Monday, January 22, 2007

Honeymoon @ Maldives

16 Jan 07 (Tue)- Arrival @ Vabbinfaru (Banyan Tree Resort)

Maldives is actually quite near to S'pore (SW of Sri Lanka to be exact). our SQ flight to Male Airport only took 4.5hrs so we reached at about 10pm Male time (which is GMT +5). Right outside the Airport (which is rarely 2 mins walk), and it's the sea! The boat ride to our Banyan Tree resort, Vabbinfaru Island (North Male Atoll) took about 30mins. Their service staff was real good! We felt like VIPs starting from the boat transfer where we're given refreshing aroma hand-towels and water.

Shortly after, we were shown to our villa (Farutholhi) and it's beautiful with a sun deck & personal jacuzzi in the backyard and a pavilion at the front that extends to the sea.



Our private pavilion that extends to the sea...








17 Jan 07 (Wed)- Relax & Snorkelling

Since the sea was pitch black when we arrived at Maldives the night before, plus we were quite excited, we woke up early to catch the sun rise. The place is truly beautiful with the crystal clear water & fine white sand.

It's quite beyond words and pictures to describe the beauty of nature... that's me in the pic! Amazing rite?!








This is how our villa looks from the front.

Since our package is full-board, all our meals are taken care of, which is certainly worth it! Breakfast & lunch are buffet style and I particularly loved the part where we can choose from a cart full of tropical fruits and the waiter will cut them nicely for us. Dinner is a sit down fine-dining style menu with an extremely romantic candle light setting. =)

Since I'm an ardent fan of alfresco dining, the place suits me well esp since the climate is sunny but breezy all day. Drinks are expensive though. Even their drinking water cost USD $3.50 (just for house water while evian water cost USD $8!).














18 Jan 07 (Thur) - Canoeing & Visit to Angsana Resort


We also canoe around the island and here's how the island looks from afar.





We also played table tennis cos it's FOC! It was rather fun even though I've hardly played table tennis... haha









We also visited Banyan Tree sister resort (Angsana) by boat. Their jetty looks good but other than that, we were glad we didn't choose to stay at their resort cos their villas are chalet style and not as luxurious =P















Sunset in Maldives is really beautiful =)














We had a complementary In-Villa Dining as part of the honeymooners' perks.. USD $65 / pax. There was a butler preparing our steak using a portable bbq pit and serving us outside our villa... nice!

19 Jan 07 (Thur) - Catamaran Sailing to Sandbank & Stingray Watching

We also paid USD $60 / pax to try out catamaran sailing to a sandbank. The sandbank is magnificant.. nothing we've seen before! It's a small piece of land (solely pure sand) which is formed naturally and could get shifted over time depending on the climate & tide.


We also snorkel around the sandbank and since it's the open sea, it's really deep with plenty of fishes.





Back at the resort, the stingray would come to the beach EVERYDAY at 4pm sharp to be fed... amazing cos they're sooo punctual and they would leave right after having their fill









19 Jan 07 (Fri) - Massage & Relax


As part of the honeymooners' perks, the spa also gave us massage lessons so that after the honeymoon, the couple could massage for each other to unwind.. very nice idea.














Since it was our very last day and our flight was at 11pm, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, taking pics and enjoying the last glimpse of the beautiful sunset.


















Our last dinner...


Rather sad when we have to leave this beautiful place... but at least we have a great vacation and we still think it's the ideal honeymoon venue =)

Friday, January 12, 2007

The Life After...

The 2 weeks of break after the wedding before the honeymoon was great! It gave us time to get used to each other's habits & lifestyle, gave us time to rest and move our stuffs to the new place, time to do household chores and do a bit of cooking too =)

Gerald is quite sweet. He took effort to cook for me or do all the washing up when I cook.. even though back at home, he didn't used to even bring the plate back to the kitchen after eating... haha

Here's a breakfast Gerald painstakingly prepared for me =) Though it's a simple maggie mee style breakfast similar to what those Hong Kong cafe sells, it's looks and taste delicious to me and it certainly warmed my heart.

Monday, January 01, 2007

1st Jan 2007.. A perfect and truly memorable wedding.. a day my heart melted..

Tea Ceremony in the morning...

Woke up at 5.30am to get ready. Surprised I managed to sleep soundly throughout the night without any pre-wedding jitters. Started doing my makeup at 6.30am when the VG (Alex), MUA (Dana) and PG (Chris) arrived. I like the makeup and hair styling by the MUA... mei mei =) Dad & mum were pretty excited too.. I would sense their nervousness when they put on the veil for me.

The jiemeis arrived at 7.30am++ all pretty in pink, to prepare the tekan materials.

Gerald came at about 8.30am and the tekan session started. Couldn't quite make out what was happening downstairs except there's plentiful of laughter from Peiwen which was so contagious. =P After Gerald & his 10 Bros passed the first barrier, June & Felice came into my room.. the 2nd line of defence. Was told that one of the bros (i.e. Mark) was like a rubbish bin.. swallowed the whole pack of worms Peiwen bought from London and lots of other concoction .. haha, I was sooo amused.

Outside my room door, Gerald sang "Have I told you lately", "You're the Sunshine of my Life" and "Grow Old with You" which was so sweet. =) All the 6 jiemeis, 10 bros and Gerald were so nice! Throughout the day, I felt soo princess-like.. just smile and be pretty... hehe

Dinner Reception at Fullerton Hotel


The wedding dinner was perfect! The ambience at the Straits Room was so cosy with the live jazz and piano playing. It was particularly nice to have our immediate family and close friends around to share our joy and to give their blessings. June did a story on how Gerald and I met and got together which was nice and personalised. Thanks June!

Gerald was sooo nice and sincere. He surprised me by singing "Can't take my eyes off you" on stage! it was particularly nice with his 10 bros singing in the background... having the blessings of so many friends was truly touching. Obviously my heart melted and I knew for sure Gerald was the PERFECT husband for me. =)

I'm glad the wedding turned out to be so nice esp after I've put so much effort to plan for it. Particularly happy that Gerald made special effort to make our wedding so unique, so touching.. I always remember this day.. a truly unforgetable moment!