The gloomier Manila’s weather gets—and today is drearier than usual—the more my brain conjures images of the week I spent in cool and sunny Tel Aviv. (Also, am procrastinating on a long overdue article, so of course here I am blogging #writerwoes #itspartoftheprocess #thesooneryougetthisoverwiththesooneryougetwritingdone #stopmakinghashtags)

The more I look back on the trip, the more I’m convinced whoever is in charge of the weather loves me. It was simply perfect timing. That sliver of time that signals movement from spring to summer, when the wind is cool enough to take the sting out of the sun’s rays, which for me is the perfect time to park my bum on the beach and do nothing but catch up on my reading…I managed to lock in on that time in Tel Aviv.

I simply loved this “young” and vibrant coastal city of Israel. Walking along the promenade from the old city of Jaffa to my beachfront hostel, checking out hot (and topless) Israeli men running by with their adorable mutts in tow (Alet and I agree we had found ourselves in eye candy heaven haha), eagerly anticipating every sunset (clear skies except on our last day there because the weather was just as sad as we were about our imminent departure)—as far as bottle-worthy moments go, in Tel Aviv my cup runneth over.

My favorite: Walking around the vibrant Nachlat Binyamin Arts & Crafts Fair and Shuk Ha’Carmel the Friday before flying out.

The day was a convergence of all my favorite things: brunch, thrift and trinkets shopping, sampling bite-sized local delicacies, people-watching, street musicians (an old lady powerfully belting out Israeli music and a guitarist playing the more familiar tunes of The Bee Gees’ How Deep Is Your Love and Yesterday by The Beatles), performance artists, the muggle version of Wizard’s Chess, and all these are set against heritage buildings decorated with vibrant street art.

A seriously HAPPY day.

I feel my mood getting a whole lot lighter just thinking about it. :)

-T-

Satisfaction