Shopping Tips & Haul from Greece & Souvenir Pack Giveaway

Tadaima!!!!

OMG! I’m so freaking tired after a long haul flight and decided to blog a haul. Before that, I’ll give you all some shopping tips, just in case you’re traveling to Greece soon. Basically, the souvenir stuff is pretty generic and standardized throughout Greece. For example, whatever you want to buy from Santorini are available in Athens too, and vice versa. But there are certain things which are cheaper in certain places.

I will start with Santorini because that’s my first stop. There are two main tourist places in the island which is Fira and Oia. Fira is the “town” area and Oia is a pretty relax coastal village.

Rule number one, remember to bargain. If you’re going with friends/family, remember to buy all your souvenir in one place. That way, you can get better price when you’re buying in a huge quantity. We did that in a shop in Fira, Santorini and was able to get 10% off.

If you have the time, scout around to compare prices. I think I bought some stuff which is much more expensive in Fira and then found out it is much cheaper to buy in Oia. It is also cheaper to buy those “Greek goddess” dress in Santorini than in Athens, although Athens have much more choices.

Then in Athens, you should shop in the Roman Market, which located at the foot of Acropolis. You might get confused what to get for souvenir as there are plenty of choices from different shops there.

And here is my haul. Let’s start with the very typical souvenir…

I bought a handpainted curio box for Christine. I actually choose a very nice one for her, but they exchanged it with another one that looks quite crappy. Although both the box are the same painting, but the one I got has some handywork flaws. Lesson learnt, when shop for souvenir, hold on to your stuff before paying and check to see if it is what you wanted to get. The church model is for Alie and the fridge magnet is for my housemate who collects fridge magnet from different countries.

At Athens, I bought these…

The magnet totally broke in half. I was so devastated because it is for my housemate. If you’re going to buy those clay souvenir, remember don’t put it in your check in luggage. Or better still, don’t buy the clay souvenir. They’re so fragile. Just a little knock it will shatter. Luckily I bought another magnet of Athena figure for her. For myself, I got the Panthenon model for memories. It is one of those place you must visit before you die. Although ruined, it is still beautiful.

I bought a Lady Justitae figure to put on my office table. Sadly, the Lady’s got completely beheaded. I actually hand carried this figure, I think I must have knocked my backpack while carrying it inside. Now I have to find a way to fix it back and paint it. I’m thinking of painting it in pink.

I got these pretty expensive souvenir for mom. A handpainted tea cup from Santorini and an antique-like jewelry box from Athens. I really love the jewelry box and thinking of keeping it for myself.

Keychains, obligated to buy when travel.

Some local produce from Greece… the olive oil and honey. Greek’s olive oil is much sweeter than the Italian’s. It is perfect to eat with bread. And I’m not too sure about the honey though. I bought it for my aunt because I don’t know what else to get for her.

Santorini is famous of their white wine Nykteri. If you love sweet wine like Moscato, you’ll love this even more.

Also brought back some x-rated stuff. Hahahahahaha….. Must use Playboy centrefold as inspiration to work harder for nicer body!!!!

Lastly, some beauty related stuff. I think I’ve mention to you guys about the brand Korres before? My friend introduced this brand to me and I fell in love with it immediately. This brand is originated from Greece and it cost so much cheaper there. Initially I wanted to grab the whole store because it is really cheap. But I came to my senses and bought only the Guava Body Butter and the Milk Cleansing Wipe. The body butter is super good!!! I’ve been asking everyone to try this, so you should too. Don’t worry about flying to Greece. You can buy it from Luxola and they will send it directly to your doorstep.

Greece is really proud of their olives. Since I love olive in my skincare, I got all these…

The Peeling Soap Sponge is really cool. Basically it has few layers of sponges and the last layer is made of soap. You need to rub the soap part on your body to create foam and then use the sponge to exfoliate. This is the first time I see such thing. Bath bombs that made from olives. These are amazing!!! I tried the Olive with Olive Leaves already to distress myself from the long flight. It is superb! It leaves the skin thoroughly moisturized and all the rough skin on my feet are all gone after soaking myself in it for 20 minutes. And soap bar made our of 100% pure olive.

As part of the norm after my trip for you all. Ok… Not all, but only 1 person. 1 reader of this blog will receive a special souvenir pack from me. The souvenir pack contains:

1. One natural olive soap bar from Greece – they’re so good, I decided to give one away.

2. A L’Occitane travel pack that contains shower gel, shampoo/conditioner, and body lotion – this travel pack saves me a lot of space and really useful during my trip. I’m giving one set away so you can bring it for your next trip.

How to get this souvenir pack?

1. As usual, you have to be a subscriber of this blog. If you haven’t, click on the “Join this site” tab on the right hand side.

2. Comment below by leaving your email address. If you don’t leave your email then I will assume that you’re just commenting and don’t want the souvenir pack.

3. I will pick a random reader and send email to her on 23rd May (Thursday).

I want to go back to Santorini so badly! It’s so nice there and the view is nothing like what I’ve seen. OK… Now I’m getting my ass back to work, earn some money and plan for another trip again.