Algarve School Trip!

Spent my weekend in Portimão, Faro with some fellow international students!

When I got off the bus after an arduous 4 hours ride ... I was like, "OMG! I am in Batam!" Hahahaha. The old high-rise hotels equipped with swimming pools just remind me of Batam so much. AND you don't get to see much of high-rise buildings around Europe. Portimão is full of high-rise buildings!

Many girls are carrying big duffel bags and dragging large luggages for this 3D2N trip. I thought I was bringing a bit too much with my normal sized backpack but end up, I am probably the most lightly packed girl of the lot.

We head straight for the beach after dropping our stuff. I want to stay in the same room with the NUS peeps and ended up in a all guys room. 5 guys and I was the only girl. Luckily all of them are pretty nice!

I really really love beaches. I guess even though I am finding Lisbon a little too inefficient and old to live in, I really love the temperature and close proximity to beautiful beaches and sea.

At night, it was dinner with all the other international students at Outro Bar. Free flow of Sangres beer and Sangria with some meat and fries. I heard that the welcome dinner, which I skipped, sucks so I didn't expect much for this. And as usual, Lisbon food is boring and mediocre. Happy that it fills our stomachs and it wasn't too awful:) After-party was at Outro Bar too. I'll say only in Europe you club with Ah mas and kids all in the same dance floor. The crowd sucks, the music sucks (cos the DJ is so freaking lazy, what's new), the bar sucks,... it was just so awful. I feel so sad for Weiyi as it was his birthday that day and he spent half a day travelling in the bus, at night in an awful bar and suffering from a bad gastric episode.

Slept at 4am and woke up early the next day due to my stupid body clock. Everyone was still sleeping and after much contemplation, even after I packed, I decided to give the Water Themepark a miss and left for a good breakfast and a chill day at the beach.

Found a Tripadvisor recommended cafe - Lena! The freshly-squeezed orange juice is soooo pulpy:D Love the coffee too. You'll think that you'll never find bad coffee in Europe. And... Lisbon probably has one of the worst. I was quite happy to have went to Lena for breakfast. Best coffee in a while. Didn't bring my camera out that day cos I was intending to just spend the whole day at the beach.

Handmade croissants and jam. Haven't had such a satisfying meal in a long time.

Spent the rest of the morning chilling and reading at the beach until I met Weiyi and Po Xian for lunch. Didn't know they skipped the themepark as well. Haha. Almost half of the group skipped the themepark. Guess we didn't miss much.

Lunch in a Scottish pub screening Liverpool soccer match.

Went to the beach to chill for a little while more before heading back to rinse and out again, this time by myself, to find Wi-Fi but failed cos even though a cafe at Portimão may say 'Wi-Fi Hotspot', you have to pay for the Wi-Fi before they give you the password-.-

Dinner at Friendly Bar that night. The setting of the bar is really nice and modern but they serve the same food as the night before-.- I was just happy to have endless supply of meat and good strong Sangria. Every student dressed up so nicely for both nights and I wasn't wearing any makeup or even care about wearing something nice. I was probably the most underdressed. Only till the second night I understood why the girls have to bring such a big luggage. They brought along their makeup kit, dresses, different accessories and bags for the 2 nights out. I guess I really can't be bothered. After dinner, I totally couldn't wait to head back to the hotel after having too much strong Sangria and hating music of the clubs there. Po Xian is more of the sociable and party kind but he joined us back at the hotel that day to finish the Port Wine we bought the night before. Most Port wine has alcohol content ranging from 17 to 20%. We had the 20% one that night that really make us a bit too fuzzy. Had the best night sleep in a while!

3rd day! Woke up slightly later than the day before cos of the wine and decided to wait for the rest today. But end up, Po went out without us-.- So I brought Weiyi to have breakfast at Lena's! We explored the rest of Portmão after that.

Because Portugal had been ruled by the Arabs for many years, the buildings and architecture are mostly very Arabic and to be honest, I have seen more mosques than churches in Portugal so far. It's the first country in Europe that I have been that I don't see many churches around.

Paranomic view of Portimão Marina!

Just when we are making our way down to the beach, we spotted this:)

 I really love to see the seagulls fly. So smooth and beautiful.

We thought we were going to find the lighthouse according to the map, it turns out to be a beacon -.- But it's cute enough!

A floating playground!

Loccitane colours. Haha. There's actually a Loccitane Spa Place in Portimão.

Beautiful view of the glistening water on the way to the beacon.

There were a lot of old uncles fishing there

Met the Italian friends we made on the first night and the pretty girls they managed to... ahem.. meet on the first night. 2 of us were oddly out of place fully clothed. We didn't want to go to the beach that day but the beacon is here!

Word of advice for girls out there regarding Italian men!

Wind surfing! Merely let the wind blow the parachute and you just surf like wakeboarding. It looks sooooo fun! Definitely need to try it someday!

I came to the beach thinking that I'll see some hot bods but end up, all I see are old uncles with a pot belly and old aunties nude tanning. WHY?!

Failed architecture

Went into the Portmão Marina!

Rushed back to a Japanese buffet place to have lunch before taking the bus back to Lisbon.


Finally tried the Chinese food near the school when we got back! Fried rice at DTF price but sighs... sadly, it isn't anywhere near DTF standard.


All thanks to the Macau flatmates that my ASOS got here safely. They helped me sign for it while I was away :') Wanted to make my second big order after my 'test order' got here safely but I'll be away for the coming week... Need to plan the order date wisely! ;)