Cheewei.com – Illustrating the Wonders of Photography

Picture paints a thousand words, so let me show you what I mean by that. Just take a look at the first picture below.

Sitting high up on the wall where you are able to see almost the entire town of Oia. Cats actually know how to enjoy a spectacular scenery.

Chill kitty! Chill! I am not a paparazzi, just a tourist who got excited seeing Greek Cats. Don’t you think they look different? Sharp long face? And their eyes too!

Not all cats are that unfriendly, at least not for this one. I was trying to take a paranomic view of the place, she gracefully ‘cat-walked’ towards me along the walls. Then, she sat there waiting for me to take her photos. I think pets can be part of the tourist attractions. What do you think?

Remember to thank them for posing because not all pets are kind enough to pose for you. Unless maybe they are attracted to you. (Not implying anything nor having any hidden meaning )

Well, you won’t be lucky all the time. Sometimes, you’ll meet pets like these. I tried all sorts of ways and make all sorts of noises to get the dog’s attention. Yet the dog is more interested in getting some afternoon nap.

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Pyrgos is a town in Santorini, located about 5 mins away from Fira. If you are going up north or towards Fira and coming from Perisa, Perivolos or any southern parts of Santorini, you will definitely pass by the junction that turns into Pyrgos.

Pyrgos is a small town, quiet however the scenery is pretty good.

Of course, there will be churches with blue domes and bells.

It is easy to get to the roof of the houses in Santorini. However, I was getting clammy hands as I climb to the rooftop to explore something nice.

This is another photo taken from the roof. Mind you, houses in Santorini are all cemented roof.

A footpath towards the castelli. You definitely need to go through residential area to explore for better angles and scenery.

They are pretty much the same though. Hope you are not bored with the blue domes yet.

Found another coloured bells which are not completely white.

Thanks for viewing, I’ll be off to Oslo, Norway for the weekend. Hopefully the weather is good. Catch you guys next week.

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I have been very busy this week. Spent my weekend in Cardiff, attending a friend’s granddaughter’s christening ceremony. Also, I will be going to Oslo, Norway this weekend till next Monday.

Finally, more photos of Santorini and I hope you are not bored of them just yet.

A Greece flag in a church compound.

The blue sea and church that peered from behind the doorframe.

These steps are everywhere in the residential area of Santorini. Most houses are built on the cliff therefore they are pretty uneven.

How beautiful is that? Blue sea, red flowers and white stairs.

In Santorini, you never will require a big gate for your house.

Having a nice flowerpot on your balcony enhances the look, however, having a balcony that overlooks the breathtaking view, is the icing on the cake.

I still have quite a bit of Santorini photos yet to post. Let’s hope I have time to do that. =)

Please feel free to drop me some comments regardless of whether its a good or bad one. Thanks!

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The churches in Santorini are pretty unique. Every church is distinguished by their trademark blue dome accompanied by traditional church bells beside it. Some of you might have seen this on TV, websites or even postcards.

We found these blue domes or churches in Perissa, Fira, Pyrgos, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia. In fact, you can find them almost everywhere in Santorini. Some of them required a bit a of track to get to, tucked away in the midst of houses and rooftops!  Well, you’ll see what I mean when you get there

Some domes are not so well maintained. As you can see, this dome is in need of a fresh coat of paint to keep it looking handsome against the stunning Aegean sea.

Church bells overlooking the sea. I’m doubtful you can find these anywhere else.

Santorini bells standing tall against the deep blue sea.

To capture this angle,  I had to climb unto someone’s roof and balance precariously! I lived to tell the tale and the picture speaks for itself.

Another church with its signature bell.

The infamous Santorini postcard view!

The view from this church in Oia is just breathtaking.

This is just a little teaser, stay tuned for more awesome sights and scenes of Santorini Special. I’d thoroughly recommend it as a honeymoon destination, having been voted as having one of the world’s best sunsets!

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Oia is located on the northwestern part of Santorini. It claimed to be the best place to watch the sunset. Oia is pretty quiet during the day. However, it is extremely busy during evening as tourists arrive just to watch the sunset. So if you are planning to go there, make sure you get there earlier.

We drove towards Oia from Perivolos around noon. With the ATV (all terrain vehicle), it took us about close to an hour to reach Oia. Its about 25mins from Fira. I am sure it is quicker if you going by car or bike.

The islands in the background were caused by volcano eruptions. The sea and sky of Santorini is just so blue.

I love the way they paint their buildings, stairs, windows and doors.

The blue just stands out from the white. Well white paint is harder to maintain but in Santorini it isn’t a problem as it barely rains.

Most of the gates in Santorini are about that size. Sometimes, it look as though the gate is leading you off the cliff. Actually, there are stairs behind the gate as most houses were built on the cliff.

Some nice decorations along the main street of Oia. That is actually a restaurant.

The colours used in Santorini are bright colours which make it so beautiful and unique.

This is definitely a place to chill out while enjoying the spectacular scenery of Santorini.

Also, red flowers like these can be seen in houses or beside a white wall. It definitely stands out.

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On the 3rd day in Santorini, we took a sunset cruise to see the sunset and along the way we drop by the volcano islands and the hot springs.

This is the entrance of the volcano islands of Nea Kameni & Palea Kameni. The two volcanic islands were formed during a series of eruption between 1707 and 1950. You can read more on the islands here.

This is just the beginning, there is still a long way before reaching the top.

Some areas on the island ground are still hot and at some areas, the smell of sulphur is rather strong.

There are lots of big black rocks like this which were formed after the eruption.

Some of the footpath to the top of the Kameni island are quite steep. We only had about 60 mins to wander around this island. I only managed to reach the second highest peak due to “time constrains” (busy capturing the spectacular sceneries, what to do) and i was wearing flip-flops. Not bad huh?

I looked at my watch and I realised I have only about 15 mins to get back to our ship. I don’t think anybody is interested to camp on this island. Its hot! On the background is the town of Oia. It is one of the best places to watch the sunset.

Notice the rocks near the ships? The orange bit? That I believe is sulphur as well.

Finally, we were back on our ship. After that we set off to the hot springs on the other side of the island. Some of us swam in the hot springs, whilst others looked on.

Then we slowly sailed towards the horizon where the sun sets whilst having some wine and finger food.

There you go, the spectacular sunset view from a ship. I think the sunset view from the ship is better than from Oia. The only drawback is that its harder to avoid camera shake on a ship than on the land. It will be worse if you were to use a tripod on a rocky ship.

That’s all for now, more photos of Fira and Oia on the next post.

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So here we are at the donkey station in Fira, Santorini. A one way donkey ride will cost you about 4-5 euros. We saw this first donkey. It looks pretty sad. I guess it is tired of transporting tourists up and down. Looks pretty sad huh? Come on cheer up!!! I’ll feed you some carrots or maybe the donkey is camera shy. Here is a white donkey. This one doesn’t seem shy at all. I think this donkey likes me. Look at the ears! The interval between these 2 photos is just 5 seconds! The donkey got turned on! Oops! This is so sweet!! Look at that, such loving donkeys! I bet they are lovers. What do you think? Here comes the evil master! He whips any donkey that misbehaves! They tie the donkeys in a row, so that they will follow the lead donkey. Due to the lack of time, instead of riding the donkey both ways, we took the cable car down (which cost us 4 euros).

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Here are more photos of Fira, Santorini. Bet you guys are wondering whether is that all I have got. I was actually chilling out over the weekend after a 7-days long trip. It was quite tiring as I have to carry all my gears from morning till night, but I think it is really worthwhile.

Here is a photo of the main church in Fira. Saw this tiny statue sitting on the roof of another house so I tried to shoot from this angle.

This is how it looks like. Notice the shark beside the red door?

These are the restaurant bars that you will never see in a city!
Some of the decorations are only feasible in Santorini because it rarely rains there. At most, it only rains during winter.

The houses in the background are mostly villas or residential area. Imagine waking up to a breathtaking sea view or watching the sunset everyday from your balcony. Also, I would highly recommend this place for honeymoon!

The island in the background is a dormant volcano.

I simply just love the design and decors of the restaurants.

That’s the dormant volcano. Apart from the volcano there is a high sulphur level hot spring.

Lastly, to all the donkey lovers or to those who love the movie shrek, here we are at the donkey station! Donkey is one of the method used to travel around the island or to the old port which is located far down the cliff.

More photos of the donkey coming up next…

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This is a panorama view of Fira, Santorini. We took this from the top of Fira town.

*Courtesy of Sharon with her Sony Digicam*

Notice how blue the sky and sea is?

I’ll post more photos shortly!

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After checking into our villa we decided to explore this awesome island. There is a bus stop about 5 mins from our villa, but the buses come like every 30mins or maybe more and they operate till 9pm only. That would be very inconvenient if you are planning to come back later. So…we decided to rent a quadbike.

We then drove all the way from Perivolos to Fira. It took us about half an hour at first but it gets faster when you get used to the bike.

Along the way to Fira, we stop at a nice place and safe place to take some photos with this machine. Who wouldn’t do that?

Don’t be fooled by its look. It is powered by only a 50cc engine. Fifty!! I really wish this thing could go faster! However, the roads are mostly curvy and some goes through hilly places so I wouldn’t recommend anyone speeding with this thing.

The good thing about this is you are able to park anywhere in the town as long as you are not obstructing traffic.

So here we are in Fira, the capital of Santorini. There is a port in Fira which is known as the Old Port (notice the boat far down the cliff?). There are two ways to get to the port, either by cable car or by foot.

If you decide to take the walkway down you have to beware of the donkey poos Yes another alternative would be riding a donkey down which will cost you about 4-5euros. On the other hand, the cable car will cost you 4 euros. The cost is about the same so its really up to you. Just try not to think about donkey, going crazy, and the cliff. hehe.

This is a church at the top of Fira. That is actually the real colour of the sky.

If you notice the stairway going downwards? Yes lots of walking needed!

Surprisingly, towards the evening you are able to see the moon. Notice the white crescent in between the tower and the dome? That is the moon.

This is the interior of the church. I had to crank up the ISO as its pretty dark in there.

The Greece flag consists of white and blue so are the houses in Santorini.

The colours are simply amazing! You have to see it for yourself to believe it

Some hotel in Fira. I just like how they match the colours and the way they paint their stairs.

More photos coming up

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