Work and play in Israel - February 22-28, 2013

A few days after returning from Vegas, I left on a business trip to Israel with a group of co-workers.  This wasn't my first trip to the country; I had gone there for training 5 years ago.

As there were United and Delta frequent flyer members amongst the team, we ended up on different itineraries, arriving within a few hours of each other.  I was in the United contingent, but was unable to secure the same itinerary as my co-workers Marc and Ivan without costing the company an exorbitant amount of money.  They ended up waiting an hour for my flight to land at the Ben Gurion Tel Aviv airport due to delays, but at least they were able to use that time to claim baggage and pick up the rental car.  I traveled with only a carry-on to bypass baggage claim.

I lost United elite status this year, so my seats were in "regular economy" ("E-" according to Flyertalk) on the domestic legs, though I was able to secure non-middle seats for the entire trip.  The transatlantic portions were on Lufthansa, a Star Alliance partner.  Coach meals aren't usually great, but after reading Flyertalk about the food offerings on Lufthansa, I figured requesting a gluten-free special meal (GFML) would help, and it did.  I got entrees like fish and fresh fruit, which was nice and light, though I was not a fan of the stale chewy rice cakes.  Lufthansa even served free-flowing alcohol (United doesn't), but I didn't partake.  Each seat had its own personal in-flight entertainment system.  I watched movies and listened to different CD's.

my own entertainment system

nice to have that cup holder in the tray table

salmon, veggies and fruit

egg, veggies and fruit

My flight went through Frankfurt, notorious for missed connections due to the long distances between terminals in the airport.  I didn't have much time to connect, so I hustled; however, when I got to the gate, there was an enhanced security check for the flight to Tel Aviv, delaying everyone in the process.  I don't remember going through this last time.  My carry-on was searched and I was frisked by a female officer.  The baggage search officer pulled out my eyebrow tweezers and was inspecting it quizzically.  I was afraid he'd confiscate it but thankfully the female screener saw it, spoke to him in Hebrew (maybe something like "That's an eyebrow tweezer!"), and he put it back.  They don't like anything sharp carried on; while leaving Tel Aviv the last time, my eyebrow scissors were confiscated, even though its length was shorter than the allowable limit in the US.

I got another plate of egg, veggies and fruit on my morning flight to Tel Aviv.

The procedure to enter the country seemed to have gotten less strict now compared to 5 years ago.  Before, I carried a welcome letter from the manager at the Israel site to be shown when requested.  This time, I didn't carry such letter and it wasn't asked of me; the immigration officer just asked where I was going, for how long and that was it.  A little piece of paper with a QR code was inserted inside my passport, and I found out shortly that it was scanned in order to open an automated gate into baggage claim, which wasn't there last time.

When I got into the arrivals area, I didn't see Marc or Ivan and had no idea where to find them.  Fortunately, the airport had complimentary wi-fi, so I was able to send an iMessage text since we all carried iPhones.  I met the two at the rental car counter; we found our car and drove an hour to our hotel, the Dan Carmel in Haifa.

king bed

welcome bottle of water and chocolates

mini library

electric kettle with coffee/tea packets

small safe in the drawer

a window into the bathroom with mini-blinds...

a glass door into the toilet...

Dead Sea toiletries

We met up with the rest of our team and went to dinner nearby at Tokai, an Asian restaurant, recommended by a couple of vegetarian co-workers (who weren't on this trip).  It was expensive, but not very good.  We returned to the hotel and went to the business lounge for some drinks as our rooms included access.  Every evening, there would be hot soup available as well as assorted hors d'oeurves, cut fruit, raw veggies, and mini desserts in addition to hot and cold beverages (including alcohol).

That night (and for the next couple of nights), I kept waking up every hour from 1am to 5am due to jet lag.  With so many meetings on Sunday (start of the work week in Israel), it would be a fight to stay awake through the afternoon.

view out the window in the morning

I didn't take any pictures while I was in "work mode" of course, so I'll make do with words for now.

A breakfast buffet was also included in our room rate, served in the Gan Dan restaurant.  All the elements of an Israeli breakfast was provided.  Fresh squeezed orange juice was available as well as espressos and cappuccinos at the manned beverage bar.  You could pour your own juice as well as order coffee or tea from the roaming servers.  I enjoyed different varieties of yogurt cups (though I had one that tasted terrible, but no English on it to identify what it was) as well as the pickled fish offerings.  The pastries and bread were also very good, especially the chocolate croissants.

It took about 20 minutes to drive to work.  One of the gates to the parking garage was controlled by a sensor in the company badge, but unfortunately ours weren't activated yet and we were stuck in line and couldn't move to the manned gate.  We ended up tailgating the car in front of us to get through, but we hurriedly got chased down by security, asking us for identification and admonishing us.  Making our way down into the underground garage, it was interesting to see that the levels were labeled as "negative", such as level -2, -3, and so forth.  It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?  We then got our badges updated by lobby security to let us into the building and garage in the future.

Most of the buildings on site were connected via skybridge so you could walk from one to another without going outside.  It seemed like there was a self-serve coffee/tea station every 20 feet and there would always be people gathered there, sipping hot beverages and having conversations.  Many employees ate at the cafeteria, subsidized by the company.  There were a number of cafeterias spread across the campus.  Some days we'd eat at the main one, which served a different entree each day along with side dishes such as Israeli salad (fresh chopped tomato and cucumber), hummus, pita bread, and hot vegetable soup.  Other days we'd go to another cafeteria that offered four different types of cuisine:  sushi, salads, shawarma, and grill.  The hamburgers looked weird so I usually selected shawarma as I like to try local food.  An Israeli co-worker asked why I didn't try the sushi...judging from his plate of basic sushi rolls filled with mostly rice, I think I made the right choice!  The meals were so big, I was pretty stuffed by the end of lunch, which didn't help when jet lag hit in the afternoon during training...in a dark room...staring at a projection screen...you get the picture...

In the evenings, we'd go back to the hotel and grab a drink and snacks from the business lounge before heading out to dinner.  You could probably make a meal out of the lounge offerings since there was always a hot soup or stew.

For dinner one night, we intended to eat at Shawatina, an Arab restaurant, but it was so busy, we ended up going downstairs to Kalamaris, which had similar cuisine, but based on reviews, Shawatina would have been better.  I really enjoy eating the Arab salad spread, where they bring lots of dishes of different salads (like banchan in Korean restaurants) as well as olives, hummus and pita bread, but everyone thought it'd be a waste of food (since they keep bringing you more when the plate is empty), so we only ordered entrees and a few side dishes.  I did a little research after the trip and it turns out that the salads are intended to be never-ending, as this is a sign of hospitality and you're not expected to finish it all.

Tuesday night, there was a dinner hosted by our Haifa co-workers in a town called Atlit, 20 minutes south of the city.  The restaurant, Ben Ezra, looked easy to get to after plotting the route online, but we got lost as it was very dark, plus we were meandering through residential communities where the streets weren't well labeled.  (use Google Maps to locate HaHarduf 87 in Atlit, Israel and see what comes up)  We looked for people to ask directions but the area was deserted.  Eventually we find a convenience store and Marc jumped inside to ask.  (wow, a man asking for directions!)  He came out with a gentleman in tow, Mr. Ben Ezra himself!  He was going to the restaurant anyway, so we followed his car...what luck!  It wasn't too far away but we would have still been lost for a while had we not bumped into the "Fisherman".  He led us to the entrance of the restaurant, and pointed to photos of a man on the wall and proclaiming, "That's me!"  There was no mistaking it being him when he was younger.  He held my hands in his hands and welcomed me in, how hospitable!  The fish dishes and salads were tasty.  I had a good time getting to know our Haifa co-workers, listening to their traveling stories and learning about their hobbies, which include music and art.

Another dinner we did was shawarma at David's down the street from the hotel.  It was really tasty and cheap and the owners were very friendly.  I ordered shawarma on laffa bread and it was so huge, I had leftovers which I stored in my room fridge, but I forgot to eat it.

As some of our co-workers had meetings on February 28, and Marc and I didn't, our free time started the night of February 27.  The others had a dinner engagement, so we were left to our own devices and headed to Giraffe, a top rated Asian-fusion restaurant in Haifa on TripAdvisor.  After we ordered, the server warned us that both our dishes would be green in color; apparently some customers were put off by it.  I couldn't fathom why it was a big deal until we received our food.  Despite the color, the meal was tasty.  Dessert wasn't very Asian.

I think this was green curry

green noodles

turkish delight

The next day, Marc and I headed to Caesarea National Park, a magnificent ruins.  I had been here before on my previous trip, 30 minutes before closing, so I only saw a bit of it.  This time, I got to roam throughout the entire complex, including the Roman theater.

protective walls

expansive grounds

mosaic floors

in the chariot racing area

seawater bathing pool

Roman theater

fancy arches

pieces of ornate marble columns

bath house

how do you lift this???

P-U!	hit the gelato shop

After taking a gelato break, we headed to Tel Aviv.  We parked at a lot across from the promenade and took a long walk.  We were searching for internet access but most of the hotels we passed were guarded by security, letting in only guests.  Eventually we found a McDonalds (many have free wi-fi).

the Mediterranean sea

interesting architecture

We walked over to the old city of Jaffa and roamed the streets in search of a souvenir for Marc's wife and son, then had dinner at Itzik Hagadol, serving yummy Israeli cuisine.  I had been to Itzik the previous time I was in Tel Aviv.  (While searching for a link to Itzik on Google, it turns out they have a location in Encino, California!)  The waiter tried to sell us the "unlimited salad" option, but as we were going to get on a plane in a few hours, it was wise not to eat so much, so we just ordered a few sides.  We ended up with dishes of olives, pickles, tomato "salsa", and a huge crispy oversized flatbread with our meal anyway.  There was a gentleman eating alone near us and his table had at least 10 small plates of salads.  When he paid the bill and left, there was so much food on the table remaining, which supports my earlier research about not being expected to clear the plates.  (I do wonder where the leftovers go)  When we got our bill, we ended up getting charged for the unlimited salads, but since we were running late to the airport, we just paid cash and left. :(

Jaffa by the sea

lots of stands selling reasonably priced souvenirs

exotic choices

internal organs, yum!

side dishes

all sorts of grilled meats

There was security monitoring all the cars coming into the airport.  Last time I was here, my friend Satish was driving and security stopped us and made him show his passport, but not me.  This time, we were just waved through without checking anything...racial profiling?

inside Ben Gurion airport, where Marc and I caught up with Ivan

Marc, Ivan and I were on the same itinerary coming back, starting with a long 12.5 hour red-eye from Tel Aviv to Newark, NJ.  I hardly got any sleep on the plane.  The gluten-free meals were still acceptable (except for those stale rice cakes); I think I'll order it whenever I can from now on.

chicken and veggies

eggs and spinach

The inter-terminal air-side shuttle bus service in Newark took forever to get us from Terminal C to Terminal A (with no stop for Terminal B).  It was slow-going on the tarmac, through tunnels, then we sat on the road for several minutes waiting for other buses to leave the Terminal A bus stop.  According to the website, there is also a land-side AirTrain monorail that goes between the terminals, but you'd have to go through security again.  I would recommend at least a 2.5 hour layover after an international flight into Newark since we barely made it in time for boarding with 1 hour 40 minutes and sitting in the rear of the plane plus going through customs.

ugh, this guy stood up and pressed his salami-smelling butt into my lap while disembarking in Newark!

the slow-going bus in Newark

After our cross-country leg to San Francisco, we found out our puddle-jumper flight home was delayed by many hours, so we went to the United Club (courtesy of my free United Club membership again) to kill time.  Then we made a group decision to ditch the flight and drive a rental car back.  The helpful United Club agents were able to cancel our leg and give us a partial credit for a future flight (the value is unknown as I haven't booked another business trip).  The flight ended up being delayed almost 5 hours so we made the right choice.  This wasn't the first time puddle-jumper delays have almost waylaid my trips, so I may consider renting a car and departing from SFO from now on.

Plenty more driving than flying in my next blog entry...stay tuned!

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