Day 10 - 8 Apr 08

The port of Haifa was just a 10-minute drive from the hotel. While the tour of the port wasn't as comprehensive or intimate as the one we had over at the Ben Gurion airport, it was nontheless a quite enlightening session where we got to gain insights into their security framework, procedures and practices. At the same time, it was certainly a welcomed opportunity to get us out of the classroom environment.



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Dinner today was at the Maxim Restaurant, also located within the city of Haifa. In Oct 2003, this restaurant had been the target of a terror attack by a Palestinian female suicide bomber. 16 were killed, out of which were members of families who had been there taking their weekend lunches. Wrong place, wrong time. Many more were injured. The restaurant was totally wrecked. As we spoke to Tony, one of the owners of the restaurant who survived the attack, he told us that in the aftermath of the attack, it was so painful for the survivors that they couldn't go on with the business. It was eventually throught the unwavering support and encouragement of the community that they rebuilt the restaurant from ground up, and restarted their business at the very same location. A memorial erected outside the restaurant now serves as a stark reminder of the tragic event, as remembrance of the deceased, and as a testiment of the people's resilience in the face of adversity.

Btw, Maxim serve great food too!




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As I surf through the channels with the remote, I came across this. It was quite a surprise to see Zhang Yimou's work on the Israeli tube. It was a fighting scene being screened at the moment I switched to this channel. I was waiting and half expecting the characters to start spewing Hebrew, which would have been hilarious. Imagine Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi mouthing "shalom" and "toda" to each other. Thankfully, they didn't. They'd got Hebrew subs, though.

Hohoho.


小妹：大侠在女人面前，果然最大胆。