Santorini Landscape

The balcony of our room in Oia

We stayed at Armeni Village, Oia (picture on the above right. Our room is right below the sign, with the steps leading down to the Jacuzzi.

The balcony of our room at Fira, the touristy, vibrant part of Santorini

This is the entrance to the rooms. Just got to follow the never ending steps!

The night sky at Santorini

Sunset

Jacuzzi at Fira

Our loft room at Fira

The big crowd gathering to watch what is reputed as the best sunset in the world at Oia.

Can you tell that we didnt do anything much, except relax at balconies, watch sunsets, take pictures, eat ice cream, play in the jacuzzi and just walked around the island? I think the most strenuous thing we did during the trip was take a hike on the volcano island (asleep but still active). Other than that, it's just spending quality time with the kids and Alim amidst a stunning, peaceful backdrop.

The bull is out to play!

Having difficulty sleeping. Been a week now. The room is so silent and I'm still restless, fiddling with my phone.

First 3 days will be away on course and I've got a couple of things to settle before Monday. (which should have been settled like a month ago!)

The lil girl has been having terrible melt downs lately. At least once every other day. Today, twice. It can be over trivial matters and she would start crying and screaming at the top of her lungs non stop. Tried scolding her, cuddling her, psycho talk her but it takes forever for her to calm down.

She used to have these tantrums when she was younger but it got very much better. Now it's back again, much worst than ever. Her sleeping pattern has also changed quite a bit. Abang was a breeze, no tantrums so I'm a bit confused as to how to handle her screaming and wailing which
most of the time sounds like we mishandled her.

I do not want her to think that by throwing a tantrum she can get her way, but my insistence just drive her even crazier. Diverting her attention does not work at this point. Actually she will only calm down when she wants to calm down or when she gets her way, even a lil bit of it.

For example, she didn't want to bathe this morning and started screaming and wailing. We tried to talk to her but we were running late for a wedding. She then agreed to bathe but wanted to wear the same clothes which she wore to sleep, back again. Of coz she couldn't. I struggled to get her out of her clothes. She wailed her lungs out non stop, refused to let go of her clothes. Then after some time she let go of her Tshirt but insisted on bathing while holding on to her panties. I let her coz, I knew she had to have somethg go her way and it's no big deal if her panties get wet. She cooled down when I let her hold on to her panties and she was still holding on to it when I was changing her. After that she had her milk and calmed down.

She is after all a Taurus, it's symbol being a bull. And she was born in the year of the ox! I don't believe in any of this crap but it seems that it probably isn't all bullshit after all. She has got to have a lil bit of her way or else she will never be pacified. It is exhausting for us. The noise of a screaming child, her adamant nature and most of the time pressured by the fact that we are running late for something and have no time to play her "game".

It's still trial and error at the moment. I have a feeling one of the reasons might be she has been too attached to me over the hols. When we came back, I had to go back school( which resulted in one of the worst tantrum ever. I could hear her screaming for me from downstairs on the first day I had to leave her). Hopefully, when her old routine is back on again, things will be better. Insyaallah.

Hmm, or maybe she just wished she was back in santorini? She was so happy there, not a single huge melt down at all. Very manageable.

Hah, If I could, I would probably be wailing too having to go back to work and to the same routine! I would kick a fuss and throw a huge ass tantrum too! But I'm not 2 and I better not behave like one! Hehe.

Alisha, hope the temper throwing phase will end soon and you'll be your sweet self again.


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Greece Part 2- Santorini Drive

Santorini is famous for its blue doors and white washed architecture. But beautiful beaches also outline the lil island. Because it went through massive volcano eruption centuries ago, there's no white sandy beaches, giving it a unique look. We drove to 3 beaches; the Black Beach, the Red Beach and Perissa Beach. Along the way, we spotted some cool views.

The cute lil white car which we rented

Found a great spot with superb view

Typical roads around Santorini, winding around the caldera.

 Santorini is littered with unique, beautiful beaches. Red Beach is one of them. 

Red cliffs lined the shore.

Black Beach- black pebbles and stones covered the shore.
We spent some time here for a swim.

Jumping off cliffs

 Bought the cute, white dress in Fira, Santorini

Perissa Beach
We had early dinner at a cafe by this beach

The cafe by the beach

 Clear waters of Amoudi Bay, Oia

Typical pictures of Santorini coming up soon; the blue domed churches, the white walls, the donkeys and the cobbled streets. :)

Greece Part 1 - Santorini Dream

Our first stay at quiet, less touristy Immerovigli, Santorini. After which, we moved on to Fira and then Oia. This placed is called Absolute Bliss and it sure lived up to its name!

Here are some pics from our first stay at the villa on top of the cliff, at one of the higher points of the island.

 View from our balcony

The balcony of our room

I saw a picture like this in Tripadvisor when I was googling for accomodation. This time, pictures don't lie.

Irfan enjoying the view for the upteenth time

The jacuzzi kept them occupied and contented

The birthday boy. Hope it was a memorable birthday, partner!

Scorching hot morning

Breakfast served in our balcony

Cereal, plain croissant, chocolate croisssant (my fav!), bread, boiled eggs, freshly squeezed juice, coffee, fruits, well worth it coz we could eat everything.

Conversation with the girl, over cliffs and the Aegean Sea

Around the villa

Oohh the steps

 Beautiful lil details

 Good company

 She would probably kill me when she realizes that she has been to Greece but cant remember a single thing

 Fortunate to have good little travellers

And the crystal clear sunset right at our balcony

Will like to think that he is jumping for joy and not attempting suicide over the cliffs coz of the kids and me :P

we sat at our balcony , engulfed by shades of orange, slowly disappearing into the horizon

 Shot from the jacuzzi

We were perched so high up the cliff that we could see the clouds moving just above our heads. Trippy!

More pics soon!

Was it a dream?

We are back!! Alhmadullillah.
Oh.My.God! It was crazy beautiful!
I knew Santorini was breathtaking, Ive seen the pictures, movies but I didint know it was THAT breathtaking till I stepped foot on it.
It felt like stepping into a postcard or a dream.

Yes the view as you would expect was crazy but it was the atmosphere, the feel of the place, the 'happy' mood of the people and the fact that we took time to just relax and soak in the peace and quiet that made it all beautiful.

Woke up to a heavenly balcony with a picture perfect view and a jacuzzi to relax in. To top that, breakfast served at our balcony every single morning.
And watching out of the world sunset right from our balcony in the evenings, watching the clear blue sky turned a hue of orange.
And to be enjoying all of that with the 2 kids and alim...I couldnt have asked for more!

Our routine for the few days there usually started off with a slow lazy morning, a hearty breakfast and a jacuzzi swim, followed by a walk around the streets and series of shops, ice cream or a drive around the island to the nearby beaches. Yes, we rented a car coz it was just hard to resist although we didnt even research on the routes or feasibility of driving before the trip. But Santorini wasnt too complicated to drive in and with a car we managed to enjoy and explore different angles of the view, from a top the cliff or lower to the sea level. All equally beautiful.
And we just have this weakness for beautiful drives, something about moving vehicle and incredible views accompanied by our choice of music playing in the car, that we just can never have enough of, no matter which counrtry we are in.

What we didnt expect was the sweltering heat (have to admit, there was a lack of research for this holiday) and the uncountable steps leading up to everywhere.

We came home many shades darker. And much fitter (I would like to think).

Luckily the girl loves steps and wanted to climb all of them, but most times we had to carry her cause she was often a road block to people behind who had to wait for her dainty feet to climb the cobbled steps. And plus, I don't know what's with her pausing at every step and reciting 'bismillah hirahman nir rahim' before she climbs on each step, which of course slowed her down even further.

And now that she is 2 plus and her character crystalising, she has a mind of her own and insisted on getting her way, which we have to battle with more often during this trip as compared to our previous trips when she was much younger.

And with her insistence, the sweltering heat and the steps, it did get quite challenging at times, which even the breathtaking view
could not save. Oh well, I knew Santorini was a honeymoon destination but I knew it would not be a honeymoon for us, with the kids in tow. :) But, but, but, when they were asleep, and we have that beautiful balcony all to ourselves, it almost felt like we were on honeymoon:):)

And one more thing we didn't expect was the 24 hour strike in Athens on 15th June. Though our hotel was not in the thick of the action at Syntagma Square but we were near enough to see the 24 000 people thronging the streets in front of the Parliament House. Uncountable tear gas was released, a lot of public property damaged as people got violent and started throwing stones and whatever else they could get their hands on at the line up of policemen and army, all geared up with shields and masks. Sounds of sirens filled the streets and shots of the tear gas continued till the night. Road blocks everywhere and the public transport came to a standstill except for some still running, mostly taxis. It was quite a sight considering, we have never seen such things in singapore. And the view from our hotel was great where we could watch the action but still remain safely far away. In fact, we had two BBC reporters in the room next to ours and they had their whole set up at their balcony beside ours, covering the story and getting some 'professor-looking' people on the balcony for interviews.

Thankfully, the strikes were quite contained in Syntagma Square. Other than Syntagma Square, other streets were pretty safe and we did go down in the evening for early dinner at this cafe which served superb nutella chocolate banana crepe. It was perfectly normal at other parts of Athens. Strikes are pretty common in Greece lately and it wasnt totally alarming.

Its 2.15am now and the girl is still up. Which is absolutely normal when we get back from different time zones. She will probably settle in, in a day or 2.

Pictures will be up soon..after I find the time to look through the gazillion pictures we've taken!

Now back to work in a week's time ! Oh well, that's the reality. These 2 weeks have been a dream :)

Greece, see you soon. Insyaallah!

It's a place for honeymooners, cobbled narrow streets, white-washed structure with bright blue dome and doors, the breathtaking view of the caldera and out of the world sunsets.

As usual, Im apprehensive about trips with the kids and have a long endless list of worries, you wouldnt believe it! And i wouldnt state my worries here, cause it would just make me sound CRAZY!

Pray for us that our journey be a safe one, especially the kids' health and well being. It's not a place for 6 and 2 year olds, but we wouldn't be able to stand missing them so much if we were to leave them. And we know for sure that no amount of beauty can make up for not having them with us. That much we know.

Other than that, we really do not know what to expect. We've booked the jacuzzi suite above and kids below 13 are actually not allowed into the suite because it's sitting high up on the cliff of Santorini. But we managed to change the owner's mind somehow.

We are thinking of renting a car to get around. Honestly, it was a last minute destination and we have not done much research yet. All I had in mind when I booked the tickets was that I wanted a suite perched high up in any part of Santorini with fantastic view, incredible sunset and a jacuzzi. I  have this mental picture in my head that I just cant shake off.

So, we have about 5 days to get everything together. Other than the room above, we have not booked our accomodation in Athens. We have not even decided what we want to do there (other than watch the view) and see the Acropolis and Parthenon. We are used to destinations that are packed with grounds to cover, places to visit and plenty of research to do. But we promised ourselves that this time we'll spend more time soaking in the hot tub, marvelling at the view.

Praying for a safe journey! Greece, see you soon, insyaallah!

P.S. Contrary to some people's perception that I have an overflowing stash in the bank (so much money ah, everytime travel?) , I actually do not.
I do have a comfortable sum (alhamdullilah) but I CHOOSE to use whatever (little or much) I have to travel instead of other things. I saved like crazy, why do you think I'm so skinny (save until never eat) and my clothes are repeated and extremely boring ?