29 Dec 2006 – It’s another rainy off day. Actually I don’t mind them too much. Other than the fact that it’s not so great for photo-taking, I’d much rather rainy and cloudy weather, and just a few sunny days. Well, at least for now till May’07. Just yesterday, it was sunny and bright, not too hot in terms of temperature, nowhere near Sydney, but because there’s not much shade in a lot of places, just expanses of sand and sea, everything’s very glaring. I could hardly open my eyes. And ‘cos we are pretty much on the equator, the sun is quite direct and strong, and I’ve seen many a guest turn lobster-red. Haha, and at the spa, it’s pretty common for them to swap their hot-stone massages, heated wraps or scrubs for an “After Sun Soother”, which is a nice and cooling cucumber and aloe vera mask. So yup, this chick intends to shy away from the sun as much as possible, don’t want to be all chao-da for my wedding!

And just ‘cos it’s raining, it doesn’t mean I’m stuck indoors. In fact, one of the first things I did today was to go snorkeling!

Yay!!! Finally!!! And my god, it’s incredible! All I had to do was walk off the beach, and in waters no higher than my waist, I saw the most amazing variety of marine fishes ever! Even more amazing than the Great Barrier Reef previously in OZ, or any aquarium! Schools of them too! Swimming freely all around in their natural environment. It really is any snorkeller’s dream come true. And the best part, even though it was raining, the sea was still comfortably warm, average temperatures are around 28 degrees. I only had to wear my bikini, no wet suit required. And because the waters were less than a metre deep over a vast amount of space, it really is very safe too. Worse come to worse, if someone panics, just have to stand up. Haha!

I’m only upset that I can’t show you the pictures. No waterproof casing for camera. So you’d just have to come here to witness the beauty for yourself. I’m serious!

Ok, managed to steal one off this girl, AnemoneFish’s Flickr page. I did see this fish, known as “butterfly fish”. For more pics, please do check out her site. She’s got a fantastic camera, and has taken many stunning pictures depicting her diving trip in the Maldives.

Ok, so what else leh? Heh heh, the other thing on my to-do list for today was to go check out Sea Stars, the Italian boutique.

Guess what? I got a fix. Yep, saw this gorgeous gorgeous dress on the mannequin and just couldn’t resist it.

Look, isn’t it just beautiful?

Fabric details

I just love Indian fabrics! Found out that the designer is Anupamaa Dayal, supposedly quite high profile in India, and known for blending traditional Indian fabrics with western designs and silhouettes – so my cup of tea! Well my excuse was that I have several weddings to attend in May, and hey, I wouldn’t have the time to shop for clothes when I get back + it’s my first Hilton pay present to myself + it’s X’mas! Sigh… retail therapy… only one word for it: Shiokedok! Those girls at the Italian boutique are so going to love me lor, in fact, they may soon invite me to join their special member’s club. Just kidding, there isn’t one.

It was unplanned, but I also ended up taking a leisurely ride on the dhoni.

So yup, as you can see, it’s like a boat basically. When I first landed at the Male airport, which is situated on an island just for it, I was transported to Male, which is another island, on one of these dhonis. Here at the Hilton, we use it to ferry people between the two islands that make up the resort.

I also took the opportunity to take more photos.

First of all, this is the bridge that connects the two islands. The landing deck for the seaplane is situated in the middle of the bridge.

So on one side is Rangalifinolhu, which is the main island.

To the right of the bridge, the water sports centre.

To the left, more white sandy beaches and coconut trees.

And on the other side, Rangali island, which is the smaller island.

From the middle of the bridge though, I saw this strange-looking contraption parked out at sea. Make a guess what it is. Give up? It’s a glass-bottom boat that the guests can rent.

Oh, there’s one other thing I wanted to point out.

Hung in trees all around the main reception area are these Japanese inspired lamps. Aren’t they lovely? At night, when they are lit, they look even better. Really creates a very relaxed kind of atmosphere, especially around the Rangali bar area.

So apart from replacing the floor mats and scrubing the shower stall, that pretty much sums up my day. Oh oh, chotomate chotomate! A piece of good news, well for me anyway. Went to weigh in at the gym today. Very happy to announce that even with the tiny indulgences on X’mas and X’mas eve, I managed to lose 1.6kg over the last week! Yay!!! Great, at least the weight is shifting, really motivates me to keep at it.

Ok, so much for now. Chat again soon!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 30th, 2006 at 7:38 pm and is filed under General Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.