long. I don't even have a life because of him! I used to rush back home everyday after work to feed him. How I wish I can go out with my friends and chill out over dinner after work instead of having to rush home and feed him. I have lost my social life because of him. But its a sacrifice I am willing to make since I have the responsibility to take care of my dog. But I cant make his skin problems go away, think only God can do that now. Is God even out there? Even though I am in this so called 'Holy Land', I dun feel the presence of God here at all.

Recently become interested in sewing, thinking of passing time here by sewing some fabric crafts here like bags, toys, cushion covers etc. Been ordering some fabrics online from US and Japan to be shipped here. There are a lot of very nice fabrics out there, like this website www.fabricworm.com
Hopefully my fabric shipments will arrived and not get lost in the mail.
I'm depressed, doing time here is hard. I watched this show on Nat Geo channel today about criminals doing time in prison. I dont know why I watched that, I was juz flipping through the channels one by one and it juz caught my attention.Maybe I can relate to how they feel....

My best friend, Poochi

This is my best friend, Poochi the Pug.
 Isnt he cute~~

 

He has a very sweet and timid nature. Loves to eat, hang around people and hates being ignored. He dont bark (v seldom) but makes snorting like sounds like he is trying to talk to you. He is the best! 

I love my poochi v much. He's actually my second pug. My first pug had passed away from old age. Since then, I just love pugs! I just find their squishy wrinkled little face with its big innocent sad eyes so irresistible!

But its hard work taking care of them coz they are such heavy shredder and always have skin problems.

I'm so glad I brought him with me to Israel!

I miss therapy food.....

There was a time where I can just go online and ordered a Macdonalds double cheeseburger meal (BTW, u can never find cheeseburger in this country coz its not kosher) and get it delivered in 30 mins to my doorstep while I lazed at home......such convenience and such instant therapy for me when I am in need for comfort food......

How nostalgia...... *_*

No wonder nowadays, I just cant seem to find anything to eat even if I am hungry. I tried eating chips, or cereals or drank milk etc whenever my hunger cravings start kicking but it just never seems to fill me up. There's juz this inner craving for something to eat during nightime. Food all taste kindda bland to me. I do take normal regular meals (well, juz 2 meals a day coz I always skipped breakfast) and I am not fat or overweight but I juz feel HUNGRY ALL THE TIME....

So basically, living in Israel is a good place for me to lose weight. I have lost about 3-4kg since coming over here. In Singapore, nay...can forget about it. Its SO hard to stay slim! There are SO many food temptations everywhere. It is a food paradise!

So, I tried to sleep a lot....so I wont keep thinking about food and keep finding things to eat. But then there is a limit to how much I can sleep. How I wish I can sleep myself into a coma and wake up 1.5 years later. Think my life is in such a mess now and I am juz letting myself go, living aimlessly everyday, without any goal or purpose. I used to think that my life will be wonderful if I quit my job. Now that I not longer work, i still dun feel happy....strange.....maybe thats life, people can never be happy.

 Life is not a fairy tale where u can live happily ever after. I used to love reading fairy tales when I was a child, now I simply think they are a load of bullshit. I have become quite cynical over the years. Sighz....its sad :( There are so many nasty people  that I thot there are no longer any nice people out there in the world. BUT i know they exist but well hidden and so rare. How can you find such people? Maybe they are juz around you but you never know.

Introduction 101 - Welcome to my life in Israel

Hi,
This is my first time blogging and I am actually inspired to do so after reading some very nice blogs of other people living in different parts of the world. Actually, I am just too bored, lonely and isolated from the world, that if I dont do something with my life now, I will probably go insane. 
So, I will do a quick introduction of myself here. I moved to Israel from Singapore about 6 months ago. Before that, I was in the US for a year. My stay in US was wonderful.....sighz...wish I can go back there again.
Anyway, I will be here in Israel for the next 1.5 years due to my husband's job posting. Sad..... :(
when I first came to this country, I felt like an illiterate person, its almost the same as being mute and deaf for me.
I cant speak the language here, (which is Hebrew) and few people can speak English. Almost everything here is in Hebrew..doing groceries here is a pain coz I dont know what I am buying as I can't read the instructions and i still remember trying to figure out which is the shampoo and the conditioner since both looked identical and there are no English word at all except for the brand LOREAL...... *_*
The list of complaints can go on and on.....like there's nothing to do here on weekends (when my husband is not working) coz EVERYWHERE is closed during Shabbath, high cost of living (everything is SO expensive here!Worse than Singapore and US!),  NO STARBUCKS!, NO Borders Bookstore (basically no English bookstores), and NO Macdonalds (there are actually Macdonalds here but its kosher and it taste horrid so I dont considered them as Macdonalds to me) 
I can go on ranting all day and nite.....its endless....but I will give it a break for now since its my first posting.
So, many people are curious about how I spent my time here....well, I dont have any friends here, I dont go out by myself since its not safe. Everyday is just housework, laundry, cooking, surfing internet etc.I am basically living a life like a prisoner. Luckily, I have my doggie with me so I have not gone insane or kill myself yet. His name is Poochi and he is a pug. He is the cutest little thing around and he always cheer me up without fail when I am sad or depressed. THANK GOD FOR POOCHI!!

There is this very interesting quiz which is surprisingly accurate.
 http://www.blogthings.com/thecutemonstertest/

Your Cute Monster Says Your Inner Demon is Melancholy

You are a well balanced person. You have all aspects of your life happily in order.
Whenever you have a choice in life, you try to choose the middle path.
You can be a bit moody at times.
People think you're cute because you are easy going. Your live and let live attitude is charming.