~Maldives~

Is this for real?


Maldives' simply enchanting...

The waves seems to be singing a beautiful song, calling out to you.... And the crystal clear blue blue Indian Ocean seduces you all the while...

Have i really been there? Everything's too short, too little, too beautiful and seemingly surreal....

Managed to capture a pic of the Sunrise.
Perhaps i was too excited, couldn't sleep... Woke up much earlier than i scheduled myself for the morning island walk.


Pity both the scheduled arrival and departure of Male flights are at night, otherwise it'll be wonderful if we can get a bird's eye view of all the islands and the ocean from the top.

Now i know. That our resort and the airport aren't on the same island, just a short boat ride away. Even though it was dark, most of us relax out in the aft deck (much to the dismay of the Capt cos he thought that's too dangerous), bathing in moonlight and for myself, i was immensing in pure disbelief...

Upon arrival at the hotel, or rather resort, we were greeted with cold towels & a refreshing tropical oragne juice drink. I was absolutely delighted with such nice hospitality =) It makes me feel as though a much welcomed tourist. Something different...

Took a walk round the island... It was boring... Nothing much except the sports utility centre... Food wise it's really disappointing, they only have restaurants or bars... I regret not preparing any drystores, only bought 4 egg-tarts @ airport last minute.



The resort-on-water. Heard it cost USD$1.5K to stay per night??? *gasps*


Snorkelling!
Returned to room, give wake up calls and prepare to meet the rest whose interested to snorkel.

The water's sooooooooooooooooooo clear.

We spent a good 2 or 3 hours snorkelling around. Most of the time we swam from bouy to bouy near the drop off point of the corals (see the water with a darker shade of blue). It's pretty scary there as the drop seems very deep and the water's chilly. Images of the movie "Deep Blue Sea" flashes by, where by 2 divers got left behind in the ocean.... To top it off, the very first time i swim over there alone, i spotted a shark the size of a petite girl. My heart skipped a beat or 2, cos i didn't expect to see such a big one. Immediately, i veered off in another direction. Can say i was trembling with both excitment and fright, yet i swam back looking for it again, only to find it in the shallow waters of the corals >.<"

Sharks that size shouldn't be coming in to the shallow waters.........

We paired up forming buddy system after that, feels safer... At least if the shark comes and bite me off someone will know...

The water in the morning was especially clear and we saw loads of beautiful fish and corals..... Angel fish
Stick (thin) fish
Eel
Fish with pinnocio nose
Fish with parrot's beak like mouth
Fish with sausage mouth
Fish of all sort of neon-light colours etc etc...
At the end of the day, i saw shark 4 times! hehe...
But no Nemo though =9



Just one snorkelling session here beats my diving experience at Tioman island.....
I'll be back.

All of us went back to bathe and wash up at 11 am, as we are getting hunger pangs. For the second time, i called up the rest to invite them for lunch.

My lunch. Maldivian chicken curry...

They sure took very long to cook the meals. We waited about 1 hour!!! Our joke was that, they have to go catch the chickens they rear somewhere in the back yards and catch the fish... Haha... Initially when my dish arrive, i was like "?" doesn't look appetising... But that question mark disappear after i took the 1st mouthful. NICE! =)

The restaurant where we had lunch... It looks like the picture they have on their website LOL


My GS. First solo to Male!!! *Jealous*

He's feeding the fish out on the deck, with bread.


A baby shark. This one is really baby lor...






After lunch it was a 'take picture' session. Even though they've been to Male once or twice b4 they're still into taking pictures =)
My team girl, Cindy.





Charlie's 'Angels'






I think those silver silver thingy are fish.


Yup, Jo dun mind snorkelling again so we are back after lunch =) However, it was only for a while cos the water wasn't as clear in the afternoon.




Jo wanted pictures, pictures and more pictures. So we were helping each other take at the end of the day.... =9










My resort room. It was kind of big, a little not use to it. Cos such a big a chalet feels better when there's people to fill it up.


The magnets are very cute, got them as souvenirs. Even those who din intend to buy any of those magnets couldn't resist the stingray one... The stingray one is for pi, cos he like to eat them LOL...

The little seashell was from the resort staff while i was taking a walk in the morning.
And the present?
I got a it as a pleasant surprise when i went to check my mailbox after i got back. So sweet of C to get chocolates from her Frankfurt-NY trip =)
Thanks darling!

That's the end of my tenth solo. It's really "Shi Quan Shi Mei" cos firstly, it Maldives. Secondly, everyone is very nice, from the IFS to the most junior one. This is the kind of teamwork that'll make my day =)

Perhaps that's what my boss meant, about abolishing team flights. At least you get to meet more people. Be it good or bad. Both are good learning experience.