Day 1: Flying to Tel Aviv with Emirates

Time to fly out of Hong Kong again. Instead of going to our usual destination of Japan/Korea/Thai/Taiwan, we are flying farther away! Too Tel Aviv, Israel! Booking a plane ticket to Tel Aviv is a little tricky for me. Not that it's hard to book online, but so hard to choose whether I pay the super high price for a direct flight or make a stop in Dubai and cut the cost by 30%? Chose the latter one since I am constantly broke. Using Ctrip.com to book was a breeze as usual.

Love flying at midnight. Not too late, not too early. And I would be tired enough to sleep after I board.

It's actually our first time flying on Emirates. This plane is huge. A double decker.

The plane was completely packed. The ground attendant at check in was so nice to get us a seat sitting together next tot he exit. Some people love it some people hate it. Cho loves it, but I am not really a fan. She loves it for the leg room. I dislike it because the handle between seats cannot be lifted. I usually lift the handle between the seat (if I am travelling with a friend), so I can hog the other person's space.

It's a 8 hour flight to Dubai. We get too meals. The meals don't look amazing, but they taste pretty good. If you have every flown on Cathay Pacific, you will know their meals have a distinct aroma...not a pleasant one. The meals on Emirates is free of that weird smell. All tasty. The meat is perfectly juicy and tender. Not too salty and not bland.

Getting through the ride was easy. It would definitely be better if there aren't so many people. However, that would probably never happen as there are so many connecting flights in Dubai and Dubai seems to be one of the top destination for mainland Chinese, which now makes Dubai one of the last place I want to visit. I just don't want to visit a place too crowded. If I want to be pushed around with many Chinese, I'd just stay in Hong Kong.

Finally arrived at Dubai airport with a 2 hour overlay.

Dubai airport is huge. Their shops seems to open 24/7. At least they were open at 4am. So, endless shopping.

We have been trying to exchange for some Israel shekels in Hong Kong and absolutely impossible to find any without ordering in advance. We thought we could find more luck at Dubai airport, but again, shekels is not a popular currency. You absolutely won't be able to find any currency exchange counter with sufficient shekels. Just exchange for shekels at Israel airport.

Wanted to grab ourselves a little snack before boarding our next flight to Tel Aviv. Lots of pastries and sandwiches.

Got ourselves an avocado and egg flat bread with a coffee. Quick and easy eat before we board.

For a country that is known to be expensive, the price is not bad, especially when things are supposed to be more expensive in an airport.

We were so naive to think 2 hours is enough to slowly eat and chill before boarding. Dubai airport is huge and it took us more than 30 minutes to get to our gate. We were running to our gate as they were making final calls.

For a 3200 USD ticket, we were purchasing to fly on Emirates, but the connecting flight turned to Fly Dubai instead. A low-cost airline. Anyways, it was still a nice flying experience.

2.5 hours from Dubai to Tel Aviv! Couldn't wait! But seeing the temperature to be 35C scared us a little.

Even though it's a short flight, we still get one simple breakfast.

Got some potato cakes and bean. Potato cake is a little bland and I personally don't like ketchup beans.

On the other hand, the cheese omelette with mushroom and hash browns was amazing.

Before we knew it, we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport (Others 3)!

We hear a lot of bad stories about how strict and scary the customs are at Tel Aviv. Turns out everyone is so friendly and security check isn't as stringent as people say it is. Custom officers are very friendly, actually EVERYONE in Tel Aviv was very friendly and helpful. We had no idea what the flow is like to get through customs as there weren't many signs, but people would just jump in and ask if you need any help if you have the slightest helpless look on your face.

Anyways, after getting off the plane, you will see some machines similar to ones in airport's departure area for self check in. There are absolutely no sign explaining who needs to go through these machines as they aren't set up in a way that looks like it's a gate that you need to pass through. It's just some machine on the side of a hallway with no distinct line. After scanning your passport, you get a little ticket. Take the little ticket and follow the sign to the customs. Depending on your passport (I think), you will be told to line up to go through customs the traditional way where you show your passport to the custom officer and they scan it and stamp it OR you just walk through without having to show your passport to anyone. I was lucky to go through the latter route. I was so unsure about it as I saw other people lining up at the traditional customs. Anyways, it was an awesome, quick and easy experience. Got my luggage and out of the airport within 20 minutes.

Bear in mind that some friends I know holding various passports did that stopped and interrogated for 2-4 hours. So, it really depends on your luck.