airplanes.

Day 3.

Mini day trip time. Well it's a mini day trip because technically Belem is still considered part of Lisbon but it is a 15 minute tram journey out from the city centre. Some of the trams in Lisbon are still the old ones which were small and open aired so thankfully we managed to catch a newer tram which had more space as well as the all important air-cond.

Exterior of Jeronimos Monastery.

Sometimes I wonder who really appreciates all the figures carved out. Some of them are so high up that you'd need a crane or super zoomed camera to even try and figure out who it is. 

Really like these inner courtyards that European places seem to have.

Tomb of Vasco da Gama. 

Woohoo for remembering parts of Sejarah. 

After wandering around a little inside the monastery it was time for the highlight of the trip! Well sort of. Portuguese egg tarts are also known as Pasteis de Belem as the recipe was created by the monks of the Jeronimos Monastery. The recipe used today in the store is the one that the monks made years ago, though unfortunately the monks no longer make it. Can't remember who asked me this, but someone (my mum I think) asked me whether I could see the monks in their robes using wood ovens to make the egg tarts. Haha. I wish it was that authentic. The egg tarts are now made in a shop just down the road from the monastery which opens from 8am till 12am because they are just that popular. 

The one and only. 

Usually packed as a box of six. 

Pretty good. The shell was crispy while the insides were soft and not too sweet.

Though for 1.20euro I did expect something a little bigger. 

Also they give you little packets of cinnamon and icing sugar which you sprinkle on top. It does make a subtle taste difference. 

We also went to check out the Belem Tower which was use to protect the sea front. It was just okay, nothing too special in my opinion. 

After that we were off to the No 1. rated attraction of Lisbon. The Ocenarium. The concept is like an aquarium where you see sea life all around but the difference is that the habitat is built on top of the ocean and so the structure inside is meant to simulate the ocean where species are not really separated. There are different sections for different species but all the tanks link back to the central tank.

There really is a lot to see in there if you are interested in sea life. However, I am not much of a nature fan so here are just a few of the things I liked about it. 

Penguins! Cute furry animals are always a plus. 

Otters. Did you know that otters hold hands when they sleep so that they won't float away from each other? It's true! Cause we spent a good 15 minutes just watching this pair of otters sleep. And when they started floating apart, one would wake up and 'roll' back to hold hands. 

We saw that. And you could just hear everyone watching go awwww. 

Glow in the dark jellyfish. So prettyyy. 

On the way to the exit, there was a video playing about the maintenance of the oceanarium. The amount of work and effort that goes into maintaining it is just more than you could imagine. Every hour they have to check the ph and oxygen levels of the water. That's every hour for 24 hours a day. Also the staff pretty much hand feed a lot of the animals so each animal has a routine of knowing exactly which section to go to for good. Interestingly sharks don't get fed every day, just twice a week. 

And that was all for day 3.