A trip to the Rosh Hanikra and Akko

Yesterday, I went to Rosh Hanikra and Akko, which are situated in the north of Israel.

The parking area of Rosh Hanikra. Before we reached here, we actually hollanded in someone's kibbutz..?! It was very funny, anyway it took 2 hrs of driving before reaching this destination.

Its right next to the mediterranean sea and the view is very nice. The water is surprisingly clear and blue green.

 First stop, to the cable car station

 Where we are supposed to take the cable down to the grottos and to watch a show

 The cable car trip was actually quite short, about 1 min??

The guys busy snapping away with their camera once we got out of the cable car. It was a very sunny and humid day, I actually got a bit of tan....finally... after being cooped in the house for so long, I felt that I had turned into a pale luminous colour without using any SKII, amazing rite.

 Entrance to the gottos. Grottos are formed from a natural on going geological process over thousands of years. It began when a series of underground shocks ripped gaps into the bedrock. Rainwater then penetrated the within the gaps, dissolving them and forming within tunnels and seacaves (grottos).

 Entering the caves, the floor are slippery and very rough and sharp. 

 Very beautiful clear water.

Hubby posing for the camera. 

 Outside view of the bedrock

 The mediterranean sea.....

More views of white rocks.

Rosh Hanikra is actually so near to the Lebanon border. Beyond the blue gates lies the country of Lebanon. We felt very cautious taking pics when approaching....then when the guards saw us, he said "why stand so far, come nearer..." so we went closer and there on the gate was the sign "Photography Prohibited!" but we still continued to take pics....haha....

Our next destination is the Arab town of Akko. It is also situated near to the sea. Got abit lost when we reached there due to the lack of English signs around. Luckily, there are four of us so its not so bad. 

Had late lunch at this Arab restaurant called four loaves and fish. 

 OMG, they actually have English menu. Great~!

 I like this pita bread, taste like middle east version of garlic bread.

 Even the hummus-hating Weizhong enjoyed eating this hummus.

 The seafood combination plate consist of fried calamari and prawns. Taste quite good actually.

 Each of us ordered a fried/grilled seabass. The portion is just nice for me and taste good. But I dont really like the big pile of raw parsely next to it.

 After a full lunch, we decided to walk around a bit. The weather is great coz its breezy and the sun is not so hot. Saw a few bridal couples taking their wedding shots near the beach.

I guess it must be low tide, coz I saw quite a lot of people standing on the rocks and fishing.

The crumbling old stone wall was supposed to be a fortress wall in the old days. There are just too many old crumbling stones walls or houses in this country. Sadly, I really cant seem to appreciate the beauty of such historical relics coz to me, it just a crumbling pile of rocks.

 Some snapshots around Akko. Most of the attractions and tours were closed at 4pm so we din get a chance to visit the Templer Tunnel, the Arab market and some of the museums.

A church in a Arab town?

Was so tired by the time I reached home about 7pm that I will sleep the moment my head touch the pillow. But had to force myself to stay awake to watch my TrueBlood coz I had already missed it yesterday so I cant missed the rerun. Literally had to pinch my eyelids open to stay awake. But amazingly, after I finished watching my show, I CAN'T SLEEP! The drowsy spell had passed and I was wide awake. Think there is seriously something wrong with my head....sighz....

Happy birthday~!

Just celebrated JW's birthday together with Hubby, Weizhong and Poochi. He turned 30 this year but don't look like his age at all. I'm glad the cheesecake taste quite fine. Yeah~ this means I have succeeded :) The guys enjoyed the cheesecake very much. After that, the guys went for their bowling together with Hubby but I din go as I feel tired. Brought Poochi to the vet today and there is good news. Turned out it might not be Lupus afterall. There is a problem with this type of breed and right now we are trying out this new medications so that it will reduce his dependency on steroids. I am keeping my fingers crossed on it. Its still incurable but there is better hope for him.

Random grumbling...

Can't sleep at all....ate 2 tablets of chlorophiramine. Think my blocked nose is keeping me awake, hard to fall asleep when u can't breathe properly. As usual, when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I will go inside Poochi's room and played with him (wake him up, haha) he looked so cute when he is sleeping. I love to squeesh and hug him coz it's SO therapeutic! He feel so warm and soft and so cuddly. He is like the best plush toy i ever had. But he is so greedy, always expecting me to give him food, like he haven't eaten for many days. Maybe it's the side effects of steroids as it can caused increased in thirst and appetite, which explains why many such dogs are overweight and urinate a lot. It's sad for me to know he had this incurable problem. It's like telling me your child had cancer and won't have long to live. It really sucks!
Thank goodness I don't have to cook tomorrow coz I had done a lot of cooking, cleaning and even baking today. Will be bringing Poochi to the vet tomorrow but the appt time is 845pm! So late.....dun think I got time to bath him after that.
The blocked nose is driving me crazy...
I am so sick and tired of people thinking I am having such a good life, dun need to work. If you envy me, then quit your damned job lah.

My first Cheescake

I actually managed to bake a cheesecake!

Its a chocolate marbled cheesecake. The bottom crust is made from digestive biscuit, crushed and pressed onto the bottom of the pan. I used four packs of Philidelphia cheese, four egges and about 1 cup sugar. The most fun part is the chocolate swirling part to create the marbled effect. Think mine looked messy... *_*
According to the instructions, the cheesecake is placed inside a water bath and then the whole thing is placed inside the oven to be baked at 350 degree for 1 hr. Well, turned out to look quite like the real thing but not sure how it will taste yet. Had to refrigerate it overnight in the fridge first before eating. If it turned out to be successful, then we can finally have some decent cheesecake to eat here! The cheesecakes that is sold here is different from the types I like to eat ( I like those New York cheesecake, very cheesy and creamy type). Its more like the fiesta Japanese sponge cheesecake or taste like ice cream cake, more milky and airy type and not the kind I always eat. I don't know why, maybe becoz its not kosher???

 My Mcdonalds chilli sauce has been restocked at last, thanks to Edna who came over for a 4 days meeting. Heard she is coming for a 1 month stay sometimes this year for work, think WH will be v happy.....haha...

House pouch projects and ebay haul

Came up with the idea to sew a house shaped pouch after seeing it in a Jap magazine and this is what I came up with:

A pink roof house pouch with felt windows and door and a cotton pom doorknob

 Back view of the pouch

Interior lining using pink fabric with sewing stuffs prints from Timeless Treasures.

A lavender roof house pouch.

Back view of pouch decorated with light purple ribbon.

Interior lining using star shaped fabric.

Been buying stuffs from ebay recently and got myself some skincare and cosmetic products which are not available here. Most of these sellers are from Hong Kong or Taiwan and the prices are quite reasonable compared to SG.

 10 assorted packets of My Beauty Diary face mask. The red wine mask is really good.

 One set of My Beauty Diary sweet teatime, a Dior facial cleanser and 2 small samples of Dior Capture Totale One Essential serum. The Dior cleanser has a very nice fragrance and the serum is light and absorb quite well into my skin to give a very smooth and soft feeling. Unlike some face serum which is so thick that it just sits on the skin and ends up giving me a pimple outbreak, like the PeterThomasRuth mega rich intensive anti ageing creme, which I end up just using it on my elbows and knees.

Contents of the Beauty Diary set are, 1 pkt of chocolate truffle face mask, 1 pkt of earl grey tea & macaroon face mask, 1 container of strawberry face wash and 1 bottle of vanilla souffle face scrub. I haven't tried the chocolate truffle mask yet, however for the earl grey tea & macaroon mask, I don't smell any earl grey tea or macaroon smell when I used it (Seriously, does earl grey tea & macaroon even have a smell??) Unlike the red wine mask which smell strongly of red wine, feels like I am pouring red wine on my face. Anyway, thinks its just a cute gimick thingy as many gals like earl grey tea or macaroon. The strawberry face wash smell like those sweet pink bubble gum instead of strawberry, don't really like the smell. The vanilla souffle scrub is quite nice, comes out as a foam which turned into those little bits of scrubs as I rubbed on my face. Quite fun to use but I still prefer Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating wash which is a better scrub for me.

From the left, Shiseido Aqualable White clear foam (this is by far the BEST facial cleanser I ever used!), Shiseido Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus (did a good job lengthening the lashes and doesnt irritate my eyes like most other mascara), Kanebo Freshel White C Mineral BB cream SPF 41 PA ++ (my first BB cream, gives v good coverage and blends well with my skin tone.), OPI Katy Perry black shatter nail polish and Kose Seikisho White mask ( this black peel-off mask really whitens and clears the pores but quite painful and caused me to lose some of my eyebrows once.... *ouch*)

Its now less than a month to go for my US trip...counting down the days to go....

Lastly, to end it off, another cute pic of Poochi in the car.

Poochi strapped to the doggy car seat on the way to the Vet. He LOVES to ride in the car.

Poochi is my Boo Boo Bear.

.

Made Poochi a purple Boo Boo bear bow tie. Boo Boo bear is the little buddy of Yogi bear (in case no one knows) and he is always wearing this purple bow tie on his neck. Somehow Poochi reminds me of Boo Boo bear. Maybe becoz he is small, brown and cute....

 Poochi deep in thoughts.....

Sadly for Poochi, he had gotten this rare condition called lupus, which is an immune mediated disorder in which the immune system produces antibodies against its own tissue (in his case, his immune system rejects the skin near his groin area). This explains why antibiotics treatment against the pus on the skin is not effective and keeps coming back. He is currently on combination of steroids and antibiotics and so far, his skin condition is looking good. Now I know that steroids is used to suppress his immune system but its not good for long term use as it had side effects so it must be used sparingly. Lupus is incurable and requires lifetime medication. *sighz....* But at least I am glad to finally find out what is wrong coz this problem is very difficult to diagnose and normal vets are not able to find out this problem. I am glad I brought Poochi to Israel coz there is a dog skin specialist here to help him, unlike in SG where the vets just diagnose him as having sensitive skin....(what the Heck! @##$!)

Street protests in the neighbourhood

There had been another case of mass street protest in Tel Aviv again (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1150964/1/.html and although I am not there to witness such chaotic situation, there was a similar street protest near my house. No wonder it was SO noisy last night at around 11pm- 2am. Heard a lot of of noise coming from the park near my house. Sounded like some mass rally event (like a New Year Eve Countdown party), very happening but I din go out to take a look coz it's v late already and not v safe. Also, its best not to get involved in whats happening here. Situations here in Israel is not looking very good at the moment as relationships with Turkey now is very sour and the continuing disputes in the Gaza and also with Egypt. Now just hoping current situation will remain stable at least until for the next 14 months....
OMG.....14 more months to go.........   *_*