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I just come back from Korea and realised I have too many back dated post! OMG!

Maldives is all about scenery, I guess I will bored you guys if i just posted up zillion photos of me with the scenery so that’s why I decided to merge two days in a post. Even two days in a post also show no much content. HAHAHA!

GOOOD MORNING!!!!!

Breakfast for the champion! Still in love with the mashuni! I will have that everyday for the whole week and that is how good it is. We decided to just chill and explore a bit for that particular day, went snorkelling for a while and enjoy the sea for the whole day! That’s basically the plan for that day. I know.. I know…

We get our gears ready for snorkeling.. not the best piece of ocean for snorkeling at maafushi but still mesmerising! 

Spend around 2 hours snorkeling and we were all worn out already! +_=

We head back our room and hibernate for a while before the evening. Told you it was a really chilll day. Snap some photos and we are ready for dinner. I’m kinda run out of words now so I think I’ll just let the photo to do the talking.

And I especially wanna talk about the red ink on my face.. the day we went to Maldives was their Eid ul Alhaa Festival which lasted for 4 days, the activities or culture for the festival is that the guys can throw red ink or green ink or any kinda ink to the ladies that they want or maybe they think i’m cute muahahahaha!  I have no idea what i got into during the first day when i got thrown a bag of red ink as if i’ve been sliced so scary and i freaked out and washed it at the seashore but at last got to know from our hotel owner about the tradition of throwing inks or wiping ink on the ladies. 

LIKE THIS. Gracefully being wipe! hahahaha!

Oh… not to forget to play a bit of this swing too! hahaha! Toooo funny! OK bye! Dinner was great!

Next : OMG-so-beautiful island coming up next!

So after my previous post on Things you need to know before you go Maldives, I’ll proceed to my Maldives Travel Guide now. So as this trip is a very spontaneous decision, we cant get hold of the preferred airlines we want. I booked this trip via the “Flight + Hotel” section from Airasia after a lot of quick research on which hotel we wanted to stay.

Tips : If you are a “seek for comfy” person like me, 4 hours flight with Airasia is killing me. The space are soooo limited I can feel the pain in my backbone. So if next time you were to book a trip, I suggest to book earlier so you can opt for other airlines.

So as I mentioned, there is no need any visa application to go Maldives. All you need is to fill up the visa on arrival form. And if you arrived Maldives after 3pm, there is no speed boat or ferry to go to the Island therefore you need a one night stay at Hulhumale which is where the airport located. There is no need to go to Male. Hulhumale is good enough. There’s one very unique thing in Hulhumale Airport (Velana International Airport), if you din’t see your hotel personnel waiting for you or we have any problems or any confusion, just head to the information counter and they will solve everything for you. There’s a telephone at the information counter and if you need to call whoever, just use the telephone for free at your own conveniences. We din’t see our hotel people at the arrival hall because our flight is delayed for an hour, we went to the information counter and they just ask me to call the hotel. Problem solved. Even later the next day when we were waiting for the speedboat transfer, the gathering point is at the information counter as well. All Hail Multipurpose information counter!

We booked a guesthouse call Elite Inn which is just located near Eastern Beach at Hulhumale. Hulhumale is a very small and reserved little town, very peaceful and quiet. People around the Island is friendly so if you do not know where to eat when you first arrived, you can either ask the locals for suggestions or just go near the beach for the beachfront restaurants. Since we arrived at Hulhumale around 9pm, (airport is just 10  mins drive from Hulhumale main area) we went to bed early. 

We booked Elite Inn for USD 60 per room with simple breakfast included and airport transfers. Breakfast served to your doorstep! 

As you can see, simple continental breakfast like that is never enough for the hungry monsters… I mean in term of satisfaction! We want more food!

We woke up very early around 9am and ready to explore this little town of Hulhumale. Honestly speaking, there’s literally nothing except the beautiful beach. 

Oh THE BEACH IS SO BEAUTIFUL especially the sand. Its so clean and white. I would say I actually prefer the beach here compared to the one at Maafushi. Maafushi has beautiful sea as well but the sand is not as clean.

We wandered around taking lotsa picture before we settled down for a breakfast place alongside the beach. 

AND HERE WE FOUND ONE OF THE BEST DISH THROUGHOUT THE TRIP — THE TUNA STEAK! OH MY GOLLY! The tuna steak is so fresh the meat is still soft but al dente. A simple char grilled with salt and pepper seasoning is enough to do justice. 

Another famous Maldivian breakfast, “Mas huni” which is made up of shredded tuna and coconut, onions and chilli. All of the ingredients are chopped and grated finely eaten normally with roshi or chapati. I eat this everyday throughout the trip. 

Happy Tummy Happy Family! A lot of people ask :” Why go Maldives with Family? So weird eh.” No no no its not weird at all, my family is the best travel partners of mine because they follow my planning they are very sporting and we can play and eat all sorts of things together. I have my favourite three travelling groups which I can stick travel with them for the rest of my life. 1.) My family 2.) My Secondary Jimuis Yuenni & Laomao and 3.) My Dearest Debbie & Tracy. So any place with either three groups will make the whole travelling happy memorable and satisfying!

We loitered for about another 2 hours before we head back to the hotel for the airport transfer. There are two stations for speed boat transfer to Maafushi; one is at the airport and another one is at Male city jetty. We booked the speed boat transfer for USD 25 per person for one way at the airport jetty and it took us around half an hour to Maafushi.

THIS IS THE MOST BLUE-ISH sea i’ve ever seen! Or maybe the weather on that particular day is extremely hot so it makes the sea so ultra blue! I very suaku

Strawberry Ice cream from Dairy Queen! We had a 10 mins stop at the Male jetty to collect another batches of passengers. They said the visibility of Maldives sea is 25 meters and I totally agreed with that! Look at the fishes!! At first i thought those were some dried leaves or something~

Half and hour speedboat ride to Maafushi island and you can already see your hotel personnel waiting for you at the jetty.

Maafushi is a public island and it is small enough that you can finish exploring the whole island in 15 mins by walking. We stayed at Kaani Beach Resort and its located at the beach front. I opt for full board with the price USD 168 per night and honestly speaking,  half board is sufficient because the lunch option is very meh and its not in buffet style. However, breakfast and dinner are served in buffet style. 

We checked in and had our lunch. They let you choose between two choices for appetisers and mains. Clock wise : Chick pea soup, Fried cheese rolls, vegetable rice and Maldivian fried rice. mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~ =_= 

We wanted to explore the island to see if there is any street food to munch on but NOOOOOO…. Huhuhuhu! Foodie like me was like… T.T but the beautiful scenery save my soul. Ok I forgive you for not giving me enough food.

The sea is just overwhelmingly beautiful. Pictures can’t really do the justice because if you see it with your own eyes, the ocean is much clearer and blue. Stunning white beach with blue ocean, so much love!

The colour of the ocean is quite inviting, some part of the sea is more to clear and greenish blue, some is just pure baby blue like this!! YOU SEE!

<3<3<3

papa & mama

We spend the day just purely exploring the island and snap a lot of photos and then we headed back to hotel for the dinner buffet.

The food is mostly served in a combination of western, Maldivian and Indian cuisine. It was raining heavily that particular night so we ended the day gossiping in the room instead. 😀

Hello! Just came back from a 5D4N trip to Maldives and here I am sharing some tips for you guys. Here are some general sharing or things you need to know before you go Maldives. I hope it helps in your future trip planning to Maldives

1. There is no need a Visa to enter Maldives. You only need to fill up the visa on arrival

2. Maldives is a 100% Muslim country. There is no pork and beer available in the main island but alcohol and pork is served in private island.

3. Bikini is not allowed in the main island. Only allowed at beach area or private island.

4. Male, Maafushi and Hulhumale are public island. Maafushi is the main public island people goes to.

5. Male is a town that you can skip totally. 

6. Airport is located at Hulhumale. You can go to Male with the public ferry for USD 1 but like I say, you can totally skip male. Hulhumale beach is so much nicer.

7. No ferry boat or speed boat service after 3pm daily. So if you arrived at Maldives after 3pm, stay at a nice budget hostel at Hulhumale.

8. There is no public ferry on a Friday. So if you want to save on transportation and use public ferry instead of speed boat, don’t travel on Friday.

9. Public ferry from Hulhumale to Maafushi is around USD 3 but it took 1 hour 45 mins. Speed boat is USD 25 and it took half and hour. You can book speed boat from icom tours (icomtours.com)

10. You have to prebook speed boat to secure the travels. Or ask the reception to reserve for you

11. Maldivian are generally friendly, helpful and approachable. 

12. Maldives are generally very safe country

13. Famous Maldivian food will be Mashuni (tuna, onion, coconut chopped finely and mixed well) for breakfast and tuna curry for others

14. You will eat a lot of Tuna dishes in Maldives.

15. USD is widely used in Maldives but they have their own currency call Rufiya as well. 15 Rufiya = 1 USD. Both currency can be used combinely

16. Beginning of September is their Eid ul Alhaa festival which last for 4 days. People around the island will throw you will red colour or green colour water bombs or use red ink to rub your face.

17. You can opt for staying at the public island Maafushi which is more cost saving or opt for private island which is more magnificent in view and more expensive,

18. If you opt for public island, it is advisable to take a half board service as you might go for excursion and lunch is normally provided. There is not much food choices in the island but you can always go adventurous.

19. If you opt for private island, please choose your private island carefully as it will affect you cost of transfer and everything. Private island is generally more beautiful but there is only one resort in ONE private island. So if you choose that particular private island, there is probably only one restaurant one excursion provider and you will be stuck with that. Full board or All-Inclusive packages is highly recommended. Full board means all 3 means included. All inclusive means all 3 meals plus transfer and so on. Please contact and check with the resort before you  purchase because some island is too far to go with speed boat and you only can reach there by sea plane which cost as much as USD 365 per person one way. Please take note. 

20. A short stay of 5D4N to Maldive is sufficient.

21. To save cost, you can also stay at public island Maafushi and go to private island as a day tour. Buy an excursion and they will bring you to a private island for a day. Price ranging from USD 130 to USD 200 depends on which private island you go. 

22. Activities such as dolphin cruise, snorkelling with dolphins or coral or sharks, picnic at sand bank, fishing or all water sports can be bought on the day itself. There is no need to pre book as you can buy when the weather is good.

ANYHOW, all the beaches and sea water is beautiful but I personally recommended the Private Island or at least one day to a private island because it is really different. Don’t come back with regrets! 

Airport Island : Hulhumale — Eastern Beach

Public Island : Maafushi

Private Island : Adaaran Club Rannalhi

Next up : Budget Travel and Luxury Travel to Maldives!

Its finally the last post of our Sydney Trip! I figured out I have to anyhow finish my Sydney post if not it be will dangling there forever. Thank you for baring with me throughout the long haul post and Hello… it has been a year! I miss you Sydney!

Lovely breakfast before we went for breakfast. Yes you heard me, that’s what we have been doing for the past one week, food over food. So Australia doesn’t really have a national dish, the only more iconic dish for Australia is probably their meat pies. I have been searching for the longest time for the best meat pie in Sydney and everyone recommended this — Harry’s Cafe de Wheel. Now, they have 11 outlets throughout Sydney and we decided to visit new places so we chose the outlets at Tempe which is also the Marrickville area.

Tempe is a very quiet neighbourhood, big and spacious train station with very few passengers. We use our google map from Tempe train station and we walked to our destination – Harry’s Cafe de Wheel!

Nice rims out there!

Hello Harry’s Cafe de Wheel…!

Take a look at the menu! I think we probably had the best combination of food. And i had the BEST strawberry milkshake in my life but I wonder why is it not in the photo. *tears*

Their signature, Tiger Harry’s Favourite. It was named after the founder Harry Tiger Edwards! We had cheese and bacon pie topped with mushy peas, mash and gravy! Very hearty meal.

Next is the Hot Dog de Wheels! Yes, it make us went crazy over hot dog buns ever since! Continental Viennese smoked frankfurt served with mushy peas, chilli con carne, garlic onions with cheese sauce and chilli sauce. 

Next, we proceed to Newtown! The home of the utmost famous Watermelon Cake! I kind of like Newtown, not too busy but equipped with everything you need. 

Oh what I love about Sydney train as compared to Melbourne’s one is that they are all double Decker. hoho!

Beautiful township I would say. 

And Black Star Pastry — This is where you can get your watermelon cake! Trust me its worth the queue!

Beautiful pastry. I would seriously recommend watermelon cake. It will blow your mind. Its not overly sweet, only the natural sweetness from the watermelon itself, combined with the fluffy cake and some cream with toppings. Oh my oh my.

Other than that, I will give it a pass. Too sweet for our liking. But for watermelon cake, a big big thumbs up for you!

Third stop, The Grounds of Alexandria. Beautiful, sophisticating and heart warming! We have been rushing a few places because its our last day and we do not want to miss out anything which is interesting and worth going. 

How to go to The Grounds of Alexandria : From newtown station, take a bus 370 to Sydney Park road. It will reach around 6 mins after 6 stops. Then from Sydney park road, walk about 9 mins which is around 700 m to The Grounds of Alexandria. 

Oh my oh my, it is too beautiful that I think I will just let the photos do the talking. However, photos can never make a justice to how beautiful this place is. Best is to go explore yourselves. I bet you will fall in love with it. 

There’s a barn as well where cute animals are making it their home to chill. Especially this humongous pig called Bacon! Say hello to Bacon please!

Hello Bacon! 

Fourth stop, Adriano Zumbo! You can basically get Adriano Zumbo dessert easily at town or George Street but since we are planning to explore new places on the very last day, we opt for the outlets at The Star Casino at Pyrmont. 

Beautiful dessert but too sweet for our liking. It certainly look so much better than it taste. Hmmmmm.. but I am sure those who love very sweet dessert will love it.

Final stop will be Darling Harbour and Grill’d Burger. The girls are sleepy and tired so they decided to head back home straight but I have a mission to buy some ribs for baba so I headed to this beautiful harbour for one last time.

And say what. there’s Grill’d! Lamb Burger! Stone Wood Beer! And thats what I got for my dinner. Happy Ending!

I decided to take a different route home and to my astonishment, WHAT???!! You mean all the past one week we have been taking short cut and  missing out this breathtaking view just outside our apartment???! Snap snap snap! Good discovery before we head back to Malaysia! Thank you Lavender Bay, you have been such a good location for our Sydney trip!

Finally finish all  my Sydney posts and I hope you enjoy reading. It was our first ever trip together and it turned our memorable and happy. I cherish all the moment we spent and I sincerely hope that we will have more trips coming in the future. Thank you Yuen Ni and Lao Mao for making this trip happened. Love you girls as always and forever <3