I dunno what's with the title. I really don't know what to write here. I haven't written a single entry for a long time, let alone finish my "Saga of the Desert". I don't even know if I can still write stuff. So, 9am tuesday, I sat in front of my pc and start fiddling on my keyboard. Let's see where this leads.
I honestly dunno what to call it, I dunno what to call whatever's happening to me. Well maybe if you can compare it to a song, then this lil' part of my life might be called "interlude".
Honestly, I still am not sure what that part is for. I mean I've been into music for like 15 years and the real purpose of interlude still eludes me. Some songs have it, some don't, some songs have it after the first chorus, some just right before the last one. Maybe if I'd think hard enough, I might be able to catch a thread of it. Or maybe if I would read more, I might stumble upon it. Maybe if I ask people, someone might know about it. Screw it, I'm not in the mood to for a research or a survey. I'm not in the mood to talk to a lot of people about useless stuff that has nothing to do with them. I'm not in the mood to think hard, I'm not in the mood to think, period.
A gap, that's what it might be, or that's how I might want to define it for the lack of precise definition. A gap that might or might not be there. Incoherent existence, of undefined purpose, with an oblivious beginning, and uncertain ending. Oops! sorry, brain crash, I've had enough of this rubbish talk! Let's just leave it at that.
There was something different, I noticed as soon as we crossed the border from Jordan to Israel. Eitan, our new guide brought us to our bus, where we loaded our luggages, then we set off. From the southeast, we began to make our way up through the hills. It's becoming eminent to me that something really feels different about this country, compared to the other Arab countries I've seen like Dubai and Jordan. The Air is much cooler, the hills greener, lush meadows, trees... it's almost like a vast oasis in the middle of the Arabian desert. I guess it's no suprise that they called it "the land flowing with milk and honey". Well I figured, if you are born and raised in the desert, where rainfall is close to nothing, where vegetation is nearly impossible, then a place like this would be your promise land. Ofcourse, it's still no match when you put it up against the natural wealth of tropical countries such as ours, but still, this is situated right in the middle of the land where water is more expensive than oil. I would understand why all the surrounding Arabic countries, would really want a piece of this nation.
As the bus makes its way through the hills of Galilea, Eitan began introducing his country to us. It's also a relief to hear that we can now whip out our phones and cams as we cannot use them on the border. I heard a story that an old lady touring the holyland took a photo in the border, the bus was immediately pulled over; the poor old lady was brought into questioning and was only released after 2 hours. Talk about security! Well, touring in this land can be stressful sometimes, especially when one has to go through all these security measures from time to time. But I guess the more they are tight on their security, the more secured the people inside their country would be.
As we cover more distance, the hills gradually led us to an opening, where we can see the view of a huge body of water. Deep blue, surrounded by hills, islands, my eyes met the historical sea of Galilea. According to the bible, the fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James and John were found here, where they were called while they were fishing. I began to imagine what was it like to be there 2000 years ago. When I was young, I really loved watching "The Flying House" and "The Super Book". Everytime I watch them I always wished that I live in a house like that then I would get to visit the events written in the Bible. I didn't know that part of that dream would come true several years after. Though I wasn't able to warp back through time, well being in the places where it happened is more than enough for me in this lifetime.
We stopped by at a restaurant to have our first Israeli meal. And guess what's on the Menu: St. Peter's fish... common name? Tilapia. yeah among the fishes caught in the Sea of Galilea, Tilapia is the most dominant in number. And yes, you are also right, the Sea of Galilea is fresh water, not sea water, so it's technically a lake, but the size dictates the mind that to call it "sea" so I guess that's how they came up with the name. Galilea is a region, by the way, like Northern Luzon and the like. So back to the food... if you have read my first part of the Saga, I mentioned that Jordanians serve raw fish in the morning. This is also true Israel, so as in all the Arabian countries, I guess. They call it "Kosher" (wiki time ) Main rule: meat and dairy can't be served together. So since they serve milk, butter and other dairy products in the morning, they are not allowed to serve chicken, beef, lamb, etc. What they can serve though is fish, so they serve raw fishes, seasoned in vinegar and stuff that I dunno. So you eat them with bread or chips. The were under british rule for quite a time after all so people there prefer "fish and chips". It was suprisingly good though specially seeing a familiar face like tilapia on the table, you're definitely in for a heavy breakfast.
Status: Bondaters
(will continue with the second installment of part 2.)
After an exhausting yet exhilirating experience in the Petra Ruins, we boarded on the bus to Amman which took us an hour and a half. I noticed that houses, hotels, small commercial buildings have the same shape and material. Square, very regular edges, made in limestone (we call it mactan stone) or marble or a mix of both. One can only differentiate the variety through the style and the number of windows. When in the center of the towns, most of the streets are still cobbled stones, but out in the highway, the bus glides in a very smooth asphalt-covered concrete. Man, talk about road trip! Like when you're cruising in the highway, no intersections, only soft curves and spanning through the desert where you can see the sun lazily floating just above the horizon, you can't help but imagine yourself drivin a top-down convertible cadillac, juz like what you see in the movies! hehe.
Then we arrived Ahman, wow I finally caught a sight of something familiar, juz like in Manila: Traffic! wow this sure feels nostalgic We'll it's the capital city after all. Then familiar places appeared one after the other; fast food like: KFC, Mc Donalds and Pizza Hut.. and wait.. starbucks! Coffee Gemek anyone? The city was nice, still all the structures, from hotels, to condos, to malls and even commercial buildings, they are all squares hehe. Well I can imagine why, just like what I witnessed in Petra, the weather can be so hot, yet the stones maintain a cool temperature, I have seen a documentary one time saying "out in the dessert, it can be very hot during daytime yet very cold during the night", therefore, these type of stones must be the neutralizing factor. I'm not sure though if this type of architecture is required by the Jordanian Government. There might be some places where structures are build with an influence from other countries. Our hotel was nice, the room was nice, lying down the bed was nice, then it was morning! What!?I thought I just closed my eyes for a moment there, then before I knew it, it was morning! My lil bro Julian and I fell asleep without changing our clothes, we even have skipped our dinner, which, according to our tourmates, was one of the best dinner of the trip. *sob*
Day 3 - 050608 / 6-7-8
After a huge breakfast and a quickie taygwer photo-shoot, we head west-ward towards the border of Israel. Up and down the valleys of Jordan, the guide continues his daily monotonous and lethargic lectures about Jordan. I almost all the time feels like he's this routine all his life that his mouth speaks independently, without a concious effort from the brain. Maybe because he thinks nobody's listening, or maybe it's just how he does his lectures, or maybe... It was all in my mind, was just thinking too much LOLz.
At the border
Two hours and thirty minutes, we arrived the Jordanian-Israeli border. We had to alight our bus, with all our luggages and have them go through the x-ray machines. Exiting Jordan was a breeze though, but entering the Israeli border was a different story! Just a couple of minutes drive through the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone), we were once again asked to alight the bus and go through a series of security checks. I tell ya, the experience in this area "is on the level". After going through a series of inspections, we face interrogation of the Immigration officer; "Where are you going?" "What are you planning to do there?" "How long are you planning to stay there?" "Who're you with?" Then looks at you intently. In some occassions, they'll ask "when was the last time you saw your luggage?" "are you carrying anything as a gift for someone in Israel?" What?! In my case, I was asked the first general questions, along with "where do you plan to go next?" Stares at me, then at my passport, then back at me. I dunno, maybe she had a slight suspicion that I might be carrying a fake passport because I don't look like the man in the picture, or maybe I looked too young for my age; or perhaps, my first name is Christian, and they are either Judaism or Islamic and according to my mom, it could be an eyesore. Then I was thinking: maybe this young lady is just thinking of an excuse to detain me in the border and take me home after work hehehe! - Delusions of a demented mind. Then she stood up, went to the other room and I had no idea what she did, but as she came back, she stamped my visa and let me through. And by the way, we had slight adjustments regarding this: we had our visa's stamped in a separate sheet of paper, not on our passports. We were advised to do so, if we are planning to enter an Arab country, lest, we would be denied entry. You can go around it though, by processing a new passport, which was not an option for us since we are going straight to U.A.E. at the end of the tour.
There was one thing that everybody noticed about the Israeli border though; almost all, if not all of the personnel looked barely legal. Boys and girls as young as 16 I think are carrying guns and patroling the border. The Immigration Officer who interviewed me looked like she was just in her early twenties if not 19. Boys and girls who you'd think are just fresh from their prom night are already out in the border, carrying guns, ready to lay theire lives on the line to protect their country, should that need arise. I was thinking: "At 18, kids here are talkin about cars and nightlife, who's hot and who's cool. Don't get me wrong, I think they're all good looking, both guys and gals alike. It's just that, they're good looking guys and gals carrying guns.
Well... after a rigorious inspection and interrogation, all of us finally got through, with the God's grace. We shared our experiences with each other as we waited for the rest. Some said that they were asked to open their luggage, some were granted their visa's very easy. But according to Fr. Francis, the security routine that we had experienced was rather lenient, compared to the last time he went to Israel. The procedure lasted for almost 2 hours while ours only took around 30-45 mins tops. And with that, we bid Khalid - the tour guide, the Kingdom of Jordan goodbye as we are greeted by Eitan, our Israeli guide, we set foot to our journey in the promise land.
"6-7-8" - This is how you start your day when you are in a group tour. We are often reminded: "wake up call at 6am, breakfast at 7, luggage out at 8." And since am incharge of preppin up our team (my mom, my lil bro and me), I usually wake up half an hour earlier than call time. So after a long rest of 3 hrs and 30 mins, day two has started. Breakfast in the hotel was always great! Best meal of the day honestly and oh, did I tell you that they serve raw fish for breakfast? I'll be talkin about that later. Everything was set before 8am, I still had a enough time to kill.. so then.. Taygwer's 1st photo shoot in Jordan was taken in that hotel. A stunning view of the desert, rock formations, canyons welcomes you when as you step out at the back of the hotel. You can see Taygwer's Pictures here:
Our destination for the whole day two was just half an hour drive from the hotel. We alighted in a wide space and a long rough road downward. The guide reminded us to make sure we were wearing comfortable shoes and brought lotsa water with us. "This is gonna be a very long walk." And indeed it was! we walked for about half an hour down the rough gazing a spectating crowd of rock formations, left and right. These holes carved into the rocks were used by the commoners of the ancient people who have once lived here. "Oh nice" I thought.. looking at the cave-like structures and piles of big boulders that surround us from quite a distance. We reached the entrance of the siq (it's google time!!) and our group asked: "Is this it? is this the entrance?" "No, this is where the roads starts to get to the entrance" he replied.
As we entered the siq, I noticed that the atmosphere began to change. It was hot outside as you go deeper in between the siq, the air becomes cool. Curiously, I went closer to the side and touched the rocks.. and as I have predicted... it was as cold as a glass of water inside the fridge! "Well, that explains it... " I thought. Then I saw small gutter-like structure engraved on the rocks. About 6" wide and goes all the way down the siq. The guide began a long explanation about how people who once lived here surived without a potable water source. No body of water around.. no oasis.. at the edge of arabian desert, it would be hard to think of a way how people had survived here. But as I look closely at the markings on the stones, the dam-like structures and the cobblestone road, which the guide claimed to be original, you can't hide the fact that it had been once a wealthy and gloroius city.
Yes, I know that by now you have already guessed what our destination was. After a 2 1/2 hours walk through the siq, we finally arrived at the entrance to the city. The Legendary Lost City of Petra. As you reach the end of the siq, you will be greeted by a tall structure engraved into the stone. They call it "The treasury"
Chances are, this place might look familiar to you, as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was shot here. Currently one of the 7 wonders of the world, petra is a whole city engraved into stone. It is also the stronghold of the biblical city of Edom. The city of Esau.
The Story of Edom: The Rise and Fall of a Powerful Nation
The Bible identifies Esau as the fraternal twin brother of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jacob became the father of the Israelites after God (Genesis 35:10) renamed Jacob "Israel." Thus Esau shared his mother's womb together with the founder of the nation of Israel.[2] See Genesis 25. Although Esau was Isaac's first-born entitled to inherit Isaac's wealth and blessing, Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob (Israel) for a pot of stew. The descendants of Esau and Israel led divergent paths with Edom settling east of modern day Israel forming tribal chiefs while Jacob traveled all of Israel, his inheritance.
The Bible explains the name "Edom" with no mention of red rock. It refers to the Edomites as descendants of Esau, and the [[Book of Genesis 25:25 KJV]And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. mentions "red" a number of times in describing Esau and explaining his alternate name Edom. Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. They named him Esau."[3] Years later, "Jacob was once simmering a stew, when Esau came home exhausted from the field. Esau said to Jacob: "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom". (Genesis 25:29-30, KJV) [4]
Petra, however, is mentioned extensively in the Bible especially as it concerns the sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. The account is well-known of how Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright then deceived his blind father into giving him the tribal blessing (Genesis 25-27). Angry after is betrayal by Jacob, Esau took his wives and children and went into a land far away from his brother. He moved to a new land in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom, (Genesis 36:6-8) and Petra is Seir.
The Edomites became well-known as enemies of the ancient Hebrews, along with the Amalekites, the Moabites (people inhabiting the area around present day Madaba and Mt. Nebo) and the Ammonites (people inhabiting the area of today's Amman, the modern capital of Jordan)
Approximately 2500 years ago, the Prophet Obadiah prophesied that "there will be no survivors of the House of Esau." The Book of Obadiah is among the last books of the Christian Bible's Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh.
In Obadiah 1, the prophet foretells the total conquest of Edom (or Esau) by Jacob (that is, Israel) in specific detail, and foretells that at that time "there will be no survivors of the House of Esau."
These events were actually fulfilled approximately 200 years before Christ, when Israel conquered the Edomites and governed them as a separate district under the Kingdom of Israel.
A series of events were set in motion, including the conquest of the entire region by the Roman Empire around 63 BC, leading to the apparent demise of the Edomites in 70 AD. Remarkably, the last remaining Edomites rallied to the defense of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and were killed by the Romans together with the Jewish soldiers still stationed there. Thus.. the fall of the Edomites in Petra.
Many years after the fall of Perta, a nomadic tribe called the Nabateans discovered petra and began to settle there. They perfected the water-conservation system that the Edomites have started. The long gutter-like structure I found at the siq was actually the part of the irrigation system of the Nabateans in Petra. It's really fascinating to see the whole city carved into the rocks. Tombs, houses and even their colosseum. You will also notice that the color of the rocks are light red, thus gaining the name "The Rose City".
It was almost high noon when we reached the city itself. Most of our group were already exhausted, 2 1/2 hours of walk to rediscover the lost city and there it is! The pristine beauty of ancient architecture that stood against time.. unwhithering, secluded, so mysterious, walls of rose-colored stone, and bedouin stores... wait! stores?! what are stores doing here?! this is supposed to be the lost city, untouched over time! merchandise?! tourists! everywhere?! THIS IS MAYHEM!! MADNESS!! MADNESS!!!??? THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAA!!!!
I almost lost my mind back there... sorry... I got shocked and got carried away with all the stores I've seen poping out every corner like 7/11s. And tourist, man! it seemed like the whole world was there! it didn't seem like a lost city to me, it was more like a Shopping mall or a mountain resort. The place was so busy that contrary to what you see in the pictures, it ain't like that in reality. But since I was there, I would never let this opportunity pass by, I headed towards the heart of the city.10 of us stayed behind under the shelter of the bedouin stores, having their refreshments. 7 of us pressed on... and then there were 3... as I get to the heart of the City, I was alone. All of my group chose to stay behind, having pepsi and buyng souveniers. I wanted to explore the city more, the collesum, the tombs of the Kings and I scaled the cliffs to reach them, and took pictures of the panoramic view of Petra. Little did I know that there was something wrong with my phone at that time... all my shots weren't saved in the MMStick. So much of the pictures i've taken in petra gone. Luckily, I have captured a lot of it in my mini-DV cam. Ofcourse, apart from my group, there are still people everywhere.. and merchandise.. everywhere I go... well.. business is good . Petra ain't supposed to be a popular destination, all thanks to the insufficient programs of the department of toursim in Jordan; but still, it get's really crowded in some places. I'll be posting more pictures of petra in my album as soon as I get the copies from my mom's fones.
Exhausted by the heat and the distance, I gasped for air as I reach one of the higher parts of the rocks, to see a panoramic view of the city. I felt a somewhat sense of fulfillment, for pushing myself further. It was exhausting, but I finally found a place where there are no other people around.. time to reflect about what the stories that took place in this city centuries ago. I was a lil distracted though, while I was contemplating, something had caught my eye; with me, from quite a distance, I saw a couple dating.. oh my bad, there where two couples dating. Man! I thought getting there was really an acheivement, only to find that it was just a dating place for the locals, treating it like luneta. How lucky must have they been.. to have a place like this, one of the 7 wonders of the world, of rich history and archeological value, as their dating place.
Well... it was past one, I was starving, exhausted and thirsty, and I still have to walk a quarter mile back to the bus. I started heading back. I caught up with the others along the way. We headed for the bus, to move to a local restaurant, and finally head for Ahman, the Capital of Jordan.
--- XOX ---
I found this in the net. so I guess it would give us a very good 360 view of the treasury.
(next entry: Ahman Jordan and Crossing the border)
'twas high noon when we walked out of the airport. The scorching rays of the sun hit my face, yet strangely, I didn't feel its heat. It was probably neutralized by the cool breeze of the wind. As I gaze my eyes upon the horizon, I beheld the environment totally different from the country I was born. Not much vegetation, few trees, lots of rocks more brown than green. It was clear to me, I truly am far away from home. This experience would've been impossible for me to live, had I not died back then, I never would've made it here.
It took us exactly 10 hours and 40 mins to get here. This sums up the 5 hrs and 15 mins from Manila to Dubai, 3 hrs and lay-off .then 2 hrs 25 mins from Dubai to Jordan. Not bad, I think. I used to drive in shifts to travel this long, and It would take me far down South of Luzon, but it's quite amazing to think that with roughly the same amount of time, an airline can take you about half-way across the world. Out from the airport, we headed for our first destination by land, 4 hours away.
I thought the Republic of Jordan holds little significance with regards to biblical history. But as we traveled, the guide brought us to places which, amazingly is quoted from the Old testament. The land of Jordan was the ancient the land of the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites and all the neighboring kingdoms of Canaan which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joshua had to travel, pass by, propose treaties to, and even conquer.
After a brief visit to the Ancient Mosaic Orthodox Church, we headed to the top of Mt. Nebo. As quoted from the Bible, this was where Moses saw the glimpse ot the Promised Land. As I stood at where Moses was, I gazed upon all Israel. It was like the course outline of all the places we will be visiting. As it is the highest peak in Jordan, Mt. Nebo gives you a captivating view over all Israel, the Jordan river and even of the Dead Sea. I began to recall the great stories of Moses, the greatest prophet, and stood in awe of God's greatness.
As we descended to the River Jordan, found at the border of Israel, we started to feel the heat from the sun. The guide explained that it is because we were heading towards an area which is below sea level. I marveled at the site of this somewhat desolate place, situated nearly the lowest part of the earth. I look around and see no houses, or any man-made structures or even local people living. My mind played tricks on me, using my weird imagination: I wondered if the bus left us out here.. then there would be no way of getting out. We would surely die out here! Hehe... nevertheless... the hills, the desert, and the river, this place is so scenic. Not a bad place to die... I thought. ^_^
It has been more than 28 hours since I had my last sleep. We left Manila 12 midnight the day before, so needless to say, I didn't have the chance to sleep that night. Traveling 5 hrs westward clearly states that the time zone is 5hrs late compared to Manila. All the unceasing motion from plane-to-plane, bus-place-bus and walk from point A to point B (which is not less than an hour) got me exhausted in my first day. My eyes are drooping, body is shaking, and my head started nagging me to find a bed. I really need to rest or I would'nt have half the the strenght to last the whole trip. At last, 9pm local time (2am the next day for Manila time) I finally saw the hotel that would shelter us on our first night in this foreign land. Exhausted and starved, I devoured the buffet dinner and started unpacking. I still had to assist my mom as she writes her pleadings for the cases she left here in Manila. Man! what a lady! She even has reserved energy to do her work back home while she is touring overseas, does she ever get tired?
After 10 grueling months, the fruits of our labor starts to flourish.
As of today, 25th of April 2008, Glorious Lifestyle Direct Int'l Inc. held it's first official product and business presentation. I never imagined myself worthy to be part of this most promising new direct-selling company. I know that my art is not a cut above the rest... this is clearly an unmerited favor that God has granted to such a wretched person like me.
I take no credit for any or all of the designs that had been launched in this event.
To those who were present and were able to witness the event: thank you for making an effort to share this day with me.
To those who gave encouragement, believed and prayed for this success, may God bless you as you have blessed me.
To those who doubted and were skeptical, thank you for posing the challenge. Without your discouragement, I might've forgotten that everything is by God's grace and therefore everything is in His bidding.
And lastly, to you, who is reading this right now: thank you for spending time reading this good news.
I am looking forward to a bright future, ahead, with you, and with all our family and friends, delivering God's word, on excellent products in every household for a Glorious Lifestyle.
Well, touring in this land can be stressful sometimes, especially when one has to go through all these security measures from time to time. But I guess the more they are tight on their security, the more secured the people inside their country would be.
then I would get to visit the events written in the Bible. I didn't know that part of that dream would come true several years after. Though I wasn't able to warp back through time, well being in the places where it happened is more than enough for me in this lifetime. 
on the table, you're definitely in for a heavy breakfast. 
The city was nice, still all the structures, from hotels, to condos, to malls and even commercial buildings, they are all squares hehe. Well I can imagine why, just like what I witnessed in Petra, the weather can be so hot, yet the stones maintain a cool temperature, I have seen a documentary one time saying "out in the dessert, it can be very hot during daytime yet very cold during the night", therefore, these type of stones must be the neutralizing factor. I'm not sure though if this type of architecture is required by the Jordanian Government. There might be some places where structures are build with an influence from other countries. Our hotel was nice, the room was nice, lying down the bed was nice, then it was morning! What!?I 
thought I just closed my eyes for a moment there, then before I knew it, it was morning! My lil bro Julian and I fell asleep without changing our clothes, we even have skipped our dinner, which, according to our tourmates, was one of the best dinner of the trip. *sob* 
LOLz. 
In my case, I was asked the first general questions, along with "where do you plan to go next?" Stares at me, then at my passport, then back at me. I dunno, maybe she had a slight suspicion that I might be carrying a fake passport because I don't look like the man in the picture, or maybe I looked too young for my age; or perhaps, my first name is Christian, and they are either Judaism or Islamic and according to my mom, it could be an eyesore. Then I was thinking: maybe this young lady is just thinking of an excuse to detain me in the border and take me home after work 
hehehe! - Delusions of a demented mind. Then she stood up, went to the other room and I had no idea what she did, but as she came back, she stamped my visa and let me through. And by the way, we had slight adjustments regarding this: we had our visa's stamped in a separate sheet of paper, not on our passports. We were advised to do so, if we are planning to enter an Arab country, lest, we would be denied entry. You can go around it though, by processing a new passport, which was not an option for us since we are going straight to U.A.E. at the end of the tour.
Petra ain't supposed to be a popular destination, all thanks to the insufficient programs of the department of toursim in Jordan; but still, it get's really crowded in some places. I'll be posting more pictures of petra in my album as soon as I get the copies from my mom's fones.
