wailing wall

people sometimes can randomly ask me about my belief,

and I’m proud to say that I’m a Christian.

then some of them will ask me again Why/How do I become a Christian ?

well.. i can remember vividly how comfortable it was, my first time sitting at the church without knowing what song they sang and what the preacher preached. haha..

the time when i chose bible over sailormoon comics in the bookstore during my 3rd grade,

and when i saw angels *literally* around my bed right after i asked Him to show me one.

Those things happened to me when i was in primary 3-4.

and i think those ‘magical’ moments mold my today’s belief.

and i am also sure each and everyone of us have our own ‘eureka’ moments that makes us what we are today; either you belief in any God or not.

well.. that’s only some sharing before i enter to Day 6 itinerary. hehe..

because why?

because we are going to The Golden Dome today! hehe..

Dome of The Rock or sometimes people call it The Golden Dome.,

A place whereby the Christians belief that Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac,

and a place whereby the Muslims belief that Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Ishmael.

this place is the 3rd most visited place for the Muslims too after Meca and Madina.

the Muslims also believe that it was the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven..

ahaa.. i think that’s a real Gold up there.. haha

well.. nothing much to do here.

cause i think we cant go in to the Dome as well.

so, there it is.. my touristy pictures. hehe

anyway , doo i look like a Japanese? haha

everyone there keep saying “konnichiwa” and “arigato” to me

and some people just speak to me in Japanese like i have a clue..

anyway.. this place is soooo sacred.. idk who makes the rules..

but man and woman cant even hold hands here..

or even touching their partners shoulder.

hmpp.. be careful to watch your hands there.. hehe..

well.. but the kids are allowed to hold hands.. *like the pic below. hehe

many students come to this place for some study tour,

most of them will be in pair and holding hands.

of course the boy with the boy and vise-versa.

and when they walked around the place, they will walk and scream something like ‘Allahu akbar’

idk why they have to scream like that.

and it was non-stopp.. idk when they will stop..

maybe it’s the tradition though.

this pics here is the Golden Gate

the place where the Jewish believe that their Messiah will come through this door..

just beside this Golden Dome is

the Wailing Wall / Western Wall. *atau yg biasa sering disapa dngn sebutan tembok ratapan. hehe*

i was thinking it will be a veryyy huge wall..

in fact its not that huge.. hehe..

so, people will come there and pray to God.

usually they will write their prayer on a piece of paper, and they will put it in between the rocks.

some people might take a while to pray, and some people might take a longgg while to pray. hehe.

they put chairs there for the people who wants to read their bible there.

or for us the tourist to wait. haha.

our tour people said that normally at night, the caretaker there will take all the letters out, and will put it in a container, and keep it under the ground for the God’s.

they said it is your official prayer to God if you put your letter there..

and believe it or not,

God did answer one of my prayer that i wrote in the letter, just right after i pray there.

does that place really can answer your prayer in no time? well.. i dont know

or maybe it’s just a coincidence? i dont know too..

what i know my God is everywhere that can answer my prayer in His right time..

after our half day of touring, we got to tried Israel Local Food.

The “Falafel”

a flat pita bread with fillings inside..

they usually sell this at the roadside. haha..

but this is nicee..

something new for my taste buds. haha.

today we went to the place where Jesus was crucified.

the Garden Tomb – a place where Jesus was crucified according to the Christians belief.

the “Golgotha” – The Skull Hill

they call it the skull hill because there was a man standing opposite the hill and saw this hill looks like a skull from far.

i love the signage on the door. hehe..

believed as the Jesus’s tomb back then.

our tour guide there at the Garden Tomb explaining to us many things.

but what we remember the most is when he said that,

“nevertheless, we are worshiping our one and only God, not a place” – not an exact lines. haha.

that was like mind blowing for us at that moment,

because we went there to know the real place where Jesus did everything back then.

but all we found is only a place where the people believed that events were took place.

anyway. the garden is pretty, very shady *idk if there’s such a word* haha. in bahasa we called it “teduh” hehe.

we also met a bunch of indonesia there having a service.. and i found it very heart-warming. listening to those indo worship songs.. they made me want to join their service as well.

just sit there and praising God.. it’s just felt amazing.

the Catholic’s Church *i forgot what’s the name* – a place where Jesus was crucified according to the Catholic’s belief.

this one is very different with the Christian’s ones.

its a very huge church with all the beauty engravings / paintings in the wall and many manyy pilgrims there doing their rituals.. like touching the altar and the star-hole-look-alike that is believed as Jesus’ tomb, and blessing their Rosario and scarf etc at the other altar.

it’s just a very “happening” place.