1. INDULGE, INDULGE, INDULGE in LOCAL FOOD.
2. Get my HAIR done PROPER by Sandra at Supercuts, the hair's kinda growing in the wrong places.
3. CLAIM my room from my brother who has been happily taking the THRONE.
4. Spend some time with the dog, Kyuubi, man he must have grown, hope my 'scent' is still somewhere in his brain, not very smart the dog.
5. Get a job or two to start paying for my holidays to Bali, possibly Phuket for surf and HOPEFULLY Kanazawa, Japan to visit Takuro.
6. Enroll myself in a Spanish OR Japanese language school, or an online course, both which I already found.
7. FINISH MY DAMN EDUCATION! *WASHING MY HANDS CLEAN*
8. Bask, bask, BASK in the existence of the fairer sex, not that I'm not having fun with the boys here, just enough already?
9. Drive the car if there's still one?
10. Dine, wine and PARTY!!! Need I say more?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Lost in Existence continued
Wednesday
19:39 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Maldives Kuda Huraa
Right the previous entry had an entire lower half cut off due to the network shutting down on me! >.<
And guess what, there wasn't any dive, but the dive manager asked if I wanted to join him to recover a lost piece of underwater torch which cost about US$300 and well it sounded pretty fun so I geared up anyway and we set off. Jo, the marine biologist responsible for a coral reef growing project also asked me if I wanted to join her to pick corals and plant them.
Somehow I decided to join two burly guys instead of a babe and I did not even dive, because I had trouble with the ears shortly after descending. >.< Spent my time on the boat getting a tan instead.
I just finished dinner, was snoozing in my room after a shower. Had a workout at the gym which was refreshing, even though I'm starting to feel some strain on my body, especially my back. Feels good nonetheless, haven't been actively going to the gym daily with my erratic work schedule, tons of back-to-back shifts. It's good in a way, because I get longer day offs when I end at 5pm the day before my day off and start at 4pm the day after my off. :)
Oh and as to why I titled this entry 'Lost in Existence', simply because I was feeling pretty lost, just moving along with time and it almost feels as if I am unaware of my own existence. I was becoming reclusive, didn't spend much time with anyone, slept a lot, too much, and didn't help that my phone and the Internet was not working so good couple o days back.
Had a good chat with my dear friend, Krystle, just yesterday and kinda sorted out my messed up head. Ha.
I'm BACK TO NORMAL and feeling good about it, watched the last episode of Grey's Anatomy Season 4 yesterday, read a bit and had a drink with a new friend Mojo, as well as the Japanese teacher Takuro.
So back to recalling previous days events...
Haircut in Bodu Huraa
Some time during work as a luggage crew, I strolled past the huge mirror we have just before entering Front-of-House, probably for us to keep ourselves in check before we actually step in front and meet our guests, and realised my hair was turning poofy, yes there's no other way to put it.
For those of you who've seen me with really short hair, and see it get out of hand before I actually wanted to do something about it, you'd know that my hair grows faster on the sides than at the fringe, top or the back, hence the term poofy, looking like some weird, creepy clown.
Anyway I was really annoyed looking at myself in the mirror. The more I looked, the more I couldn't stop looking, which hence led me to resent it and at that time I was also feeling pretty adventurous as my days were becoming a little mundane, which was probably how I could be possibly lost in my own existence, so I told myself, why not visit the Indian barber at the neighbouring island for a haircut that costs USD1?
So after work I took the boat over, met a local and asked if he would lead me to the barber and along the way he also explained to me how Maldivians built their homes before coral harvesting was outlawed here.
Some of the buildings were really old and you'd be amazed that they are made of corals, dead ones of course but still pretty amazing. A decent house could be built in a period of two months if they worked at it every day.
"What do you think we use to stick the corals together? We do not have cement."
I was astonished. No cement and these houses were standing and most survived the tsunami.
He explained that most of the corals we see on beaches, those white branch looking types, while they are still alive, they are burnt and under heat, they produce a glue-like substance, strong enough to hold big ass corals together and make houses.
Primitive techniques and materials, amazing what man can do to survive.
So that's a quick lesson in Maldivian history and architecture for all of you, will try to post up some pictures, didn't get to take many as it was drizzling after my hair cut.
Right, back to the hair cut. I arrived after a ten minute walk from the jetty and it was this 3 by 3 m, hole-in-the-wall barbershop. Very old school, with primitive but decent hair tools, and an Indian barber to complete the package.
When I strolled in he was still chatting away on his mobile so i started snapping some pictures of the shop. When he finally ended his conversation I learnt that his name is Bindi or Bindee if I remembered correctly, and he has been the sole provider of hair cuts in Bodu Huraa for the past 5 or 7 years. Talk about monopoly.
Well he asked me what I was looking for, which shocked me actually, as no one, NO ONE, has anything nice to say about his creations and everyone says, HE SAYS, that it's very nice and suits them very well. And did I forget to mention everyone largely looks the same after leaving the shop. Ha!
I quickly told him the length I'd like to keep and let him work his 'magic'. I seriously miss my hairstylist Sandra, she really works magic and I never have to tell her what I want, she just knows how to make me look good. Oh and did I mention she gave me a HUGE red packet for good luck, more than any family member should give me.
It was a fifteen minute affair and quite honestly, though it's not exactly the best hair cut, I am happy with it and the next thing I knew I was running for the jetty hoping not to get soaked. Pretty happy that the next hair cut I get will be in a salon in the heart of the city with shampoo, blow dry and a good conversation.
Annual Staff Party 16 December 2007
The company held an annual staff party last Sunday for the employees and you'd probably be thinking it must have been a pretty lame one, I did and I don't blame you. After all the nearest resorts are about half an hour away and to hold a D&D for 400 staff, boy logistics can be a nightmare.
I was so wrong, it wasn't a lame party.
The day was bustling with activity and I wasn't expecting much, afterall a wedding affair in Bodu Huraa wasn't that much of a hoo-ha either, and judging from previous years pictures of the staff party, it wasn't looking promising. The booming speakers directly outside my room was annoying the hell out of me though, I was trying to nap after a long morning shift.
By nightfall, we had a makeshift stage and dancefloor in the middle of the courtyard right outside my room, in the canteen was a live barbecue station, a sumptuous spread of food and dessert buffet, and fresh coconut juice. I went for dinner with the girls and shortly after when I went to the courtyard, boy the dancefloor area looked like a club!
The party was underway at about 8pm and it started off with a live Maldivian band, really good! They do great reggae as well, worthy of the late Bob Marley. And boy, oh boy, lucky draw prizes weren't lame stuff like toasters or dvd players, it was iPods, PS2s, PLASMA TVS, SONY DIGICAMS, and cash vouchers for the Spa and Resort Shop! Those gadgets don't come cheap in the Maldives that much I'd say. The games were pretty entertaining, old school favourites like musical chairs and limbo dance.
Oh yeah and they have this funny flavoured sparkling juice Holsten that they call NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER. HA!
Well to cut the long story short, I'm getting there, for those of you girls who are appalled at the idea of clubbing in Phuture with despo guys, esp NS boys, who are deprived of the existence of females for five days out of a week, IT'S WORST HERE.
THESE GUYS ARE CRAZY HIGH WITH NO ALCOHOL!!!!!
It was just pretty freaky for me, to see guys pulling other guys away with brutal strength just to be the one up close with a lady, which are obviously few here. I just spent the night standing there with the ladies observing the madness of it all, and yes fending some guys off who were just dying to drag more of them into that hot and sweaty crowd. >.<
Well that was pretty much what happened that night.
I have found myself my old past time, movies! Though there aren't any dolby sound equipped theatres here, I do have capable earphones which produces quality sound and my iBook. Sarah's been my fellow movie fanatic. We've watched The Black Dahlia, Disturbia, 300, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. I just downloaded Bee Movie and should be watching it shortly. Our security office does have a decent collection which they try to update for the staff to loan out.
Oh and I'm due for Christmas carolling practise in a bit, the festive season just begun here and boy they have big plans, I will also be doing a week or two in the Kids' Club, we have like 70 kids coming and there's only 2 staff in the Kids' Club, not a pretty sight.
Will update about what's happening, nothing much planned for this week.
Hope everyone's doing good, take care!
21:00 hours
19:39 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Maldives Kuda Huraa
Right the previous entry had an entire lower half cut off due to the network shutting down on me! >.<
And guess what, there wasn't any dive, but the dive manager asked if I wanted to join him to recover a lost piece of underwater torch which cost about US$300 and well it sounded pretty fun so I geared up anyway and we set off. Jo, the marine biologist responsible for a coral reef growing project also asked me if I wanted to join her to pick corals and plant them.
Somehow I decided to join two burly guys instead of a babe and I did not even dive, because I had trouble with the ears shortly after descending. >.< Spent my time on the boat getting a tan instead.
I just finished dinner, was snoozing in my room after a shower. Had a workout at the gym which was refreshing, even though I'm starting to feel some strain on my body, especially my back. Feels good nonetheless, haven't been actively going to the gym daily with my erratic work schedule, tons of back-to-back shifts. It's good in a way, because I get longer day offs when I end at 5pm the day before my day off and start at 4pm the day after my off. :)
Oh and as to why I titled this entry 'Lost in Existence', simply because I was feeling pretty lost, just moving along with time and it almost feels as if I am unaware of my own existence. I was becoming reclusive, didn't spend much time with anyone, slept a lot, too much, and didn't help that my phone and the Internet was not working so good couple o days back.
Had a good chat with my dear friend, Krystle, just yesterday and kinda sorted out my messed up head. Ha.
I'm BACK TO NORMAL and feeling good about it, watched the last episode of Grey's Anatomy Season 4 yesterday, read a bit and had a drink with a new friend Mojo, as well as the Japanese teacher Takuro.
So back to recalling previous days events...
Haircut in Bodu Huraa
Some time during work as a luggage crew, I strolled past the huge mirror we have just before entering Front-of-House, probably for us to keep ourselves in check before we actually step in front and meet our guests, and realised my hair was turning poofy, yes there's no other way to put it.
For those of you who've seen me with really short hair, and see it get out of hand before I actually wanted to do something about it, you'd know that my hair grows faster on the sides than at the fringe, top or the back, hence the term poofy, looking like some weird, creepy clown.
Anyway I was really annoyed looking at myself in the mirror. The more I looked, the more I couldn't stop looking, which hence led me to resent it and at that time I was also feeling pretty adventurous as my days were becoming a little mundane, which was probably how I could be possibly lost in my own existence, so I told myself, why not visit the Indian barber at the neighbouring island for a haircut that costs USD1?
So after work I took the boat over, met a local and asked if he would lead me to the barber and along the way he also explained to me how Maldivians built their homes before coral harvesting was outlawed here.
Some of the buildings were really old and you'd be amazed that they are made of corals, dead ones of course but still pretty amazing. A decent house could be built in a period of two months if they worked at it every day.
"What do you think we use to stick the corals together? We do not have cement."
I was astonished. No cement and these houses were standing and most survived the tsunami.
He explained that most of the corals we see on beaches, those white branch looking types, while they are still alive, they are burnt and under heat, they produce a glue-like substance, strong enough to hold big ass corals together and make houses.
Primitive techniques and materials, amazing what man can do to survive.
So that's a quick lesson in Maldivian history and architecture for all of you, will try to post up some pictures, didn't get to take many as it was drizzling after my hair cut.
Right, back to the hair cut. I arrived after a ten minute walk from the jetty and it was this 3 by 3 m, hole-in-the-wall barbershop. Very old school, with primitive but decent hair tools, and an Indian barber to complete the package.
When I strolled in he was still chatting away on his mobile so i started snapping some pictures of the shop. When he finally ended his conversation I learnt that his name is Bindi or Bindee if I remembered correctly, and he has been the sole provider of hair cuts in Bodu Huraa for the past 5 or 7 years. Talk about monopoly.
Well he asked me what I was looking for, which shocked me actually, as no one, NO ONE, has anything nice to say about his creations and everyone says, HE SAYS, that it's very nice and suits them very well. And did I forget to mention everyone largely looks the same after leaving the shop. Ha!
I quickly told him the length I'd like to keep and let him work his 'magic'. I seriously miss my hairstylist Sandra, she really works magic and I never have to tell her what I want, she just knows how to make me look good. Oh and did I mention she gave me a HUGE red packet for good luck, more than any family member should give me.
It was a fifteen minute affair and quite honestly, though it's not exactly the best hair cut, I am happy with it and the next thing I knew I was running for the jetty hoping not to get soaked. Pretty happy that the next hair cut I get will be in a salon in the heart of the city with shampoo, blow dry and a good conversation.
Annual Staff Party 16 December 2007
The company held an annual staff party last Sunday for the employees and you'd probably be thinking it must have been a pretty lame one, I did and I don't blame you. After all the nearest resorts are about half an hour away and to hold a D&D for 400 staff, boy logistics can be a nightmare.
I was so wrong, it wasn't a lame party.
The day was bustling with activity and I wasn't expecting much, afterall a wedding affair in Bodu Huraa wasn't that much of a hoo-ha either, and judging from previous years pictures of the staff party, it wasn't looking promising. The booming speakers directly outside my room was annoying the hell out of me though, I was trying to nap after a long morning shift.
By nightfall, we had a makeshift stage and dancefloor in the middle of the courtyard right outside my room, in the canteen was a live barbecue station, a sumptuous spread of food and dessert buffet, and fresh coconut juice. I went for dinner with the girls and shortly after when I went to the courtyard, boy the dancefloor area looked like a club!
The party was underway at about 8pm and it started off with a live Maldivian band, really good! They do great reggae as well, worthy of the late Bob Marley. And boy, oh boy, lucky draw prizes weren't lame stuff like toasters or dvd players, it was iPods, PS2s, PLASMA TVS, SONY DIGICAMS, and cash vouchers for the Spa and Resort Shop! Those gadgets don't come cheap in the Maldives that much I'd say. The games were pretty entertaining, old school favourites like musical chairs and limbo dance.
Oh yeah and they have this funny flavoured sparkling juice Holsten that they call NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER. HA!
Well to cut the long story short, I'm getting there, for those of you girls who are appalled at the idea of clubbing in Phuture with despo guys, esp NS boys, who are deprived of the existence of females for five days out of a week, IT'S WORST HERE.
THESE GUYS ARE CRAZY HIGH WITH NO ALCOHOL!!!!!
It was just pretty freaky for me, to see guys pulling other guys away with brutal strength just to be the one up close with a lady, which are obviously few here. I just spent the night standing there with the ladies observing the madness of it all, and yes fending some guys off who were just dying to drag more of them into that hot and sweaty crowd. >.<
Well that was pretty much what happened that night.
I have found myself my old past time, movies! Though there aren't any dolby sound equipped theatres here, I do have capable earphones which produces quality sound and my iBook. Sarah's been my fellow movie fanatic. We've watched The Black Dahlia, Disturbia, 300, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. I just downloaded Bee Movie and should be watching it shortly. Our security office does have a decent collection which they try to update for the staff to loan out.
Oh and I'm due for Christmas carolling practise in a bit, the festive season just begun here and boy they have big plans, I will also be doing a week or two in the Kids' Club, we have like 70 kids coming and there's only 2 staff in the Kids' Club, not a pretty sight.
Will update about what's happening, nothing much planned for this week.
Hope everyone's doing good, take care!
21:00 hours
Lost in Existence
Wednesday
13:18 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
I just had the heartiest lunch and feeling a lil queasy.. And now the sight of everyone around me with their plates full is just tempting me to barf.
Today's the day off again and this afternoon I scared myself awake. I am due to go diving in half an hour and when I woke up this morning, it was noon. I set a ringer on my phone, for me to wake up to call my mum, who's setting off for Holy Land today (take care mum, I love you!). For the convenience of the people back home, I set my mobile to Singapore time so at noon, my phone was 1400 hours which was the time I needed to be at the jetty! >.<
Well I had the longest call with my family and it was good to hear that all of you are doing well. :D Mum's en route to Sainthood, Shern's en route to become Sharapova, and Shane's rocking like Jack Black. WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!
Right, let's just try to recall what happened in the past days.
Initiation into Front Office
I am very happy to say, that for the past week, I have been officially admitted into the light at the end of the tunnel, FRONT OFFICE BABY!
To just put things into perspective, why it is the light at the end of the tunnel, for all you people who have been actively reading and probably understand the hardship of housekeeping, my Resort Assistant Manager Nawaz had this to say to me after I worked an additional two hours.
"Okay Shawn tomorrow come in at 7pm instead of 4pm to make up for this additional two hours you did today."
Grinning wide from cheek to cheek, I was almost laughing and said, "This is something you'd NEVER hear in Housekeeping!"
"Well Shawn, welcome to the world of Front Office. ;)"
I did luggage crew for last week and made some good tips. Had the opportunity to speak some Japanese (, a little bit of Spanish, and some Cantonese (xiu xiu la, sek teng mm sek gong). Haha. Basking in the interaction with our guests.
Oh right, there was this one incident, it was the first time I encountered an aggressive guest. What happened was that he had two rooms, one for himself and another for his parents but he instructed for his luggages to be kept together. On our part the parents' room was not ready due to a previous guest checking out late. Hence he did not get his baby food on time and his baby was crying for half an hour.
And I only arrived with his laptop.
"I don't want that! Why do I need that? Half an hour, half an hour, is that the best you can do? What's wrong with you!"
And by the time he said the last line he was in my face, this big Russian dude and I was sure for a split second he was about to pull a punch. >.< I didn't have any chance to react, to say anything, but finally apologise and left quietly.
Looking back, at that moment, I think in his state of emotions, no matter what anyone said wouldn't have made a difference and that the best solution was to deliver the baby food first before anything else. Whatever strategy or steps you have for service recovery probably wouldn't have made the difference.
As much as I wished I could have done something about it, as much as I understood the frustration of a father who wanted his baby to stop crying and be fed, it was probably better for him to let out his frustration until we could deliver his items.
Aside from that, I think it was pretty refreshing to see Singaporeans in Four Seasons as guests, I just told them we could do with more of us spending on a good holiday instead of working ourselves silly.
I am now working in Operator and I won't elaborate too much on it, it comes pretty naturally thanks to my experience in telesales and Concierge back in Singapore.
Alright I'd have to get going to set up my dive gear, will share more when I'm back. ;)
13:50 hours
13:18 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
I just had the heartiest lunch and feeling a lil queasy.. And now the sight of everyone around me with their plates full is just tempting me to barf.
Today's the day off again and this afternoon I scared myself awake. I am due to go diving in half an hour and when I woke up this morning, it was noon. I set a ringer on my phone, for me to wake up to call my mum, who's setting off for Holy Land today (take care mum, I love you!). For the convenience of the people back home, I set my mobile to Singapore time so at noon, my phone was 1400 hours which was the time I needed to be at the jetty! >.<
Well I had the longest call with my family and it was good to hear that all of you are doing well. :D Mum's en route to Sainthood, Shern's en route to become Sharapova, and Shane's rocking like Jack Black. WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!
Right, let's just try to recall what happened in the past days.
Initiation into Front Office
I am very happy to say, that for the past week, I have been officially admitted into the light at the end of the tunnel, FRONT OFFICE BABY!
To just put things into perspective, why it is the light at the end of the tunnel, for all you people who have been actively reading and probably understand the hardship of housekeeping, my Resort Assistant Manager Nawaz had this to say to me after I worked an additional two hours.
"Okay Shawn tomorrow come in at 7pm instead of 4pm to make up for this additional two hours you did today."
Grinning wide from cheek to cheek, I was almost laughing and said, "This is something you'd NEVER hear in Housekeeping!"
"Well Shawn, welcome to the world of Front Office. ;)"
I did luggage crew for last week and made some good tips. Had the opportunity to speak some Japanese (, a little bit of Spanish, and some Cantonese (xiu xiu la, sek teng mm sek gong). Haha. Basking in the interaction with our guests.
Oh right, there was this one incident, it was the first time I encountered an aggressive guest. What happened was that he had two rooms, one for himself and another for his parents but he instructed for his luggages to be kept together. On our part the parents' room was not ready due to a previous guest checking out late. Hence he did not get his baby food on time and his baby was crying for half an hour.
And I only arrived with his laptop.
"I don't want that! Why do I need that? Half an hour, half an hour, is that the best you can do? What's wrong with you!"
And by the time he said the last line he was in my face, this big Russian dude and I was sure for a split second he was about to pull a punch. >.< I didn't have any chance to react, to say anything, but finally apologise and left quietly.
Looking back, at that moment, I think in his state of emotions, no matter what anyone said wouldn't have made a difference and that the best solution was to deliver the baby food first before anything else. Whatever strategy or steps you have for service recovery probably wouldn't have made the difference.
As much as I wished I could have done something about it, as much as I understood the frustration of a father who wanted his baby to stop crying and be fed, it was probably better for him to let out his frustration until we could deliver his items.
Aside from that, I think it was pretty refreshing to see Singaporeans in Four Seasons as guests, I just told them we could do with more of us spending on a good holiday instead of working ourselves silly.
I am now working in Operator and I won't elaborate too much on it, it comes pretty naturally thanks to my experience in telesales and Concierge back in Singapore.
Alright I'd have to get going to set up my dive gear, will share more when I'm back. ;)
13:50 hours
Monday, December 10, 2007
My First Time in Male
Monday
13:09 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
I'm kinda sick of titling my entries 'my first time' but there's no way around it, it really is my first time, again.
I have been training as a Housekeeping Supervisor for the past week. Housekeeping Supervisors assigns the rooms to the attendants, inspects all the rooms and helps the room attendants to deliver the rooms spick and span on time, which means to say they start the earliest and end the latest.
I wasn't too well on Saturday and was made to rest, and yesterday was my day off, so two days off in a row.
Lucky? Think again.
I'm not sure if I wrote about this, but not being in good health here in the Maldives is possibly the worst thing that could happen to you. There is honestly NOTHING you can do, as the doctor will not allow you to partake in any of the watersports that's just about the only thing I do, and 'they' don't wanna see you on your iBook all day either, 'cause that's just not right, according to the doctor, as my department heads would probably want his head rolling for giving me a day off to use my laptop.
In any case, being stuck on an island in poor health isn't the best package, oh and I forgot to mention how I had to keep away from gym and this morning at the gym felt draining. Long hours as a supervisor plus my want to make the best of time after the shift online was the cause of it.
So for two days I couldn't do much but spend time online, or read my book, or simply rest and last night was possibly the final straw, I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT.
Johny and Rory had plans to go to Hulhule Airport Hotel in Male yesterday evening and asked the girls along. In the earlier part of the day I didn't feel too well and thought I'd pass but after reading, time on the computer and rest all day, I just msged the girls in the evening to say I'm coming.
I dressed up, for the first time in Maldives, and I looked pretty nice I must say. :p Picked up a bit of a bargain in the past week during the resort shop sale for staff we had, the usual, large sizes and probably unwanted stock. >.< Went to the girls' room, waited for them to doll up and we were off.
Got out of their room and realised it was drizzling and progressively getting heavier so we ran to the jetty and gave our staff I.D.s, you have to log your exit from the island and they don't want the locals to abuse this free service we provide for our staff to Male.
Just as Johny and Rory made it to the jetty it just poured down mercilessly on us, and the sky just looked nothing short of threatening. It was quite the journey really, I was telling them it looked quite like the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean, the sea was just rocking us like crazy and the route ahead was just hazy. And I had the pleasure of sitting the closest to the hull, which meant I got a lil wet. >.<
The journey lasted about 40 minutes and felt more like a bus ride than anything else, the city, not quite sure if I should call it a city but it IS the capital, and MEL, MEL, MEL, I warned her THREE TIMES, and she STILL bumped her head so hard when she got off the boat everyone could feel it from the sound of the bump.
We were looking for a nice Thai restaurant recommended by someone but it turns out the one we were recommended was closed so we decided to take a walk down the street and we found a VERY NICE restaurant, also specialising in Thai cuisine.
It was decked out in Thai decor, pretty well-lit, Oriental colours of gold, green, some red and the waitresses were positively Thai ladies as well. The one that was closed only had a staircase leading to somewhere more exclusive. Pity we didn't have a camera for the evening 'cause we all looked very nice and the restaurant looked very nice as well.
So we decided to try it out and thank goodness we didn't venture out into the heart of the city for some shopping, else we would have missed out on a gem!
We sat down at our table, the menu was very well done and had tons of information on herbs and spices that is usually found in Thai cuisine on the first page, and they had a good selection of the usual tom yum, green curry and phad thai. Even the beverages we ordered were pretty interesting. Mel and Johny got a Roselle drink, I had lemongrass, Sarah a Ginger drink and Rory iced coffee, that was made with REAL espresso. My god, it was tempting but I just wanted something more refreshing.
The food took a while, the service was just alright, waitresses could just sit around and look really glum, ha, but I guess the company and the food was excellent and that made all the difference. The table had phad thai, green curry, fishcakes, tom yum soup, glass noodles soup, a round of drinks.
I remember one of the conversations when we were talking about Asian food and somehow we told Rory and Johny about our da-bao drinks in our coffeeshops and they were really amused we serve our fountain drinks in a plastic bag. Ha. The check came up to about USD70 for the five of us and it might be a lil pricey but in the Maldives, this is just about the only luxury.
We headed for the bar at the airport hotel after dinner, going to meet Johny's friend, Jack, a Tropicsurf instructor at Anantara, another resort so we had to take a boat to the airport, then got on a transfer van.
Sarah said it seemed like those affordable Bintan resorts, but oh well, it's the only bar we have here in the Maldives aside from resorts. So anyway, we walked into the bar and it looks pretty similar to Joe's in Grey's Anatomy, pretty smoky, you had some Sri Lankans in there and tons of Britons.
It was there we met Jack and he was a pretty crazy fella, enjoyed a couple of drinks (I had a Mojito and beer), and a drunk Russian fella stumbled into us too, mumbling rubbish and couldn't speak any English 'cept 'wait' and 'russia'.
How the night ended there was pretty funny, we nearly couldn't make it for the ferry back and had to run everywhere, the check at the bar took too long that's why. Johny made a call to the boat operator and he said he'd wait for us and thank god, we made it, else the ladies will be in deep trouble, they were on the morning shift and the earliest ferry back to Kuda Huraa from Male's twelve noon.
Journey back was very rough, waters was horribly choppy and I was getting pretty soaked and chilly, water just kept splashing into the boat. Had a cup noodle, hot shower and drifted into la la land, and here I am blogging about it. :)
One word sums it up for me, how my dreadful days off ended, absolutely GRATIFYING.
14:04 hours
13:09 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
I'm kinda sick of titling my entries 'my first time' but there's no way around it, it really is my first time, again.
I have been training as a Housekeeping Supervisor for the past week. Housekeeping Supervisors assigns the rooms to the attendants, inspects all the rooms and helps the room attendants to deliver the rooms spick and span on time, which means to say they start the earliest and end the latest.
I wasn't too well on Saturday and was made to rest, and yesterday was my day off, so two days off in a row.
Lucky? Think again.
I'm not sure if I wrote about this, but not being in good health here in the Maldives is possibly the worst thing that could happen to you. There is honestly NOTHING you can do, as the doctor will not allow you to partake in any of the watersports that's just about the only thing I do, and 'they' don't wanna see you on your iBook all day either, 'cause that's just not right, according to the doctor, as my department heads would probably want his head rolling for giving me a day off to use my laptop.
In any case, being stuck on an island in poor health isn't the best package, oh and I forgot to mention how I had to keep away from gym and this morning at the gym felt draining. Long hours as a supervisor plus my want to make the best of time after the shift online was the cause of it.
So for two days I couldn't do much but spend time online, or read my book, or simply rest and last night was possibly the final straw, I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT.
Johny and Rory had plans to go to Hulhule Airport Hotel in Male yesterday evening and asked the girls along. In the earlier part of the day I didn't feel too well and thought I'd pass but after reading, time on the computer and rest all day, I just msged the girls in the evening to say I'm coming.
I dressed up, for the first time in Maldives, and I looked pretty nice I must say. :p Picked up a bit of a bargain in the past week during the resort shop sale for staff we had, the usual, large sizes and probably unwanted stock. >.< Went to the girls' room, waited for them to doll up and we were off.
Got out of their room and realised it was drizzling and progressively getting heavier so we ran to the jetty and gave our staff I.D.s, you have to log your exit from the island and they don't want the locals to abuse this free service we provide for our staff to Male.
Just as Johny and Rory made it to the jetty it just poured down mercilessly on us, and the sky just looked nothing short of threatening. It was quite the journey really, I was telling them it looked quite like the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean, the sea was just rocking us like crazy and the route ahead was just hazy. And I had the pleasure of sitting the closest to the hull, which meant I got a lil wet. >.<
The journey lasted about 40 minutes and felt more like a bus ride than anything else, the city, not quite sure if I should call it a city but it IS the capital, and MEL, MEL, MEL, I warned her THREE TIMES, and she STILL bumped her head so hard when she got off the boat everyone could feel it from the sound of the bump.
We were looking for a nice Thai restaurant recommended by someone but it turns out the one we were recommended was closed so we decided to take a walk down the street and we found a VERY NICE restaurant, also specialising in Thai cuisine.
It was decked out in Thai decor, pretty well-lit, Oriental colours of gold, green, some red and the waitresses were positively Thai ladies as well. The one that was closed only had a staircase leading to somewhere more exclusive. Pity we didn't have a camera for the evening 'cause we all looked very nice and the restaurant looked very nice as well.
So we decided to try it out and thank goodness we didn't venture out into the heart of the city for some shopping, else we would have missed out on a gem!
We sat down at our table, the menu was very well done and had tons of information on herbs and spices that is usually found in Thai cuisine on the first page, and they had a good selection of the usual tom yum, green curry and phad thai. Even the beverages we ordered were pretty interesting. Mel and Johny got a Roselle drink, I had lemongrass, Sarah a Ginger drink and Rory iced coffee, that was made with REAL espresso. My god, it was tempting but I just wanted something more refreshing.
The food took a while, the service was just alright, waitresses could just sit around and look really glum, ha, but I guess the company and the food was excellent and that made all the difference. The table had phad thai, green curry, fishcakes, tom yum soup, glass noodles soup, a round of drinks.
I remember one of the conversations when we were talking about Asian food and somehow we told Rory and Johny about our da-bao drinks in our coffeeshops and they were really amused we serve our fountain drinks in a plastic bag. Ha. The check came up to about USD70 for the five of us and it might be a lil pricey but in the Maldives, this is just about the only luxury.
We headed for the bar at the airport hotel after dinner, going to meet Johny's friend, Jack, a Tropicsurf instructor at Anantara, another resort so we had to take a boat to the airport, then got on a transfer van.
Sarah said it seemed like those affordable Bintan resorts, but oh well, it's the only bar we have here in the Maldives aside from resorts. So anyway, we walked into the bar and it looks pretty similar to Joe's in Grey's Anatomy, pretty smoky, you had some Sri Lankans in there and tons of Britons.
It was there we met Jack and he was a pretty crazy fella, enjoyed a couple of drinks (I had a Mojito and beer), and a drunk Russian fella stumbled into us too, mumbling rubbish and couldn't speak any English 'cept 'wait' and 'russia'.
How the night ended there was pretty funny, we nearly couldn't make it for the ferry back and had to run everywhere, the check at the bar took too long that's why. Johny made a call to the boat operator and he said he'd wait for us and thank god, we made it, else the ladies will be in deep trouble, they were on the morning shift and the earliest ferry back to Kuda Huraa from Male's twelve noon.
Journey back was very rough, waters was horribly choppy and I was getting pretty soaked and chilly, water just kept splashing into the boat. Had a cup noodle, hot shower and drifted into la la land, and here I am blogging about it. :)
One word sums it up for me, how my dreadful days off ended, absolutely GRATIFYING.
14:04 hours
Monday, December 3, 2007
Slipped my mind
Monday
19:49 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
Remember the very lovely Anglo-Indian couple I met?
They departed just this morning at 0900 hours and I'd just like to dedicate this entry to possibly the kindest and most gracious friends-I-finally met.
I remember the first day they arrived, I prepared their room for their arrival and went back shortly after by accident, was supposed to clean up the next room, ha, and in that moment I saw them leaving for the beach and the missus was wondering what happened and asked if anything was wrong.
Employing some quick thinking, "Ar everything's perfect, welcome to Kuda Huraa!"
HA! TRUST ME TO THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT! They took it very well and went ahead to the beach.
The following day I met them in the room and they were in a bit of a hurry. Turns out the mister had to go for prayers in ten minutes and was rushing for a shower so I went on cleaning their room. Had a bit of a conversation there and they spoke to me about their plans for the day and everything. It was just nice having someone to talk to in the midst of mundane cleaning of rooms and that brightened my day intensely.
The following evening I saw them again and they asked me for my name, and told me that they just wanted to know my name that's all. They politely declined evening service and thanked me again.
It was the next day that we actually had a real conversation, where we talked about my internship.
They are always the first to greet me, and always saying that they were hoping to see me that day, they pretty much hoped to see me everyday and I could just feel their genuity and sincerity each time they spoke to me, like a friend, almost like family.
They asked me where I hailed from, ha, man I was smiling at that question, haven't heard HAILED in a LOOOOOOONG time. I told them I was from Singapore and on internship and they asked me what's it like in Singapore and that they were planning on visiting next summer. It was just a very nice and friendly conversation and they were just simply lovely, genuinely concerned about me.
It was yesterday that it was their final day in the resort and I met them in the morning and there they went again, stopping their conversation with a friend, another guest, just to say hi to me and said that they hoped to see me before they left. :D
*Awww...*
Asked if I serviced their room yet and that they will see me later in the room.
It was then that they passed me an envelope, saying that it was a little something to thank me for taking care of them. I didn't even have time to say anything or reject it, and I could only muster a 'thank-you' before they left the room.
In the envelope, a 20, two 10s, two 5s, and ten 1s, total of USD60!!!! Plus a lovely note:
"Dear Shaun,
Thank you for looking after us, you have been fantastic! All the best to you and we know you will do well.
Mr. + Mrs. XXXXX"
I was so touched I nearly cried I tell you, laugh if you want to but it really was a very emotional moment for me.
I was just wondering for the past few days since meeting them, what did I do to deserve their graciousness and kindness?
I met them again in the evening and then again they were visibly delighted to see me and asked if I read the note and I said yes, and they told me to keep the note as a source of motivation. I just told them that it was too much money and I couldn't accept it, I still had it on me and was hoping to return it to them.
They just said waved it off saying it's not too much and that I deserved every penny and it's to thank me for my hard work. Reminded me to keep the note with me. They were sad that they weren't able to see me when they left but they told me again all the best, thanked me again.
I left them a note thanking them for their kindess and also left my email for them should they decide to visit next year and if I'm not enlisted yet.
I was actually quite troubled by this entire episode with them, it just seemed so wrong, that they were paying a premium for a stay, I did nothing for them but clean their room which is a given and expected of me, which I do the same for every guest. I wonder if it was anyone else, would they be the same to them and why?
But right now, I think I have an answer, that the capacity for humans to give is just limitless.
I've yet to watch the movie, "Pay It Forward," too lazy and still waiting for Naomi to find a copy for me :p but I guess it's the entire chain effect that it sets off. I will give to others as they have given to me and to me that is simply the greatest gift.
The joy of giving.
19:49 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
Remember the very lovely Anglo-Indian couple I met?
They departed just this morning at 0900 hours and I'd just like to dedicate this entry to possibly the kindest and most gracious friends-I-finally met.
I remember the first day they arrived, I prepared their room for their arrival and went back shortly after by accident, was supposed to clean up the next room, ha, and in that moment I saw them leaving for the beach and the missus was wondering what happened and asked if anything was wrong.
Employing some quick thinking, "Ar everything's perfect, welcome to Kuda Huraa!"
HA! TRUST ME TO THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT! They took it very well and went ahead to the beach.
The following day I met them in the room and they were in a bit of a hurry. Turns out the mister had to go for prayers in ten minutes and was rushing for a shower so I went on cleaning their room. Had a bit of a conversation there and they spoke to me about their plans for the day and everything. It was just nice having someone to talk to in the midst of mundane cleaning of rooms and that brightened my day intensely.
The following evening I saw them again and they asked me for my name, and told me that they just wanted to know my name that's all. They politely declined evening service and thanked me again.
It was the next day that we actually had a real conversation, where we talked about my internship.
They are always the first to greet me, and always saying that they were hoping to see me that day, they pretty much hoped to see me everyday and I could just feel their genuity and sincerity each time they spoke to me, like a friend, almost like family.
They asked me where I hailed from, ha, man I was smiling at that question, haven't heard HAILED in a LOOOOOOONG time. I told them I was from Singapore and on internship and they asked me what's it like in Singapore and that they were planning on visiting next summer. It was just a very nice and friendly conversation and they were just simply lovely, genuinely concerned about me.
It was yesterday that it was their final day in the resort and I met them in the morning and there they went again, stopping their conversation with a friend, another guest, just to say hi to me and said that they hoped to see me before they left. :D
*Awww...*
Asked if I serviced their room yet and that they will see me later in the room.
It was then that they passed me an envelope, saying that it was a little something to thank me for taking care of them. I didn't even have time to say anything or reject it, and I could only muster a 'thank-you' before they left the room.
In the envelope, a 20, two 10s, two 5s, and ten 1s, total of USD60!!!! Plus a lovely note:
"Dear Shaun,
Thank you for looking after us, you have been fantastic! All the best to you and we know you will do well.
Mr. + Mrs. XXXXX"
I was so touched I nearly cried I tell you, laugh if you want to but it really was a very emotional moment for me.
I was just wondering for the past few days since meeting them, what did I do to deserve their graciousness and kindness?
I met them again in the evening and then again they were visibly delighted to see me and asked if I read the note and I said yes, and they told me to keep the note as a source of motivation. I just told them that it was too much money and I couldn't accept it, I still had it on me and was hoping to return it to them.
They just said waved it off saying it's not too much and that I deserved every penny and it's to thank me for my hard work. Reminded me to keep the note with me. They were sad that they weren't able to see me when they left but they told me again all the best, thanked me again.
I left them a note thanking them for their kindess and also left my email for them should they decide to visit next year and if I'm not enlisted yet.
I was actually quite troubled by this entire episode with them, it just seemed so wrong, that they were paying a premium for a stay, I did nothing for them but clean their room which is a given and expected of me, which I do the same for every guest. I wonder if it was anyone else, would they be the same to them and why?
But right now, I think I have an answer, that the capacity for humans to give is just limitless.
I've yet to watch the movie, "Pay It Forward," too lazy and still waiting for Naomi to find a copy for me :p but I guess it's the entire chain effect that it sets off. I will give to others as they have given to me and to me that is simply the greatest gift.
The joy of giving.
Another first
Monday
17:36 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
"There's always a first time."
Today's the day off for me and I have TWO, first experiences, a good and a bad, so which one's first?
OH BOY HOW CLICHE CAN SHAWN GET...
Waking up on days off never felt easier, especially when you're going to dive, IN THE MALDIVES, WOO-HOO. I got changed, washed up and stepped out to see... RAIN. TONS OF IT.
"Let's just go have breakfast and see how it goes," I told myself and I found myself with the dive crew at the canteen, there was omelettes for breakfast! The dive was cancelled this morning but there were guests doing discovery scuba and I could follow. When I say dive cancelled it means the dive boat with two tanks per person.
Hung around the dive shop a bit until the time was up, geared up and left on the speedboat.
We dropped off an instructor and a guest off the house reef as we were heading to the house reef at Bodu Huraa and as we were about to leave, GUESS WHAT I SAW!?!?
SPINNER DOLPHINS SPINNING OUT OF THE WATER!
So the driver decided to do a mini dolphin cruise. :D
It was amazing, first we were trailing them and we were just right behind, the next moment a couple of curious ones started swimming right in front of our boats turning and crossing before our paths.
Here in the Maldives, the orca species do not face any threats from humans nor other marine animals and is very healthy actually.
Today I saw for myself how healthy the population was because before long, we were shrouded in an ocean of dolphins and I'm not kidding.
For any one of you who has been on a boat, in the middle of a channel in between two islands, just imagine there and then, all around you, all you can see is just spinner dolphins in the wild, swimming out of the channel playfully, doing flips, spins, flapping their tails against the surface of the water and just coming right up close and personal with you near the boat. Oh and it helps if you clap, they just keep coming closer and closer. They are just so fast and graceful in the water, almost fluid like, just like in one of those movies where you see a mermaid-like shadow speeding past you.
I was thinking of how to put this experience into words while on the boat when I just decided to take in the entire sight of things and just leave it to your imaginations.
I guess it was just my luck today! So that's one, good, first-experience, seeing an ocean of dolphins in the wild up close and personal. I'm getting to the other, ugly, first-experience.
As we were heading way out into the sea and the dolphins moving further and further away, even though there were still many fascinated ones who were dying to perform for us, we headed back towards our designated dive site and it began pouring on us.
Suited up and went into the water and some how today didn't feel quite right. I was just talking to some of my friends and they reckon I probably descended too quickly, but when I tried equalising (for non-divers it just means pinching your nose and blowing to clear the ears) I could hear bubbles in my ears.
Today's diving didn't feel too comfortable, pretty different from my last dive. But some highlights was I saw a huge eagle ray just laying in the crevice of the reef and when the four of us (two guests from HK) came too close, I guess it got crowded and it swam away gracefully. Also saw a lobster, my first time and I was really contented seeing Nemo today, two adult ones trying to "defend" their anemone when I came pretty close.
Getting out of the water I tried clearing my ears again but I still couldn't and since my previous dives I've had a bit of trouble with them. I kept trying to clear my ears pretty forcefully and even tried firing a hose point blank into it. Still, not clearing.
So after lunch I went back to the dive shop and enquired with the dive manager and he told me to check with the resort doctor which I did. Found out I blew my right ear so hard it bled. >.<
The ugly first.
Not to worry for those of you who are going, "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!" Common occurance in divers and I should be diving in a week's time, just have to be a bit more cautious with my descend, not to go down too fast.
I feel a little woozy and out of balance now but in good time I should be healed, I guess it has to do with youth, the body regenerates quite quickly, like my reef cut on my feet, it was gone in about two weeks.
I will spend the rest of my evening reading, "Gods and Legions," continuing my love affair with the ancient Roman empire. I somehow feel that I must have been a scholar and philosopher back in those ages, my love to question and seek answers.
A quick insight to my day off in the Maldives, will let you guys know about next Monday!
18:41
17:36 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa
"There's always a first time."
Today's the day off for me and I have TWO, first experiences, a good and a bad, so which one's first?
OH BOY HOW CLICHE CAN SHAWN GET...
Waking up on days off never felt easier, especially when you're going to dive, IN THE MALDIVES, WOO-HOO. I got changed, washed up and stepped out to see... RAIN. TONS OF IT.
"Let's just go have breakfast and see how it goes," I told myself and I found myself with the dive crew at the canteen, there was omelettes for breakfast! The dive was cancelled this morning but there were guests doing discovery scuba and I could follow. When I say dive cancelled it means the dive boat with two tanks per person.
Hung around the dive shop a bit until the time was up, geared up and left on the speedboat.
We dropped off an instructor and a guest off the house reef as we were heading to the house reef at Bodu Huraa and as we were about to leave, GUESS WHAT I SAW!?!?
SPINNER DOLPHINS SPINNING OUT OF THE WATER!
So the driver decided to do a mini dolphin cruise. :D
It was amazing, first we were trailing them and we were just right behind, the next moment a couple of curious ones started swimming right in front of our boats turning and crossing before our paths.
Here in the Maldives, the orca species do not face any threats from humans nor other marine animals and is very healthy actually.
Today I saw for myself how healthy the population was because before long, we were shrouded in an ocean of dolphins and I'm not kidding.
For any one of you who has been on a boat, in the middle of a channel in between two islands, just imagine there and then, all around you, all you can see is just spinner dolphins in the wild, swimming out of the channel playfully, doing flips, spins, flapping their tails against the surface of the water and just coming right up close and personal with you near the boat. Oh and it helps if you clap, they just keep coming closer and closer. They are just so fast and graceful in the water, almost fluid like, just like in one of those movies where you see a mermaid-like shadow speeding past you.
I was thinking of how to put this experience into words while on the boat when I just decided to take in the entire sight of things and just leave it to your imaginations.
I guess it was just my luck today! So that's one, good, first-experience, seeing an ocean of dolphins in the wild up close and personal. I'm getting to the other, ugly, first-experience.
As we were heading way out into the sea and the dolphins moving further and further away, even though there were still many fascinated ones who were dying to perform for us, we headed back towards our designated dive site and it began pouring on us.
Suited up and went into the water and some how today didn't feel quite right. I was just talking to some of my friends and they reckon I probably descended too quickly, but when I tried equalising (for non-divers it just means pinching your nose and blowing to clear the ears) I could hear bubbles in my ears.
Today's diving didn't feel too comfortable, pretty different from my last dive. But some highlights was I saw a huge eagle ray just laying in the crevice of the reef and when the four of us (two guests from HK) came too close, I guess it got crowded and it swam away gracefully. Also saw a lobster, my first time and I was really contented seeing Nemo today, two adult ones trying to "defend" their anemone when I came pretty close.
Getting out of the water I tried clearing my ears again but I still couldn't and since my previous dives I've had a bit of trouble with them. I kept trying to clear my ears pretty forcefully and even tried firing a hose point blank into it. Still, not clearing.
So after lunch I went back to the dive shop and enquired with the dive manager and he told me to check with the resort doctor which I did. Found out I blew my right ear so hard it bled. >.<
The ugly first.
Not to worry for those of you who are going, "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!" Common occurance in divers and I should be diving in a week's time, just have to be a bit more cautious with my descend, not to go down too fast.
I feel a little woozy and out of balance now but in good time I should be healed, I guess it has to do with youth, the body regenerates quite quickly, like my reef cut on my feet, it was gone in about two weeks.
I will spend the rest of my evening reading, "Gods and Legions," continuing my love affair with the ancient Roman empire. I somehow feel that I must have been a scholar and philosopher back in those ages, my love to question and seek answers.
A quick insight to my day off in the Maldives, will let you guys know about next Monday!
18:41
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Update, update, update...
Saturday
23:13 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives
If you’re wondering why I start off my entries with date and time, it is NOT for the benefit of the audience, it is for my OWN reminder. Ha! You pretty much lose track of time and date here, it’s just the entire environment of being here and now, not caring about the world.
And of course a little drama that I try to evoke, from what I watched in ‘The Last Samurai,’ where Tom Cruise’s character, Captain Algren, starts off his journal entries with the season and year. Disgusting. HAHAHA!
Anyway, I just ended my second call to my family back home so a big shout out to them Hayashi-s! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!
*‘Lin’ in Japanese, is read as Hayashi, and my ‘Thye Kwee,’ suddenly becomes Dai Ki, so much cooler than the predecessor that has brought me much teasing since my childhood, not that it bothered me much. Ha. How I found out is courtesy of my dear friend, Hitoshi Yamaki-san. Just never got around to penning it down.
Hayashi Daiki. Kakuii yo.
It’s been a long, long time since I blogged I suppose and after my phone call with them I realise how much people have not been hearing for me so here goes..
Maldivian wedding
I attended a Maldivian wedding on 24 November. HA! I remember getting the call from Melanie, asking if I was interested and I was like, “WOO-HOO! MALDIVIAN WEDDING!”
How often do you get to experience a wedding of another culture? I quickly rushed for dinner from my housekeeping hut and got changed into something decent looking, you’d see in the pictures on Facebook soon enough, and met Melanie who looked very nice, like for the first time I thought, “MEL’S A LADY!?” HA!
Anyway, it was 9.30 p.m. and we had to meet our Maldivian friend, Manaf, who’s just really a clown in a human shell, at that time but there was no way to reach him so we proceeded to the neighbouring island Bodu Huraa on our own, hoping to find the way.
Soon enough after landing on the island he yelled out our name and he escorted us to the wedding. He quickly let us in that it was his friend’s wedding and that guy was what about 23?
When you look at the pictures you’d understand pretty much how I felt. Ha. It was just a very interesting emotion, or mixture of them; happiness for the couple, surprised as it was my first time and I guess the entire mood of things, it was just very much my kind of place, a happy place.
It’s pretty similar to a Malay wedding back in Singapore where we hold them in void decks, except that it’s held in a plain field, and they make up for the lack of elaborate furnishings with resources from nature, leaves and flowers from the island itself.
The couple pretty much stood together for the whole evening taking pictures with everyone who wished to had it taken. There was a French photographer, he actually came here and fell in love with the place, with a Maldivian girl, became a Muslim and still lives happily in Bodu Huraa.
Kinda amazing don’t you think? The girls were thinking he must be out of his mind but I suppose because of where he came from, the tranquillity and peace here is so much more appealing.
There was a buffet, a drinks and dessert counter, and people pretty much find their own spot and mind their own business. Maldivians are essentially non-expressive, even though the Maldivians I work with are pretty much crazy and friendly, a result of working in a company with such a strong culture.
We didn’t spend too long in Bodu Huraa, neither at the wedding. Nimaal, another friend of ours in housekeeping, took us on a walk and we just talked about everything under the sun, taking in the night sky, which is just dazzling with stars. No high-rise building blocking the view, no highways.
Housekeeping
I’d just like to share a day in housekeeping when it was raining heavily down on us.
The weather is pretty consistent here in the Maldives and when it’s about to rain, you can really see the dark clouds carried over here by the winds. Before the day it rained, we’ve been having pretty cloudy days and it was kinda expected that it would be raining soon though I was keeping my fingers crossed it never would.
The nightmare had to happen in the EVENING, and on that day it was just really our luck, my trainer and I, we had SEVEN rooms and of which a few were not serviced in the morning. Can you imagine, we normally have to carry our bags of linen, trash, a bucket with chemicals for cleaning, our dust mop and broom, and now we had to hold on to a freaking umbrella while our clothes were gradually SOAKED!?
It was quite the experience, AMAZINGLY REFRESHING I must say. Ha! Looking back it really was refreshing, something different really perks me up.
Anyway, right now I’ve been cleaning rooms on my own all week, and my experience cleaning rooms alone has changed my perspective a little, that you get a lot more guest interaction cleaning rooms than possibly interacting with the guest upfront at the reception.
I have had guests ask me for my name, asking me how I was each day I cleaned their rooms, and a couple that has been nothing but friendly and warm towards me, offering me sweets while I cleaned their room and today they had a short chat with me, asking me how old I am and everything else. Then again it all depends on the guest, how open they are to a conversation. ☺
Well this interesting Anglo-Indian couple since they arrived has been talking to me non-stop, and for once they made me feel reserved. Ha. Well today they asked me how old I am, how long I’ve been here and all. So I shared with them my internship and they were really surprised.
Gentleman “It’s really good for you, coming here at 19, I mean looking back it never would have happened, coming to the Maldives alone at 19.”
Me “Why not?”
Gentleman “It just never would have happened.”
Lady “I would be crying for my mommy everyday.”
They are born and bred in England and I suppose they come from wealthy families. But honestly, I really don’t think much about packing my bags and leaving, they really had me thinking if it was that much of a hurdle coming here alone. Ha.
Maldivian families
I remember one night when I was sitting in my room watching tv, my room mate Sahir, came back and we just started talking randomly. He shared with me that he has a girlfriend in Male and about his aspirations to own his own business and let money work for him. Good on you mate!
He also let in to me about his ex-girlfriend, a German lady, who came here on training and how she helped arrange for his visa, accommodation and even found him a job there, for them to be together.
It never happened because his mother actually called the police and he was stopped at immigrations, and they told him his mother forbade him from going and was crying for him to return.
Which brings me to my point, family ties in the Maldives.
He told me that there is no way that he could have left his crying mother and father, who brought him up, taught him well and gave him so much love that he could never have wished for. Until today, when he returns home during his vacation, which is hours away by speedboat, his dad or mum would sit with him until he falls asleep, talking to him and giving him some good advice about life, much like they did telling stories when he was a kid.
And I really am touched by this story, of how strong family ties can be. His parents are now no longer working and simply enjoying life as their seven kids are supporting them and this is pretty much the way it is in the Maldives.
People fall in love, have families of their own, build their own homes, and shower their kids with love and support, and their kids naturally reciprocate when they’re grown. A retirement plan? Possibly, but I think people generally enjoy having a family and flesh and blood here has a whole new meaning from what it is in Singapore.
Diving!
I finally logged 3 dives on my last off day, which was last Monday!
I was talking to Chika-san the night before and telling her that I have an impromptu off day the next day and wondering if she could fit me in for diving and she told me there was no guests. In my disappointment I just said oh well, seems like I’d never dive here, and she was stunned.
“You mean you haven’t dived yet?”
“Nope.”
“Okay no problem, tomorrow I talk to Ben and we go to house reef, I’d take you there.”
WOOHOO! It was a really nice gesture on her part.
I was also telling her about the deaths of our national dragonboaters, my condolences to their families and may they rest in peace, and she was telling me how her boyfriend’s bestfriend just died in the dumbest way possible, all wet and trying to connect a live wire on a speedboat after diving. When the grandmother found out, she passed away of shock the following day.
Okay sad news aside, I had the best dives I could possibly have ever.
Oh, oh! There was once when I went surfing, I was just sitting on the board and a MANTA RAY just glided past me on the surface of the water gracefully. That was simply out of the world! I’ve yet to see them underwater so I’m looking forward to diving at Manta Point.
It’s been months since I got my dive license and here I am diving in the last paradise on earth. My buoyancy control is a lot better, I can dive literally upside down, just floating in the waters, I could descend properly with two kilos, stay underwater for a comfortable 45 mins with one tank.
I was also telling Aisyah Z, after my dive, that I made a realisation during the dive.
People go diving, hoping to see some rare creature, or in my case, sharks, which I did, but it’s never about what you see, it’s about what you don’t see.
Sounds a bit philosophical so let me explain.
The beautiful thing about diving, that I feel is so addictive, it is everything that being on land isn’t. It is just you, being only conscious of your equipment like your oxygen levels and making sure you don’t go too deep, and nature. There is this sense of peace, sense of clarity, this incredible sense of being, not having a care in the world, and just appreciating all there is around you.
I was out there looking out for sharks, when for a moment, when I was so busy trying to control my breathing and buoyancy, trying to avoid hitting the reefs, that I just stopped worrying about everything, and I just focused on being there, being 18 metres below sea level, appreciating all that is around me.
It was then I felt so much at peace, that for the first time ever, I was diving with absolute clarity of what I was seeing.
Stills sounds a bit chim yeah? LoL. Let me simplify it a little.
In love, when so often people look out for that ideal partner, that focus causes them to not see what is around them, that perhaps that ideal partner was there all along, if they would only open their eyes.
In ballroom dancing, when so often I become so conscious of technique, I forget that dance is about freedom, expression and having fun, the dance looks robotic and suddenly when I let loose and let the music take over, the dance looks so much better and I come up with moves I never dreamt I would have, than when I was overly-conscious of my moves.
It is about what you do not see, so I challenge all of you to open your eyes to all there is around you.
City Boy VS Island Boy
To end off this entry, I think it’s good enough to last another week or two, ha! I will come to my dilemma of life as a city boy, versus life as an island boy.
Every now and then, I wonder what it will be like to return back home in Singapore.
Here, I do not worry about the food I eat because even though the selection is not the most appetizing, I do not cook my meals, neither do I do the dishes, and it absolutely fulfils my nutritional requirement.
There is a gym that is usually empty for my use everyday at my doorstep. I can wear the same clothes everyday without a care of what people might think because this is a self-sufficient island. I also realise I do not value having a home, because to me a house is essentially a place to sleep and shower. I would much prefer to make everywhere my home and make the ground I sleep on my bed, and the sky my blanket.
I just go to work every morning and after six days, I get my off day which is at my disposal, I can choose to dive, surf, and not pay, or just do nothing at all. The only thing I worry about is laundry and it’s not much to worry about considering I wear the same stuff everyday and uniforms are provided. I could really get used to this.
When I return, to eat like I do now, it will cost me much time and effort. To wear the same stuff everyday would be dreadful and socially unacceptable and it’s definitely going to cost to look good. The gym’s going to cost me money at every visit and then again if I were to sign up for a long-term membership, I'm not sure I'm up for visiting everyday when I have to wait for equipment and bring my gear and spare clothes to change. >.<
Diving will cost me hundreds a pop over a weekend, including a long ride up to Malaysia at a lousy resort. Surfing will be skimming in Singapore and they are just two different activities in itself.
I really wonder how things are going to change when I get back home, and somehow I am afraid of losing this vision I have, of travelling the world, calling every home, and making Singapore only a stopover point once in a while. I do not yearn for a degree much like my peers, I do not care for riches nor climbing up the corporate ladder, many of the things that has meaning to most people means nothing to me.
I want to travel, I want to experience different cultures, I want to learn other languages, I want to live among other cultures, I want to work with other cultures. Best if the company provides my lodging and food, just like here. ☺ Preferably in a hotel or resort.
The one thing I value most is freedom and Singapore just doesn’t have enough of it, not for me.
01:14 hours
23:13 hours
Canteen
Four Seasons Resort Maldives
If you’re wondering why I start off my entries with date and time, it is NOT for the benefit of the audience, it is for my OWN reminder. Ha! You pretty much lose track of time and date here, it’s just the entire environment of being here and now, not caring about the world.
And of course a little drama that I try to evoke, from what I watched in ‘The Last Samurai,’ where Tom Cruise’s character, Captain Algren, starts off his journal entries with the season and year. Disgusting. HAHAHA!
Anyway, I just ended my second call to my family back home so a big shout out to them Hayashi-s! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!
*‘Lin’ in Japanese, is read as Hayashi, and my ‘Thye Kwee,’ suddenly becomes Dai Ki, so much cooler than the predecessor that has brought me much teasing since my childhood, not that it bothered me much. Ha. How I found out is courtesy of my dear friend, Hitoshi Yamaki-san. Just never got around to penning it down.
Hayashi Daiki. Kakuii yo.
It’s been a long, long time since I blogged I suppose and after my phone call with them I realise how much people have not been hearing for me so here goes..
Maldivian wedding
I attended a Maldivian wedding on 24 November. HA! I remember getting the call from Melanie, asking if I was interested and I was like, “WOO-HOO! MALDIVIAN WEDDING!”
How often do you get to experience a wedding of another culture? I quickly rushed for dinner from my housekeeping hut and got changed into something decent looking, you’d see in the pictures on Facebook soon enough, and met Melanie who looked very nice, like for the first time I thought, “MEL’S A LADY!?” HA!
Anyway, it was 9.30 p.m. and we had to meet our Maldivian friend, Manaf, who’s just really a clown in a human shell, at that time but there was no way to reach him so we proceeded to the neighbouring island Bodu Huraa on our own, hoping to find the way.
Soon enough after landing on the island he yelled out our name and he escorted us to the wedding. He quickly let us in that it was his friend’s wedding and that guy was what about 23?
When you look at the pictures you’d understand pretty much how I felt. Ha. It was just a very interesting emotion, or mixture of them; happiness for the couple, surprised as it was my first time and I guess the entire mood of things, it was just very much my kind of place, a happy place.
It’s pretty similar to a Malay wedding back in Singapore where we hold them in void decks, except that it’s held in a plain field, and they make up for the lack of elaborate furnishings with resources from nature, leaves and flowers from the island itself.
The couple pretty much stood together for the whole evening taking pictures with everyone who wished to had it taken. There was a French photographer, he actually came here and fell in love with the place, with a Maldivian girl, became a Muslim and still lives happily in Bodu Huraa.
Kinda amazing don’t you think? The girls were thinking he must be out of his mind but I suppose because of where he came from, the tranquillity and peace here is so much more appealing.
There was a buffet, a drinks and dessert counter, and people pretty much find their own spot and mind their own business. Maldivians are essentially non-expressive, even though the Maldivians I work with are pretty much crazy and friendly, a result of working in a company with such a strong culture.
We didn’t spend too long in Bodu Huraa, neither at the wedding. Nimaal, another friend of ours in housekeeping, took us on a walk and we just talked about everything under the sun, taking in the night sky, which is just dazzling with stars. No high-rise building blocking the view, no highways.
Housekeeping
I’d just like to share a day in housekeeping when it was raining heavily down on us.
The weather is pretty consistent here in the Maldives and when it’s about to rain, you can really see the dark clouds carried over here by the winds. Before the day it rained, we’ve been having pretty cloudy days and it was kinda expected that it would be raining soon though I was keeping my fingers crossed it never would.
The nightmare had to happen in the EVENING, and on that day it was just really our luck, my trainer and I, we had SEVEN rooms and of which a few were not serviced in the morning. Can you imagine, we normally have to carry our bags of linen, trash, a bucket with chemicals for cleaning, our dust mop and broom, and now we had to hold on to a freaking umbrella while our clothes were gradually SOAKED!?
It was quite the experience, AMAZINGLY REFRESHING I must say. Ha! Looking back it really was refreshing, something different really perks me up.
Anyway, right now I’ve been cleaning rooms on my own all week, and my experience cleaning rooms alone has changed my perspective a little, that you get a lot more guest interaction cleaning rooms than possibly interacting with the guest upfront at the reception.
I have had guests ask me for my name, asking me how I was each day I cleaned their rooms, and a couple that has been nothing but friendly and warm towards me, offering me sweets while I cleaned their room and today they had a short chat with me, asking me how old I am and everything else. Then again it all depends on the guest, how open they are to a conversation. ☺
Well this interesting Anglo-Indian couple since they arrived has been talking to me non-stop, and for once they made me feel reserved. Ha. Well today they asked me how old I am, how long I’ve been here and all. So I shared with them my internship and they were really surprised.
Gentleman “It’s really good for you, coming here at 19, I mean looking back it never would have happened, coming to the Maldives alone at 19.”
Me “Why not?”
Gentleman “It just never would have happened.”
Lady “I would be crying for my mommy everyday.”
They are born and bred in England and I suppose they come from wealthy families. But honestly, I really don’t think much about packing my bags and leaving, they really had me thinking if it was that much of a hurdle coming here alone. Ha.
Maldivian families
I remember one night when I was sitting in my room watching tv, my room mate Sahir, came back and we just started talking randomly. He shared with me that he has a girlfriend in Male and about his aspirations to own his own business and let money work for him. Good on you mate!
He also let in to me about his ex-girlfriend, a German lady, who came here on training and how she helped arrange for his visa, accommodation and even found him a job there, for them to be together.
It never happened because his mother actually called the police and he was stopped at immigrations, and they told him his mother forbade him from going and was crying for him to return.
Which brings me to my point, family ties in the Maldives.
He told me that there is no way that he could have left his crying mother and father, who brought him up, taught him well and gave him so much love that he could never have wished for. Until today, when he returns home during his vacation, which is hours away by speedboat, his dad or mum would sit with him until he falls asleep, talking to him and giving him some good advice about life, much like they did telling stories when he was a kid.
And I really am touched by this story, of how strong family ties can be. His parents are now no longer working and simply enjoying life as their seven kids are supporting them and this is pretty much the way it is in the Maldives.
People fall in love, have families of their own, build their own homes, and shower their kids with love and support, and their kids naturally reciprocate when they’re grown. A retirement plan? Possibly, but I think people generally enjoy having a family and flesh and blood here has a whole new meaning from what it is in Singapore.
Diving!
I finally logged 3 dives on my last off day, which was last Monday!
I was talking to Chika-san the night before and telling her that I have an impromptu off day the next day and wondering if she could fit me in for diving and she told me there was no guests. In my disappointment I just said oh well, seems like I’d never dive here, and she was stunned.
“You mean you haven’t dived yet?”
“Nope.”
“Okay no problem, tomorrow I talk to Ben and we go to house reef, I’d take you there.”
WOOHOO! It was a really nice gesture on her part.
I was also telling her about the deaths of our national dragonboaters, my condolences to their families and may they rest in peace, and she was telling me how her boyfriend’s bestfriend just died in the dumbest way possible, all wet and trying to connect a live wire on a speedboat after diving. When the grandmother found out, she passed away of shock the following day.
Okay sad news aside, I had the best dives I could possibly have ever.
Oh, oh! There was once when I went surfing, I was just sitting on the board and a MANTA RAY just glided past me on the surface of the water gracefully. That was simply out of the world! I’ve yet to see them underwater so I’m looking forward to diving at Manta Point.
It’s been months since I got my dive license and here I am diving in the last paradise on earth. My buoyancy control is a lot better, I can dive literally upside down, just floating in the waters, I could descend properly with two kilos, stay underwater for a comfortable 45 mins with one tank.
I was also telling Aisyah Z, after my dive, that I made a realisation during the dive.
People go diving, hoping to see some rare creature, or in my case, sharks, which I did, but it’s never about what you see, it’s about what you don’t see.
Sounds a bit philosophical so let me explain.
The beautiful thing about diving, that I feel is so addictive, it is everything that being on land isn’t. It is just you, being only conscious of your equipment like your oxygen levels and making sure you don’t go too deep, and nature. There is this sense of peace, sense of clarity, this incredible sense of being, not having a care in the world, and just appreciating all there is around you.
I was out there looking out for sharks, when for a moment, when I was so busy trying to control my breathing and buoyancy, trying to avoid hitting the reefs, that I just stopped worrying about everything, and I just focused on being there, being 18 metres below sea level, appreciating all that is around me.
It was then I felt so much at peace, that for the first time ever, I was diving with absolute clarity of what I was seeing.
Stills sounds a bit chim yeah? LoL. Let me simplify it a little.
In love, when so often people look out for that ideal partner, that focus causes them to not see what is around them, that perhaps that ideal partner was there all along, if they would only open their eyes.
In ballroom dancing, when so often I become so conscious of technique, I forget that dance is about freedom, expression and having fun, the dance looks robotic and suddenly when I let loose and let the music take over, the dance looks so much better and I come up with moves I never dreamt I would have, than when I was overly-conscious of my moves.
It is about what you do not see, so I challenge all of you to open your eyes to all there is around you.
City Boy VS Island Boy
To end off this entry, I think it’s good enough to last another week or two, ha! I will come to my dilemma of life as a city boy, versus life as an island boy.
Every now and then, I wonder what it will be like to return back home in Singapore.
Here, I do not worry about the food I eat because even though the selection is not the most appetizing, I do not cook my meals, neither do I do the dishes, and it absolutely fulfils my nutritional requirement.
There is a gym that is usually empty for my use everyday at my doorstep. I can wear the same clothes everyday without a care of what people might think because this is a self-sufficient island. I also realise I do not value having a home, because to me a house is essentially a place to sleep and shower. I would much prefer to make everywhere my home and make the ground I sleep on my bed, and the sky my blanket.
I just go to work every morning and after six days, I get my off day which is at my disposal, I can choose to dive, surf, and not pay, or just do nothing at all. The only thing I worry about is laundry and it’s not much to worry about considering I wear the same stuff everyday and uniforms are provided. I could really get used to this.
When I return, to eat like I do now, it will cost me much time and effort. To wear the same stuff everyday would be dreadful and socially unacceptable and it’s definitely going to cost to look good. The gym’s going to cost me money at every visit and then again if I were to sign up for a long-term membership, I'm not sure I'm up for visiting everyday when I have to wait for equipment and bring my gear and spare clothes to change. >.<
Diving will cost me hundreds a pop over a weekend, including a long ride up to Malaysia at a lousy resort. Surfing will be skimming in Singapore and they are just two different activities in itself.
I really wonder how things are going to change when I get back home, and somehow I am afraid of losing this vision I have, of travelling the world, calling every home, and making Singapore only a stopover point once in a while. I do not yearn for a degree much like my peers, I do not care for riches nor climbing up the corporate ladder, many of the things that has meaning to most people means nothing to me.
I want to travel, I want to experience different cultures, I want to learn other languages, I want to live among other cultures, I want to work with other cultures. Best if the company provides my lodging and food, just like here. ☺ Preferably in a hotel or resort.
The one thing I value most is freedom and Singapore just doesn’t have enough of it, not for me.
01:14 hours
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