I feel the earth move...

We were having breakfast the Galini café when I decided to give Swana a ring, a call that would leave me shell-shocked when she asked if I received her SMS about Michael Jackson’s death. I hadn’t, so the news took me completely by surprise. Michael Jackson dead? From cardiac arrest at 50? Un-freakin-believable. I was stumped.

Just a few hours earlier I had read online about Farrah Fawcett’s passing, and there was nothing about MJ, I thought it was a bad rumour but nope, it was true. The King of Pop had popped. Poor guy. I was one of those hysterical screaming fans in tears when he performed in Singapore during my teenage years. We grew up with his music, never mind that he had some personal issues – he was legendary and in a league of his own. It’s really sad, RIP Michael.

While reflecting on his death, we walked to Fira, this time via the cobblestone path behind our hotel instead of the main road – much more scenic. Walked as far as the Orthodox Cathedral which stands out in the Santorini skyline, before stopping for a drink in Fira Square.







After getting back to the hotel, we attempted to walk in the direction of Imerovigli, up the slope from Firostefani but it was a long, steep slope! Halfway through, I gave up – the sun was beating down on our backs and my thighs were aching. So on we hopped the bus to Oia where I went in search of blue-domed churches and the wall that everyone watches the sunset from.




I found the old castle that has become the best place to watch the Oia sunsets, but pity it was still early afternoon. Nevertheless, I managed to get a peep at the port of Ammoudi, which is supposedly nice to have a meal, but was too lazy to climb up and down all the steps.






Whilst waiting for the bus back, picked up an ice cream from a minimart that had interesting packaging. The brand was either called The Daily Pleasure or Scandal, we had regular chocolate and pistachio but there was a flavour called Chocolate Orgy…wonder if Singapore sells?


Rested a bit at the hotel before heading back out to Fira to have dinner and possibly catch the sunset. Nickypoo was already pining for his mee pok and soups, so we ended up at a Chinese restaurant that looked like the owners were Vietnamese. The fried rice was not bad, but costs the equivalent of S$16. I had a corn and chicken soup, and he had hot and sour and we shared some appetizers.






We managed to finish eating in time to catch the setting sun and it did not disappoint with hues of pink, yellow, orange and blue.





There was a bar we had spotted on the first day that I die-die wanted to try called Mylos Cafe. Prices were rather reasonable considering it was one of those uber-chic café bars with a fabulous view so we decided to have a drink. We had a glass of champagne each and shared a bowl of fruit with honey for just 21 euros.


Service was excellent, they even provided a large bottle of water for no additional charge, a small packet of nuts and some chocolate-coated strawberries which were the best I ever had. The chocolate wasn’t milky so it tasted better with the berries.

As it was Friday night, people were in a partying mood but we turned in early as we had to check out the next morning to catch our ferry. But sleep eluded us as there was music blasting somewhere or a concert of some sorts going on. Just as well we were awake, for we felt the earth move (literally!) not long after winding down.

Nick felt it first, I thought maybe some heavy vehicle was passing the road behind us or something but no, it was an actual earthquake! The room was shaking and there was a loud rumbling noise, it only lasted a few seconds but when I heard the noise, I thought the volcano was erupting. Didn’t see any signs of lava or signs of panic, so we gathered it was not an unusual occurrence. But still, we were on edge, I did fear for my life for a split second.

Tried to google recent seismic activity in the area and found out there are low frequency earthquakes all the time. A few minutes later, there was an aftershock. Oh, and then at 1am we heard loud explosions and thought the worst but they turned out to be fireworks from a nearby party! Drama or what?

Magical Oia

On day 2 of our Santorini sojourn, we went to Fira in search of breakfast. The hotel informed us breakfast wasn't included in our booking however when I checked my reservation which was made through a 3rd party site, it stated inclusive of breakfast. I sent them a mail to check and when we got back from our day tour, the hotel informed us that the site had called to apologize for their mistake, and they will honour the next 2 days' breakfast at their expense. We were fine not to have the breakfast anyway, since we're not big Continental fans but it was a nice gesture.

One thing I notice is that the Greeks are quite hospitable. I forgot to mention that yesterday, our Mykonos hotel called to say there had been a mix-up and overbooking at their property, they apologized profusely and asked if we minded staying at another hotel on the 1st night. They would send us there and arrange the baggage transfers and best of all, it would be free for that night. I didn't mind even though the other hotel is pretty basic, since it meant saving a couple of hundred bucks.

Anyways, where was I? Ah, breakfast. I had a waffle and he had a ham and cheese pie at a cafe called Zotos in Fira, where the coffee was excellent. Thereafter, we took the cable car for 4 euros each down to the Old Port - we had a complimentary volcano tour and I didn't fancy walking down the winding stairs full of donkey poop. The ride was steep and only lasted a minute but I was still a tad nervous, especially when I looked down.






The old port was charming but packed with cruise ship tourists. We snapped some pictures while waiting for the traditional boat that would take us to the volcanic island of Nea Kameni. If you didn't already know, Santorini was the result of a massive volcanic eruption in the 16th century BC that caused large parts of the island to sink, creating a large crater or caldera. In the middle of the caldera are two islets - Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni.








Nea Kameni last erupted over 50 years ago, so it's still active. But we took our chances and climbed to the top anyway, which took almost 30 mins. Certain parts were steep and slippery but the view was well worth it. Then we were back on the boat for the short ride to Palea Kameni, where passengers were allowed to swim in the hot spring waters. We skipped that, not really wanting to swim in sulphur and just waited on the boat.

Back on the mainland, we had lunch at Taverna Sirtaki on the port, ordering a pasta and burger. Nick's lamb burger was well-marinated with hints of lemon and was just yummy.




A quick ride on the cable car brought us back to Fira and we headed back to the hotel for a siesta. I had dinner reservations for Ambrosia & Nectar, a highly recommended restaurant in Oia (pronounced 'E-ah') that I was fussy about getting to on time in case they released the table...but guess what? We overslept! The reservation was at 7.30pm and the bus frequency was every 30 mins, but we only got up at 7pm! A cab came along and sped through the winding roads and got us to Oia in less than 15 mins for 15 euros.

Oia is the reason I wanted to come to Santorini - famed for the blue-domed churches and white-washed houses on the cliff. And it did not disappoint. There is just something magical about the place, miles nicer than Fira, very chic and artsy.

We managed to still get a table at Ambrosia & Nectar, and dined on baby calamari with pesto, mushroom soup, chicken risotto and strawberry and apricot sorbet. The damage? 61 euros but the food was good.





Whilst waiting for the food, I roamed some of the marbled streets in Oia to snap pictures of the blue-domed churches. Spotted a gang of gay men, about 8-10 of them all dressed in white! Nick really liked Oia and we'll be going back again. Pity I missed the sunset though, since our restaurant was not facing the sea, oh well.