portugal

portugal was planned on a whim (how paradoxical) awhile ago when L declared a one week holiday, which i then took the liberty to extend to a fortnight long break, what with the parentals scheduled to arrive just before the hiatus. and, of course, i was counting on a holiday from the holiday with them so what better idea then to head south soon after? perfect timing too, just as the weather turned colder in scandinavia, portugal was more than welcoming with her 33deg days.

so feeling a little too much like a migratory bird, i headed south for autumn.

thankyouryanair for cheap flights but no thank you for the indirect flight to porto. spent the night in stansted sleeping on the bone-chilling floor (proof that i'm tough, i also say) and then took the first flight from stansted to porto. from porto, we took the bus to lisbon and spent three nights in lisbon at the most fantabulous hostel on earth. i cannot stop raving about it, uncool as it may be to rave about a hostel but there's much to be said about living within one's means.

good times with good company. my resolutely european travel buddies were a breeze to travel with and i appreciated how relaxed they were. a most welcome change from ricocheting across norway with my parents just a few days earlier. i'd brought my brick of a lonely planet only to leave it in the hostel for most of the trip. we didn't plan anything, we didn't hurry anywhere and we just followed our fancies and went where the wind blew us. no alarms in the morning, no manic rush to make that train / bus, just good ol' fashioned sauntering and plenty of deep, meaningful conversation. it was election time in germany and i'd an involuntary crash course in german politics. not that it has any bearing on my life whatsoever, xenophobic and insular as i am, but learning for learning's sake is never a bad thing and i felt like a sponge the whole holiday, absorbing and being provoked into thought.

my first and last portugese egg tart a.k.a. atherosclerosis in a paper wrapper at a cafe next to the bus station while waiting for the bus to lisbon

our hostel in lisbon. you know how some hostels claim to be 5minutes from the subway station when actually they mean 5min by f1 car? well, this one was literally 2minutes from the station. and we'd a beautiful view of the square and castle and it was clean, airy with personal safe(s). plus, for the first time EVER i'd a hot breakfast in a hostel. heck, some hotels don't even provide a hot breakfast. so in the morning, we'd be a greeted with a chirpy, "what you want i cook for you?" and we'd a choice of nutella crepes, scrambled eggs and toast. so it's not much of a choice but i'm pretty darn happy with hot food.

on RZ's suggestion, we took a day trip to cascais. lovely waterfront train ride and 30minutes of rolling surf. enjoyable as lisbon was, it was good to see another part of portugal and cliffs were picturesque.

arroz con mariscos back in lisbon. one thing i don't understand about portugal is why they combined orders. case in point: F and i ordered the same thing but instead of being served two individual portions, they lumped it together and put it in the middle. now, i'm asian and am happiest with communal zichar and more used to sharing food then hogging an individual portion. BUT. i didn't like that the waiter assumed that i'd be happy to share my meal. it's not really sharing because it's two portions together (i hope!) but what if i'd some contagious disease? like hep or something? then how? and at least ask if it was ok for it to be served together. yes, there was a serving spoon and two plates but i don't share food. and i didn't like having to share. nothing personal against F but seriously, i ordered an individual share, give me an individual share. period. and the same thing happened in porto when i ordered sardines so it was a little perplexing. some things are meant to be shared, like tapas and zichar, and others, like individual orders, aren't. plus it's excluding the other diner who ordered something different and it' s impolite. and too close for comfort. and i've perhaps too many food / personal space issues for my own good.

this' a great globalisation photo. mexican nachos at american hard rock cafe in lisbon, with two germans, watching f1 live from singapore.

porto at dusk - view from our porto hostel

porto was great for its port wine (free tours and free tasting, can't ask for more!) and i personally found it more charming than lisbon and its big city feel. had better food in porto too and my indulgent travel buddies didn't say no to my chinese fix. surprisingly, i'd the best chinese food in europe (save london) at the chinese restaurant on one end of the bridge across the river. the guai lo waiter threw me off at first but when my egg flower soup (?!) and egg fly lice came, i felt a creeping sense of glee that only chinese food gives me. speaking with the owner/cleaning lady later, i discovered that the cook was chinese. yay! no wonder :) but that was my best meal of the trip because i'm partial to chinese food that way.

and the tent didn't collapse (german expression about people blowing up at one another while on holiday) which was miraculous in and of itself. then again, we didn't have that in south america either *waves at team s.am*so props all round.

we'd a good time together so our self-selecting trio's decided to make a monthly affair of this. we're off to helsinki with more friends tomorrow but we just might do turin in november at this rate.