24 Hours Series

24 Hours in Santorini

Where to stay, what to eat, where to take the perfect photos

Photos taken with the OPPO Reno FC Barcelona Edition

Published

November 3, 2019

Chay Lazaro

Whether you’ve seen it on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Mamma Mia, Before Midnight, or in pictures on the internet, you’ve probably already fallen in love with Santorini before you’ve even set foot on the island. The white cave houses and blue domes have summer romance spelled all over them.

The island is paradise for couples, specifically honeymooners, but there are also plenty of things to do for those who are single and just want a different kind of relaxing sunny getaway.

Stay

Let’s start with what the pictures don’t tell you: Santorini is crowded and touristy AF. The key to enjoying your Santorini trip is finding the right cave house for you. There are plenty of options around the island, both in Fira and Oia.

If you want to save some money, Fira has the same white and blue accommodations, except you have to take a bus to Oia if you want to do all the things Santorini is famous for.

Oia is where you’d want to stay if you want to maximize your time in Santorini. If you have plenty of cash to burn, the top-rated accommodations in Oia will not disappoint.

There are a lot of options in Oia for every budget if you look hard enough

Like any other tourist destination, there are hidden gems on Airbnb that are centrally located but are much cheaper. Thea apartment in Oia offers great views and the peace and quiet you need from a much needed vacation. Rates vary depending on the season with summer being the most expensive.

Eat

Mediterranean cuisine and fresh seafood are what you need to look out for when in Santorini.

Sunset Amoudi’s uni salad is to die for

Sunset Ammoudi Taverna offers various dishes with that day’s fresh catch. You can order fresh fish per kilo, and have them cook it a certain way. The different octopus and prawn dishes are delicious. The uni salad — which no one on the internet seems to be talking about — is to die for.

If you’re allergic to seafood, worry not! I cannot recommend Piatsa Souvlaki enough for their gyro, souvlaki, and kebab. It’s so good I forgot to take photos before digging in. Their offerings are reasonably priced for the serving size as well. The restaurant is hard to miss as it’s right by the Oia bus stop.

There are plenty of other restaurants that have stunning views like Apsithia, located at the main thoroughfare in Oia. The best seats are reserved for couples, and they refuse to join tables for parties of more than two people. Even if you’re going to Santorini with friends, come here anyway for the Greek burger, moussaka, fried cheese. Oh and their Wi-Fi was fast enough for a YouTube video upload.

Photograph

Santorini offers one of the most beautiful sunsets not just in Greece, but in the world. I thought I’d get sick of it after seeing it the first time, but I didn’t. I took way too many photos from different spots because like what my favorite scene from Breaking Bad said, “Should we just watch one sunset? Or live just one day? Because it’s new every time. Each time is a different experience.”

Most tourists would wait for the sunset at the top of the stairs going down Amoudi Bay, but it’s actually even more beautiful past all the donkey poop, at the bay itself.

Although really, watching the sunset anywhere in Oia would be an experience of a lifetime. The direction opposite of Amoudi Bay, the view going down to Thea apartment is also pretty special as you can watch the sunset go behind almost all of Oia.

Actually, taking photos of and in Oia any time of the day would not disappoint. You’ll find plenty of spots without looking really hard for that picture-perfect moment with your SO, your friends, or just yourself.

Shop

Summer accessories are must haves when you go to Santorini. If you don’t have any or want more, there are a lot of great stores in both Oia and Fira that it would feel like a shopping mall at some point. Look out for leather sandals, straw hats, handmade bags, and flowy dresses to complete your summer getaway look.

24 Hours Series

vivo V27: Studio lights in your pocket

Meet the new Aura Light Portrait System

Published

April 14, 2023

Chay Lazaro

It’s spring 2023 and vivo is back with the V series. The vivo V27 comes with a new feature called Aura Light Portrait System, which takes its main camera to another level. Like its predecessor it’s got a color-changing back, making it a fashionable choice for different users.

Stylish color-changing design

We have the V27 in Emerald Green, which starts off with a lighter tint that looks like jade. When exposed to UV light, it changes into a darker shade of green. This is achieved thanks to the Emerald Glass processing technique. The phone also comes in Magic Blue, Flowing Gold, and Noble Black.

Chay is wearing light colors so the Emerald Green model matches her outfit better. It makes a nice, subtle pop of color, and goes with her pastel-y mint green purse and boots.

It’s also worth pointing out the 3D curved screen and this curved back on the V27 make it feel extremely thin and light.

Studio lights in your pocket

As mentioned earlier, the vivo V27 features the Aura Light Portrait System for great portraits even in low light. It’s a combination of the IMX677V sensor, which Sony designed with vivo specifically for this phone, algorithm optimizations, and the Aura Light. Its outer ring is matte and sandblasted, softening the light coming out of it.

The Aura Light, combined with the large sensor, and algorithm optimizations work together to take great portraits even in low light.

Lunch and coffee

The day before was a very long day so we figured we should get food and coffee. We found this dimly lit restaurant in Soho called Cafe Select. I think it’s a German restaurant because we had some schnitzel and there’s German decor everywhere.

We also specifically asked for the corner booth to test out the V27’s low light capabilities. Despite the lack of light sources, it’s impressive that the V27 managed to produce an accurate cutout of me even when I kept moving with the Bokeh Portrait video mode on.

There’s no natural light in this restaurant so it’s also the perfect place to take portraits and test out the Aura Light Portrait System. It’s like a portable ring light that you can use to take clearer portraits. Take a look at some examples.

On video mode, you can also use LUTs. We had fun using the Nostalgia filter to film a short video in the restaurant, which perfectly matches the vintage vibe of its interiors.

High definition selfies

The vivo V27 would not be a V-series smartphone if it didn’t have an amazing selfie camera. On the V27, we got a 50MP HD selfie camera with autofocus.

It’s worth noting that the phone feels so light in the hand. It’s so easy to take one-handed selfies. I also love how subtle the color change is on the Emerald Green model.

The V27 offers three levels of selfie filters that help hide blemishes and enhance your features — None, Natural, and Classic.

The 50MP front camera means clear selfie details. Most other smartphones have inferior selfie cameras compared to its rear counterparts, but not the V27. As you can see in the example below, zooming in on my eyes show that you can clearly see the strands of my eyebrows.

Walking the High Line & shopping

To test its video stabilization and macro camera, we continued to walk the High Line. Both features produced very impressive results.

Another feature we tried is MicroMovie. It’s perfect for creators like me. It comes with a whole bunch of templates that you can use for TikTok or Instagram Reels. I filmed a daily vlog with it and had so much fun.

While we were shopping, I noticed too that the V27 changed colors after being indoors for a bit. It turned into a beautiful white marble-like finish that fades into mint green at the bottom.

After the sun has set, it’s time to take more low-light portraits and OOTD. Our friends Alex and Leslie even joined us for a quick photo shoot. New York City comes to life at night, and with a 1/1.56-inch sensor and Super Night Mode, the vivo V27 can easily capture the hustle and bustle of the city streets.

More than just a camera smartphone

The vivo V27 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 and comes with either an 8GB or 12GB of RAM.

With Extended RAM the phone borrows memory from your internal storage and gives you an additional 8GB RAM. This way you get either 16GB or 20GB available RAM.