肠粉II号-73

Rethymno-Heraklion-Athens 3

another foods experience in Greece

When we were in Athens, we found the foods there are more expensive

there was one Kebab restaurant we went in Monastiraki Square

Photo taken from http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com/2009/06/kebabs.html

Felicia was randomly searching for Greek foods and accidentally found this restaurant

the restaurant we went...

we had badddddddd experience there...

their foods were ok, not bad

kebab with 2 pita bread, the white white creamy thing is yogurt...super full 1

pork STICK not STEAK on pita...(feel kena tipu xD)

the fish roe salad................eeeeeee..........not nice...xD

what I wanted to complain?

is...they force us to pay tips!!! =/

the story was:

we pay with the correct amount that showed on the bill

then the waiter came and saw and say the amount doesn't include tips

he kept repeating this...

we feel annoyed and act duno what he talking about

as we doesn't plan to pay any tips at all!!! (student ma)

then the boss saw, he came and collect the money the ciao

thought the waiter will sik zou and leave

but NO!!!

he asked us to leave the tips on table...

what the xxx

some more his action like guai guai shu shu

sambil say sambil look around 1

then at the end I left 10sen for him...

and FASTER CIAO!!!!

inside the restaurant, there are a lot of pictures

someone famous?

all angmo and we doesn't know

and what, we found some pictures were duplicated

feel cheated...

and seriously, we really doesn't know who are they

maybe we are from hiong ha laaaa...:P

anyway, no good no good for this restaurant

though very good business

but paying tips are optional, not compulsory

so...hmp

dunwan to visit this restaurant anymore (me)

ohya, in case,

opposite of this restaurant is the same

I think they opened both shop together

if you doesn't want to be cheated

open your eyes big big and see carefully...xD

ps: maybe only that particular waiter will force people to pay tips...so...you choose la...

肠粉II号-72

Rethymno-Heraklion-Athens 3

Lets talk about the restaurant-searching experience in Rethymno

we walked pass a lot of restaurant and will stopped by to look at their menu

to see their price and the foods they served

obviously, the waitresses will come and introduce their restaurant, their foods and their reasonable price

some of them are good, they will let you go

but some of them...sei qin lan da!!!

got one, we passed by his restaurant the previous day

then he asked us to go in and have some foods

he will give discount for us and free dessert

but we already makan and not decided to eat again ma

then we said we already have our dinner

then he asked us to come back the next day

but the next day, we already decided to go for the restaurant which recommended by our apartment

and on the way we walking to the restaurant, we passed by the restaurant

and the waitress remember us! *because we were the only yellow color skin tourist?*

then he said we promised him to come back and eat yesterday night

=.=

but we claimed that we already have our dinner again

then he sort of threaten us and said something like:

"don't let me see you all eating at another restaurant down there!"

WHAT THE xxx

too bad we didn't take down the name of the restaurant

but it is a corner restaurant I am sure...

hmp! super bad service!

da sei dou mm bong chan lei!!!

about the restaurant we decided to go

that is the restaurant that I randomly *not randomly geh randomly* said I wanted to try *SO NGAM!*

as they served mussels! * I was craving for mussels that time*

and their price is reasonable, even though its a little bit more expensive with others

but the restaurant is SUPERB!!!!

their service was SUPERB, their foods were SUPERB and the environment NOT BAD!!!!

overall I would give 10/10

if their restaurant did prohibit their customer to not smoking in the restaurant

I would rate 20/10!!!! xD

*duno why it appeared in this angle*

this is the restaurant's name card...

when you going to visit Rethymno, MUST visit this restaurant ok?

shrimp saganaki

see, their prawn SO BIG but they called it as shrimp onlyyyy

*beepeng and huibee sharing*

seafood risotto

super nice~

risotto, my love~

*beepeng and huibee sharing*

pork souvlaki

*felicia one*

bread (the bread finished...xD)

ohya, here is the bread story in Greece

a lot of restaurant served different style of bread

and they will automatically serve you the bread once you sit down

and it will be included in the bill!

so if you doesn't want to try, then just say no, as them to keep back

so if you found that they serve some special bread

or you simply wanted to try their bread

*some I think is they sendiri buat one, quite nice even though eat plain-ly*

just makan la~

the most expensive bread we ate is 0.50Euro (I think) per person

the left one is Mythos, one of the Greek beer

and the right one is Rethymno Blond, quite nice

got Rethymno Dark, but its stronger la, then I didn't order it la

Free dessert~

its brownie I guess (felicia said its not)

if its heated and serve with some melted chocolate on it would be nicer~

another free drink- Raki

for more details about this please refer to THIS.

I saw some super market selling this before

but from a big container and you fill your bottle up yourselves

3 Euro for 500ml (they selling in normal plastic bottle o!!!)

from my book, it written that Raki is known as firewater in Crete...(OMG~ ghost bao)

the waitress (we think he is the boss la) said it tasted like Russian Vodka

I doesn't know how Russian Vodka tasted like

I only know how the Absolute or Smirnoff Vodka tasted like

but ya, it tasted like Vodka

and its very kang!!!

its harder to drink than the normal Vodka I drank

but duno, it somehow tasted different and...duno how to say...

anyway, I bought one bottle back

(not as high as 90% alcohol level la...just 40%, but I wanted to buy 90% if I can...xD)

My Shrimp Risotto!!!! (in white, beepeng one was in red)

both also super nice~

My Musselssss~

initially I wanted to order Mussel in Saganaki style geh

but the "boss" said,

why don't try with lemon and garlic, so I can try the very fresh and original taste

ok lo...then I try la...

and WAH~~~ super and very satisfied...

its SUPER DUPER NICE!!!!

MMM~ I love it... :D

(got more things about foods, write in the next post la)

肠粉II号-71

Rethymno-Heraklion-Athens 3

day 2

5th Oct 2010

woke up early

pergi jalan jalan luuu

if not mistaken we went to the beach first

and we saw a lot of things

ok la...the scenes were normal for them

but were WOW for us

a lot of girls (ladies? aunties?) topless with their triangle bikini dai fuuu...

arrr...even though their ehem soh until cannot see

but still WOW!!! :D

took some pictures

then continue walking to the old town~

walking in the old town around with my travel book and the map I got from apartment

super tired as very long never walk that much already

but happy!!!

sambil walk, sambil talk, sambil photo here and there

enjoy~

ahhh...

4 person trip is just nicy...:D

this day nothing much *I think...need to refer back to my paper but lazy now :P*

evening, we play cards on the beach

hahahaa...very relax~

*when walk walk around the town

found a lot of shops selling counterfeit goods

LV, longchamps, gucci everywhere

but obviously the sewing are very bad

didn't see how much they cost though

even on the street, can see a lot of people carrying all the branded bags

and since their counterfeit goods supply is so convenient

so I assume all of them are pirated

=x I duno~

at that moment, I feel I am in Malaysia

first time I saw the girls there

all looks fashioned, pretty with make ups

so I thought they are more to free styles but no...

after few days, more and more shops I saw which selling counterfeit

more and more hmmmm I feel

and no offence

I feel the people there should smile more

so they can looks more friendly

=x

The Old Town

The Aegean Sea!!!! really super nice and clear~

The Beach

*limited photo here, refer to Facebook...*

PS: I found something interesting when I stayed in Heraklion

some little small guides with some descriptions about Greece

some is quite interesting geh...let me randomly write it out...xD

but tmr la...working tmr and sat...

ahhh~

was shocked when I found that I can only rest 1 day

but nevermind la...after this, can rest again...xD

NO! have to start my cv and apply job already

ok, ADD OIL!!!

肠粉II号-70

Rethymno-Heraklion-Athens 2

continue~

reach Heraklion, Crete airport

looking for bus to Heraklion centre to take bus to Rethymno

we were approached by a lot of taxi lou...=/

before I continue the story

I would like to talk about this

when I was doing this pre-trip research

a lot of reviews and recommends asked us to take taxi

as their taxi rate there are very cheap, the cheapest in Europe

since I read all these, I thought we can just take taxi to our hotel straight lo

as from Heraklion to Rethymno is 1 hr plus distance

and we roughly checked the price from Heraklion to Rethymno already

its around 60+ euro, means 4 of us is around 10+ (plus luggages)

the bus fare I found is 6.90 euro per person for one journey

so maybe take taxi, which can arrive to our hotel straightly is a better choice

BUT!!!

the taxi lous said 100 Euro for us to reach our hotel

what the duttt...its far more expensive than what I thought

then we tried to ignore him and then another taxi lou came and said 80 Euro

then he explained,

from the airport to town centre is few Euro,

then from centre to Rethymno is about 10+ Euro

overall you will be spending 20+ Euro and 3 hours

so overall better take taxi as you will be saving your time and money!

when he said this,

I do believe that from airport to centre might take few Euro

but from centre to Rethymno impossible take 10+ Euro as I already do this research

I believe on myself and just ignore them

but they still persuade us to take taxi

tapi we just walk away la...

then they 3rd taxi lou approached us

HuiBee asked how to get to Rethymno

then the taxi lou explained in a bit more detail

first, take blue bus to centre which cost you 2 Euro

then take green bus to Rethymno which cost you 12 Euro

but by his taxi, will only cost us 80 Euro, and reach in 1 hour time

we said no, thanks for your information

same, he still persuading us...blablabla...

and we just walk away

surprisingly,

the bus from airport to centre only cost 0.90 Euro!

not like what the taxi lous said 2 - few Euro...

so we decided to take bus, and not the bloody taxi...=/

*the uncle who selling bus ticket not very friendly but I forgive him because I think he not really understand what are we talking about (as we were asking which bus we should take), luckily got another guy came and told us that he will tell us when the bus is here BUT a drama happenedddd..........

BeePeng took out her 10 Euro to pay for the ticket

but I said I got 5 Euro so I pay la

but the guy like trying to "rampas" the 10 Euro note from us

and HuiBee faster catch and "rampas" back the money from the guy

at the end she able to take back the money

and I paid 5 Euro to him la

eeee...takut takut...

ok

got onto the bus

and then...we sesak...as we doesn't know where to stop

ATTENTION: the information found from the official Greece bus website is very not clear, so read my blog to get more information la...xD

as what I found is we have to stop at Bus Station A to get the bus to Rethymno

but it is actually wrong

you have to take the bus to Rethymno from Bus Terminal

so once you get onto the bus from airport, ask them to drop you at Bus Terminal

then you will know your way to buy your bus ticket to other places in Crete

(I am not sure if the bus from airport will terminate at the Bus Terminal as we stopped somewhere else and walked to there)

the story in between=

as we doesn't know where we should stop

so we ask the people in the bus lo

there were one old couple, but they not sure where to stop also

and then we asked another lady

she asked us to stop somewhere, but the bus didn't turn inside (there is actually the Bus Terminal)

so she asked us to stop at the next stop

get down from the bus

asked for direction

then couldn't find the way

went into a very nice hotel and ask (and took a map)

yun loi the Bus Terminal is behind the hotel

talaa~ we reached!!!!

and, the bus ticket is only 6.90 Euro

like what I search la

again, the taxi lous xxxx =/

took 1.5 hours and finally reach Rethymno

pictures took on the bus from Heraklion to Rethymno

when I was doing research from Thomson, the people there told me, if you saw a black box beside the road, means there was an accident happened before...so if you saw a lot of black box beside the road, means you must be more alert and careful when you drive!

and ya, the drivers in Greece are super rude and here and there

a bit like Malaysian drivers

but maybe worst than Malaysia one!

some more they drive on the left

I went there for 9 days and still unable to get used to their way to cross the road

even though the traffic light showed you may cross now but still got car will drive through your way!

=/

and I feel driving in Greece is not recommended la

but some of the people recommend us to rent a car and drive there

but still, I wouldn't take the risk la

I would rather take bus and spend one whole day in one attraction

ohya, quite seldom will see police walking around one lo

and I feel a bit insecure there...

we reach Rethymno already~

decided to walk to our hotel with the map I draw from Google Map

and HERE!!!!!!!!

I am very dissapointed with Google Map

exactly the same address

but it showed me the different place =/

the "destination" I searched from Google Map was about 1km away from the real destination!

no choice

after walked some "yuan wang lu" and we doesn't know how to walk to our hotel at all

decided to take taxi to our hotel

5 Euro for 4 of us, acceptable and reasonable, 1.25 Euro for each of us

get onto the taxi and go

reach out hotel,

Aloe Apartment

the interior pictures will be uploaded somewhere la

because I didn't take the photo of them

but anyway, we were able to see the beach at our side balcony!!!

nice apartment

the service is superb!!!

the receptionist drove us to bus station at the day we check out!!!

the a little weird is

we called him when we were lost

and he told us the way to hotel

and our room number

and the key is on the door

as he will be away when we reach

=.=

and the blanket a little bit dirty

and the bath tub is a little bit dirty

and the floor a little bit dusty (maybe because we near to the beach)

and nothing else we can complain la

asked for restaurant recommendations

change baju and went to have dinner, walk walk around

first day finish~

肠粉II号-69

Rethymno-Heraklion-Athens 1

HALO!!!!

I came back from Greece already

many things to blog

Should have bring my laptop

or write down the main points of "happened-of-the-day"

=/

hopefully I didnt miss out everything la...

ok... start now

3rd Oct 2010

before leaving the house

ahhh~ remember its K's birthday

10.10.10, the special day!!!

wished him before we leave and I am the first one!!! :D

then started to walk out to New Street station lo

taking 9pm something train to London Euston (then walk to St. Pancras, then take another train to Gatwick (2:21am reach))

Flight was on 6am something...

the weather was sooo cold...but nevermind

ohya, Felicia and I pre-made some pita bread to eat...in case hungry~

reach New Street, took the tickets, get on to the train, 2 hours something to reach Euston

makan and sleep,

the people sitting behind me, I think his baju busuk

smelly the whole journey, but he get down to the train earlier than me la...

ok, reach Euston

it was having little rain during that moment

took out my pre-print screened google map to St Pancras (I already topped up my phone for free internet but couldn't get connected =/ )

but it couldn't show me where am I facing!

both of us doesn't know whether we should walk left or right

but at the end, yaaa...walked to the wrong direction, under the rain...=(

but nvm lo...faster turn back and walk again

about 10-13 mins reach King Cross

(I thought King Cross and St. Pancras are the exactly same station and under the same building but not! they are in different building...King Cross is for tube stations and St. Pancras is for trains...stupiak me)

actually we can take tube from Euston to St. Pancras

but tube was having strike on that day, all stations closed

but also, we were reaching at the mid-night...all stations closed edy la...

so we tanyak tanyak and walked to St. Pancras again, under the rain...

(just beside the King Cross station building...1 minute walk away)

found our platform

and wait for the train...

supposed we are meeting HuiBee there geh

but she took the wrong-earlier train and reach St. Pancras earlier

then she took the earlier train to Gatwick lo

(BeePeng was the first one to reach Gatwick)

bad weather...=/ make me have to walk under the rain

reach Gatwick!

found HuiBee and BeePeng

they were playing cards

and both of us joined in!!!

HuiBee taught us how to play Bridge

it was quite complicated initially

but I was able to play it at the end!

even though I am not as expert as HuiBee

who already got level 80+ or higher in Viwawa...(isit?) (tat crazy Bridge-addicted) xD

playing while waiting for check in

ok, its time to check in

HuiBee brought the big luggage (even though its that super big one)

we put Maggiesss, shower gel and shampoo all liquid stuff inside

senang~

ohya...for easyjet (I am not sure about other airlines)

the weight you can bring for check in luggage is 32kg!!!

if you "buy" for 2 check in luggages is 64kg

but when you "buy" for 4 check in luggages is 80kg (I am not sure about 3 luggages)

they will total up the weight if you have 2 or more luggages to check in

so actually, if you are travelling with another 3 persons (like me~)

just check in one luggage is enough la...

can share share the weight and money~

just occasionally share share take the big luggage la...

while HuiBee check in her luggage, it was 19+ kg nia...(but when we come back, it was 15+ kg NIA!)

I bought a hand luggage, ngam ngam size

but takut its a bit too long for the standard size

but no~ its ngam ngam hou...:D

(the standard hand luggage size for easyjet is 56cm x 45cm x 25cm)

la~la~

checked in

walked through the security thingy

found a place to sit and sleep and walk

(took a picture of HuiBee sleeping, but not in my camera, upload when I got it xD)

times up!

boarding~

flew to Crete luuu~ (we went to Crete first, then only took ferry to Athens)

it took 4 hours for us to reach Heraklion, Crete

and the time there is 2 hours later than UK time

Heraklion, Crete International Airport (took this picture from the Web, didn't take a picture of this airport as we were busy dealing with the taxi lou there!!!)

(to be continue, day one haven't finish one o!!!)