Lisbon, Portugal

So I visited Lisbon last Easter (April 2012) and I love Portugal so much! It's like one of my top 3 fav European cities!!! I'm so excited to write abt Lisbon!!! Hee hee!!!

I visited Portugal with my classmate, Minjung and we spent 4 days there! 2 days in Lisbon and took a day trip to Cascais and Sintra (will write a separate entry abt these 2 places some other time!)

Lisbon is so pretty, absolutely love it! Definitely wanna go back there someday!!! Spent a day roaming arnd the city centre and went over to Belem (another area in Lisbon) another day! If you're flying into Lisbon, I'd recommend that you spend 4 days there (or more) -- 2 days in Lisbon and you can take day trips to other parts of Portugal on the other 2 days! I knw some of my friends rented a car and drove arnd, guess you could do that too! But transport isn't an issue in Portugal so it's okay if you don't drive! The trains are pretty handy and they're not that ex!

Went there in April and the weather was pleasant arnd 15deg? Warm and sunny enough to wear a tank top in the day and just throw on a jacket at night when the temp drops!

Well I stayed in Rossio Hostel in Lisbon (Check out http://www.rossiohostel.com/rh/home.html for more info) And I have to say that I think out of all the hostels I've been to in Europe, this is one of my fav place!!!! It's so clean and the location is superb! And all the staff are so friendly and helpful!!!!

The hostel itself is situated like 1 min away frm Rossio Square, the main square in Lisbon. My friend and I got a twin bed private room and the room was so clean and pretty (pink bedsheets, what's there not to love abt it???) I think most hostels in Lisbon don't offer ensuite so we had to use a shared toilet too but it was fine! Toilet was really clean!

They serve breakfast every morning too! I think you get to pick between 2 options but I can't rmb what the 2 options are (I think one of them involved nutella haha) There are computers in the reception area for you to use and board games for you to play too! Awesome place!!!

Only pic I had of our room, lol just my bed but you can sorta imagine how the room looks like???

 

So anywayz some of the places I visited in Lisbon:

Rossio Square

The main square in Lisbon and just across the hostel I stayed in! There are loads of restaurants arnd the area! Do check them out!

Rossio Square at night! I took this pic frm my hostel!

 

Frm Rossio Square, you can take a little walk arnd the area....

Baixa (Downtown)

Santini

Rua do Carmo, 9

1200 Lisboa

(In Chiado)

One of my friend who visited Lisbon before told me that I HAVE TO try the ice cream here. This place isn't difficult to find at all, it's located along one of the main streets in Lisbon. The queue for ice cream was really long when I got to the shop! The menu was written in Portuguese and I had no idea what some of the stuffs were so I had to ask the staff. FYI, the menu was rather extensive!

The road leading to Santini (I think!)

Minjung and I outside the shop with our ice cream cone!

Ahh can't rmb what I ordered but it tasted really good! Sorry I think I took a bite prior to taking a pic of it!!!

 

Minjung and I enjoyed our ice cream alot and we went back for more on our last day!!! Be glad to knw that this place closes at 12am everyday!!!

 

Casa Do Alentejo

58, Rua das Portas de Santo Antao

 

This Portuguese restaurant was recommended by my hostel! It's not too far off from where I was staying, abt a 10min walk. From the outside, the restaurant looked like a tourist trap but it is actually a lovely place -- the restaurant is located within a 17th century Moorish castle!

My friend and I ordered a pork dish (not quite sure what's the name of the dish) and sad to say, it wasn't as tasty as what I expected. Nevertheless, this place is worth the visit! The architecture is amazing.

 

 

Bairro Alto

 

When you're in Lisbon, do check out Bairro Alto! Basically it's an indie/ alternative kinda area with some small shops and mainly pubs and bars! It gets really busy at night with loads of locals and tourists heading to a bar for a drink! Minjung and I checked out a random bar and got ourselves a mojito each! It was so cheap and good that we went back on our last day too! I think it's only 6 euros for a huge cup!

 

 

 

Graffiti everywhere!

 

 

 

 

You can nvr go wrong with mojito!

A Tasca Do Chico
39, Rua do Diario de Noticias

A friend of mine told me that if I had the time, I shld definitely check out fado music, which is traditional Portuguese music. So after googling etc, I found out that this place is famous for fado! It's fado night on Mon and Wed at 9pm and it usually gets very VERY crowded, so if you want a seat, be sure to go earlier!
I went there at 9pm and wasn't able to get a seat. The place was filled with people and everyone was standing arnd with a drink in their hands! This was the first time I heard fado and it was truly an experience.

All eyes on the performer

Lastly, when in Portugal, be sure to try this dish, Arroz de marisco! It is Portuguese seafood rice (if you're Asian, it tastes like teochew porridge -- not the porridge Caucasians eat for breakfast) I LOVED it and so did Minjung! We wanted to visit the famous restaurant to try this dish but by the time we arrived at the place, it was closed so we went to another restaurant instead. But still, it was so delicious!!!

Yum!!! Would have loved to have real crab meat in our rice instead of crabsticks but poor students like us can't afford it. Maybe another time, after I've graduated haha!

Okay gonna uploads some of the other pics I took in Lisbon (city centre area) but I can't quite rmb the name of the places/ where they are exactly! Sorry, it's been too long! But do enjoy the pics!

 

That's all for now! I'll blog abt my trip to Belem and the famous Portuguese egg tarts in the nxt entry! X

Hiatus

Just thought I'd drop a quick note! I'm currently preparing for my exams so I don't have time to update this space!! Sorry but I'll be back in end June with pics frm Portugal, Amsterdam, Seoul etc! And also, I'll be heading to Bangkok and Hong Kong in July so stay tune for that too!!!

In the meantime, have a great summer break everyone! (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one arnd who's not done with sch.... SOBZ!!)

Bye! X

London: Hummingbird bakery

Wanted to do an entry on Lisbon but there's just too much to write abt (done with half the draft but I'm too lazy to complete it) So since I visited London over the weekend, just thought I'd post abt London instead!

Well, prior to my weekend trip, I made a mental note of the places I wanna visit. Hummingbird bakery topped the list! I've heard so much abt this place and its amazing red velvet cupcakes. So with the help of google and some maps, I decided to visit the outlet in Soho! It's abt a 10 min walk frm Oxford Circus/ Picadilly Circus/ Tottenham Court Rd tube station. But I got lost lol, I'm just really bad with directions.

Anywayz was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the shop cos it wasn't too crowded! The shop has limited seats available but I'm glad that my mom and I managed to get a place. I think most people get take aways and FYI, it's cheaper if you do a take away!

Hummingbird Bakery

155a Wardour Street

Soho, London

W1F 8WG

They sell cakes too!

Red velvet cupcake.

Carrot cupcake.

We ordered the red velvet cupcake (lol obviously a must try based on multiple reviews online) and a carrot cupcake. They're pricey enough at approx £3.30 per cupcake (I think it's £2.65 if you eat out) That's like SGD$6 for a small cupcake yikes! And my mom got an Americano too so the total bill was arnd £11.

Sad to say, both cupcakes tasted pretty average to me? The icing was very sweet. Felt somewhat cheated after eating the cupcakes, it really isn't that legendary as the reviews made it out to be! Sigh, all the wasted calories....

Don't think I'll visit Hummingbird bakery again! But well, the restaurant nxt to Hummingbird bakery in Soho seemed pretty packed and I think it sells mains + desserts too. I might try it the nxt time!

Check out http://hummingbirdbakery.com/ for more info. Their other oulets include Notting Hill and South Kensington.

Will post abt the other places I visited in London over the weekend + Lisbon soon! X

Santorini, Greece

I took a flight to Santorini frm Athens (Olympic Air), it took abt 45 mins. You can take a ferry frm Athens to Santorini too but I think it takes abt 5-9 hrs depending on which kinda ferry you decide to take.

Santorini is the largest island in Greece and it is absolutely beautiful. Before arriving in Santorini, I had this image in my head, that Santorini was gonna be really picturesque, with all the typical Greek houses etc. And I'm glad to say, I wasn't disappointed at all!

Weeks before my trip, I had Stereo Love on repeat becos I had to get into the "Greek mood" (I'm retarded like that....) If you didn't knw, the music video for Stereo Love was filmed in Mykonos (another Greek island) and watching the MV made me super excited! If you haven't seen the video, here it is:

Doesn't Mykonos look amazing in the video????

So anywayz I spent 3 full days in Santorini and stayed in Mill Houses (Check out http://www.millhouses.gr/ for more info)
Mill Houses is in Firostefani, a 10 min walk frm Fira, the main district in Santorini. And I'd strongly recommend this place! It's really convenient and the service provided was definitely top-class! They provide free airport pick up service and all the staffs are really friendly and helpful too!
I think we got a suite and opted for a room with the sea view!

Our room!

My dad hard at work haha.

Another reason why I love Mill Houses is becos they deliver breakfast to your room every morning!!!! Omg am I in paradise or what??? So basically what happens is that the night before, you're supposed to fill up this breakfast menu thing, and you get to select whatever you want for breakfast (as much as you like) and when you wake up, just ring reception and they'll deliver the breakfast to your room within 15 min!

We decided to have breakfast indoors for 2 days cos it was kinda cold and took breakfast at our balcony on the last day! Simply amazing!

Woohoo eggs, tea, coffee, bread, fruits etc.

The only bad thing I can think of abt Mill Houses is that you've to walk down loads of steps to get to the place. But I don't think that's too much of an issue cos most places in Santorini requires you to climb up and down steps too.

Took this panorama frm just outside my room!!!! Pretty amazing right?

Just outside my room!!!!

Taken frm the swimming pool! Yupz there's a pool at Mill Houses!

Stairs leading to the pool.

The water was too cold to swim so I was just chilling by the pool!

Anywayz I think it's a safe choice to stay arnd Firostefani or Fira as most buses leading to other parts of the island depart frm the bus terminal in Fira!

Another hotel in Firostefani! Most hotels look like this, like villas!

A church in Firostefani!

Fira.

Kamari Beach

We decided to visit Kamari Beach out of all the beaches in Santorini (completely random decision)! So we got the local bus frm the bus station in Fira, I think it's only 1.70euros for a one way ticket. The bus operates on a time table and it's not that regular (I think it's 1 bus per hr?) so if you're planning to take the bus, do check out the bus timings!

I'm not a beach lover but Kamari beach is a really nice place! Anywayz becos I visited Santorini in Early April, it was still pretty cold then! So the beach was kinda empty but I think it gets really crowded in summer!

Black sand!

With my family!

My friend recommended Red Beach too and I went there on my last day. But again, becos of the weather, the beach was really quiet! And in my opinion, I like Kamari beach better than the Red Beach!

Oia

When in Santorini, you definitely have to visit Oia to catch the legendary sunset! Oia is another town in Santorini, abt 20 min bus ride frm Fira! Absolutely stunning!!!
(But I went there at arnd 2pm so I didn't get to catch the sunset haha)

Get lost in the little alleys.

 

So pretty~

  

Posing in one of the little alleys.

I spent 3 full days there and I think unless you're a beach lover and plan to spend your time rolling in the sand, 3 days would be sufficient. My family decided to skip the visit to the Caldera becos the weather wasn't that fantastic when we were there (really windy with some rain) And according to my friend who visited Santorini before, it isn't really worth the visit (lol her honest opinion)

Santorini is a relaxing spot and it's perfect if you're looking for a "chill" kinda holiday. Even better if you're a beach lover! All in all, definitely a place worth visiting! X