~*Day 6: The Last Day in Paradise*~
That's us heading out for breakfast for the last time.
I can't help loving my golden tan in this photo and I find it amusing that the breeze had my hair parted in the centre unwittingly. I kinda look like blast from the past. I cringed at my mum's hairstyle which was exactly like this in the 70s and early 80s.
Outfit of the day:
♥ No label knitted lace top
♥ Shorts worn underneath
♥ Fendi shades
♥ Worn-to-death Pretty Fit embellished sandals
That would be the last time we ate breakfast with our feet buried in the sand having the same old buffet food, listening to the same old chillax music and looking at the same old couples eating daintily around us.
After that, we went for the last walk along the beach and in the shallow waters.
Pardon the overexposed shots, the sun's glare was reflecting off the sand and it was pretty difficult to correct this via photo editing.
The last time kh stood on this boat, the caption read:
"A boat had beached itself along with a lunatic who thought he was Captain Jack Sparrow."
If you would very kindly take this humorously, this caption would read:
"Jolene is not Helen of Troy and her face could launch just one boat."
Remember the tree that was planted with collective effort the previous day?
We tried and failed to get more up-close shots with the sharks but they kept avoiding us.
Try spotting the shark in all the pictures below!
So if you did a Photo-Hunt and tapped the screen, you would have this:
Sharks are no fun when you've got a gigantic water snake nearby.
That coy Maldivian bird kept escaping my clutches. Each step I advanced towards it, it took two steps away from me.
We decided to book a spa appointment while waiting for our seaplane to arrive. But before that, it was more lounging in the pool and tanning on the deck chairs.
Yes, our final parting shot of our water villa.
Parting shots of Constance Haleveli.
~*Day 6: Guided Tour Around & About Male*~
While waiting for our night flight back to Singapore, we embarked on a guided tour around Male island (pronounced as Ma-Lay) which is the capital of Maldives and the most populous island of Maldives chain of 1 192 islands. The guided tour was a complimentary service from
Atoll Paradise from which we booked our package.
I learnt so much about Maldives from this guided tour. I think I could write a whole thesis on Maldives' focus on the environment and tourism, as well as some misconceptions about their culture and social issues. I've also gained immense reverence for Maldives current president--
Mohamed Nasheed and could go on writing about him. However, I don't think I want to bore all of you with my verbosity so I'll just do a photostory.
We took a walk through the market and saw many fruits and vegetables which did not look quite like the version we're used to back at home. Are you able to guess what these fruits and vegetables are?
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Don't cheat!
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Did you get any correct?
The fishing boats had sailed back.
Our cool guide walked like he owned the streets. Motorbikes are the major mode of transport and he seemed to be able to skilfully dodge these riders who rode perilously without helmets and some even with two kids in tow!
Most of the eateries are housed like this.
I did not snap many photos of the cultural places we visited as I was too engrossed in listening to the history of the place narrated by our guide as well as other guides who were there. Moreover, I did not feel it was appropriate to take photos of sacred places such as the tombs of the past sultans and their families.
I also did not snap the Sultan Park which is filled with a rich history and hence an important landmark of Maldives. It so happened that there were many foreign workers there chillaxing on their offday. It was impossible to capture the beauty of the park with so many people sitting on every ledge and every patch of grass. I learnt from our guide that almost half of Maldives population consist of foreign workers as many Maldivians do not envision themselves working long term in the tourism industry where they would be located on an island resort far away from their families and friends.
And all along in my ignorant mind, I thought tourism created jobs for many citizens of Maldives and how we would be helping their economy by boosting the revenue earned from the tourism sector.
After that, we dined at Lemongrass Restaurant.
Our drinks
I never knew Coke Float with chocolate ice cream could be delicious too.
Our Thai-influenced food.
Food was good but it was grossly overpriced.The total bill for the 3 of us added up to SGD$90+. Such dinner in Singapore would come up to say SGD$40+.
Even the guide was appalled and asked the waiter to check the final value again. Sadly, it was indeed correct as everything was calculated according to the prices stated on the menu. I guess we sort of miscalculated when we ordered since the currency displayed was the Maldivian Rufiyaa. In retrospect, even if we had known the price for each dish, we would have carried on ordering the same dishes.
It was time to bid our guide goodbye.
We waited in the Finifenmaa Lounge which was supposedly for the business and first class passengers. Before anyone gets the wrong impression, we are commoners who take the economy class.
It sure didn't look anywhere near first class but I saw photos of the other airport lounges and realised that this is truly a notch above the other lounges. Once again, the use of this lounge is inclusive in the package by atollparadise.
This is the reason why I could recall so many things that happened in a trip which occurred 7 months ago.
Yes, I'm pretty much a pen and notebook gal, jotting down notes in my trusty notebook. On a totally random note, I really love this pen which was a corporate gift from my company for my birthday last year.
Bye bye to Paradise!
The neverending posts about Maldives have finally come to a closure. I hope you've enjoyed reading all about my trip in the parts as much as I've enjoyed sharing the photos and experiences with you.
And just in case you want to refer back, I've included all the volumes as links below.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
