Singaporean mom living in Israel: Adloyada Holon Purim Parades 2016

A few days ago, Twentysixoctober went to one of the biggest Purim celebrations in Israel at the south of Tel Aviv, in Holon city!

I believe many people from Singapore have not heard about Purim as there are not many Jews in Singapore.

Purim is a special day celebrated yearly on the 14th on the Hebrew month of Adar by Jewish. It is to commemorate the saving of the Jewish population from the Haman's evil plot to annihilate all Jews during Ancient Persia. 

In Israel, Purim is a public holiday and so we decided to take a 2 hrs drive from Haifa to Tel Aviv to soak ourselves in this joyous occasion at one of the biggest parades in Israel, Adloyada.

We were lucky that it was a sunny day and the weather was awesome. While driving there, we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

On this jolly holiday, children are dressed up in costumes to celebrate (there were also many adults who dressed up too).

We had dressed Aedan as Mike from Monsters Inc.!

In the parades, there were many huge cartoon characters such as Smurf and Elmo which were manually controlled by people moving on the street.

There were many children who participated by dancing, playing instruments & singing in the parades too.

There was also Chinese dragon dance!

This parade is somewhat similar to Singapore's Chingay parades except that the event happened in the day and there were no seating & entrance fees.

This parade is absolutely free of charge and there are also people giving out free sweets! However, the down side is that it's really crowded & you need to squeeze your way through to find a good viewing spot.

Purim is a celebratory day and there are many customs on this day which include reading the book of Esther, doing charity to help the poor, giving foods & drinks hampers known as Mishloach manot and having family feasts.

They also made traditional triangular pastries known Hamantaschen.

If you are interested to visit Israel during this festive season, next year, Purim will start on the evening of 11 March 17, Saturday, and ends on the evening of 12 March 17, Sunday.
Shops and malls remain open during this festival and please do not be shock to see their waiters/waitresses dress in costumes. However, do note that next year Purim falls on a Saturday which is their weekend (in Israel, weekend falls on Friday & Saturday as Jewish Shabbat lasts from sunset on Friday to the fall of full darkness on Saturday) during which shops will be closed.


Happy reading!
Twentysixoctober

Follow Twentysixoctober Facebook page for more stories.

Read our other adventures at #Singaporeanmomlivinginisrael

Singaporean mom living in Israel: Day 2 in Israel and review of GregCafe.

Israel time: 6.30am, 8 March 2016
Singapore time: 12.30pm, 8 March 2016

This day we woke up on a totally new bed, in a new room, new house, new country.
Was really relieved that Aedan did not experience jet lag and woke up at his usual time, 6am, in Israel time zone. He was observing his surroundings when he opened his eyes. Not sure whether he knew that we were at a totally new place.

Smiling so happily! 

It was our 2nd day in Haifa and the first place we visited was the Grand Canyon mall to shop for groceries and the essentials.

A photo before we headed out. 

This photo was taken around our neighbourhood. There are many sloppy paths in Haifa as it is a city built on hill.

The Grand Canyon mall is the largest mall in northern Israel. There were more than 200 stores with mostly their local brands and a few international brands which include H&M, Toys R' Us and Bodyshop. 

Their Body Shop looks very different from the one in Singapore. Their range of products are different too.


Our first dinning experience in Haifa is at a nice cafe called Greg Cafe which is a multi chain cafe that is commonly found in Israel. The one we tried is located inside the Grand Canyon mall at level 2.

In Israel, the Jewish population follows a strict Kosher diet (food that is allowed under the Jewish law) which prohibits the consumption of unclean animals such as pork, shell fish and insects. They also do not allow mixture of meat and milk in food. So for dishes such as pizza and pasta that have milk & cheese in it, you will not find meat.

Here are photos of the food & drink we had!

This is called 'limon nana' in Hebrew which is lemonade with mint leaves. It's a very refreshing drink and the mint helps to balance the sour taste. It costs 18 shekels (about S$6.30) for this big glass of thirst quenching juice.

Like I have mentioned, since the cafe is Kosher, you will not find meat in their pasta. We chose sweet potato ravioli made with sweet potato puree and rose sauce. This is a filling sweet delight full of carbo. They served their pasta with cheese and this dish costs 57 shekels (about S$19.95).

We ordered another Hambu-Greg burger. We ordered this with beef since there is no meat in the earlier dish. We changed their french fries to home fries. I'll highly recommend you to try their home fries. The fries is coated with their homemade sauce that has a sweet and sour taste. It's definitely tastier than normal french fries. Their burger tasted good with juicy beef patty and their secret sauce. This Hambu-Greg burger which comes with fries costs 52 shekels (about S$18.20 which I personally think is more worth it than the pasta).

In Israel, service fees are excluded from the bill and it's a norm to tip 10-15% of your total bills. 

I heard from an Israeli mommy that Israel is a breastfeeding friendly place so I let Aedan had his meal there too. ^^

We did not walk the whole mall as it's huge & Aedan was cranky that day. We called it a day after shopping for Aedan's stuff at their baby outlets and gotten our groceries at their local supermart.

That's it for this post. 

Do follow Twentysixoctober Facebook page for more stories! 

To read more about our adventures at #SingaporeanmomlivinginIsrael

Bye bye ~~
Twentysixoctober

10 things you cannot miss when you are with your baby in the air

For those who follow our blog will have read that Aedan has successfully taken his first flight experience which is an adventurous 17hrs flight from Singapore -> Zurich -> Israel!

I'm going to share the list of items which we had brought on board and hope that this information will be useful to parents who plan to travel with your babies.

My checklist:

1. Diaper changing mat 

This is necessary as the changing table in the airplane is hard & cold which is not comfortable for baby to laid on. It will be better if you bring along a cushioned changing mat to put on top. 

2. Nursing cover

It is useful to nurse your baby during take-off and landing to reduce the pressure in baby's ears.

3. Baby carrier/sling 

There will be times when you need to carry your baby and walk around the airplane when your baby refuses to sleep or sit on your lap. It will be easier to put him/her in a carrier/sling. 

4. Carrier sling bag

If you are bringing your carrier along, it is good to bring a carrier sling bag to keep your carrier when you are not using it. 

5. Favourite toys + teethers 

This is important. There will be times when your baby fusses and his/her favourite toys can help to distract and calm him/her down.

6. Diapers + Wet wipes + Diaper cream + Ruyi oil 

Bring more diapers (at least 8-10). It is better to prepare more than having not enough. It is also to be prepared for unforeseen delay in flight. 

7. Blanket + Sweater + Socks 

It is cold when we are in the air so prepare blanket, sweater and socks for your baby. 

8. Extra warm clothes 

Needless to explain, extra clothes for changing. 

9. Baby lotion + Baby lip balm 

The air in the plane is dry so it is good to prepare baby moisturiser & lip balm for your baby.

10. Zip-loc bags/ plastic bags

This is used to keep your baby's soiled clothing. 

Aedan is fully on breastmilk so I did not bring any milk bottles, warm water and milk powder.

#mommydiary


Have fun flying!
Twentysixoctober

Like Twentysixoctober fb page to follow our stories as it's where we connect with our readers. :)

Singaporean mom living in Israel: Traveling from Singapore to Israel

Twentysixoctober has moved to Israel!

Many readers told me that they are interested to know more about Israel so I'm starting a diary to record my life in Israel: Life in Israel.

Here's my first post in this diary!

On 6 March, 11pm (Singapore time), we arrived at Changi airport with 70kg worth of luggages.

Yes these were all that we brought for our one and a half year stay in Israel.

We checked in at the airport early as we were allocated different seats when we checked online.
It's a long story... We had called SQ prior to reserve 2 bassinet seats next to each other. Their staff assured us that it was done and confirmed. But disappointingly when we checked online 48 hrs before our flight, we were not placed next to each other. 

Don't feel like repeating this unpleasant story again.

So we checked in early and requested for a change in our seats. Fortunately, they helped us to change our seats to be next to each other. I could not imagine how inconvenient it will be if we were not seated next to each other.

We heaved a sign of relief when we finally got our boarding pass. After we settled the important things, we went to relax at the SATS premier lounge!

Took a few photos of Aedan posing with his passport.

A photo before take off. Happily seated next to each other! :)


Our 12hrs flight from Singapore to Zurich was exhausting.
Right after we got to our seats, we were given an additional seat belt for my baby which was to attached to my seat belt. I had to put him on my lap during take off/landing and whenever the seat belt sign turned on. I heed the advice from other mommies to nurse Aedan during take off and landing to reduce his ear pressure. It did help during the take off but it was unsuccessful during landing as Aedan was already full and refused to latch on...
After the flight took off, we were given a bassinet. Frankly, the bassinet was not useful as when had to carry him whenever he fussed. And there were many times that the fasten seat belt sign appeared just mins after we finally made him fell asleep in the bassinet. (It was really frustrating that we had to carry him out from the bassinet whenever the seat belt sign appeared.)
A way to calm Aedan down during the flight was to carry him and walk around in the airplane so I will recommend parents to bring along their baby carrier. During our flight we had our meals served at different time and we took turns to eat while the other carried him. Though it was tiring, we were glad that we made it and it is definitely a memorable experience.

During our transit in Zurich, we visited their family service area which is located inside the check in area for family with kids to rest and play while waiting for their next flight.

Their family service area is awesome with lots of activities for kids of all ages, cosy seating area for parents and also a very clean diaper changing area (the cleanest one I've ever seen!)

On our flight from Zurich to Israel, we met a mommy who was traveling with her 5 months old baby by herself from Zurich to Israel.
She told us that she is an Israeli who has moved to Switzerland with her hubby and flies frequently back to her hometown.
I could feel her patriotism as she spoke good words of her country. She told us Israelis love babies and there are many baby activities in Israel. Yay!! that's good news for Aedan.
She even offered to exchange contact numbers and told us to contact her if we need any help.
I have started to like Israel even before reaching the country.

Arrival time in Israel: 2.45pm, 7 March
Singapore time: 8.45pm, 7 March

We survived 17 hrs of flight and landed safely on the holy land of Israel, the place where we are going to spend our next one and a half year.

This was the scene captured while waiting at the customs.

There were so many people visiting this country! My hubby mentioned that it wasn't so packed last time when he was here.

After arriving at the airport, we went straight to collect our rental car which my hubby reserved. I waited for about an hour for my hubby to settle the paper work. My first time experience of their efficiency.

Man with black hat, black suit, white shirt and long curly side burn. We saw many people dressed like this in the airport. I later realised that they are known as ultra-orthodox - the most religiously authentic group of Jews who practice religious teaching. 

This white car will bring us to places in Israel!

We took another 2hrs drive from airport to our new home in Haifa which is the 3rd largest city in Israel. According to my hubby, Haifa is the city for work and study so it is a peaceful town with not much activities. But he promised to bring me to tour around other part of Israel.

Israel time: 8pm, 7 March
Singapore time: 2am, 8 March

Yes! Finally we arrived at our home sweet home in Israel. It is small cosy apartment with one bed room and toilet.

We were exhausted when we unloaded our luggages! After 17 hrs flight and 2 hrs drive, we finally made it to our new place.
Glad that we are safe and all went well.

That's it for today and I'm going to blog more about my other days in other posts.

Do follow Twentysixoctober Facebook page for more stories.

Have fun reading,
Twentysixoctober