My Favourite 2008 Christmas TV Ad

Ahhhhhh... Christmas brings out the best of everything and everyone!

Even myself! Feels like I'm a completely different person after this ad shows on TV. It usually happens at the gym and I become too chatty and all smiles afterwards, and if you know me good enough you know I'm usually not!

By the way, it's all about the song. I ignore that gimmicky baby...
And you should look for their 2007 one as well!

Back to civilization?

My holiday in Israel is over. That's the first time I was actually a visitor in my homeland. It definitely is a good feeling.

At the moment I'm at the airport, reminding you I'm still alive (even though I met most of you while visiting in Israel).

But I'm not going back to civilization. I wouldn't call Ireland a civilized country. No, it's a 3rd world country.

So, this post is to ask you to stay tuned for some updates and my newest adventures in the holy land.

Live from Terminal 1, Las Vegas Intl. Airport

Unfortunately, my holiday is over.

Ellen dropped me at the airport, and I have 30 mins till my flight to San Francisco. Then I'll have few more hours before the flight to Ireland. That's ghetto!

I slept less than 4 hours, as yesterday we went to see the Phantom of the Opera in the Venetian. It was amazing! Then we went gambling. we lost $20. Responsible gambling, he he he...

Long story short, I had wonderful time, Both in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Both amazing cities, yet very different.
The first is somewhat surrounded by the ocean and the latter is surrounded by desert mountains and I cannot even find the words (in English) that can describe the respect (or Yer-a, in Hebrew) it makes me feel. That's such a simple word to explain such an amazing thing, But I really cannot come up with the words. Maybe I'll ask Ellen soon, or she can comment and explain. She's good with words, as we all know.

Anyway, It's almost boarding time, so I'll publish this rough draft of a post, apologies for any spelling mistakes that you might encounter :-)


By the way, this is the Red Rock Canyon, outside of Las Vegas. Amazing, isn't it?

Holiday, at Last! Going to Hong Kong!

Leaving to Hong Kong this afternoon! This will be my first time in south east Asia. Going to be there till Monday, December 10th. So this is my Out of the Blog message. There will not be new posts till then, if you were wondering.

I'll try to write down some posts and/or tips on my Super-Cool Google notebook!
There will be some pics as well!

But now I'll go to sleep, too tired. Still have to pack tomorrow...

Answers to Some FAQ

Hi all,
Sorry it took me too long to answer. I'm just too busy, and somehow it doesn't surprise me.
Ireland is very nice, yet a bit retarded in certain ways, but you cannot have it all. So at least work is fine. There's a lot to do, but I enjoy it and it's very interesting. I love the people I work with, the food at work (which is a huge problem, but at least we have a free gym, and I'm there almost every other day), and the feeling that we are really being taken care of.

The most important thing is earning Euros and living in Ireland. It really makes everything else and other places to seem so cheap. And helps admitting that Israel is not such a bad expensive place to live. especially not Tel Aviv. And I'm serious. Try to pay no less than 1200 Euros for 1 bedroom apartment (and at least 1500 for 2 bedrooms). And the obvious thing is of course being closer to the rest of Europe and the lack of El Al presence nearby. It may be the main reason why the flights are cheap.

It also feels like people here are planning their next vacation all the time. So am I. That's what happens when people have so many free days a year (excluding National Holidays!). It also seems like I have been abroad (of Ireland) every month since I moved here. Yes, we already have plans for the next vacation which will be on 1-10 of December. We will be in Hong Kong. We already booked flights (even cheaper than what it would have cost in Israel) and hotels.

So... Those are the only updates I can come out with for now. Feel free to comment (or send an email) , and I think I'll use my blog for future updates for my dearest friends. Don't feel bad if it takes a while till you hear something back from me...
By the way, I can read and write Hebrew on my laptops, so don't write in English I you don't feel like (Unless you comment. Lets be fair towards my non-Israeli fans).

And to my dear friends that miss me, I really miss you and all the fun we had. And since you miss me in the office as well, maybe you better send me you CV??? Take a day or 2 to think about it.

And... Don't forget to check out the pics from Oslo, on my blog!

Air Bus

One of the great advantages of living in a European country is of course the possibility of cheap traveling. The low-cost airlines, to be precise. One of the biggest dreams of the average Israeli.
So guess what, after being in London last month I'm going to be in Oslo the coming weekend. We are going to be 13 friends from work, and probably we'll spend most of the weekend trying to work it out so that everybody will be content. But who cares? In that case its the company that counts.

Besides, I'm sure I'll be in Norway again one day, hopefully on February, to see Northern Lights. That has been one of my dreams ever since I was a child. One of my favourite book I liked to read over and over was a children's science book, and when I was reading about the northern light for the first time, and looking at the attached pictures, I decided that one of my goals in life is to witness this amazing phenomena.

But that's not what I want to talk about. Lets go back to the subject, this weekend in Oslo.

The flights are cheap indeed, cheaper than flying from Tel Aviv to Eilat.
But there is a catch. Probably there always is... It's possible to find and book a flight for 0.01 Euros (yes, 1 Euro cent), depends on when you travel and how much time in advance.

The reason we go to Oslo is the cheap flight (and lets ignore the fact that Norway is a very expensive country, even more expensive than Ireland). But in our case, we discovered we have to take a bus from the airport to Oslo, around 2 hours journey, and will cost us 35 Euros each, one way. so that's the money we were trying to save by booking cheap flights. Damn!

Oh, yes, 3 more things. Fees, to be precise:
Luggage fee- 6-10 Euros for each bag you check in, depends on the airline and whether you pay in advance or at the airport. Luckily, passengers can (still) take carry on luggage for no extra fees. 1 for each passenger, and depends on the size of the bag.
Check in fee- only the online check in is free. otherwise pay extra 7 euros.
Credit card fee- 6 Euros for each passenger. One can avoid that fee incase s/he pays with Visa electron. Otherwise, no one can get away with this.

So eventually the amount of money we spend in order to arrive to our destination is reasonable enough, definitely not cheap.

So the lesson for today is that there's no such thing as free meals (except from Google). Unless, of course, you get your flights to London Gatwick for as little as 10.02 Euros (0.02 Euros for the flights and 10 more for the Credit Card fee) or Edinburgh for 20 Euros.

My First Time

Or: First Month Summary

1. Got my first ever Free Massage for the first time in my life
2. Played Foosball for the first time in my life
3. Played Nintendo Wii for the first time in my life
4. Worked extra hours on my third week in a new job for the first time in my life
5. And must think how I want to spend my 11 Vacation days by the end of the year! And some other 25 days by the end of next one, not including public holidays - another 9 days per year. I wish this was my only problem. But when I come to think of it, I don't have that many problems these days for the first time in my life
6. Having an umbrella in my bag on a regular basis for the first time in my life
7. Walked in the rain wearing shorts for the first time in my life
8. Not working on Sundays for the first time in my life
9. Go to the Gym (for the first time in 6 years)
10. And don't have to pay for it for the first time in my life
11. Went to a Jews' singles party (organized by Rabbi Zalman), and enjoyed every minute (not everybody were Jews neither single) for the first time in my life
12. Drank alcohol every weekend for the first time in my life
13. Being broke for the first time in my life. Had more money when I was 16 (Don't want to spend the money I have in Israel)
14. But I'm also doing good by thinking how shall I spend the little money I do have.
15. Don't spend money on food during weekdays for the first time in my life
16. I'll have a very impressive this month for the first time in my life. This month only, though...
17. And of course living abroad, (18.) working abroad, (19.) to be precise- working at Google, (20.) partying and having fun and (21.) trying to count how many people in Israel are thinking of me and wanting to strangle me out of jealousy. Or just strangle me without any reasonable reason (I can think of one person right now! haha ha ha hahaha ha... I wish she could read that!) all of the above- for the first time in my life

There are many other first times I just can't remember. So many new good things and adventures. Besides, I must leave something for my next post.

I also have to go to a party soon, so no time as well.

The Sociology of the Israeli Dubliners

Just like every other place on the Globe, Dublin has its Israelis. And we all know that Israelis that live in the same place know each other.

So here's the story about how Dan got himself familiarised with the Israeli Dubliners:
Before Dan moved to Ireland, He knew a guy that his wife started working for Dublin Amdocs offices. The wife have been to Dublin for a month already when Dan first met him. He was supposed to move there soon.
As you all know, It's been 4 months since Dan relocated to Dublin, and he's in touch with that couple since.

On Easter Monday, the day after we were back from our Easter holiday (Ellen, here's what you, and probably many other fans, are waiting for: The debt from my previous post), they invited us to join them to Dublin's Botanic Gardens. We decided to join, although we had the cunning plan of staying home and getting lazy.
We got our first impression when we were walking into the Cafeteria. It felt like walking into a Geriatric Institute, thanks to all of the old people (some on wheelchairs) accompanied by their sons, daughters and grandchildren.
But we really enjoyed the gardens. By us, I mean Us the girls. The guys were just enjoying talking business, the stock market, politics and Irish girls of course. To be precise, the conversation over the Irish girls was about the outrageous training suits they just love to wear. In fact, all 4 of us took part in that conversation over that high-importance issue. Every suit is in one color only, but it comes in many different colors, in a variety of fabrics, and they really like the velvet-like fabric!!! Most of the time it shows their bellies, and sometimes it's a huge belly and in some other times it's just a big belly. And that, i must say, is the real Irish culture shock. I apologize for not taking a picture of a girl in her brown or orange velvet-suit, to demonstrate you.
After the gardens, we went to a retail center, and then we went to eat in an Indian restaurant. Since the amazing Diwali was closed for the afternoon, we had to settle for not such a good restaurant, in the Temple Bar area (and that says it all...)
After eating and talking some more about the Israeli and Irish economy, work, stock-market, and this time we all took part, we went home. That day outside lasted 8 hours!

The following week they invited us and another Israeli couple for dinner at their place. That evening we were revealed to some important facts about the Israeli Dubliners.
There are 2 major groups: The Amdocses and the Intels.
The Amdocses are very connected and stay in touch, even organizing events, such as the Israeli independence day they celebrated with BBQ in the park.
The Intels, however, are mostly married to Irish, so they stay among themselves, and don't like to join those get-togethers, or stay in touch with those who doesn't belong to their group.
The rest are somewhat like Dan, who is an only Israeli in their company. That was the situation with the other couple that was invited that evening. Those Israelis are usually familiarize with the others through someone they know (or knew) from Amdocs.

Now I just want to apologize for not writing, again, for such a long time... I feel like I have so many things on my mind when I'm not in a relaxing vacation, and I'm not even in the mood to write and practice my writing.
I promise, again, to try and get over it!
We'll see how it works.

The Southern Feast or How I Spent my Easter Holiday

As I promised, I'll tell you a little bit about our Easter holiday and our trip to the south of Ireland.

We left Dublin at around 12:00, heading south, towards Cork county. As we approached the big city (Cork), the direction road signs became lousier. So we were taking some wrong turns or just not taking the right ones. I must admit- that was no surprise. We were driving and we stopped at the more interesting places on the way. The road lead us to many villages and towns, since the national roads in Ireland goes through the center of each and every one on the way.

When it come to cities, luckily there are the Irish Roundabouts. Ahhh, the magnificent Irish Roundabouts! Now, let me tell you a bit about it: they are quite wide, with 2 or 3 lanes, sometimes there are traffic lights at the enterance and sometimes even along the roundabout.

One of the places we had a stop was a village near Cork, a very touristic one, called Blarney. Why is it so touristic? because it has a castle. One taxi driver told us we should kiss a certain stone at the castle, but he forgot why... Back to Blarney and its castle. So what do they do? Charge 9 euros per adult only to enter the castle and it's gardens. Does that worth it? Don't know. We didn't even hesitate and decided not to pay. 9 is far too much for just another castle that looks exactly the same as other Irish ones.

There was a shopping center pretty close to the castle's entrance. Since it was made especially for the tourists, they sell Irish gifts only. Besides all that, there are many pubs.

Then we continued towards the coast, and this time we passed through another touristic village called Kinsale. It is s supposed to be the culinary capital of something (of Ireland or the county). But we weren't hungry, so we didn't eat there. Which will turn out to be quite a fatal mistake. We continued driving along the coast, tying to find a nice B&B to spend the night. It was around 18:00, and we found a great B&B in a place called Kilbrittain. Don't get too excited, the initial Kil comes from the word 'Cill' in Gaelic, and means Church. Our room's window was facing the Celtic Sea, that will soon merge with the Atlantic Ocean. how Amazing was that! An hour or so later we started to feel hungry, so we got into the car and drove to the near village, and then to another one, only to discover all the restaurants are closed. Even the hotel's restaurant was closed. Then it hit us! It was Good Friday! Easter! We already knew the poor Irish are not allowed to consume any alcohol that day, but no eating, as well??? Eventually we came across a convenience store, so we ended up eating sandwiches ans dairy. Certainly not the kind of dinner we had on our mind that day. But we are lucky we were able to buy something to eat. By the way, remember the alcohol restrictions that day? We noticed the alcohol shelves at the supermarket were covered by a plastic covers...Sounds familiar?

It's getting too long, so in brief- the next day we were doing the Ring of Kerry, where I took the amazing landscape pics I attached to my previous post. Been to a Natioal Park near Kilarney, a very nice town. Then we drove in a very narrow national road, and again, you can find a related pic in my previous post. Then been to a Village called Kenmare, and this time we ate there, not waiting for the evening hours, affraid we'll stay hungry...

At the late afternoon hours we were in a town called Waterville, because at the east side of it there's a loch, and at the west side there's the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful town, but we decided to driver further mre for a hour or so, and then find a place to sleep. And then we were in Cahersiveen, a disgusting town, with dirty, old and ugly B&Bs, not to mentin the horrible hosts. I'm tellng you so you can learn fom our mistakes. After that we drove for another 30-40km, to the next town, Killorglin. a very nice town, definately unlike the previous one. There we found a very nice B&B- Grove Lodge, with the nicest hosts ever- Delia and Fergus Foley. We enjoyed our staying there. We also ate at a good Indian and Pakistani Restaurant, and we had a long talk with the nicest waiter ever- Manny (NOT to be pronounced like Money!).

The day after we were heading back home, had a stop in Kilkenny, the town where you can smell the beer in the streets. Probably becaue of the tens of pubs over there (and only 2 or 3 restaurants). Oh, and there's a castle as well.

By 20:30 we were home, so tired and exhausted, thinking we have 36 hours until tuesday morning, which means 36 hours to relax, sleep, watch TV and eat, without even leaving the house.

But we were sooooo wronge......

The One and Only Ireland

The Last few days Dan and I were exploring Ireland, the country where in addition to the Careful, Children Crossing road sign, you can see Cattle Crossing, Causion Cross Wind and Leprechaun Crossing road signs.

The country that in addition to the gazelle and cow road signs, you can find a road sign that from a distance looks like the Puma logo (but actually notifies the driver of a merging road)...
The only country where you can smell the beer in the outside fresh air and find empty beer-cans thrown at the national road in the middle of nowhere, and still find a sign such as this:

The country where you can find an advertisment sign for Castle for Rent, a place called Kilbritain, and a chain of islands called after the cattle family (The Bull, The Cow and The Calf)...

The country where you can find a roadkill every 1000 meters and sometimes even every 100 meters. Mostly foxes and crows, yes I actually did mean crows, but also other kinds of birds and badgers (and no, I didn't even think about taking a picture of it...).

The only country where you can find yourself on a national road such as this,

and find that the maximum speed allowed is 100 km per hour.

But also the only country where you can find that kind of breath-taking landscapes.

More about our Easter holiday, in my next post.