The V-day Entry

Heart shaped chocolates, red roses, candle-lit dinners...... seem pretty rare in T-eeny town.

Returned here early this morning. J went for his final CNY money-throw session (or at least to me they are... haha!) last night, and that sort of kept me awake. What's more, the first flight out to T-eeny town this morning further robbed me of my beauty sleep as we had to get up at about 4:45 am to get to the airport.

I've always believed in celebrating Valentine's Day, or at least acknowledged it, until I started dating a guy who didn't. Till this day he stands by the school of thought that V-day was marketed and commercialised so that people could make money out of it, and that if every day was spent lovingly, every day can be Valentine's day. Haha, I think I've been too gullible, because he's been off the hook despite that in the past 5 years!

Well, to be fair, J takes me out for nice dinners round the year, and he buys me things that I like from time to time, so to make him spend any extra on a day like that would be pretty unreasonable of me :) Thing is, it's always nice to receive sweet gestures here and there like a card, a cooked meal etc.

This year, J probably felt a little bad that he's been depriving me of this little romance for years, hence he's wished me those 3 little words at least 3 times today. He also told me to pick a place for dinner, anywhere that I liked, and I settled for crabs in the end. Hahaha... at first he was like, "Wow, romantic choice... I'll get the seafood restaurant people to light candles at our table ok?" Yeah right. That place is so bright from all the fluorescent lights that you probably need to start a fire before it gets noticed :) Well, at least he tried to leave his Beng ways behind and attempted to be romantic! :)

After a good dinner, we went to do some grocery shopping together.

It's been a simple night, but I'm happy. We're now both at our own laptops, one's happily "bitching" about the other, and the other's happily blasting someone else's allies on Starcraft.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)

Maldives

4 days, 3 snorkels and a tan later, I'm back in KL from our Maldives trip. Short but well-planned, it was an effective business trip, yet still a relaxing getaway for J and I.

Quick background on Maldives for those of you who do not have a clue just yet:

Officially known:

Republic of Maldives

Location:

Southwest to India

Population:

400,000

Currency:

Maldivian Rufiyaa (Mrf)

Time Zone:

GMT +5:00

Official Religion:

Islam

Official Language:

Dhivehi

Known for:

It's unique and beautiful geography -- a country formed by 1,192 islands on atolls composed of live coral reefs and sand bars

* * * * *

So we departed KL and arrived in Maldives on Tuesday night. Upon arrival, we took a ferry across to the Capital of Maldives, Male. It being 3 hours behind KL time there, we were very much exhausted after a round of quick drinks with our very kind and hospitable host, Mubah.

The next morning, we headed to Sea House by the ferry terminal for a good round of Maldivian breakfast before work.

A good view of Male's seafront

J with hospitable Mubah

Roshi (their version of roti canai) Mashuni (minced tuna, onion and chilli)

Areca nuts with varying leaves are commonly consumed as a snack

We then spent the rest of the day having meetings, field studies etc. Come evening, J was dead-on wanting to go fishing, and thus it was arranged.

J working on his hooks on the dhoni (bigger version of a sampan)

J's first catch of the evening! He was the third person who managed to hook something

Corals viewed from the dhoni

Some resorts a distance away

All of our catch for the evening, at least 20 fishes (unfortunately I never contributed any)

Wednesday morning, we excitedly packed our bags and readied ourselves to head to the resort once work was done. Breakfast was utterly delightful at Seagulls Cafe, a nice cafe owned by a Maldivian who believes in all things imported. This place is usually packed in the evenings, when boat loads of tourists drop by for some good home made gelato and coffee.

Once everything had been settled, Mubah saw us off at Jetty 1.

Posing on the speedboat

Approximately 50 minutes away from Male by speed boat, Vivanta by Taj is a small resort that houses 32 water villas, 30 deluxe villas and 2 family suites. As per our previous experience, as soon as the boat dropped us off, we were at awe by how clear the water was, and how serene we felt.

We were dropped off at this jetty

They call this the Moonlight Deck. You can have special dining arrangements here in the evenings.

The water villas facing the island

Where you see the shadow of the coconut tree is the swimming pool. Notice the same shade of blue as the ocean? The turquoise part is the sea too.

Checking into our water villa, we knew that there was only that much time we had to chill and to enjoy the resort.

Our room with the sea view. The steps after the sliding door leads you into the sea as well.

That's the bathroom with a sea view too. The only thing about it is that people from the outside can easily catch glimpses of you showering or bubble bathing.

These are the steps that lead you into the water

A lovey dovey shot for the album!

This resort was a lot less bustling as compared to others that we've previously seen or visited. But as it was built on a fairly wide lagoon, and its corals were well protected, there was a lot more fish hence snorkelling was a blast. We didn't even have to swim far, there were already lots to see right below our water villa.

However, the highlight of our trip was that we got to see a whole school of stingrays come to shore in the evening. We were told that 14 years ago, one lone stingray came to visit, and the people on the island gave it food. Subsequently, more stingrays came and it then became a pattern. Everyday at 4:45pm sharp, the whole school of stingrays (at least 15 of them) would circulate near the shore (we were snorkelling then and chickened out, quickly heading back to the beach! Haha!). Guests would touch them and take photos with them and at 5pm, the hotel staff would bring out a full bucket of fresh fish and everyone would feed the stingrays. It was an amazing experience seeing these creatures upclose and feeding them. It made me wonder how and why such a gentle and graceful species would take the life of Steve Irwin.

That's J snorkelling. So into it was he that he got burnt!

J with one of the stingrays

They were making loud snorting sounds when they struggled for air out of the water

Me trying to feed the stingrays after a few attempts

 The rest of our time at the resort was spent chilling and soaking up the sun.

Chillock-ing (chilling on a hammock)

Beautiful sunset. Didn't get to catch the sunrise because it was at the other side of the island.

Trying out an artistic shot on J

Maldives is the first country in the world that uses its own desalinated sea water for aerated drinks. This one here is Coca Cola bottled in Maldives. Real Coke, no joke!

After a short but sweet trip to the island, we headed back to Male on Thursday heavy-heartedly. Looking forward to be back again sometime soon!

Heading back to Male in the sunset

Ang Pau-rina Greets!

Gong Xi Gong Xi!

Very quickly, the rabbit year has taken its place again after a 12-year cycle. Just as how the little creature is timid, the new year has been pretty gentle on me so far. This year’s celebration has been different but adaptable :)

My first year as Ang Pau-rina (the Chinese Santarina), I’ve been giving out a decent amount of Ang Paus. Still not too used to it, it’s hard to keep track of who might have received, how many packets to bring along with me each time, who’s married and who’s not etc. You know occasionally you come across people who are that much older than you, but are not yet married? Haha, those moments make me feel quite “old”.

CNY eve dinner was spent at home with my in-laws. We did some simple cooking but man, there was so, so, so much food for just us 8 adults. The 10-seater dining table was filled from front to end! I know I shouldn’t be complaining about the abundance of food. Afterall, being well-fed is definitely a blessing :)

New Year’s morning saw us going to church first thing in the morning. J had to interpret in church, so pretty much everyone was well dressed and ready to usher in the new year. The afternoon was quiet, with many of my in-laws’ church visitors over. We did a little bit of socializing (show face, we call it, hehe), then adjourned upstairs. Later in the afternoon, J decided to take me for a massage. Yeah odd I know, to go for a massage on the first day of CNY, but hey, giving out Ang Paus can be quite tiring! :)

After another round of home cooked dinner, we went over to Joe’s for a session. The boys as usual did it the hard core way, but few of us girls put our hands on a few rounds of Gin Rummy. Haha, remember how I said that the rabbit year has been pretty gentle on me? Well, I made RM30 from it! I know, I know, RM30 to most of you must be a laughable amount, but a rare gambler, that’s already a blessing! J also has been pretty blessed so far, up in his games of Black Jack and Poker. But I hope that he has taken his forewarnings seriously, it better be just for CNY fun-sake! Well at least he has made enough to cover some of our new year costs, firecrackers/fireworks and all, haha.

On the second day of CNY, relatives and some of our friends came over to visit. This time it wasn’t just show-face, I did the full-on entertaining bit! Fun, but tiring, I was pooped by the end of the night.

Third day was rather impromptu, but because of some changes in plans, I managed to visit my brother and my parents. Nice afternoon spent with Ollie and back home for a little bit. Never thought that we’d go clubbing during CNY too, but we did! Zouk was pretty full for such an occasion, but not as packed as usual.

Finally on Day 4, went home for CNY dinner with the Kwoks. Have been missing Mom’s cooking for the longest time and was really glad to finally taste it. After dinner, we met up with some friends at Bangsar, then headed home in preparation for work today.

CNY’s gonna take a back seat for J and I. Heading off to Maldives tonight. Fill you in when I get back ok? Who knows, there might be some dong dong chiangs and lions dancing amidst that clear blue sea. Have fun everyone! :)