Jerusalem - Taking The Discovery Route

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Shalom Ya'll! Happy Hanukkah from Jerusalem! I'm in the holy city where the Muslims, Christians and Jews co-exist in the same city. The old city Jerusalem completely blows my mind because it's divided into four quarters: Jewish quarter, Muslims quarter, Christian quarter and Armenian quarter (also Christian). These four quarters are all within this big wall that surrounds the whole city. Within this small city, they have extremely important sites that each religion holds very dearly. For the Christians, they have the Via Dolarosa, which is the path Jesus walked before his crucifixion. For the Jews, they have the Western Wall which is a wall that has been there since King David first came to Jerusalem about 2300 years ago. For the Muslims,they have a story where the prophet Mohammed, praise be with him, jumped onto a winged horse and flew from Saudi Arabia to Jerusalem so that he could ascend to the heavens to speak with all the other prophets. Because they each have their religious significance, Jerusalem has been in constant war for over 2000 years. But now, they are all cool with each other and they are living peacefully in the same city!

Taking the Discovery Route

Alright, I got it. Go straight and make a left when I see a blue church, then keep going straight until I reach a roundabout and take a right at the 2nd exit, then make another right and then a left. Ok, don’t forget Vic, don’t forget. Straight, left, straight, 2nd right, right and left. Straight, left, straight, 2nd right then… oooo~ what’s that? That’s pretty, I’m going to take a picture of that building. Nice, Nice. Ok, Where was I? Straight, make a left at the church then um…. Left? Noo, that’s not right, um…D’OH!

I am a complete idiot when it comes to directions. Seriously, a complete idiot. When I need to make a full circle around a block, I make three right turns and then forget to make the 4th right turn to get back to the same street… I’m so bad at directions that I actually get lost at IKEA! They have arrows on the floor to tell me where to go and I still get lost for Buddha’s sake! I try following the motto “When in doubt, go north” but I never have any idea which way is north so I go straight instead. I’m so stupid that I can still get lost when I use my GPS navigator on the car. Plus, I don’t trust them for some reason. The only navigator I trust is a girl called Maggie. She has this uncanny sense of direction combined with a crisp memory that always guides me out of my lost bewilderment. Unfortunately, she’s not a compact machine that I’m able to take everywhere on my world tour, hehe, and so I get completely lost. Almost every day, I get ridiculously lost somewhere but I’ve learned to love it.

My friend, John Roche, once told me, “Vic, it’s called a shortcut for a reason. There’s always some kind of risk or danger going down that path. If it was the quicker way with no risk behind it, then it would just be called ‘the way’, ya fool.” Haha, he makes a damn good point and I’ve been taking the shortcut ever since. Even though my shortcuts may actually take much longer than the other way, I find a quiet thrill to the risks and dangers behind taking the road less taken. It becomes a personal adventure for me every time because the uncertainty causes excitement for me, not anxiety. It wasn’t always like this for me though. Before, I would take the conventional path and just go the way I’m ‘supposed’ to go. I would join tour groups and follow the arrows to be certain I wouldn’t get lost. But…forget that.

As I’m going through this journey for myself, I’ve learned to really enjoy getting lost. The more lost I get, the more I discover. I deliberately lose myself in the city, jungle or mountains and it has rewarded me with a much more gratifying feeling than if I had followed the conventional path. I’ve discovered a hidden waterfall in the rainforest, a beautiful tree with hundreds of exotic birds, a neighborhood full of happy kids who’ve never seen an Asian before, the best local shish kebab that tourists would never know about and the best views of the sun setting over the city. It’s all about taking the chance and not having any expectations of what I’m going to discover. If I take the road less taken and expect to find something grandiose, then I’ll only let myself down. I have to enjoy the moment that I’m lost and have fun while I’m jumping over the streams, going down the steep hills, climbing the rocks and hopping over the fences. After all, the adventure is in the journey and not the final destination. 9 times out of 10, I won’t find anything really exciting at the end, but that one time that I do… it’s truly a once in a lifetime experience that nobody else will ever experience. It’s because of that one time that I decide to try and get lost every time.

The greatest explorers will tell you that they knew exactly where they were going. Yeah right, that’s a lie because it wouldn’t be much of an exploration if they followed a road map. They got completely lost and by dumb luck, they’ve discovered something amazing. They would tell their followers, “Don’t worry, I know where I’m going…” but they don’t have the slightest clue. All they have is their fearless attitude of being lost and the unwavering confidence that they will find their way. One of the seven elements of a great film is the theme where the hero of the movie gets really lost but discovers something profound and comes back stronger than ever. It happened in Matrix, Dark Knight, Star Trek, Godfather and even Lion King. Simba was completely lost in the jungle before he discovered Hakuna Matata. And then he got lost chasing Rafiki (the baboon) in the forest where he led him to a pond and told him to ‘look closely’ into the water. Then Mufasa (the dead dad) appears and says, “You’ve forgotten who you are. Remember, Simba, Rememberrrrr~…” Then he remembers and runs for days until he reaches Pride Rock and wins the kingdom back. Haha, I got a little carried away there, but it’s a great movie though. Essentially, they have to be lost before they can be found. It’s a simple message that I have learnt. It’s also a little bit of optimism to help be overcome the fear of being lost and revel in the moment instead.

It’s fun to get lost, but it’s not that fun to get lost forever. When I’m lost enough, I would eventually want to get to where I actually want to go. My favorite way is to ask the locals. Because I’m horrible with remembering directions, I would ask as much as 3 locals just to get to one place. The first person would say, “Go straight for about five minutes and then turn left and then…” and then my mind would shut off because that’s all I needed to know, hehe. I’d go straight for 5 minutes, make a left and ask the next person for directions. It may seem bothersome to ask so many people, but I really enjoy it for two reasons. The first reason is that I don’t have to repeat the long list of instructions in my head while I’m walking and so I can enjoy what’s around me. The second reason is because I believe in altruism and I’m experiencing it first hand when a total stranger is giving up his time to help without any selfish reasons. In life, I believe the best help is when somebody just points the way for me. I really dislike it when somebody maps out everything and plan things for me because well, like I said, I enjoy being lost. Asking locals has gotten me to where I wanted to go every single time. Every single time. So if I always eventually find my way, then was I ever really lost to begin with? No, I wasn’t lost at all… I just went on a discovery route before I found my way.

I hope this old train breaks down then I could take a walk around
See what there is to see, time is just a melody,
With all the people in the streets walking fast as their feet
Can take them, I just roll through town…
And all the people in the street that I’ll never get to meet
If these tracks don’t bend somehow,
And I got no time that I got to get to where I don’t need to be,
So I need this old train to break down - From my favorite song “Breakdown” by Jack Johnson

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Photos

old city Jerusalem
This is the big wall protecting the whole city. This is the Damascus Gate

Church
Jesus carrying the cross

Tower of David
Great big fortress to defend city

Dome of the Rock
Muslim Mosque marks the spot where prophet Mohammed, praise be with him, ascended to heaven

Western Wall
A sacred wall for the Jews

Wailing Jew
The Western Wall is also called the Wailing Wall. I think because the Jews look like they are crying since they are rocking back and forth in prayer towards the wall

My Kipa
I had to wear a Kipa into this area or else I'd be a disrespectful jerk

Beginning of Via Doloarosa
The church of condemntion. This is where Jesus was first sentenced to crucifixion by King Pilates because the Jews demanded it

Garden Tomb
It's not official, but many say this garden is where Jesus was buried