Their freaking egg tarts are out of this world!!!!!!!!! I simply can’t.

Egg tarts in Singapore pales in comparison.

This was the place with MANY unfortunate events in the midst of enjoying the amazing views that Lisbon offers. Overall, I have to say it was quite an experience.

Unfortunate events of the #TravelingChUms in Lisbon..

We did not top up our transport card, and took the wrong tram (it was actually a scenic tram according to our host, but we thought he meant that it also led to the Belem area). So we paid 5.79€ x 2 to get back the actual stop with the monorail that led us to Belem. We totally decided not to pay the ride for the actual ride to and fro HAHA.

Someone also tried to pickpocket us here. We basically experienced everything that the guide said we shouldn’t do.

When we checked out and was about to head to the airport by train, the entrance to the trains was closed shut and a lady walking passed us told us that only buses are working today. What ended up as going out 3 hours early trip to reach the airport turned to a we almost-freaking-missed-our-flight trip. :O

I think we had really bad planning on our part as we didn’t bother to ask Andre (our host) or interacted with the housemates much. So part of the trip could have been better planned out but i guess it’s all worked out in the end because that is what travel is all about!

But, it brought about amazing views..

Despite taking the wrong tram, it was an enjoyable ride. Lisbon has very scenic hills in different areas of the town and the cool weather really made the walk up and down really enjoyable. We were on top of a hill and we could even see the sea!  I remembered Cheryl and I had a great time walking around, chilling at their Starbucks and having conversations that made us laugh continuously.

The Belem area was really nice, as it was beside the sea, and there were so many attractions in a small area, and very big monuments. We can even pay to ride a horse here (but we were a bit broke, so we ended up not riding it)!

They have many castles all over, and all of them are absolutely beautiful!

It also brought about amazing history..

We headed to the shopping district and also saw a very big Portugal flag. Did you know the flag has a neutron looking symbol outside the crown to symbolize technology?

Portugal’s history is so interconnected and complicated. They were invaded by the Romans, Greeks, Moors, and even Spain. They also experienced both a dictatorship and democracy. And their king Alfonso left the country to Brazil when their 9.2 earthquake and a 25m tsunami occurred. And that more of the poor survived because of the way the town was structured.

The tiles on the houses and the cobblestones near Castle Hill were Arabic inspired, and their language was inspired by both Arabic and Spanish. In addition, Spain is seen Portugal’s their ‘big brother’ and they always fight.

There was an Onion Plaza, where in the past it was a trading market that traded onions, potatoes, spices and corn, and the Portuguese had never seen all these in their life before. And somehow these became their staple food today. We also visited Alfama, the oldest district in Lisbon, and they had these really narrow streets with a kick-ass view too.

Learnt all these from our tour guide, whose name was Numo (which is an even cooler name than mine?!)

We also visited a super lovely museum for free! Hooray for student pass! So great to see artifacts from the Muslim world here :’)

And shopping!!!

We bought Briyani (cause the craving for Asian food was real) and when we bought it, he checked if the money was real using this cool marker. It turns yellow on real money but black on normal paper.

And the shops were all having sales!!!! I saw a dress from Cotton On that I bought before for 25€ but it was selling at half price in Lisbon! I was so depressed, but whatever, sales are more important, and so I managed to purchase another top for just 5€! Yipee!

And the shirts from Zara kids are so cheap and pretty!! Bought one for the little bro cause and it was made in Portugal and wasn’t outsourced I totally couldn’t believe it haha.