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Sunday, August 07, 2011

Maldives: Six Days in Paradise Volume 3

~*Day 3: Donning a wet suit for the first time*

The Discover Scuba (Intro) we signed up for was held in the morning so before that, we had a really light breakfast, quite unlike the previous morning.

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Um... but some people say we should not even eat at all before diving just in case we needed to burp or puke and we couldn't do so in the masks. lol.

Kh has got a dive license but as for me, I can't swim properly (no actually, I can't even swim) so we had to start from the beginning.

Before we signed up for the dive, the staff and instructors at the dive centre assured me that it was perfectly safe to dive without knowing how to swim well.

As long as I could flail my arms to paddle like a dog,

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kick about like a struggling cat in water and move,

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I should be fine since they would be teaching us all the basics in shallow waters first before we took the boat out to the deeper waters.

It has always been one of my many dreams to dive at least once in my lifetime and I'm so glad to have accomplished this goal. *strikes an obligatory asian peace sign and smiles bimbotically*

The pre-diving water exercises in shallow waters did not go very well for me and I was deeply disappointed in myself. I had so much fear that I constantly shot out above the water and removed my mask to take in atmospheric air each time something went wrong underwater. It was fortunate that the diving instructor was so calm and patient with me.

The actual dive was a different story. I enjoyed myself tremendously! I felt like I was floating in a dream to be able to move in three dimensions in a fluid environment. For once, I actually believed that I could finally swim!

Slowly, I loosened my grip on the instructor's hand and started to breathe more normally. I was also able to equalise the pressure in a relaxed manner and clear my diving mask underwater without fearing about water entering my eyes and nose. Soon, I was drifting along the current and going with the flow.

I was like a water baby.

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Only for kh to burst my bubble saying that I kicked like a cat.

It felt surreal to be amidst the marine creatures in all shades of colours at such close proximity. I spotted so many fishes and creatures which I could not identify. I also discovered that lobsters could be in such brilliant hues of yellow and blue.

Unfortunately, the instant underwater camera could not capture all these brilliance in the ocean. I've managed to scan some of the not so disappointing of the very disappointing underwater shots into my laptop which I would share them in another post.

Enough of words which some of you would simply scroll through.

Here are some post-diving photos for now. Please don't be shocked by my bare naked face.

Feeling cold but happy after my first dive.

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I'm always amazed at the vastly different shades of blue in the ocean.

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Somewhere where we dived.

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It was icy cold with the wind blowing at us that we had to sun ourselves on the upper deck.

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A group shot of all of us-- our diving partners on the left, our really friendly and patient instructor in the middle (she's a Japanese) and us on the right.

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Our dive partners, whom kh and I call A&A for short, are from Hong Kong and we instantly hit off coz as you know in a foreign land with many Asian tourists from Japan and Korea, the Singaporeans and Hong Kongers would would find solidarity in each other since we share almost the same culture, language (English as our official language) and colonial masters.

It was really funny when Mrs A later shared with me how relieved she was to know we are from Singapore as there would not be language barrier at all.

It was also her first time diving and we really enjoyed it a lot. We decided to sign up for the next level of Discover Scuba Diving together scheduled the next evening. I did not see any turtles and manta rays and I was determined to see them on the 2nd dive.

We bade one another goodbye and I could hardly wait for the next evening to arrive.

Along the bridge, we saw sharkies parting the little fishies just like how Moses parted the Red Sea.

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If you can't really see the sharkies parting the fishies in still, you may wanna click on the play button below.



To my international readers, please pardon our Singlish accent. To my local readers, high 5!

~*Day 3: A bird which paid us a visit*

Diving zapped the energy in us that we decided to lounge in the pool, tan ourselves golden and watch movies in the room till dinner time.

While I was in the bath tub, I saw an immense shadow with outspread wings descending upon the edge of our pool.

Gasp! Deatheaters in Maldives???

Nah...

There in the middle was the Maldivian seabird which I could never quite catch its name. Like an elegant crane, it lifted its wings and extended its slender neck to sip water from our pool.

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I lay in the bath tub not daring to move in case I frightened it while kh hollered from the room if I was looking at that spectacle in the middle of the edge of our pool. By the time kh fumbled for the camera, that shy bird had flown out into the sea.

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~*Day 3: Wonderful dinner at JING*

When the sun was almost setting, we made our way out for dinner. We had since grown to love walking on the long bridge and taking pictures.

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We saw the setting sun on one side and the moon on the other.

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We had dinner at JING which I would consider as a fine dining restaurant located over the water.

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We had nothing but compliments for all the dishes we ordered.

You could tell a lot about a restaurant from the bread it serves and JING wowed us right from the bread. Even though the bread was good, we didn't finish them for we wanted to save some space for the other delectable food to come. The bread was so good that I wanted to bring back some which wasn't allowed of course. There goes our great idea of popping bread to curb our hunger.

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The soup was a rather novel pairing of miso with abalone while the meat in the wanton (dumpling) was beef cheek. The pairing was unique and delicious. I simply love the flavourful tangy taste of the Golden Fin Tuna Tartar. In fact, I kept craving for tartar or anything raw and tangy for the rest of the stay.

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For mains, I had Tuna Steak & Caramelized Foie Gras with warm salad of shimeiji mushrooms. kh had Angus Beef Tenderloin with Asian spread spinach, truffle potato & horseradish creme.

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For desserts, the waiter recommended their Thai curry ice cream & Warm Chocolate Fondant. We were really attracted to the novelty of thai curry as an ice cream and decided to give it a try. The ice cream was smooth and creamy with a hint of Thai curry.

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Looking at all these photos make me crave for so many food now: tartar, miso tea, foie gras, shimeiji mushrooms, spinach, thai curry ice cream.

This was how the bridge looked like at night.

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I'll end this post with an OOTD photo.

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Outfit of the day:
♥ Worn-to-death butterfly sleeves flowy top with inner lace spag
♥ Diva ethnic beaded necklace
♥ Sheer Romance flower clip
the rest like the shorts and footwear are the same few worn-to-death ones.

14 comments:

  1. You look so pretty in that tunic Jo *o*
    and that was a light breakfast? :o so much food all over the table! you're making me hungry again ahah but they really put an effort on making those plates look yummy in a pretty way! the angus beef tenderloin almost seems like a sculpture! ^^

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  2. I'm so jealous of your amazing vacation! I've always wanted to go scuba dive! But at the same time I don't want to take classes for it. LoL. I want to visit a place like that one day. You're outfit at the very end is super cute btw ^__^

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  3. Scroll through the words??? Never!

    You should be proud you accomplished the dive...it's great that you were able to overcome not being comfortable in the water. My first swim was the dog paddle, and like you, I learned to swim underwater first and then started swimming on the surface.

    All of the looks wonderful--even the light breakfast. But why would anyone need to pardon such lovely accents??? Wait until you hear mine!!! =)

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  4. OMG!!!! Scuba diving looks so fun!!!! Im glad you were able to go despite the fact that you couldn't swim! It's a shame that you're camera couldn't capture the colours, but I think the best camera is the one that's already given to you =) hahaha nah you're bare face didn't scare me, in fact you look so pretty! Oh don't you just hate it when you wanna take a photo of a fleeting moment and then....it's already gone by the time you grab your camera! ><

    Dinner looks amazing and you got so many complimentary items!

    P.s I can see why that flowt top is worn to death hahaha it's lovely!

    Pp.s Im really glad you got that problem with blogger and IE fixed! I currently use chrome and I love it! =D Hopefully I get more time to myself once September sets in, I wanna do more deco stuff too! Im thinking of doing something simple like a picture frame! =D

    ReplyDelete
  5. SkinnyLove,

    Thank you dear! Haha... yeah I know some people would gasp at "light" but it's really a lot lighter than our usual. lol... fortunately I didn't have the urge to burp or it would be very uncomfortable with the mask on.

    ~~~

    FleurLapin,

    Yes! I also didn't really wanna take any diving course but merely wanted to experience the dive. I think in Singapore, being able to swim is a pre-requisite for the diving licence course. Hence, I was glad that I was able to do so w/o it. I think most beach resort would have this option too? I'm not very sure.

    ~~~

    Rick,

    I know you would never scroll through the words and I like you for that! lol

    So can you swim now? I think being able to swim underwater with oxygen tank built my confidence a lot as I won't be fearing about so many things as opposed to on the surface when I've the danger of being "drowned". Maybe I'll learn swimming your way too.

    Foreigners esp Caucasians lurve to imitate us speaking in Singlish but they don't have the local accent. lol. Would love to hear yours.

    ~~~

    suki pooki,

    Thank you for your lovely words dear. I was smiling to myself while reading your words.

    I can't wait to see more DIY projects from you. Must be really lovely. May you be able to find some me-time soon!

    ReplyDelete
  6. HELLOOOOOOOOOO Jo,

    So happy to see your message too. Sorry, I tend to blog less these days as needed to sort out something crucial at work and career these few months. I am aware I havent replied to your previous messages. I hope I havent given the impression of being rude...

    Your vacation is Maldives looks so relaxing & luxurious. Well done for scuba diving despite not being able to swim to begin with. I dont blame you for wearing that white tunic to death, you looks so pretty in it.

    Some of your photos are so cute. like the one with "the bird was here". haha

    This really looks like a fantastic honeymoon vacation. But certainly well deserve as you have been previously so busy and stressed at work and at home.

    ReplyDelete
  7. - i wonder what curry ice cream tastes like..? i haven't gotten around to trying that yet. hmmm... :]

    - i also can't swim. i think i will do a good job sinking in the water should i ever decide to go diving hahaha! >.<


    - once again i am amazed at your food pictures. OMG! i sooo love food porn! i could stare at food pictures the whole day. :D

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  8. Wow~ Seems like you had a great vacation~ Your pictures look amazing!

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  9. Diving looks like so much fun Jolene! I don't know how to swim either...well I can swim around beneath the surface, but I can never seem to be able to bring my body up high enough to breathe for air lol. But diving looks like it would be relatively easy even for those that don't know how to swim since you don't have to worry about breathing :D

    Your food pictures look really good too! Reading your blog always makes me so hungry haha. Thai curry ice cream sounds like a very interesting combination!

    ReplyDelete
  10. These pictures are so gorgeous. Take me with you!!!

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

    ReplyDelete
  11. hey, thanks for droppin by my blog. i love your blog too, am following it now!

    o0o0o0o maldives looks beautiful! looks like a beautiful place to have my second honeymoon. tee hee! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. That photo of a doggie made me laugh so hard. The more I read about your trip, the more I wanna go on a vacation. It will truly be one of those trips which will live forever in your memory. Of course, it is much harder to travel with kids, so def enjoy it now. That is so nice you got to meet new friends on the trip, what a plus.

    I know, don't you love than pink Dior? I want one for sure. I am dying to see your Chanel..hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wow the maldives looks SO beautiful. Scuba diving there must have been so exciting and beautiful in the water! I love all the pictures, especially the sunset and the food hehe. Thanks for sharing Jolene, looking forward to seeing more!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Squeeze the Pug,

    No worries at all. You certainly didn’t give me the impression of being rude or anything. I completely understand. I’m only glad that you managed to find some time to leave me some love back and to update about what’s going on at work. Hope you managed to sort out whatever is keeping you busy at work and career wise.

    ~~~

    sugar sugar,

    Haha... I would have thought I would do a good job sinking too but I’m too buoyant that the heavy weights failed to pull me down. I’m constantly swimming at a higher level as the rest when diving.

    ~~~

    PopBlush,

    Thanx for dropping by, leaving me a note and following. It’s always great to see new faces here.

    ~~~

    Rinny,

    I sound just like you for swimming. I can kick, paddle and move but I can’t bring my head up. I can’t figure out how to do it. Maybe diving really is the way to go.

    ~~~

    Bonnie,

    Thanx for dropping by and leaving me a note. It’s always great to see new faces here.

    ~~~

    Kathlynn,

    Thanx for dropping by, leaving me a note and following. It’s always great to see new faces here. Where did you go for your honeymoon?

    ~~~

    Nelah,

    I think that having a kid would make it more difficult to travel but I forgot if I’ve already mentioned that there was this Japanese couple who brought along their 2-3 year old son! He’s such a cutie and from what we see, he seemed very easy to look after on the trip. Both my hubby and I were surprised to see couple bringing toddlers on a trip like Maldives.

    Haha... so will you be getting the pink one as well? The beige one you have is the medium size right?

    ~~~

    Nic Nic,

    Thank you. Read that you were sick. I hope you’ve recovered fully by now.

    ReplyDelete

I love reading sincere comments and hearing your voice. While blatant self promotion of blogs and follow for follow requests are not advisable, I would love if you leave a mark here with a trackback link so that I could connect with you. I reply to comments here or on your blog so don't forget to check back on replies! =)

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