Our First Photo Trip Report: ORD-CDG-FRA-ZRH-DUS-IST-MLE-SIN-HKG
 

0. Preface:

We have been saving up miles for quite some time, and with the credit card sign-up bonuses, we finally decided to put it to good use. The UA's Sep 15, 2012 deadline to redeem for QR flights was the final push to get the ball rolling. Luckily, we were able to get the QR inaugural flight out of ORD-DOH this April in business class, and onward to Male, Maldives. However, something happened, and we had to change our flight dates. And since it happened way after Sep 15, 2012, to retain those QR business seats was not an option. Doh! (pun-intended), I decided to REALLY put those miles to work.

As so it happened, things turned out A LOT better then we originally planned, albeit a few snafus. So, without further procrastination, here is our first ever photo trip report. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

p.s. Now that I finally started to post, it will be a constant boot in the back to keep this going with no more delays. :)

1. Introduction:
After the untimely change, with QR inaugural flight out of the question, we started to look at different stop overs and played with the UA 115% allowed miles. Finally, sparing you all the painful details, and a total of 200 minutes and countless phone calls later (I was later told by Mrs. that I should document all the dates, flight/route changes, and calls made, since it was a unique experience, which I did!) we came up with the following schedule. And it was our first taste of what miles can do for us, and certainly not the last time. 200,000 UA miles to be exact!

Our itinerary:
a. Feb 1: UA 942 ORD - CDG (C)
b. Feb 3: LH 1027 CDG - FRA (C)
c. Feb 4: LH 1186 FRA - ZRH (C)
d. Feb 5: LH 3135 ZRH - DUS (C)
e. Feb 5: TK 1528 DUS - IST (C)
f. Feb 6: TK 730 IST - MLE (C)*
g. Feb 7 - 10 Park Hyatt Maldives
h. Feb 10: SQ 451 MLE - SIN (Y)
i. Feb 11: SQ 870 SIN - HKG (C)

Trip report break down:
00. Preface
01. Introduction
02. Flight UA 942 Review
03. Paris in 24 hours
04. Driving In Between Frankfurt & Rothenburg
05. Snowy Zurich
06. Top of the world from Köln
07. Istanbul Part I
08. Istanbul Part II, with a twist!
09. Island Hopping from Malé
10. Park Hyatt Maldives (I): Entering Paradise
11. Park Hyatt Maldives (II): Savoring Paradise to the MAX
12. Park Hyatt Maldives (III): Leaving Paradise, Malé
13. Singapore
14. Hong Kong, Conclusion

The most direct route would be ORD - IST - MLE for 9242 miles. But our route came out to be 10671 miles, 115.4% of the maximum permitted miles. Thanks UA!

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Park Hyatt Maldives

2. UA 942

After the luggage check, we were appalled to find out how long the "priority security" check line was at ORD. Apparently, TSA has been letting everyone in. And unfortunately, the whole process took an hour to get over with. By the time we were at the United Club in Concourse C, it was barely enough time to use the restroom before our boarding time, 5:20pm. And for some other reason, by 5:50pm, we were still standing at the gate waiting to be boarded. If they would of made any announcements, we would of tried to new shower facility in the lounge.

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A view from seat 6A, facing back. The after dinner sundae cart.

Luckily, things turned around when we were on board. Contrary to our previous UA Business experience, which was so-so, the crew was fantastic! We ordered the Cod and Steak dinner. But half way through the dinner, Mrs. Flyhen was ready to go to bed, leaving me enjoying the rest of the food alone...

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Steak dinner, a bit over cooked, but wasn't bad.

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Cod dinner, Mrs. didn't like it, but I loved it.

The whole flight was uneventful. And that's a good thing. No screaming child, just excellent service, as I finished the dinner with a cheese plate and port and sundae while catching up on some reading on the iPad mini. I even managed to get a few hours of solid sleep before we were over Dublin and was treated with a sunrise.
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And before you know, 8 hours went by fast, we were at CDG.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/...eaab244e_c.jpgThe airline that eluded me.

The rest of the above set photos can be seen here.

3. Paris
Off to Paris we go! My uncle picked us up, and to save time, he kindly took our luggages back while dropping us off in the city center by Esplanade du Trocadéro. It was Mrs'. first time in Paris. Weather was a bit gloomy, but boy, seeing her face lit up in front of the tower, was she excited!
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Being there for the first time, it is customary to go to the top, and so we waited. Luckily, the wait wasn't that long. Probably because of the low season and crappy weather. And 20 minutes later, we were at the base elevator, and another 20 minutes, we were at the top of the tower. Last being there 13 years ago, it was a nostalgic feeling. I love Paris, with family there and visited numerous times, it is practically my home away from home.

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I can almost see where I will be staying for the evening. :)

Afterwards, we met up with my cousin, and seeing how we only have 24 hours in the city, Mrs. wasn't all that interested in seeing other major attractions, especially in this crappy weather.
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Yes, it was blue sky, but only for a brief moment until the overcast returned.

So we headed to the Champs-Élysées where the two ladies can do what they do best: shopping.
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As for me, my consolation prize was to stop at the Ladurée Cafe for some macaroon since we didn't have lunch. And honestly, the whole point of being in Paris, for me, is to see my family, and for her, well...
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After about 5 hours of walking down the avenue, where at multiple points, I dozed off in the store, while Mrs. was busy running up the credit card, we headed for dinner. I've been to this establishment before. 13 years ago, to be exact, where my other cousin's ex-bf took me here. The Provencal cooking eluded me ever since, and it was a fateful re-encounter last summer when I was going over some old stuff, where I found a piece of paper from that very 13 years ago, where I had written down the info/time/address to meet up. Yes, it's like to find a long lost friend. And they did not disappoint!
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Set menu

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Desert!

The rest of the evening consisted of me introducing Mrs. to my family, as we chatted away into the wee hours. Another reason why I love Paris. Wonderful family, food, and memories! The next day we were off to an early start.

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Edible breakfast at the LH CDG Lounge.

Time for our next stop: Frankfurt, and Rothenburg.

You can check out the rest of the Paris photos here.

very nice pictures, where did you stay in paris?

Great photos! Can't wait to see more!

We stayed in Noisy Le Grand, with my aunt and uncle.

Thanks, I guess those lens I invested really are worth it. :)

4. Frankfurt, Rothenburg

It's been years since I was in an LH intra-Europe flight, and I was glad I did. The flight, albeit only 1 hour, was a pleasant one. Service was great, food (my 2nd breakfast) was decent. Even the flight attendant was "hot"(that's what she said), according to Mrs., whom I found ogling at both of them from time to time. :rolleyes:

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Muesli breakfast in business class, which I found to be a delight.

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For some odd reason, we made our approach (coming from CDG) from the east.

Our luggages came out in no time, and soon after, we were on the long trod towards the rental car stations. Since it was early in the morning, the O2 store wasn't open, so we got a prepaid OrtelMobile SIM from the vending machine, which turned out to be a complete waste of money, and a pain to activate.:td::td::td: To our surprise, instead of the 2012 MB C-Klass 200 automatic, we were told we got a brand spanking new 2013 BMW 335i automatic instead, and crazy enough, the price went from €63 to €52. :D Can't complain!

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My new friend for this portion of the trip. Still got that new (toxic) car smell. LOL.

Speeding down the Autobahn was pure joy, and we got to Würzburg in no time and picked up my friend from grade school, as she would be our guide for the next 24 hours. 2 hours later, we got to the picturesque city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The weather was still cloudy, but my friend told me this is probably a better time to visit, since it would be crawling with tourists in the summer, and the following picture I am about to post, will be almost impossible because of the crowd.

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Like millions before me, I finally got the opportunity to photo this scene.

Rothenburg, did not disappoint! It was scenic, beautiful, and very laid back. The town was small enough and it took us only a few hours to walked thru everything. It was just the right balance as we could take our time, relax a bit in a cafe while taking in all the sights.

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Looking into the walled city from outside.

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Mrs. took this photo, and boy was she proud!

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We came across these "snowballs" in Füssen 3.5 years ago, and finally got to try it out. Yumm!

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Our dinner consisted of Wien schnitzel (my favorite), pork knuckles, boiled steak at a local B&B joint. The service was sub-par, the food was decent. The only problem we had, was the huge portions. Should of just ordered 2 main dishes instead.

It began to snow a bit after dinner, and got bone-chilling cold, so we decided to go back to our hotel and hung out in the warmth instead. That, and we didn't really sleep much the night before and all the driving had begun to take a toll. Maybe next time, when it is warmer and none of us was shaking, we will take some more night photos and enjoyed a bit more. Who knows, we might be sitting at a street side bar/cafe enjoying the summer evening some time in the future. But for now, we were satisfied. And here is one of our final shots of the beautiful city.

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Beautiful city! We stayed in the "Golden Hirsch" hotel. Great location, and friendly service!

Early next morning, right around 6am as we were about to leave, we found ourselves in a magnificent winter wonderland! 5 inches of fresh snow, untainted, without any foot steps, or any hint of interference! But somehow I made the decision not to linger around and we took off right away...

It turned out to be the right decision at the end. After we dropped off our friend in Würzburg, it started to snow heavily on our way back to the airport, as if driving at 200kph wasn't stressful enough already. On top of that, the silly GPS somehow got us ended up in "Cargo City Süd", on the other side of the airport. Panicked! We slowly made our way back to the right place and returned the car w/o trouble. But boy, we were close, had we lingered around for 10 more minutes to take the photos before we depart, we probably would of missed the flight.

In hindsight, we all knew it was the right decision, but it also hit us, when will be the next time we get a pristine shot of Rothenburg in fresh new snow like that? Oh well~

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And here is the parting shot of Frankfurt. LH A380

As was before you can check out the rest of the photos here from Frankfurt and Rothenburg.

On to Zurich we go!

This is a great TR, I am looking forward to the rest of it. ^

Great photos, hope you'll continue soon, thanks for sharing.

Thanks! It's very encouraging, especially this being my first ever FT Trip Report.

5. Zurich

After being hurried to the bus waiting for us at the bottom of the steps, we waited for another 5 minutes for some other "latter" passengers to arrive. But was soon whisked to our plane. And on our way to the tarmac, we passed by A380s after A380s and the one and only LH 747-8, and plenty others. It was like a kid in a candy shop for me. The flight towards Zurich was again a delight, just about the right amount of time to have a breakfast before we arrive.

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Breakfast with bunt cake.

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Approaching. Snowy.

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The first thing that greeted us, an A330 (or is it B777?) landing. Wonder where these folks come from.

Soon after, the friendly clerk in the SBB terminal in ZRH welcomed us to their city, and was very helpful in telling us how to get to our hotel - Park Hyatt Zurich. This being my first ever visit to Swiss or Zurich, and I could already tell I am in love with the city. Clean streets, organized, and well-mannered people. What else can I ask for? Oh yeah, Mrs. was here in late September of 2012 for business trip, and turned out she knows the city pretty well, that saved me the time to do the homework. Sweet!

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Our room in Park Hyatt. Mrs. stayed here last time as well, she felt she was home again.

It was a pity we didn't get to enjoy the hotel that much, checking in at 11am, and out at 7am the next day. But it was a lovely place to stay, and I know where I will be staying next time around. :)

Without wasting any time, we took Tram 13 back to the central station and headed to Uetliberg, the top of Zurich.

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Walking towards the top. It was snowing mixed with some rain, and Mrs. left the Hyatt umbrella in the train!! Luckily, after my 300-yard mad dash/slide down the path, the train was still 4 minutes from departing. I wonder how much the hotel would charge us for that... hmmmm?:o

Seeing how the weather was still somewhat crappy (notice the theme here? crappy weather...) We managed to get some snapshots of the whole city. I can only imagine how beautiful it was when she was here last time, and the foliage turning... These photos don't do the justice. But I tried.

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View from the top.

Afterwards, we decided we were cold enough, and lingering around braving the elements was no longer enticing, and headed down to the city. We walked around the old city, waited for the boat at Bürkliplatz for 30 minutes, only to realize they don't run it as often in the winter hours. :td: So, instead of a boat trip in the freezing rain on Zurichsee, which would of been lovely, we set out to tick off the next place we want to visit on our list.

...Yeah, every one should come to Zurich, get soaked, freeze to death, and might as well catch a flu...:p

Within minutes, I finally get to experience what all the hype was all about, The famous Sternen Grill bratwurst. Although it took us a bit longer to find the temporary location due to the constructions around. It was so good, we each had second and was instantly satisfied. People of Zurich, you don't know how lucky you are. :)

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Wish I can have one right now! How many of you are thinking the same?

As the weather deteriorated, the rest of the evening consisted only with small walk-around to the plaza where Winston Churchill made his famous "Europe Arise" speech and limited sightseeing. After struggling to get the right shots for the cathedral, we ended up in a lovely cafe in a back alley with a waitress looked like Katie Holmes. I could of swear she was smirking the rest of the night after we told her that. :cool:

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Zurich Cathedral

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The back alley where we met Katie.:D

After the warm tea and food, and seeing how the weather did not light up, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. And pretty soon after, our brief stint in Zurich had to come to an end. It was a lovely, elegant city with class. And to say that I will visit again soon is only an understatement.

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The next morning, after a breakfast in the world's longest bar, we were ready to leave.

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Next time, I will stay for at least 1 week as I told myself while we slowly zoomed pass these tails. My parting shot, for now. Zurich, Swiss, I will be back!

Next stop, Dusseldorf and Köln.

Additional photos of Zurich.

I'm loving this report and the pics - keep them coming!

Would be an A330. You can tell by the slanted winglets, the gray-plastic molding on the real horizontal stabilizers, and the main landing gear carriage (A330 has 2X2, B777 has a 2X3). Fun fact though, A330 is more or less the equivalent of a B767, just in a fancy European plastic wrapper ;)

Great TR by the way! Enjoying the photos.

Thanks for the tip, now I am one step closer to be a true aviation nerd.

Thanks Jason, we always enjoyed your blog as well, especially Mrs. She is getting all kinds of ideas on where we should go next time.

Like I said, I couldn't be happier with those lens I invested. :cool:

6. Düsseldorf, Köln

3 LH flights in C in 3 days. 3 happy flights. We enjoyed the service, the food and the crew's friendliness all the way. Big kudos for LH.^ At the time of this writing, they are probably on strike now. I hope things get settled soon and they walk away with a fair deal.

We touched down in DUS around half past 10 in the morning, and immediately I noticed something… CRAPPY weather!:mad:

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This LH A346 from Chicago probably brought with them the weather I tried to escape days earlier. Doh!:p

After running around w/o a clue, we finally located the correct route to the DB Flughafen DUS terminal after going in and out of the main building and parking garage. Who would of thought we were to take the elevator UP, then to the sky tram first? Within 40 minutes, we were in Köln Hbf.

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Passing by Düsseldorf Hbf on our way.

And with only a few hours in between flights, we thought visiting the Köln Dom and the surrounding is just the right amount of adventure. After a quick stop for some more schnitzel in the train station, we were fueled up and ready to go!

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Inside the cathedral with the afternoon sun shining thru. Pictures can't tell how beautiful it is.

Being there for the first time ever, Mrs. was dumbfounded: How come the Eiffel Tower which is equally beautiful and magnificent is the only one getting all the hype, while the Köln Cathedral in itself seemed significantly under hyped? And rightfully so, she had a really good point. @:-)

Soon after, we set out to conquer the spire where I failed 3 years ago. On that faithful day, I arrived only minutes too late after the closing, and ever since, I've been itching to go up. 500+ steps later, we finally made it!

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The rotundum with the bell halfway up.

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A view from the top. You had no idea how satisfied I was being there finally after 3 years.

The weather was "friendly" in comparison to the Eiffel Tower, where we were greeted with Gail-force wind and ice cubes raining down on us. We lingered around for about half an hour and taking in some more sights and photos and noticed the stone walls were heavily graffitied with white paints and whiteouts. Having none of that, we wrote ours with a ball pen over some whiteout. Which, I doubt it will ever last long after our departure.:p

We soon made our descent and walked towards the Hohenzollern Bridge. And right there, we decide to leave our mark. Maybe in a few years we will come back and check.

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All these lockets made up a beautiful sight in their own way. I read somewhere that these lockets started to appear only as recent as in 2009, but I remember seeing one from 1958 (or 1985). Could it be real?

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Per Mrs.' request, will a fellow FTer who lives in Köln or happens to be there check whether ours is still there? ;)

With only minutes to spare, we decided to head back to the airport.

And that's when things took a heavy turn! Seconds after we were on board the train, I noticed my iPad mini was gone! GONE!:( Realizing I left it in the restaurant earlier, and without surprise, after 10 minutes of frantic searching and asking, we came up empty. Resigned, I sent a remote kill signal hoping it will come online soon and moved on. It was one heck of an expensive schnitzel. Free iPad mini anyone?

When it rains, it usually pours. Back in DUS, aside from running late from the train, we had to scramble to get our tax refund. We were only allowed to do so within 2 hours of the departure. Thankfully, some nice Chinese airlines flight attendants let us cut the line, and the people at the security and gate were understanding. We managed to slide sideways into the closing aircraft door with only seconds to spare. Whew~

As we sat quietly during the push back, and started to mourn for my loss, exhausted, we slowly realized what all just happened. Wow! With all that adrenaline rush now behind us, we sure were hoping for a smooth sailing from now on as we headed into Istanbul for the evening….

Or is it?

Remnants of Köln

Really great trip report so far. I'm a bit disappointed that your QR flights didn't work out, as I'm flying them for the first time in a couple weeks.

Excellent photos as well. Can I ask what camera you use and what type of lens you invested in?

Thanks, let me know how your QR flight goes. I use a:

Panasonic GH2
Lumix X G Vario 12-35mm f/2.8
Lumix X G Vario 35-100mm f/2.8
both with B+W MRC UV filter,
B+W MRC Circular Polarizer.
B+W MRC 1000x ND Filter (10 step)

Along with it, iPhone 4S and iPad mini. As for which is which, they are shown in the flickr page (links at the end of each segment), which, more photos will become available as I progress along.

Love your photos , the Eiffel towel is as usual so amazing.

towel? Yeah, I suppose, if it's flapping in the wind. :D

All joking aside, thanks for your compliments! It gave me great joy for posting the report.

7. Istanbul (I)

Soon after we sat down, the push back began, and we were airborne in no time. It was our first ever TK flight and we were impressed by the food offered. I again had some steaks, and Mrs. had grill veges. Both were very tasty!

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Appetizer with veges and couscous

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Grilled veges

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Steak with potatoes.

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Angled seats in business class. Just about right for a 3-hour flight.

None of us moved much during the flight, hence I couldn't tell much about what is happening in the back, as I was getting some photos organized at 36,000 ft. One thing we did noticed, is that all the flight attendants in C had "the look", as if they did not enjoy their work. Our meal was served professionally, and that's it. There was no "would you like a friendly smile with that?" and definitely no "how about some after dinner _fill it in yourself_?.":p

After touchdown, we rushed towards the immigration office to purchase our visa as plenty of other flights were landed and we could see the crowd forming around us. On our way, we got cut off by a few Chinese tourists. Instead of walking along the fence where they controlled the line formation, they simply scaled it and jumped ahead of us. :eek:

Minutes later, we saw the "express customs line" for business class and VIPs and decided to take up on that. The funny thing was, those very same Chinese tried to cut us off again. Rightfully, they were told to fxxk off by the agent because they sat way back in row 254 or something like that. Ha, the beauty of seat 3A/3B and capitalism hard at work. :D

After reading extensively on what to watch out for taxi scams in Istanbul on FT we scouted out a driver who was middle aged and honest looking and agreed on 40TL for the ride to Crowne Plaza Old City. It was 11pm, and we zipped thru the Kennedy Avenue along the shore line and got there in 20 minutes. The driver said to me accordingly, the fare was only 36TL, but we thanked his honesty, hospitality and professionalism and paid what was agreed earlier anyways. That was a nice way to welcome us to the country.:)

Being an IHG Platnium, we were told we got upgraded to the executive club rooms without even asking, late check out, and some welcome amenities. The location was prime, right next to the tram line and walkable distance to the major attractions. All these for $90 a night. I highly recommend it!

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Turkish delights and a handwritten letter from the manager. Sweet!^

Breakfast in Crowne Plaza was like a feast! There's no photo to do the justice, but you have t believe it. 4 isles buffet of food ranging from Turkish to Western to Chinese. The drinks selection was vast, along with the hot plates, cold plates, and made to orders. Very impressive! At the risk of getting food coma, we ate only til we weren't hungry and took off for the day.

After the tram ride, we started our day at the Galata Tower. Originally as a watch tower, there's a restaurant up there together with performances. They charge either Euro or TL, probably because most tourists don't bother with exchanging, at a markup.

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The Galata Tower

The weather finally warmed up. The view on top was breath taking, with the entire old city in our view. Just when I was busying taking photos, Mrs. let out a terrifying scream, as a seagull mistakenly thought her head was the landing post. Luckily, no one was hurt. But it was both scary and funny. :cool:

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The culprit.

After making our way down, and as we trekked towards Sultanahmet, we noticed there were plenty of cats but no dogs. Why?

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Galata Bridge. The lower level consists of restaurants who bought fishes from those who catch at the upper deck. Some of the fish qualities are very questionable though.

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Local market by the bridge.

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The Bosporus.

After crossing the bridge, we visited the historical Spice Bazaar. The color presentation of the merchandise and the shops are simply wonderful. Friendly people everywhere, and free samples all over. In contrast to the Turkish delights given in the hotel, these ones (yeah, we sampled plenty and enjoyed it.:D) are all way too sweet according to our standards. Having one piece is fine, but buying a whole chunk of it... I don't think so.

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Spices.

Immediately outside the bazaar is the New Mosque. Having only 4 more hours to spare before heading back to the airport, we did not linger and moved on after a few photos.

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The New Mosque.

Was it that we were lucky, or people over exaggerated about the safety of Istanbul, or we weren't in the shady areas to get ripped off or what? As we walked down the street, we felt very safe, and people seemed to be minding their own business, but also very friendly and helpful when approached. Not that we were complaining, but it was definitely a nice feeling.

Istanbul to be continued...

8. Istanbul (II) with a twist!

As we walked down the street, passing the Gulhane Park, the sites we saw so much in magazines, tvs... were finally in our view.

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Hagia Sophia.The line was very long, so we didn't go in. But the weather was no longer crappy! Yay.^

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The Blue Mosque. Luckily, line was short, and we were soon mesmerized by the attentions paid towards the ceiling painting and the beautiful Islam mosaics. It was just awesome!

Funny enough, soon after leaving The Blue Mosque, we decide to take the back alley and ended up asking our way out of it for the next hour or so.:rolleyes: Finally, we emerged to the main street by Istanbul University and the Grand Bazaar. Instead of going to a restaurant we heard so much about, we ended up with a street stall having doner kebab. Chicken and steak mixed with veges and french fries in a bun. Sounds funny, but very tasty.

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Where our detour started. Plenty of vendors are selling beautiful china, some are huge, some are delicate. Seeing how we still have plenty stops to go, we decided against it, for this time.

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Hungry and lost, Mrs. was one crabby lady until these kebabs. :cool:

We concluded our day tour with walks in and out of the Grand Bazaar and the surrounding streets. Being direction-challenged, Mrs. thought we steered way off the course, but in reality, we walked towards our hotel, the long way that is. One thing we noticed, is that majority of the vendors be it in the Spice Bazaar or Grand Bazaar, are selling things very similar to each other. That explains the lack of picture here. They all look the same at the end.

However, we still had a great time in Istanbul, even though it was a rather short one, too short we had to fly through sites and failed to enjoy our hotel amenities. But Istanbul, and Turkey will be allotted a generous time in our future traveling for sure.

After checking out, we were at the airport around 5pm, given ourselves 3 hours to enjoy the lounge before flying out at 8.25pm. After a quick look at our BP, we realized our flight wont be leaving until 1:10am. Without giving it much thoughts, we ducked into the lounge to relax. The IST lounge was huge! But the sheer volume of travelers inside didn't make it any easier for us. Fortunately, we secured ourselves a comfy couch, and before you know it, Mrs. was dozing off, leaving me to wander around for food and pictures.

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Beautiful Islam motif adorning the lounge.

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Turkish Pide. As they put out a new batch, crowded gathered and cleaned up the stash in no time. It was the best Turkish food I've had so far.

At around 8pm, we decided to take a shower. It was probably the worst lounge showering experience I've ever had. The water pressure was down to a trickle, and the temperature jumped all over the scale. Aside from that, being asked to hurry up by the concierge with "the look" didn't help much either. How I missed the wonderful showering experience in UA Lounge in NRT...

HEART ATTACK!

With about 3 hours to spare, we wandered out of the lounge and started to check for our flight info... nothing. Nothing! Our flight wasn't even on the screen. Confused, we headed back to the lounge, and that's when panic really set in. Apparently, none of us check the BP when given to us in DUS the day before, as it said Feb 6 1:10am. WHOA~

According to our itinerary given by United, our flight is scheduled at Feb 6 8:25pm. Something is horribly wrong! Our flight left us 20 hours ago. :( We scrambled to the ticketing office, and was told to head towards the arrival desk downstairs. At our first visit, they said they couldn't help, and we must go back ground side (that means we have to clear the customs again) to get it sorted. But later on the customs told us we didn't have to, rather, go upstairs (again) to the ticketing office. What is this, a wild goose chase?

As we rushed towards the security check to go back up, the agents at the arrival desk approached us and said he might be able to help. (Great, why didn't you tell us so 20 minutes ago, and sent us on a run?) Minutes later, he said since it's so late at night (only 9.30) the United office in Istanbul is closed and he is not authorized to make international calls. Down to our last trick, we bit the bullets and used our mobile to call the office in US (with a HKG mobile, in IST, calling USA, roaming for 10 minutes or so...) and finally got the tickets re-issued.

At the end, it was 99% United's fault for publishing the wrong schedule and failed to notify us. Well, that 1% is on us, for being too trusting and didn't once look at our BP whilst still in DUS the night before.:p

Crisis averted, and we are finally on our way to the Maldives, with a twist. We got downgraded. Boo~ United, Boo~

Finally, at 12:20am Feb 7, we are on our way. The main event! Paradise. Whatever you called it. Maldives.

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Tolerable leg room with footrest Y seat. The agent kindly blocked off the seats from D-E-F-G, allowing us to lie down.

And that's what I did, too tired to care, I slept like a baby as soon as we went airborne, forgoing the food and all the fun. It was 5 hours later before I woke up knowing we were over the Indian Ocean with less then 2 hours to the destination. Seeing Mrs. was also soundly asleep next to me as the bright sun spewed in from the window, I relaxed, smiled, and know that deep down, it's gonna be a great trip.

All those obstacles we faced, will be a part of our great memories down the road. ;)

Maldives. Here. We. Come!

To check our more photos from our adventure in Istanbul, CLICK HERE.

Really enjoying this so far. Great pics!

Great report and great pics of some of my favorites cities. ^
Looking forward to the MLE/Maldives part of the trip.

Great report thus far -- can't wait to see the Maldives.

And thanks for the reminder to never take a long itinerary for granted -- thankfully you were able to reschedule with only a minor headache!

Great Post
 

Tx for the pictures!!

Great pictures, though it would have been better if the watermark/signature was less intrusive on the photos.

Awaiting your photo report of the PH Maldives :)

Great Report! Really looking forward Maldives part!

Thanks~

Thanks, I've always enjoy reading yours as well, let alone many others here on FT.

We couldn't wait to get there either! Haha. More on the delay thing later.

You are welcome!

The watermark is there for a reason.:cool: Did you know they make Ferraris now in China?

That's the whole point. It started simply as ORD-DOH-MLE, but according to my change log, it underwent:

ORD-MUC-FRA-IST-MLE
ORD-YUL-CDG-FRA-IST-MLE
ORD-YUL-CDG-FRA-DUS-IST-MLE
ORD-CDG-FRA-DUS-IST-MLE

before the final one took shape:
ORD-CDG-FRA-ZRH-DUS-IST-MLE.

Crazy I know. MLE coming up shortly!

Great report!

This has been overstated at some point in this thread. But thank you nonetheless. Mrs. will be happy when reading this. :)

9. Malé, Island Hopping

We landed at around noon, and upon walking down the stairway to the tarmac, we were blasted a face full of warm and humid air. The sun was bright, and it was HOT. We finally made it, and our spirits began to soar! It's true, while visiting all those previous cities was exciting, but deep down, we know this is where we wanted to be and why we were flying all over the world for.

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Our ride here. Kayser. We came in style!

The airport has only 1 runway, and right next to us, we saw planes from Aeroflot, Singapore and Emirates while a British Airways slowly strolled past us to the end of the runway before turning around flying away. Clearing the customs was quick and easy, but they do X-Ray your luggage checking for contraband such as religious idols, drugs and alcohol...etc.

Soon, we met the Hyatt representatives and they proceed to takeover our bags and escorted us thru the terminal and into the domestic lounge. In peak hours, the lounge was like a holding pen, crowded with people, fighting for seats and food. Maybe because we coincided with the upcoming Lunar New Year, there were Chinese everywhere, and damn~ they were LOUD. :o

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Our flight, Q2 164.

After about 40 minutes, the PHM reps told us our flight is ready for boarding, and he told us to get off at the 2nd stop. (What is this, a bus?):eek:

However, we didn't board the plane for another 40 minutes, and the gate area was even more crowded, with no food, drinks, and only an Swensons Ice Cream vendor. Why did we come out so early?

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Our plane, a twin turboprop. Haven't been on one of these for awhile.:)

The flight was broken down into two segments. First we were to make a quick stop at Kadhdhoo for 10 minutes while most of the passengers left, then continue on. I admit I was a bit jumpy, not wanting to miss our stop, but the FA reassured me our destination Kooddoo is another 20 minutes away, and the ones leaving the plane are going to the resort "Six Senses by Lamuu".

Thankfully, that goes for all those loud Chinese group, and one German couple, whom we chatted a bit during the flight, and I kinda felt bad for them. :p

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Kooddoo (GKK) airport, opened in Sep 2012. More like a shack, with 4 white walls, no vending options, a security checkpoint, and a counter.

Sure enough, we island hopped into Kooddoo, and got off the plane. Boy, it was quiet. I think the entire island's population consisted of the passengers, pilot, the FA, ground crew, and the Hyatt boat crew, less than 15 of us.

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The electric buggy we rode for 3 minutes to the boat jetty.

Huge kudos to the PHM staff as they REALLY took care of their guests. From the moment we stepped out of the customs in MLE, they took over our bags, checked them in for us, handled it onto the buggy, into the boat, and before you know it, the next time we physically "touched" our bags was in our villa opening them. I loved it, and Mrs. was very impressed! Rightfully so!^

3 minutes after leaving the port, the crew circled around and informed us there's a pod of Spinner Dolphins in the near distance. Low and behold! Those are beautiful creatures, we circled around them for a few minutes, observing them as they swam within 1 foot to our boat, watched them leaped out of the water playfully. It was paradise in the making!

Not sure who were more excited, the 4 passengers, or the 3 crews as they told us the weather was crappy since last week, and it's been that long since their last sighting. Well, that saved us the additional separate trip and $$$. :D

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Dolphins!

Along the dolphins, there were also a handful of flying fishes at 2-3 inches long, literally hovering above the placid blue ocean. Unfortunately, they were gone too fast before I could get a shot in.

Using the Cyclemeter App, we clocked the boat going at 70kph, and the entire 23km journey ended in 20 minutes before we even felt it. Looming in front of us, is our paradise island Hadahaa, up until then, it was only a mystery, some thing so remote, only in our dreams.

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Dusk Jetty, Park Hyatt Maldives.

The staffs are waiting to welcome their guests, and there were broad smile on all 4 of us!

Next entry, paradise!

10. Park Hyatt Maldives (I)

7 days has passed since we disembarked from Chicago. We traveled in boat, trams, subways, trains, buses, cars, and planes, less of a submarine, rockets and spaceship, we rushed, relaxed, panicked, and at a point we thought all was lost, almost gave up and ready to turn back home. But now we were only meters away from docking, separating us is the deep blue Indian Ocean, at the edge of the atoll.

So much going through my head as moments after moments flashed in front of my eyes as I reflected. It's not an overstatement, rather a deep appreciation of how much efforts was put into this trip to make this possible, let alone my wonderful travel companion who was with me throughout out this adventure.

To many of you, these might merely sound like first-world problems (BMW GPS not working right, downgraded from Business class, lounge shower sucked...), and they might very well were.:p But in truth, we were thankful that despite some unexpected things happened, aside from not being shot at, chased at, or having things blown up around us (ok, that's probably Hollywood), we were alive and well, and ready to take on the experience of a life time.

Day 1

The island itself is 1 hour ahead of the main island, so by the time we got there, it was almost 5pm. The first person that shook our hands was the GM, Pierre, as he addressed us by Mr. and Mrs. Flyhen with a genuine smile, and introduced us to our lovely host. Some of you might have met her before, but to protect her identity, she shall be named the girl from Tajikistan.

We were given soft drinks at the dhoni and was promptly checked in. After being driven to our villa, we found our bags neatly stored as we entered.

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Park Villa.

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We LOVED the minimalist design.

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A look towards the back.

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Open air shower and bath.

At one point, we were given the option to upgrade to a pool villa for $200/day, but decided against it. To us, having an extra mini pool/hot tub/jacuzzi is not that enticing. What we really wanted was the water villa, but because of the upcoming Lunar New Year, it was in full occupancy, maybe next time?

It turned out to be the right decision to keep our villa, #17. Some might enjoy the openness with direct view/access to the beach in their backyard, but we totally enjoyed the un-intruded privacy our villa had to offer.

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A view from the outdoor shower towards the beach, where properly grown plantations provided a great coverage from prying eyes.

The room itself was a technophile's dream. Within seconds, I connected my MacBook Pro with the flat screen from the desk panel, routed the audio through the stereo system with speakers carefully positioned from the ceiling, all with an HDMI. In addition, an iPad was also provided at our disposal free of charge and loaded with star charts for star gazing, and info about the island. There was also a digital picture frame placed next to the TV as a clever way for announcements of upcoming, activities...etc.

The room is otherwise comprised with a home theater, DVD player, Nespresso Machine, a fridge full of snacks, welcome fruits and plenty of stilled and sparkling water (replenished daily along with the fruits). On top of that, a hand-signed welcoming letter by Pierre himself was a nice touch!

After settling down, we decided to go to the beach and check our the surrounding. Unbeknownst to us, despite the plantations providing us coverage, it only took us 20 steps to get to our private beach from the villa, with two sun beds just for us.

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A view towards the north from the beach.

We strolled around the area, waded thru the water, enjoyed the view and decided that we need to give our senses a break as they were being overly-overwhelmed.

Later into the evening, after catching up on some downloaded TV episodes and movies, we decided it's time for another walk. The island was so quiet! Despite full occupancy of 100 guests, along with about 130 staffs, the island inhabited with a population of 230 (well, 30 or so live over the water anyways) still offers the comfort of a tucked-away seclusion. Romantic!

The stars were out in full force. Never in my life before had I seen anything like that! Hyatt did a great job of limiting the light pollution to a bare necessity while maintaining the safety measures (so you don't walk off the ledge of the pier)! We felt very safe walking around in the dark alone, and all the paths were well lit, but in an unobtrusive way.

While we made stops at both the Dusk and Dawn Jetty, where some folks enjoyed the night snorkeling, we were in awed by what we saw above...

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Fellow FTers, I present you... The Milky Way!

After we wandered back to our villa, the bed was made, shades were closed, and even the lights were dimmed with the candles lit! What a nice turn down service!

As we retrieved to the bathtub before calling it a day, Mrs. came back with a mischievous smile... she found a bottle of Laurent-Pierre Brut!

Day 2

We woke up around 9 the next morning, well rested and were ready for the our "busy" day: morning at the beach, afternoon lying under the sun, snorkeling, sunset fishing trip, and a dinner at the Island Grill. Yeah, I know, I know!

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A look from the dinning room out to the main pool.

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Breakfast starter plate.

Our lovely host from Tajikistan was there making sure everything was in order, and greeted us with her signature smile: "Good morning Mr. & Mrs. Flyhen.." Aww, what a way to start the day.

Up to that point, we weren't sure if breakfast was included, but our appetite got the best of us. Why not? We were already in paradise, might as well enjoy it without regret we thought. (Wouldn't it be funny if years from now, when we recalled the trip and all we remembered was how hungry we were?)

I ordered veal bacon, sausages, grilled beans, a crepe, and some bircher muesli, while Mrs. had some egg Benedict, sauteed mushrooms, spinach and sausages, along with freshly pressed fruit juice and coffee.

At one point during the breakfast, overhearing us speaking in Chinese, a woman came to us, lugging a massive Canon 5D Mark III, wanted me to help her setup the camera as I politely declined. Say what? :confused:

The Maldivian sun was bright, mesmerizing, friendly, and deceiving! With the surrounding ocean measuring at a perfect 27C/80F, it was easy to forget how easily one would get sun burned as we spent the rest of the morning in and out of the ocean, drawn to its magic like the kids to the Pied Piper. Luckily, one of Mrs.' colleague warned us to bring plenty of sunblock and we were glad we complied. Her poor colleague, during their honeymoon, fell asleep on the balcony for even just a short while and got severely burned. :rolleyes:

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Water villas.

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Need I say more?

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After the swim, we retrieved to the sunbeds by the main pool.

Unlike most of the fresh-water pools I've been in, this one is special! There is not a single trace of chlorine smell reeking out of the pool, and yet, the water is unusually clean. One could almost quench it if it wasn't the doubt of what others did in it. Haha.

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The lounging area adjacent to the dinning room.

Hungry again, we decided to order some light food before snorkeling, while enjoying the view.

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to be continued...

Great report - I'm really looking forward to my TK J flights BKK-IST-OSL in July with 3 hours in the TK Lounge!!

Are the Maldives as horrendously expensive as everyone says they are?!

The TK lounge is nice. The food selection beats some first class lounge there. Only problem is, it is often crowded. But I am sure you will enjoy it.

Yes. There's no way around it. I will go into those details in the coming installments.

11. Park Hyatt Maldives (II)

I have never snorkeled before, therefore doing it for the first time in one of the worlds best reef repositories is something that I look forward to with great excitement. Our plan was to start from the Dusk Jetty and made our way slowly towards the water villas, but seeing how this was my first time, our guide decided that we should stay closer to the jetty. On top of that he told us the water was on the rougher side which is highly unusual at this time of the day.

Words can't describe what I have seen and how amazed I was by what was underneath the water. I wish my camera would react better to seawater, it's a pity I could not take any photos though. Our starting point, the jetty is on the edge of the atoll. Immediately to our right, a few feet away, is the huge drop! As if my senses were not overloaded already, staring into the deep abyss hundreds of meters below really gave me an adrenaline rush. To say that my heart skipped a few beats would be fair.

We ended our excursion 40 minutes later, even though we did not see the resident sea turtle, we were satisfied. Exhausted from having trouble to control the fins we decided to stay dry for the rest of the day. We called off our boat trip and settle down for a proper Maldivian sunset.

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Sunset from the Dusk Jetty where we snorkeled hours earlier.

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As it started to get dark, we headed over to The Island Grill for dinner.

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The signature leaning palm tree of the island.

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The Island Grill.

I decided to have wagyu beef while Mrs. had veal chops, and topped it off with drinks and desert. The desert, Kiru Bokiba - Maldivian Rice Cake, Carmelized Coconut, and Rose Ginger Ice Cream, was probably the best part while the main dishes ain't bad either, not great, but went well with our palates. The final bill came out to be around $150, expensive, but not surprising.

On a side note, as mentioned before, there is no way around it, the Maldives is expensive. The hotel itself generates its own electricity, hooked up its Internet (with a peak download speed of 700kps later in the evening), satellite TV, phones, and mobiles via satellite connection. And to be further self-sustaining, they desalinate their own water as well! No wonder they charge so much.

After dinner we retrieve to our favorite spot, you guessed it, the Dusk Jetty and chillaxed. A few staff came up and apologized for the intrusion as they were expecting a late evening arrival. It is this kind of gestures that made this resort stand out from the rest, after all this is a public area and they had every right to be there as well. Instead, they made us feel right at home!

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Looking back at the island and the southern sky from the Jetty.

Day 3

During breakfast, our host told us about the upcoming activities of the day: there will be a beachfront cocktail featuring performances from local kids (local? they are all from "overseas" if you know what I mean), followed by an all-you-can-eat barbecue at the beach for dinner. The cocktail is complimentary, while the BBQ will be $108, with number 8 symbolizing good luck and wealth as it was the New Years Eve of Lunar New Year. Following our tradition, a feast on New Years Eve, we were excited and more curious what it had to offer.

After breakfast, I decided to give my camera a good work out. A place like this deserves thousands of pictures, as I tried my best to capture every moment of the paradise we were in.

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The dhoni. The boat we were supposed to be in for the fishing trip.

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A large school of cuttlefish, or as the locals called it: table fish.

They really do join up and form synchronized patterns, just like what you saw in Pixar's Finding Nemo.

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Some where along came a 5-foot long reef shark, circling around, pouncing, and feasting on the fishes.

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And abundance of reef scattering all over and around the villas. The water was so clear, created an illusion of how shallow it is. In reality it is probably 5 to 10 meters deep.

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What a good life!

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One of the 14 water villas. Notice the "dark part" in the picture, all reefs!

As we walked past a villa just vacated, the cleaning staff invited us inside to have a peak. We certainly understood why people paid top dollars for it now. There was only one word to describe it: MAGICAL! Mrs. and I made a pact to come back again, and we will!

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The main beach where the festivities will take place later. View from the villa drift.

After our afternoon swim, an idea so simple yet sounded "daunting" hit me, why don't we "circle" the island, as I asked Mrs. @:-)

For the curious ones, the island, Hadahaa, where the entire hotel complex occupies, is a rather small one. The circumference is only about 1.2 km. And yet, it's the size of it and the pristine location where it was tucked away deep in the south, in one of the nation's 1,200 islands, and only 53km from the equator made it less spoiled and so much more special.

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As the daylight began to fail, we set out on our "final journey" of the day.

After all, when was the last time you can tell others you've circled around an entire landmass, coming back to the point you started? Not me. 20 minutes later, we did just that, and still found our names in the sand preserved. It was surreal~

When we got to the main beach, the party had started without us, but the ever so friendly staff brought us champagne, cocktail, and some hors d'oeuvres with beef tartar, egg tarts, and some cake bites.

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Adorable school kids from adjacent islands.

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A private sunset dinner at the beach beacons as we were already thinking about our next visit.

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Beach converted into a dining area.

They did a wonderful job transforming the beach into a scene I've only seen previously in the movies. And our host, being ever so attentive, knowing how we loved to keep things quiet to ourselves, reserved a table for us with that in mind.

The dinner consisted of an appetizer buffet, a grill with sirloins, chicken filets, lamb chops, prawns, salmons, and half-lobster tails, a desert stand with literally 20 kinds of sweets from ice creams to Maldivian treats... you named it!

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From the right, the main grill, desert stand, and bar (all you can booze for another $28).

After about 8 half-lobster tails and 2 sirloins and a few prawns, I decided I had enough meat, and finished my eating rampage with some ice creams, tarts, crepes, and Maldivian rice cakes. Oh my~ how did I eat so much??

As the night winded down, we took one more glance around the island, realizing this will be our last night here, we decide to walk the beach in the dark. And boy, it was another amazing discovery!

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The main pool after dark, where some guests hung out in the dining room instead of attending the BBQ.

As I shone the flashlight on the sand, we saw plenty of hermit crabs, and ghost crabs rushing across the sands, hurrying into their burrows. It was a sight bestowed only to a place like this. Watching those little creatures rushing sideways, we were content. This island is just full of surprises!

to be continued...

Darn, now your trip report makes me want to go to the Maldives, even though there's that trash island and various human rights abuses.

Amazingly gorgeous pictures.

Thanks Jeffrey. When we set out the trip, we didn't know much about the human right abuses, but you are right. Now knowing what happened to that 15-yr old girl, it definitely took things down a notch.

On the other hand, I read some where that within the next 30 years, the nation will be gone from global warming. That was the reason we decided to go before it was too late.

One of the best TRs I have seen. Great photos!

Absolutely stunning!!
 

Thank you. I really would like to take my wife sometime - maybe our next big reward trip?

Absolutely stunning....can only imagine the cost :(

I am saving this post.