k.u.d.a.h.u.r.a.a

Before you go further, let me warn you that this is a long read.. almost thesis-like length ;)

Sun, sea, sand, throw in a couple of stormy weather, constant gust of wind.. and that pretty much sums up our vacation in the midst of the indian ocean. We embarked on our first maiden voyage as a family to the Maldives and it was a wonderful getaway. What?.. we're crazy to have brought our child to the Maldives, you say? Well first of all, we couldn't bear parting with our daughter for a week and second, there was no one to look after her. Anyway it was a good experience travelling with a toddler.. it got a bit challenging at times but we managed to keep things under control.

aah Maldives, Maldives.. where shall I start? Well lets start from the very beginning...

We dreaded our first flight with an active toddler. Though the 4-hour flight to and fro went smoothly, it wasn't without a hitch but there wasn't any major meltdown. That experience was in fact a good prep for a long haul flight we're gonna take pretty soon. Now that, would be the real challenge.

So we took the evening flight on SQ as that was the only direct flight to Male and SQ only flies there at night and that sucks big time cause what that means is when you reached Male at around 10 pm Male time, that's considered one night off from the package you took which subsequently leads you to lose a night. But that's how it works and there's not much that you can do about it.

It was great service from the moment we reached the airport which one should expect from a luxury hotel of this caliber. There was a representative from the resort waiting for us with our name printed on a placard. Once we were identified, we were soon relieved of our luggages and did not touch them until we reached our bungalow. We were then promptly ushered to the speedboat that would take us to the resort. It was a 30-minute speedy boat ride (ala Miami Vice) in the dead of night. Do bring a bag to puke into if you're seasick. As soon as we reached the jetty, a line of resort staff were waiting for us guests.

Check-in was a breeze.. we just need to park our derriers on the plush sofas and they brought the papers to us for signing.. but not before offering us iced ginger-lime infused drinks and cool towels to freshen up after our journey.. lovely gesture indeed. Not only that, our little girl got her own fruity juice too, plus a little toy which of course, she refused, seeing how her sleep has been disrupted and she was out of sorts with the journey and the few hours time difference.

After everything was settled, we were off to our bungalow in a buggy (the only form of vehicle on the island) and arrived at our 'home' a minute or so later. The moment we stepped into our vacation home, I gushed a big "WOW!" as my eyes feasted on the urban chic interior of the bungalow with clever, cozy lighting and Maldivian music humming softly in the background.. quelle entree! A quick tour around the bungalow by the staff, and we were promptly left to our privacy. The place is AMAZING!.. well appointed with lusciously decorated interior and elegant finishings. We were on cloud nine.

We opted for a beach bungalow since water bungalows are not recommended for young children because of safety issues. We wanted to stay in a water bungalow initially when we first planned for this trip (which was around 5 years back :) but personally, I find that the beach bungalows have more pluses as they give you more private area, with an outdoor shower in the backyard and a plunge pool and direct access to the beach. It was the perfect choice for us as our girl loves to play in the sand (and at times eat it too!). Well I guess the different bungalows exude different charm. Some guests split their stay on the island by trying out both types of accommodation for the different experience.

The bungalow we stayed in was on the sunset side of the beach (or west side, if you like). Not only did we get to see lovely sunsets, we also get constant breeze which can be too much at times.. and the sea on this side is much rougher as well. We chose this side mainly for the beach - better and nicer, though not powdery-pristine-white perfect cause there're broken corals everywhere due to the tsunami.

Our stay in the Maldives was not all sunny side up, unfortunately. In fact, half of our stay there was hampered by rain and that was a real downer cause when the rain came pelting down, you're forced to stay indoors and you don't go to a beautiful island like this to be confined to your room. Even though the rain did hamper some of our plans, it didn't spoil our vacation as a whole. Usually when it rains, it came all in a sudden with a heavy downpour that lasted for say, five minutes and the sun came popping back out in the sky soon after.

There are 3 main restaurants in the resort offering different arrays of international food. Since our package includes breakfast, we made good use of it by making it into a brunch.. usually making a trip to the restaurant half an hour before they close the buffet and piling up food on our table. So then we either skip lunch or have light snacks or have early dinner.

Well when you go to a 5 star resort, everything is charged in 5 star dollars. A can of coke from the bungalow bar costs 5USD, a big bottle of evian will cost you 13USD and a plate of nasi goreng with sambal oelek that comes with fried egg and some chicken satay will set you back at 32USD.. ouch! Our priciest meal was on the lobster night, where we had a 3-course dinner and blew almost 300USD that night (triple ouch!) But judging by how our tummy increased up two notches after the end of the meal, I say it's worth it. Plus, what's a trip to the Maldives without gorging on lobsters, right?

Let me tell you up right that it was a brain-draining task for us to settle on which resort to go to. But since we were bringing our girl along, it narrows down the search to family-friendly resorts. We finally settled for this one since it's very child-friendly. They provide kid's menu in all restaurants, offer babysitting service and there's a Kid's Club on the island where parents can 'deposit' their child(ren) for the entire day if they so wish. It's free of charge but if your child is below 4 years old, he has to be accompanied by the parent or a babysitter. We made use of the babysitting service twice during our stay, for 2 hours each time and it costs 17USD per hour. It was our baby's first ever experience to be cared for by a total stranger and she did well on the first occasion but not so the second time as she cried for us. Well it was necessary to leave her for a couple of hours each time as we had planned to do some activities.

And activities we did - snorkelling, dolphin watch and spa. We did book for a trip to Male but cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather and plus, the hubby was a little under the weather from the day before. And the day before, we went for the dolphin cruise. We took a dhoni ride out to the big blue for a 90-minute excursion. We brought our girl along for the trip thinking that it was a noble idea but we didn't anticipate the bad weather and the rough journey out sea. She didn't enjoy the trip at all.. crying intermittently every now and then.. my poor baby. And the sea motion got to the hubby halfway through. So I was the only one who enjoyed the whole trip, trying to spot the dolphins and capturing them on stills and video consecutively. Even though the skies were on the stormy side, we did see pods of spinner dolphins doing their acrobatic thing by spinning out of the water into the air and then swimming towards the boat. That was a real feast for the eyes and adults were turned into shrieking frenzy whenever that happens.

Fortunately, we had beautiful weather the day we went snorkelling. It was our first time ever and I was looking forward to it. The dhoni took us out to the house reef which was a mere 5 minutes ride from the island. A short briefing on the boat and in we went into the sea. I think I did great for a novice. Being a non-swimmer and having to stay afloat in the middle of the rough sea for 30 minutes, was a true feat for me.. and for that, I give myself many pats on the back. The sea was really rough.. I gulped down sea water a few times while in upright position as the waves came smashing down my face. At one point, I had difficulty breathing through the tube but Ahmed, our snorkelling guide, came to my rescue. Apart from that, I did enjoy snorkelling. The house reef were teeming with all sorts of fish of varying colours and sizes, though I heard that the reef is not as colourful as other parts of the ocean. Unfortunately,we didn't get to see any manta rays or sharks or turtles.. swimming with any of those would be a great experience indeed.

So, was I scared by the idea of being in the big ocean? Maybe I had that feeling lodged somewhere deep inside but I didn't give it a chance to surface or else I wouldn't be able to go through it. I adopted NIKE's "just do it" mantra :)

I'm not someone who adores being under the sun. I absord the sun ray like sponge absorbs water, so in a bid to stay true to my colour of origin, I slathered dollops of suntan lotion and whitening cream head to toe, to prevent from looking like a golliwog after an exotic vacation. And my efforts really paid off :)

The spa was a heavenly experience and since it's located on its own island, the experience was made more special and exclusive. After a 2-minute dhoni ride, we reached the spa island and was greeted by soothing sounds and were given refreshing drinks before being ushered to the couple room. We had a 60-minute Balinese massage and were entertained by the sound of the ocean and fish swimming underneath the spa room as we were being stroked and kneaded.. magnifique! We would've loved to have more of those treatments but the price tag kept us in check.

On the eve before our departure, we received a letter from the management informing us that we've been given a complimentary late check-out at 9pm instead of the usual midday check-out and that was a godsend cause we were on the 11pm flight and were trying to figure out our girl's sleeping arrangement between noon and departure time. So we were really grateful for that goodwill.

We got a tad bit emotional having to leave 'our' bungalow and the beautiful island. I miss that place, miss the huge bathtub, the outdoor shower, the plunge pool.. heck, the whole bungalow!... especially miss the twice a day housekeeping, the buggy service, the buffet breakfast, the smiles everywhere we go, the whole island!

We're already thinking of another trip to the Maldives.. to a different destination.....

(Photos will be up on FB soon)