Maldives

I guez most pp have heard of how beautiful Maldives is and long to go there; me was no exception!!! There was a good deal during the last NATAS fair for Club Med Kani & me decided to go w HL. Yep, many pp were surprised that Dar was not goin w me as Maldives is like a honeymoon destination but instead w 3 other babes. & here are the 4 pretty babes: Me, the 2 HLs & SP :) Pity that it was a nite flight so when we reached there, it was in total darkness & we cldn't appreciate the beauty of the island. Nonetheless, we were welcomed warmly by the staff (aka GOs) w a drink & shown to our rooms. & these were the sights that greeted us the next day:

The Sand, the Sea & the Sky!!! & as HL added... the SEAWEED hahaha!

A view of the jetty

On the 1st day, we had a briefing in the AM & was shown ard the island by 1 of the GOs which really wasn't v big. Having nothing to do till lunch, we went to take some pics near the water bungalows. HL's lumix was really gd; it is wide-angled so we cld take many pics ourselves (like e one above)... m gona get the Lumix too if we eva get dwn to buying our own cam hee. Aft lunch, we decided to go snorkelling; which turned out to be a rather bad idea as the sea was v choppy in the pm & many pp on the boat were seasick. & no matter how hard we paddelled in the water, we cldn't seem to go far... it was really v tiring. :*(

Above: HL & I @ the jetty whilst waiting for the boat. Forgot to mention that we had to take a swimming test first before they let us go snorkelling!

Rite: Us happily taking pics b4 plunging into the choppy sea

So we decided to try again the next morning (& e morning after) when the seas were not so choppy. & indeed they were fulfilling trips as we saw dolphin (umm actually i only saw the fin or was it e tail) on e 2nd day & turtles on the 3rd day!!! & the fishes swam really close to me, but i wasn't able to touch them. I esp liked this flourescent blue one :) The only bad thng was that I witnessed this chinese guy breaking off some of the corals when he kicked his flippers. The GO was really angree as apparantly it wasn't the first time he did it. Some of the other chinese also stood on the corals when they have been briefed not to do so. Just some incidents why the GOs there didn't seem to like the chinese much! (& Club Med was teaming w them whilst we were there!!!)

Above: The site where we snorkelled on the 2nd day. See the lighter shade of green, that is where the corals are

Rite: Us on the smaller boat where we cld sit on the deck & took many many pics :)

Proof that we went snorkelling. Don't we look like puffer fishes?? hee hee... guess which is me?

We also went sailing :) We cld actually learn or the GOs could bring us out. We chose for the GOs to bring us out & they taught us a little along the way. It was q ez as they used this "stick" to control the direction of the boat.Tis the boat we went sailing on... it is called the Hobbie Cat =)

It was v choppy the first time we went out; I was actually splashed all over w water & was all drenched by the time we reached back the shore. e 2nd time we went out, it was beta & so HL was able to take q alot of pics including 1 with a super wierd expression on my face coz the GO changed direction of the sail & the sai hit my head!!! Rather the hook hooked my hair so it felt like my hair was gona be hooked off! & she took this change 2 take a photo of me so there was pic of a v pained expression of me holding on 2 my hair!!! I refuse to put e pic up here :P We also went for stretching & a specially arranged Hip-Hop class hee hee. I didn't really dance lah... but the place where they held the classes was v dark & there were no fans which resulted us being feasted by mosquitoes. I thnk that is also where I got my sandfly bites :(

The meals were all inclusive & they were usually held @ the Velhi restaurant. There were also snacks in between the meals @ Iru & Sunset Bar. However the food wasn't all that delicious; perhaps we weren't used to their cooking bahs and the 1 thng we all complained about was that the drinks were all super duper diluted!!! We were wondering if it was coz there were so many chinese there during that period as the chef told us that @ least 10 pp have complained about the drinks!!! In e end, we had to keep telling the bartender GOs that we wanted our drinks CONCENTRATED & asked them to pour the juice straight from the carton itself. The snacks were q yummz though especially the Nuggets & e Samosas.

Having the yummy Samosas @ Iru Bar on the rite before Dinner @ Velhi Restaurant on the left. The 2 HLs actually saw a rat 1 nite @ Velhi Rest, SP & I jumped up in fright haha!

We usually chose the 4 seaters in the rest so that the GOs will not come "disturb" us whilst we eat. It was the job of the GOs to talk to guests even during meal times.

The night life was not boring either; no wonder Lonely Planet sez that Club Med Kani has the best night entertainment on the island. The GOs put up shows everynite with a different theme, e.g. 80 shows, Latino Dance, Cabaret... after which there was the Sign Dance where everyone followed to specific moves to the songs. It was rather fun, esp on the last nite where they played chinese/korean/jap songs. This chinese guy actually went to sing the chinese song on the little stage!!! I almost died of luffter!!! Aft that there was disco (but hardly anyone danced!!!) or guests could sit around for drinks. On our 2nd last nite there, we did stay to talk with the GOs till late; some of the GOs were really q cheeky & bo liao heh. Some pics w the GOs:

Above: Marhavilla the Chereographer for the Nite shows w his Afro Hair. In 1 of the shows, he actually tied his hair up like a poodle!!! I wanted 2 take a pic w him in that hairstyle but I thnk he was embarassed!

Rite: Another 2 GOs who sat dwn 2 entertain dwn with their tricks

Our 2 snorkelling GOs, Vaea from Taihiti above & Yuki from Japan on the rite! Vaea was always lookin for us during meal times & Yuki was simply the cutest GO there!

Left: Emmanuel the Land Sports Instructor who was also the Hip-Hop Instructor.

Rite: Pascine (i thnk) the restaurant manager who was super frenly. HL & I were making noise that all the snacks were finished 1 afternoon and she actually came out to entertain us! :P

Oh & 1 of the GOs brought us to view the water bungalows @ our request. It was q kewl as it had a private staircase from the room into the ocean (see pic) but it didn't have a glass bottom floor which I thot was q disappointing. But we took many pics alg e way :)

The waters there were actually q clear & there were fishes there, we did some couples snorkellling near the water bungalows. Club Med has also thotfully left life vests in the rooms for this purpose :) Oh & I managed to get q near the bb sharks. We saw them in the water but only 2-3 of them were swimming about... luckily HL spotted many of them under the walkway (I thnk it was too hot!!! haha) n I went near them to take some pics. Wanted to touch them but they didn't swim q near enuff for me. We were wondering where e mummy shark was!!!

The weather was really hot but I didn't really mind coz I got my tan! hee hee. Did put sunblock on the first day; didn't put any on the 2nd day n only put on my shoulders on the 3rd day... luckily the tan came out rather even. Altohugh I was a little disappointed w Maldives (coz 1) the beaches were not really v pristine clean & 2) after e 3rd day, we felt like prisoners on the island as it was getting borin coz we dun dive!) I really enjoyed myself this trip! :))) It's actually my 1st trip wout Dar & w my gfs so I was actually a little apprehensive @ first but it turned out to be a lot of fun!!! Perhaps we'll go Greece or States next year bah! Thanks for e fun time babes! :)