Words fail me when I think of these three places. But that’s what photos and memories are for, right?

Seeing Morocco from Spain (Gibraltar Rock)

The Western Wall, Jerusalem

Mt. Sinai at Sunrise

Like most museums, the building itself is a design exhibit. Under construction since 2007, the museum by Ron Arad (Israeli architect) opened to the public in March of this year. Its most noticeable feature is a series of ribbon-like bands in the central courtyard. Underneath the sweeping steel ribbons there is an outdoor ramp that connects the second floor gallery back down to the main entrance. The ramp serves as a unique link between the galleries—and also between inside & outside.

Last week I finally got to Holon to check out the new Design Muesum. I’d first read about it in Time Out Israel (quite possibly my favorite magazine series of all time) over a month ago, so it was nice to finally check out the museum.

The exhibit, titled “Toyko Fiber, Senseware,” was mostly about fabric and fiber. Everything was about touching (but don’t touch the actual exhibits!) and strange, new, synthetic fibers being used for unique purposes.

According to the exhibition brochure…

The aim of this exhibition is to deliberately bring a broad sweep of creators and technology people into contact with attractive new artificial fibers, encouraging them to think of applications that make the benefits of the material visible. Through that approach, the exhibition attempts to show ideas for the future of manufacturing, exhibiting new environmental membranes derived from artificial fibers in order to share them with the world at large.

The museum is rather small (but architecturally beautiful) so there wasn’t a lot of space but they managed to fit in a fair amount of lofty ideas. A lot of people don’t recognize the design value in engineering or industrial design—especially of seemingly undesigned objects. That’s the beauty of design, in my opinion, when it’s invisible. As any product designer will tell you, someone had to design a toothpick.

Some of the pieces in the Senseware exhibit were a bit strange, but that was probably the idea. Get people talking. And thinking. There were a handful of really cool, really fascinating objects, though.

An organic fabric meant to resemble moss, or grass...

Fabric/fiber that reacted to some sort of movement. These bodies were pulsing as if they were breathing. No breeze needed. Weird.

Not really part of the exhibit. But you should know: I really like white & black colors. And the letter "F" (oh and the table in the topmost photo was there to represent a fiber that could be used for picking up dust - like Swiffer I guess.)

Some sort of malleable fiber.

This was cool! A fiber that could be mixed with concrete to allow light to pass through. Has lots of practical (and beneficial) uses in my opinion.

A car that smiles.

And, one of the coolest pieces in the exhibit, a water-repellent fabric/fiber. They had this gently sloping platform nicely set up with magically appearing water droplets.

Check back here next week for some more information on the Design Museum in Holon, as well as photos of its beautiful architecture.

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New to travelsofadam.com? Adam is a graphic designer traveling around the world in search of creative inspiration, tasty food & interesting people. Connect with Adam on Facebook or subscribe via RSS for regular updates. Or get even more frequent updates via Twitter.

Getting a haircut while traveling

I think this may be one of my more favorite pastimes—getting a haircut while abroad and/or traveling. It’s such a regular occurrence and is bound to happen while you’re abroad for any extended amount of time. Unless you’re a dirty hippie.

Not only does it involve finding a place to get a haircut, but you’re almost guaranteed a local experience. I mean, how many other travelers are getting a haircut?

Making the mundane memorable

Honestly, how many haircuts of yours do you remember? I just remember under a handful as standout experiences—one of them while I was traveling around Australia in May 2006. I was in desperate need of a haircut (in fact, I may have avoided a haircut for the preceding 4 months out of fear of acting stupid in a foreign barbershop).

I was traveling with my friend Sara and when I finally decided to get my hair chopped off, I was pretty excited with the end result. Sara (if we were still friendly) could probably attest to my heightened levels of excitement both pre- and post-haircut.

That haircut in Darwin, Australia stands out in my memory because it was such a normal activity, in an abnormal way. That’s what makes long-term travel so wacky—and so fun! Doing things just like you normally would, but in a totally different way.

That day in Darwin, we just stumbled into a barbershop (photo above) while walking down a seemingly deserted street. I’d been on the lookout for a place to get my haircut for a few days. After an attempt in Alice Springs searching for some chick in our hostel who apparently was a professional hair-cutter failed, I just waited until we got to Darwin.

Walking into the single-room barbershop, I asked how much. He said a price. I probably agreed. He then proceeded to close the door and all the windows, locking us inside. Sara was freaked out. I was excited to see what would happen next. After listing my vague guidelines for a haircut (“short…but not too short”), he started frantically snipping & snapping away. In just over a few minutes, all my precious hair was gone. I felt instantly refreshed and ready to take on the world. That’s when I made Sara snap the photo of me (below). So clean!

And that brings us up to speed

All this was in my mind when I stepped into a little, one-room barbershop on Ibn Givrol street yesterday afternoon. The old, bald man was sitting in the barber chair eating his lunch out of one of those giant plastic cups everyone seems to drink water out of (I think it’s a Jewish thing). He named the price (10 NIS higher than the posted price because “you have a lot of hair”).

I waited for him to finish his lunch. And then sat down, willing to let whatever happen. I gave my directions: “just shorter…but keep the bangs longer.” He took a bar of soap and ran it through my hair (“weird” I thought, but whatever). A straightedge blade and some rusty scissors later…and I had a haircut!

Ah, it’s so refreshing to have short hair again. Even if it aligns me with a certain political persuasion I don’t necessarily want anything to do with. Not only do I instantly appear older (I was carded at a bar the other day – WTF!), but it’s so much more comfortable in the heat of the day.

And yes, this post was entirely just about a haircut. I don’t know why. Here’s a few more pics! Happy weekend, everyone.

This photo was taken at the High Place of Sacrifice, one of many amazing spots in the gigantic Petra. Apparently, Mr Wombat’s got a thing for sacrificial tourism spots.

Petra, Jordan was one of those places that wasn’t necessarily on my to-do list, but everyone kept recommending it and it really was very close. There didn’t seem to be a reason to skip it. And boy am I glad I didn’t! My two (or was it three?) days in Jordan were a lot of fun. I wish I’d stayed longer.

(I’ll write more about Petra later, and also share more of my photos—I took about a gazillion.)

PS. Wombats are awesome.

Haifa is Israel’s 3rd (or maybe 4th…I’m not sure) largest city. (Actually, defining an Israeli’s city size is a complicated, political affair—one I don’t really want to get into.) Well, whatever. It’s a big city and it’s in northern Israel along the Mediterranean Coast. Not really a major tourist city, there were no hostels to be found, but luckily it’s big on CouchSurfing.

When I told people I was going to Haifa for the weekend, many Israelis said “Why?” Well, no reason, really, except I wanted to see the Baha’i Gardens which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (I think?). You can tell this post was well-researched, can’t you?

So, my CouchSurfing host was kind enough to provide some good travel tips for Haifa. Haifa turned out to be a rather enjoyable city and it actually seemed pretty cool. A lot of cafes and trendy shops—on a much smaller scale than Tel Aviv, but cool nonetheless. Plus it’s on the side of a mountain (or a really big hill). That makes for walking around the city rather difficult, but the buses were easy to manage and, bonus!, the city has the world’s shortest subway system! (More on that next week. Or sometime. I think it’s disputed, anyways.)

My CouchSurfing host recommended I check out Masada Street. Street art galore! Apparently there are random street parties with live music and hippies dancing in the street sometimes. I didn’t see it, but I’d believe it. A used bookshop, vintage clothing, upscale/independent trendy clothing, bars & cafes—all necessities for a hipster. And on a street that’s just 500 meters! (Disclosure: I made that number up.)

Anyways, STREET ART:

PS I love whales.

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New to travelsofadam.com? Adam is a graphic designer (and self-described hipster) traveling & working his way around the world. This post is part of the Hipsters Around the World series. Become a Facebook fan or subscribe to both the RSS feed & the monthly e-mail newsletter for regular updates. Happy day!