Another hot day

Shoko

Yes ... the topic is still the heatwave. Everyone is talking (complaining actually) about it. It felt like over 40 degrees and there was no breeze. Stifling. Only towards 5pm did a cool wind start to blow. A very welcome relief. The newspapers are saying it's the hottest August in 5 years. I had a terrible time sleeping or rather not sleeping. It was too hot and dry and I had a bad sore throat as a result. Went to buy Shoko (local pronunciation of "choco") - which is chocolate milk. It really helps to quench the thirst and sooth the sore throat. Side effect - bad diarrhoea. Just can't win.

Flowering palm trees

Ultra-orthodox jews yesterday rioted because a new cinema hall and surrounding shops were opened in a Jerusalem suburb ... and which will remain open also on the Sabbath. For the ultra-orthodox, it's a desecration of the 2nd Commandment. Crazy rioting in several areas and Israeli riot police had to battle them. Yesterday evening there was also some action down in Bab Hutta ... which is down the road from where I live. Several Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel and they had a hero's welcome. Family and friends carried the men on their shoulders and paraded them up and down the neighbourhood, chanting slogans and firing fireworks. It ended in a clash with the israeli soldiers. Stun grenades were fired.

Well goodness knows how long this heatwave will last ... or the crazy violence that usually does not accompany it. One thing positive though ... the heat has provoked the palm trees to flower in abundance. The 5 ancient palm trees in front of St. Peter's Church have enormous bunches of cascading white blossoms ... utterly awesome.

Heatwave is definitely back!

Colourful fruit in season

The meteorological station  has confirmed that a 2nd heatwave has blasted down on us this week ... not as hot as last week but certainly in the region of 40 degrees. The nights are stifling ... as the wind is from the desert hence dry and hot. Today in the Jordan Valley near Jericho, temp. hits 46 degrees! I don't even want to think of going out. I'll just wither and wilt in this heat.

It's harvest time for most fruit ... but the heatwave will destroy the crops. Whatever had been harvested last week however are incredible in colour. A basket of fruit from our kitchen will give you an idea. There're plums, pomegranates, apples, pears, oranges, figs, grapes ... and the colours are so intense.

And in this heat, violence continue to be perpetrated. yesterday 2 attacks on Israeli police took place. Both arab perpetrators were arrested. News of disturbances in the Old City must still be rift as police and soldiers continue to petrol the streets in large numbers and grater frequency.

3 curries at Thai House

I managed to take the weekend off to "rest" in our house in Jaffa. It was a good escape from the heat ... but the seaside humidity is awful. Luckily the rooms there are air-conditioned. Didn't rest though as I was very nervous and upset over several things. In fact on the first night I slept only for 1 hour. Dreadful. Anyway I still forced myself to go out and take some fresh air, and walk for almost 10 kms to work off the negative energy. Had lunch at Thai House (booked 3 days previously) with 2 of my volunteers and Clovis our seminarian. They had green chicken curry, red beef curry and sweet potato/pork curry. I had my usual Phad Si Yiu (char way teow) which I will never change! The guys enjoyed, and the company was a good distraction from my worries.

Anyway it's back to work today. Luckily I work inside the library so it's cool. Will probably stay working in there for as long as I can!

Heatwave is back

The pools and streams at
Independendce Park are a great place
to be in this heat

Just when we thought the heatwave had gone ... the heat picked up again this morning. The last 2 days were very pleasant ... a cool breeze during the day despite the strong sun; and nights so chilly you must wear a jacket ... but this morning the sun was beating back with a vengeance, no wind as well. I was practically struggling to climb the hundreds of stairs in the Old City to reach from my house to work at New Gate (all uphill). Had to buy a small can of Sprite to quench my thirst, and the shopkeeper gave it to me free of charge ... seeing I was already with an asthma attack.

Tit-for-tat attacks have continued throughout the day. Masked arab youths throe firebombs and rocks at Israeli police all round the suburbs of Jerusalem; jews turn and attacked an arab riding the train; arab workers from an industrial estate attacked 3 israeli drivers during an accident .... it's back and forth ... with no end in sight. There is a great lack of political will to solve this racial/religious tension.

Soya Milk
"Alpro"

Leaving the "normal" problems of this country, I had to settle some of my own ... mainly food. Since I'm allergic to so many things, I now have to buy fresh veggies. But cooking is the next hurdle. We're renovating our kitchen so there's no kitchen, stove, fridge .... I bought a pack of spinach and bean sprouts but they're rotting away in this heat. I also found a new brand of soya milk called Alpo which claims not to have preservatives and coloring. Took the risk to try one out ... "Macchiato" flavor. Since there was no fridge, I had to drink the whole 1 liter at once. After half an hour, no allergic reaction. Good. Now I'll buy this brand of milk. One more thing that I can consume.

Stromata

Hubes Ajuweh

Extremely busy few days with hardly any time to breathe. Almost 12,000 books to be relocated, reclassified, re-catalogued is a massive job especially I have a dateline of only 10 weeks. I start work sometimes at 3am and finish mostly at 10pm. I try to get a break in the afternoons for maybe an hour or two ... which is mainly spent hand feeding the 3 canary nestlings as their mother no longer feeds them. Exhausted? Utterly. This is not a summer vacation ... I'm working twice as hard as on a normal school term.

Violence all around. The past 2 days saw clashes between students and Israeli police in the Al Aqsa compound and the streets of the Muslim Quarter. Muslim schools from probably the Territories are bringing school children into the Old City as summer camp/visit but it often serves as an excuse to create trouble. Kids 8 or 9 yrs old chanting muslim slogans in the Via Dolorosa, throwing stones at tourists ... it wa havoc all round. Riot police had to come in and chase them away. No arrests because they're all minors. One girl student even bit a police woman in the Al Aqsa compound. Tourists are now avoiding the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross).

The heatwave is finally gone and the nights are awfully chilly. I have to wear a hoodie just to keep warm. Being so busy at work, I have no time to cook any normal food. These few days I bought Hubes Ajuweh ... it's a donut-shaped yellow bread filled with date marmalade. Nice change though I shouldn't take so much flour based food. My blood sugar has been spiking as I have no time to walk 4km each day to burn it off. And I don't want to take insulin.

Of incense and spices

All types of incense for sale

Today for a change the headlines was not on Israel. It was on the series of bomb attacks in Turkey, Cairo and Kabul ... and the ISIS plot to murder the Queen of England this Saturday. The regional upheaval in apparently calculated and co-ordinated attacks serve to destabilise the countries ... causing fear and suspicion. Nothing has occurred in Israel though ... they know the Israeli military is powerful and has a zero tolerance. In fact everyone is sure the Israeli army is the only regional force capable to neutralising these anarchic forces.

But the regional problems have an indirect effect on Israel - tourism. Tourists have dropped almost by a third because of fears. Local are feeling the pinch. Israelis are quick to adapt and organise tours for local Israelis ... which is working well. Palestine however is less organised and can only moan at the lost  of revenue.

Fragrant spices in the Suq

On the bright side, the roads are less crowded and I could take a walk down the old spice market "Suq" which dates back to the Crusader period, almost 1000 years ago. It's amazing to see the brilliant array of incense for sale, and the fragrances of exotic spices. This never fails to captivate me. It's almost spellbinding. I think of the times of the great golden era of islam ... of literature, maths, science and astronomy; the 1001 nights, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, Aladdin and the magic lamp, flying carpets and genies .... everything that modern fanatic islam is trying to destroy. Yes ISIS has destroyed more mosques than churches, persecuted more muslims than christians.

Majulah Singapura

It was a different Sunday today ... it's Singapore's National Independence Day ... 50 years of it. Since the 3rd century when Singapore was noted in written texts, it was under the Sri Vijaya empire, then the Chola empire followed by the Majapahit empire, the Portuguese, Dutch and British empires, the Johor Sultanate and the Japanese Occupation. Now for 50 yrs it's been independent ... and flourishing.  Great  achievement!

Patriotic cheesecake

I watched the celebrations on live broadcast via Channel News Asia. Must have been lots of viewers because the livefeed was not very steady. In typical singaporean style, I celebrated with food. Had rice with brinjals and beef, and a blueberry cheesecake that matched the Singapore flag - red and white. Actually breakfast was already the start of the celebration. I had mushroom bourekas (puff pastry) and pancakes. Now I'm feeling terribly sick with severe diarrhoea and nausea. The price to pay for festivity.

Israeli newspapers were quick to publish Israel's role in helping Singapore in the early years of nation-building especially in the military field. They claim the former PM Lee K.Y. had already revealed the secret in his 2000 autobiography so now Israel can talk openly about it. Even the Huffington Post ran a column on it. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.648458?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook  and  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-sleeper/blame-the-latest-israelar_b_2147509.html

The heatwave continues today but a strong cool breeze was blowing. It's nice outdoors but indoors is stuffy and oppressive. We're hoping next week this will all pass. Right now I just need to recover from this National Day binge.

Stromata

Latest news - the father of the baby burnt to death last week has also died from his injuries. The mother and 4 yr old brother are still in critical condition. Israel is expecting riots ... so military presence has been stepped up. What everyone is saying is how come no one has yet been arrested? Arab villagers are now organising watchdog groups to protect themselves from further jewish settler violence.

6.30am and the sun is
already scorching

The heatwave continues to beat down on us. But today there is an occasional cool breeze to lighten the oppressive heat. Tourists have trickled to barely a few ... shopkeepers fear this will ruin them as it's the 2nd year running that tourism has slumped in summer. Last year was due to the Gaza war.

And talking about Gaza, rockets have been fired into Israel for 2 days now. Israel retaliated this morning by bombing suspected areas in Gaza. Will this ever stop?

6.30am Salahaddin Street:
deserted due to the heatwave

Healthwise I'm still feeling sick. No appetite, dizzy and diarrhea. I stopped eating crackers so it's much better than the last few days. Because of the heat, I'm quite sleepless ... like so many others as well. Last night Ah Ling from Mandarin restaurant made me chicken herbal soup ... and added a bowl of rice and fried beef. Force-feeding me as I hardly ate anything for the past 2 days.

Let's hope next week will be cooler and I'll recover. I've still had no vacation though everyone else has. We're practically down to 4 people at home now. 13 straight years of no summer vacation. I'm feeling the strain.