Did you know?

The photos in most collages can be clicked! 😉 Ps. Older posts with Photobucket links may still experience issues.

Mitsuba Japanese Restaurant review

Random update because I’m on MC lol. XD

So a couple of weeks ago I treated myself to Mitsuba, as a birthday treat. Had some weird craving for salmon sashimi all the time so I figured out a buffet would be more worth than the monthly Gurume orders. Practically all their tags on Instagram were pretty positive, so I was really really looking forward.

Boy so wrong so wrong. 😦 (Click through the photos for individual dish comments.)

Mentaiko scallop. Sauce was nice but scallop was hard and overcooked.

(Clockwise) Baby octopus, jellyfish, seaweed, scallops. Tasted normal but when it was served all combined together, I kinda lost my appetite. Why other people get theirs separate?

Assorted sashimi platter of salmon, yellowtail, white tuna, and swordfish. The salmon was really good but the rest were pretty tasteless.

Tuna belly scraps handroll on the left and lobster salad handroll on the right. The tuna was really weird. Lobster salad was normal.

Cha soba (left) was terribly bland. Daiso one tastes better. And the mentaiko pasta (right) tasted really weird too.

2nd order of just salmon sashimi. Definitely not as good as the first plate. Very very chewy.

Meltique Beef Slices w/ garlic & salt (left) – super chewy. Black pork w/ garlic & pepper (right) – super salty.

Assorted veggie and prawn tempura. Veggies were normal but the prawns were quite hard. Don’t taste fresh to me.

Fried squid tentacles. Super salty I couldn’t even finish it.

Last plate of salmon sashimi. I ordered just 4 pieces, which I struggled to finish. Still the chewy kind. Tsk.

Look very appetizing right? So disappointing! I requested a window seat and brought along my new camera somemore. After tasting the first dish I gave up. Decided it wasn’t worth the effort lol.

Cost a whopping $54. Bitch please. A total waste of my money. Definitely DO NOT recommend.

Greece Day 11 – Going home

Nothing much to this day, but just wanted to share our experience of getting out of Santorini and to the airport. 😐

So we had previously asked the front desk to help book a cab to send us to the (ferry) port. It was another 40€ (S$60.40) omg. A minibus came instead, and it went around picking up MORE passengers (so can you imagine how much they’re earning sheesh).

But would totally recommend a car or at least a mini van. A bus would be too scary lol. From the top of the hill, we had to go down the many slopes and pass scary curves to get down to the port.

The port was also quite a mess – tons of vehicles and people and no proper system. Collected our Seajets ticket from the counter there and told to join the queue only at 12pm. There was only 1 super long queue so being the kiasu Singaporeans we are, we started queuing before 12pm.

Turns out, there was a reason why we were told to queue ONLY at 12pm. That gate was used to board other ships as well! So when a ship docked for boarding, staff had to shout the name and type of ship. Tickets are only checked after boarding so if you boarded the wrong ship, good luck man.

After almost an hour’s delay, we were finally able to board. A bit of shock when I saw that our luggage had to be stored altogether downstairs. Crazy mess when we reached and everyone was searching for their luggage.

Anyway, the journey was supposed to be 4 hours but was delayed yet another hour. Luckily we chose the upgraded seats so they were pretty comfortable. Do not get any food on board. The hub succumbed and got a tiny chicken pasta bowl (size of maggi mee cup), for 13.50€ (S$20.50). *faints*

Upon reaching Piraeus Port, it was a 10-15 minutes walk to the metro station, and another 30 minutes journey to Monastiraki. Very very troublesome. To top it off, we found out there that there was yet another metro strike and THERE WAS NO TRAIN TO THE AIRPORT! Was recommended by the staff to take the metro halfway and then transfer to a bus. We decided to just grab a cab. Which, wasn’t easy as well. Kena rejected many times before a nice one accepted. Fare is a “standard” 38€ (S$57.60) fml.

So in conclusion, it would be much more convenient to take a flight out of Santorini to Athens. And maybe cheaper too. 😐 Reached Singapore at 9pm the next day. So our journey from Santorini back home took 2 days lmao.

The end! Finally can tell people I’ve been to Europe lol. But would I want to go back to Greece? No thanks. It’s a nice place with rich and interesting history, and amazing views. But I cannot tahan the expensive prices, especially when the quality doesn’t justify. And most importantly, there are ZERO healthy treats (or even proper toys or accessories) to get for my dog. Come to think of it, maybe Japan is better lol.

~ * ~

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 & 7 | day 8 | day 9 | day 10 | day 11

Greece Day 10 – Day tour around Santorini

Booked this day tour for our last day. But first, donkeys! So hug-able no? 😀 ❤

Pretty sure by now everyone knows about the donkeys on Santorini. “Traditionally”, they are used as taxis to transport tourists up and down 500 steps from the old port to Fira. They’re often made to climb several times a day, without adequate water, rest, and shelter (or medical care when they get injured). This is abuse. Please please please don’t support this shit anymore. There is a cable car if you really really want to go down to the old port (what for I don’t know). Or you can stroll down and cable car up. There is no reason to ride these poor things. 😥

Alrighty. We got picked up in this nice small minivan, which got us really excited. Unfortunately, we were then dropped off some place later and asked to wait for the big tour bus. #CheatMyFeelings Our tourguide Tanya was really fun though. Best guide we’ve had this trip methinks. She also made me feel pretty confident about this tour because SHE WAS IN SLIPPERS TOO! Lol. 😀

Prophet Elias Monastery

Situated on the summit of Mount Profitis Ilias, Prophet Elias Monastery is one of the oldest churches on the island. The end. Lol. Sorry but monasteries totally bore me to tears by now. The view at the top was breathtaking though. Look at the blue blue sky! #NoFilter Just come here for the view lah. 😐

Steps leading to the actual monastery, which was closed to public that day.

Megalochori Village

At the entrance, we came across these and our guide explained that they are actually grape vines! I’ve seen them throughout the trip and have wondered what they were. So apparently, the vines are trained into a Santorini “kouloura”, or wreath/basket. This is to protect the grapes from the strong winds, volcanic sand, scorching sun, and lack of water. They’re all empty cos harvesting season was just over. So interesting right?!

Megalochori is one of the most picturesque villages on the island, almost abandoned after a major earthquake. Not sure why this is a tourist attraction though. We just walked through the narrow streets of the village from one end to the other. *shrugs*

Lots of bougainvillea everywhere!

Akrotiri

My favorite part of the tour! It’s optional so the 12€ (S$18.15) entrance fee was not included in the package.

The prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri is one of the most important sites in the Aegean. In prehistory it was a well-connected Minoan port town, with connections to mainland Greece and as far afield as Egypt and Syria. As the town was covered in ash following a volcanic eruption on the island, preservation of the settlement is exceptional, making this one of the most significant archaeological sites in Greece.

– www. archaeology-travel.com

Akrotiri is often referred to as the “Greek Pompeii”. I dug up my old post on visiting the Pompeii exhibition in Singapore. (You can’t really see the photos though, unfortunately. Stupid Photobucket.) We had another guide take us through this exhibition and while it was in quite a rush, it was really interesting to hear and see about the excavations. Much better than if we aimlessly walked around ourselves and read the information panels. Definitely recommend this with a guide!

Beds

The main road in town (I think)

A mill in front of the ‘supermarket’

More beds

Bathtub

Archaeologists at work

Over all too soon. I love exhibitions like this. Now I wanna go Egypt to see mummies. Anybody want sponsor? 😛

Red Beach

From Akrotiri, we took a ~15-20 minutes “hike” to the Red Beach. Had to walk along the sandy and rocky beach/coast and then climb uphill the rocky slopes to see the beach. It’s apparently one of the most scenic and interesting beaches on the island.

Red Beach is without a doubt worth a visit considering that it is a rare sight, probably unique in the whole world, where red is the dominant color. It is enclosed by steep red hills that create a captivating, wild scenery.

However, officially, the Red Beach is classed as unsafe, as it is prone to landslides. Still we saw many many people there. Guess sunbathing was more important lol.

Starting point

Past this

Clear water

Red rocks

Red beach!

Black Beach

Headed for lunch at this tavern called Savvas Popeye. It faces the Perivolos Beach, or Black Beach. Was recommended the grilled squid by the guide, and the hub finally got to eat it. 😛 It was nice and not hard at all. Then I thought I’d order something light so I got the salmon salad. Nearly fainted when it came. IT WAS HUGE! Raw marinated salmon slices were pretty generous too. Overall very yummy lunch! I likey.

Grilled squid (11.50€, S$17.45)

Salmon salad (10€, S$15.15)

Spaghetti (Beef) Bolognese (9€, S$13.65)

Went down to the beach while waiting for the bus. Just black sand, nothing special lol.

Fine black sand

Where we had late lunch

Looks so fun!

SantoWines

Last stop of the day – wine tasting! We were given 3 types of wine to try, 2 whites and 1 red. Bought a small bottle of white back and my family liked it. Kinda regret not getting the bigger bottle. Apparently their wines cannot be found even in Athens Airport, so get it while you’re at the winery!

They have nice views too. 🙂

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

End of the tour! Going back the next day.

~ * ~

day 1 | day 2 | day 3 | day 4 | day 5 | day 6 & 7 | day 8 | day 9 | day 10 | day 11