Eh finally lah kan, the final entry on our honeymoon.

But before I start, just in case you haven't been following my honeymoon story, you can click on the following links first to read about out honeymoon in its entirety:

♥ Hello Honeymoon! (Day 1, Niyama Maldives)

♥ Hello Honeymoon! (Day 2 & 3 Niyama Maldives)

♥ Hello Honeymoon! (Day 4 & 5, Niyama Maldives)

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Dah? Settle? Okay geng, jom kita start!

... kalau malas nak baca pepanjang, skip to the last part je, boleh tengok video.

Our Honeymoon Details

Our Travel Dates:

7th November 2013 (Thursday) to 11th November 2013 (Monday)

Flight Itinerary & Journey Duration:

Singapore to Maldives via SQ462 on 7 November 2013
Departure from Singapore: 10.05am (Singapore Time)
Arrival at Maldives: 11.40am (Maldivian Time)

Duration: 4 hours 35 minutes

Maldives to Singapore via SQ461 on 11 November 2013
Departure from Maldives: 2.20pm (Maldivian Time)
Arrival at Singapore: 10.10pm (Singapore Time)

Duration: 4 hours 50 minutes 

Time Difference:

Maldives is 3 hours behind Singapore e.g. if it is 4pm in Singapore, it will be 1pm in Maldives.

Note: The Greenwich Meridian Time for Maldives is GMT +5.

Currency Used:

The official currency for Maldives is Rufiyaa.

However, we did NOT use Rufiyaa during our stay in Maldives at all. Our expenses were charged in United States Dollar (USD) and all the prices indicated all around the resort were in USD as well.

We brought along USD800 for expenses but as it turns out, we didn't even have to bring along that much cash with us because everything that we purchased (e.g. souveniers, drinks) and booked (e.g. snorkelling, parasailing) were all charged to the room, and payable during check-out. The only times we used actual cash was when we tipped the staff that served us and our thakuru.

But that's okay because we eventually used what was left of our USD800 (after tips) to partially pay for our final bill whereas the remaining amount was paid by card. Nasib no need to bawak balek the USD and exchange balek, mesti rugi :/

Weather & Climate During Our Stay:

The weather in Maldives during our stay was perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect!

We were blessed with perfect weather throughout our stay - cool light weather for lazy mornings, warmed up to sunny weather during the afternoons (which was absolutely great for swimming, tanning and all other outdoor activities) then back to gloriously cooling weather at night for quiet dinners and peaceful sleep.

There was a very short period of rain just after lunch on our third day, though. The rain came quite suddenly and the wind started getting stronger and stronger until we had to scamper to get our barang barang from the deckchairs and balcony and move them inside the room so they wouldn't get wet! Tapi after about 20 minutes, the rain stopped and it was all sunny again. Ala, sekejap je.

What We Opted For

Do-It-Yourself VS Book a Package with Travel Agency

Even though Maldives is a relatively easy to DIY sort of destination, we chose to book a free and easy package with a travel agency.

Some people might view our decision as silly and wasteful but Saliheen and I were determined NOT to burden ourselves and fret over our honeymoon planning since we were already quite busy - and burnt out! - with our wedding planning. Senang cakap, we decided to take the easy way out and just pay the damn professionals to do the job for us. Comfort and convenience, kaa-ching!

Also, if you've been reading my blog for quite sometime, you would have known that me and DIY? We are as jauh as langit and bumi hahahahahahaha

[Note: Even though we booked our package with an agency due to convenience, I do think it is definitely possible and relatively easy to DIY a holiday to Maldives. If you're planning to go down the DIY route and want to arrange for your transfer from airport to resort, you can just contact the resort and ask whether they can make the necessary seaplane transfer arrangements for you.

Alternatively, you can contact companies that provide seaplane transfers like TransMaldivian for their rates and schedules. Make sure you have your transfer booked in advance before your arrival because seaplane transfers are scheduled only on certain days and timings, and passenger lists are fixed days before i.e. you CANNOT arrive at the transfer office and expect that there will be a seaplane for you to hop on.

I've also discovered that Agoda.com has a useful FAQ page on booking and transfer information to Maldives which you can read here.]

Seaplane Transfer VS Speedboat Transfer

(via Maldive.Net.Mv)

Truthfully, there was no contest for this: Seaplane transfer OVER speedboat transfer, anytime.

I was very adamant on this, okay! So much so that I only considered resort packages that provide seaplane transfers because there was NO way I would have sat in a speedboat for 40 to 60 minutes willingly and not get bored zzzzzZzzZzzz

Plus, we're in Maldives, you know! Why sit in a speedboat to tengok permandangan (which you can do all day long when you're at your resort) when you can be in a seaplane IN THE SKY and gaze down at the pretty blue waters and atolls scattered all around Maldives from a bird's eye view?!

So unless you have a phobia of flying (congratulations for being brave enough to take the airplane to Maldives from wherever you came from, though!), then trust me - take the goddamn seaplane. 

If you're DIY-ing your trip and need to decide which kind of transfer to take, seaplane booking rates might be slightly pricier than speedboat transfers but think about it - bila lagi you akan naik seaplane??? In Maldives??? Speedboat anytime pergi other beach destinations boleh naik.

Half Board Meals VS Full Board Meals

We were asked by our travel agency whether we wanted to top up for full board meals or half board meals. If you're wondering what those are, full board meals are prepaid lunches and dinners at the resort whereas half board meals are prepaid dinners only. Usually, full board or half board meals will be at the resort's main restaurant. (Don't worry about daily breakfast, it's already part of the package and requires no top up.) 

We opted for half board meals (dinner only) and that turned out to be one of our best decisions because it was much cheaper than having to pay for each individual meals at the resort itself!

We paid about SGD840 for 2 pax for all 4 nights, which is about SGD105 per night per pax. If we didn't opt for half board meals and chose to pay directly to the resort after every meal, it would have been about much more than that price - at least that's what we were told by the agency staff and the impression we got from reading blogs and reviews :/ 

Another reason why we didn't opt for full board meals (lunch and dinner) was because I didn't want to be restricted to only ONE main restaurant throughout our stay. I figured it'll be nicer to dine at different restaurants at the resort for lunch, and then stick to the main restaurant for our dinner. We would have gotten 20% or 30% discount at other restaurants since we were on half-board, anyway.

But as it turns out, we didn't even have to eat lunch!!! (Save for the 4th day where we got a little hungry after spending some considerable time frolicking at the beach so we ordered room service.)

We gorged on SO much food during our breakfasts sampai we were so stuffed and didn't feel hungry until about 4.00pm to 5.00pm each day. Once we felt peckish while waiting dinner, we'd survive on the complimentary popcorn and icecream that came with our in-villa bar, before stuffing ourselves silly again during dinner. Swee.

Of course kalau you want to save some money by opting for half board meals instead of full board ones, but takut mati kalau tak dapat makan lunch, you can always pack a few instant noodle packs, bread and biscuits in your luggage. Asalkan you don't anyhow pancing ikan from your villa and start cooking them for lunch sudah. Terperanjat katak your thakuru nanti.

Why we chose Maldives as a Honeymoon Destination:

(via Stylish Resorts)

Right from the start of our relationship, our honeymoon choices have always been clear: It was either Eastern Europe or Maldives.

But since we wanted to rest and relax after a hectic year of wedding planning and the wedding itself + the odds were in favour of Maldives, we decided Maldives was the best honeymoon choice for us as a couple.

One or two people told us that it isn't worth spending SGD8000 (not inclusive of food, drinks and activities) for a beach destination package when we can pay 1/4 of that price for a great honeymoon in other beach destinations such as Bali, Krabi, Phuket, etc. But we really wanted something special for our one and only honeymoon and we both felt that we can easily go to places like Bali, Krabi, Phuket, etc another time, anytime, and we can even go to such destinations with our friends, with our future children, etc, insya Allah.

Nanti after paying for our house, household items and bills, future anak, etc, entah bila lagi we will have this kind of moolah to splurge on a holiday to Maldives.

Which Resorts did we consider for our Maldives Honeymoon:

 (via Dreaming of Maldives)

We considered the following resorts after much research on blogs, Youtube videos, Tripadvisor reviews, Agoda.com reviews, etc and this was the list of resorts which we brought along to our trip to the NATAS Fair last August:

• Adaaran Prestige Vadoo Resort (here)
• Anantara Kihavah Villas Resort (here)

• Angsana Velavaru (here)

• Ayada Maldives (here)

• Baros Maldives (here)

• Cocoa Island by COMO (here)

• Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort (here)

• Constance Halaveli Resort (here)

• Dusit Thani Maldives (here)

• Huvafen Fushi Maldives (here)

• Jumeirah Vittaveli (here)

• Lily Beach Resort  (here)

• Niyama Maldives (here)

• Velassaru Maldives Resort (here)

• W Resort & Spa Maldives (here)

Of course, as you all know by now, we opted for Niyama Maldives. Whoop whoop!

By the way, if a travel agency tells you that a resort is "an all-inclusive resort" or the resort declares itself as "an all-inclusive resort", it means that their price is inclusive of accommodation, transfers, food and drinks, sometimes even a list of non-motorized watersports and activities that you can book during your stay (You will need to check with the agency or resort specifically what are the items included in the packages offered!).

You can read the definition of "an all-inclusive resort" here.

All-inclusive resort packages are great if you just want to throw in a certain amount of money and know that that is more or less the confirmed costs for the accommodation, transfers, food and drinks and listed activities from start to finish (save for miscellaneous costs not included in the packages).

My husband and I didn't opt for an all-inclusive resort because we didn't want to be restricted and preferred to have a bigger range of resorts to choose from. The one and only all-inclusive resort we considered was Lily Beach Resort but we canned that because we didn't like the private pool that came with their room that was within our budget.

Note: I don't know why but we were dead set against ClubMed Maldives packages (which are all-inclusive, by the way) that most travel agencies will try to sell during travel fairs! Just a ~feeling~ we wouldn't like them somehow. Plus, they can haz NO private pools! Meh.

Why we chose Niyama Maldives as our Accommodation:

Niyama Maldives was NOT even in our list of shortlisted resorts initially.

We got to know of Niyama Resort by chance - we'd already spent about 20 to 30 minutes at Chan Brothers' booth during last August's NATAS fair, flipping through different brochures and weighing the pros and cons between 3 different villas that Chan Brothers had packages for, which were within our budget. Suddenly, the staff who attended to us asked whether we've considered Niyama Maldives since it's within our budget and handed us their brochure. 

We did a quick Google search, took a look at their official website, read a few reviews, found out that Niyama was newly opened in March 2012, pleased that their villa with private pool was within our budget and lo and behold, we were sold like boxes of limau during Chinese New Year.

We found out much later that Niyama is adik beradik with Huvanfen Fushi, which was the first resort whose 2-Bedroom Ocean Pavillion with Pool we fell in love with but cannot afford... at the moment.  So kirakan, tak dapat abang, adik pun jadilah :P

Also, how freaking adorably is this teaser animation of Niyama Maldives?!

Niyama - A Paper Island from Robert Francis Müller on Vimeo.

You can read more about this paper project here and watch how it was made here.

Which villa did we book, and why:

We chose Niyama's Water Studio with Pool because this was the villa that met our requirements:

1. The villa must have private pool;

2. The villa must be over the ocean and NOT located on the beach; and

3. The villa must be within our budget;

 (via Bless This Stuff)

Honestly, I actually preferred their Deluxe Water Studio with Pool because their private pool comes with a jacuzzi as well!!!!! Fuh, rilek rilek dalam jacuzzi while facing the Indian Ocean... maut kape. 

Unfortunately, my husband managed to convince me that the additional few hundred dollars can be used for other expenses during our honeymoon and that we didn't reaaaaaaally need a ocean-facing jacuzzi. Oh well, I let him win that one, then.

Oh, here's the floor plan of the villa we chose!

For floor plans for the rest of the other villas in Niyama, you can click here.

We got lucky with this in terms of budget because there was a free 4th night promo when we booked the package at NATAS Fair so technically my husband and I only paid the price for 3 nights. If there wasn't a free 4th night, it might have busted our budget by a thousand or two. 

Overall Review of Niyama Resort, Maldives:

The Resort

In case you can't already tell from my whole entry, we love love love love LOVE Niyama Resort like crazyballz!!!!! Give them our jantung and hati all!!!!!

The resort is very clean and well-maintained, the private pool is in fantastic condition and the bed in the villa is fairly comfortable. Privacy-wise, it was still pretty decent - we didn't see that many guests walking around when we were there, and we only saw a handful of people at any one time when we dined at Epicure and spent time at the beach. 

One of the downsides for us was the TV that refused to work - we would have enjoyed our stay even more if the TV worked and we could watch the movies that we wanted.

The other one would be us getting caught off guard when we found out there were no basic toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrush and soap already provided in the villa. No biggie though, our thakuru gave them to us when we requested.

The Facilities & Activities Available

Niyama Maldives has a considerable list of activities - both land and water - that can keep you occupied during your stay. The charges are pretty expensive but hey, it's your honeymoon! Go make memories! If you're not keen on stuff like snorkelling or parasailing, there are other stuff like private boat charters that you can book for romantic sunset dinners woooooo.

If you're hungry, there is a good selection of restaurants to choose from (if you decide not to pay for full board meals) which are a buggy's ride away from your villa. And of course, the spa and massage OMG THE SPA AND MASSAAAGGGEEEEE! Sooooooooooo divine, I kind of wish there was a 10-hour package *tebiat*

You can find the individual costs for water activities at Niyama here, land activities here, and their spa & massage menu here.

Of course if you don't want to spend money on any activities, you can just tan or swim at the beach - I don't even know how to put into words how GORGEOUS MALDIVIAN BEACHES ARE.

The Service

Their service was absolutely impeccable.

My husband and I received VIP treatment everywhere we went even though we weren't guests in the most expensive and most fancy villa they had at the resort. Every single one of their staff was friendly and warm and fantastic, and everyone (including our thakuru) was always so eager to help with whatever issues or questions we had without being intrusive! Even their resort manager greeted us and chatted with us whenever he saw us around the resort.

You can read more reviews on TripAdvisor here as well as blogs of other guests who have visited Niyama Maldives here, here, here and here.

Overall review of Chan Brothers:

We were super duper mighty pleased with the service we got from Chan Brothers!!!

I'll be honest and admit that I wasn't very keen on Chan Brothers at first, mainly because I didn't have a good impression of them - my girlfriend once told me that their staff messed up her Phuket honeymoon package. Like, how do you mess up freaking Phuket sia?

But we ended up at Chan Brother's booth by chance, and the service that we received from start to finish was absolutely fantastic! I guess it was my girlfriend's bad luck to have run into an incompetent staff? I think that is what happens when an organization is so huge - there's bound to be staff members who cannot carry the good name of the business *shrugs*

Anyway. The staff who attended to us at their NATAS fair was patient, constantly smiling, spoke fluent English, took the initiative to make suggestions without being pushy or condescending and she had fantastic product knowledge. We wouldn't have discovered Niyama Maldives if not for her!

Even her colleague who followed up with us was very nice and thorough, and explained everything to us via email, phone and in person patiently. (If you're looking for Free and Easy packages with Chan Brothers, can liaise with Ivan Hong!!! ivan_hong[at]chanbrothers[dot]com[dot]sg)

I give our experience with Chan Brothers five stars out of five stars! We wanted our honeymoon planning and honeymoon itself to be fuss-free, and that's exactly what Chan Brothers gave us: fuss-freeness! (Lol word sembarang campak)

(For a copy of the pre-departure guide that Ivan emailed to us prior to our Maldives trip, click here.)

Would we return to Maldives for a holiday:

Oh hell yes. 

When we first decided we were going to Maldives for our honeymoon, we told ourselves - look, Maldives is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We can go to Maldives for this one special occasion (honeymoon), enjoy ourselves and then start looking at travelling to other countries.

Boy, we were *so* wrong. 

Can't believe we're harbouring hopes of returning to Maldives some day! 

Dalam mimpi ah mungkin menjadi.

Is it enough to be in Maldives for 5D4N:

Yes, if you're looking for a reasonable amount of relaxation and water activities (without getting ~too~ bored at the tail end of your trip), 5D4N is a good period to be in Maldives. Anything lesser will be too short a period, I feel.

No, if you're gila about relaxation at a beach destination like us hahahahahaha. We regretted not going for a week at least, but that might just be us!

Who should go for this kind of honeymoon/holiday:

• People who are too lazy to walk around for their holiday;
• People who like / want to laze around on their holiday;
• People who want a fuss-free holiday;
• People who like to do nothing but sleep, swim and eat on their honeymoon / holiday;
• People who want to be away from the hustle and bustle of life;
• People who want to go to a country where halal food is abundant (they do have items which contain pork and alcohol but in smaller quantities and these are separated from the halal kitchens and areas);
• People who love the sun, the sand and the sea.

Who should NOT go for this kind of honeymoon/holiday:

• People who want to constantly be on the move during their holiday;
• People who want to go sightseeing for their holiday;
• People who want to go on adventure rides for their holiday;
• People who hate sun, sand and the sea for no reason (freaks!!!);
• People who do not want and do not like to chill out on their holiday and are are not willing to pay for the activities (and then whine about Maldives being boring);
• People who want a super duper zuper budget trip

Note: I personally feel that it is ~slightly~ difficult to *truly* enjoy Maldives on a VERY tight budget. I was told by a friend that she regretted going to Maldives with a small restrictive budget because her villa was located at a remote beach and she couldn't do the water activities, even when she wanted to, because she didn't bring the budget for it.

If you're on a tight budget but want to go for a beach destination and still rasa puas hati, then Bali, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui and the likes will be a much better alternative. 

But that said, you DON'T need a super massive budget for Maldives lah, as long as you're willing to pay for a decent villa and still be able to splash a little bit of cash for food and activities, then you're good to go. Just that I think Maldives is generally a more expensive holiday as compared to others.

This is especially when you compare it with trips to further destinations (from Singapore), like Europe, for instance, where you can pay about the same price for a much longer period e.g. 13 to 15 days in Europe VS 4 to 5 days in Maldives. Satu villa per night je dah makan berapa ribu + food is generally on the pricier side.

The Total Expenditure:

Since "How much did you spend for your honeymoon?" has become a popular question after I posted my previous entries, I've decided to publish this table for easy reference for those who are planning to Maldives for honeymoon or holiday! 

Take note that some of the expenses - the ones made in Maldives and airport - were charged in USD, and have been roughly converted to SGD.

SALIHEEN & FARHANA’S HONEYMOON EXPENDITURE 5D4N PACKAGE TO NIYAMA RESORT, MALDIVES NOTE: NATAS PROMOTION - 1 NIGHT FREE & SGD200 OFF PACKAGE COST
Package Cost (3 nights + 1 night free)	: SGD8,116 (Calculation: SGD4,058 x 2 pax)
Half-Board Meals	: SGD840 (Calculation: SGD105 x 4 days x 2 pax)
Airport Tax & Charges	: SGD730 (Calculation: SGD365 x 2 pax)
(Minus) NATAS Discount	: minus SGD200
Parasailing (15 minutes)	: SGD306 (Calculation: SGD153 x 2 pax)
Snorkelling (Coral Reef Garden)	: SGD166 (Calculation: SGD83 x 2 pax)
Spa & Massage Package (2 Hours x 3 Treatments)	: SGD506 (Calculation: SGD253 x 2 pax)
Drinks (Beach Bar)	: SGD25
Drinks (Subsix Club)	: SGD25
Room Service Drinks x 2:	: SGD25
Room Service Lunch x 1:	: SGD38
Souveniers (Resort):	: SGD200
Souveniers (Airport):	: SGD130
Burger King Lunch at Airport:	: SGD20
TOTAL EXPENDITURE	: SGD10,927

Or if you prefer to print this out, I've uploaded this table here for downloading and printing as well.

Of course, I *must* emphasize that HOW much you ultimately spend depends on what you want to do - everyone's travel itineraries are different and different itineraries require different budgets.

If you don't even want to spend on activities and can enjoy your Maldives honeymoon just by sleeping and swimming then by all means, save that SGD1000+++ instead of spending it on activities! Or if you don't mind spending lesser on your villa (you don't mind not having a private pool) then by all means, book a villa that is cheaper than this.

Similarly, if you're willing to pay more for something more exclusive like private boat charters or personalized romantic candlelight dinner or spa & massage sessions for every day you're in Maldives then by all means, splash your moolah! Just make sure you don't go bust by the time you arrive back in Singapore! Ini pesanan mak mak ye anak anak, saya cuma tolong sampaikan.

******************************

We have now come to the end of my honeymoon series!!!

And how can I end it all, without sharing this amateur honeymoon video of ours!

Click on 'Watch on Youtube' and switch to 1080p HD setting for best viewing.

The footage taken for this video was taken on our Go Pro Hero 3 and Canon G16.

We love love love our homemade honeymoon video - it's amateur and it's not supa cool and supa trendy like this video done by another couple who also went to Niyama Resort Maldives but we love it just the same because these are our special memories + my lovely little sister Fazlin took the time and trouble to put this together for us! Sayang adik to the moon and back ♥

Plus it's a nice little video that we can play whenever we miss our honeymoon! (Which is, like, ALL THE FREAKING TIME LAH KAN but it's alright it's okay kita tahan heh heh)

Now, all we can do is to look forward to our next holiday together as husband and wife!

Whereeeeeeeeeeee shall we go next, can you already guess??? :D

Hello Honeymoon! (Day 4 & 5, Niyama Maldives)

We have now come to the last portion of my honeymoon story; this includes Day 4, which is my faaaaavourite day of our honeymoon as well as Day 5, which is the dreaded last day of our amazing Maldivian honeymoon :(

If you're haven't been following my honeymoon story, you can catch up by reading my blog entries for Day 1 (click here) and Day 2 & Day 3 (click here).

Day 4, 10th November 2013, Sunday

Wanted to wake up earlier than usual (think 4am++) to catch the Maldivian sunrise but we overslept and only sprung out of bed at about 5.30am lol.

We did catch the tail end of the sunrise, though!

Still beautiful, imho. Super quiet and peaceful, which is obviously very different from the hustle and bustle of dreary mornings in Singapore.

As mentioned at the start of this entry, Day 4 has to be my most absolute faaaaavourite day of all our days in Maldives!!!  

Why?

Because this was the day my husband realized there is truth to my words and said yes to all the activities that I proposed we do in Maldives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

You see, when we were planning to go for honeymoon in Maldives, his inclination was clear - all he wanted to do was: go for breakfast → swim → lepak → eat dinner → sleep and do absolutely NOTHING ELSE. He scoffed at the activities that I wanted to do and kept shooting them down with:

"Ala, we snorkel at Phuket before, what" 

"Ala, we parasail at Phuket before, what" 

"The spa and massage so expensive, can do cheaper at Batam or Bintan" 

But I was adamant that it'd be a waste to be at Maldives for the one and only time in our lifetimes and NOT do the activities there. Also, it's our honeymoon! We should let loose a little so we can go and make some great memories, right?!

Yes, we have gone snorkelling at Phuket before. But how can you compare the coral reefs and marine life in Phuket to Maldives? Not the same ocean and not the same occupants.

Yes, we have gone parasailing in Phuket before. But how can you compare parasailing in Phuket where the beach is crowded, the scenery not as picturesque and the ocean is not as wide and as blue as Maldives?

Yes, we have gone for massages many times in Bintan and Batam before, for cheaper and for longer hours, but HOW CAN YOU COMPARE? Each country is different, and each activity - never mind that it is the same act - WILL BE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. I have always believed that each country will have its own unique offering and I don't think I will change my perspective on this ever.

So my husband conceded (after many hints, many mentions and a muka kucing kesian or two hahahahaha) and we made a few hasty calls that morning to make the necessary arrangements:

• Snorkelling: There were only two slots each day which were the best for snorkelling in Maldives - 10am or 2pm. We thought it'd be just nice to go for snorkelling at 10am after breakfast but there was a maximum quota of 16pax per trip and unsurprisingly, the 10am slot was fully booked. So we agreed to go for the 2pm slot instead. (We realized much later why it was *fated* for us to go for 2pm slot. Everything happens for a reason and I've said this time and again - if it is meant to be your rezeki, it WILL be your rezeki, remember?) 

• Parasailing: We had to walk to the parasailing area after our breakfast to book this. We didn't want to pack everything into one day and we didn't want to have to rush through everything after snorkelling. So we fixed it at 10am the next day, which would be our last day in Maldives, because we figured we'd have a few hours to kill before (the assumed) check-out time. We will eventually change this slot on a whim, which turned out to be yet *another* case of memang-dah-rezeki! I will explain this later in this entry.

• Spa & Massage: Since we were told our snorkelling will take about 2 hours (2pm to 4pm), we decided to fix our spa & massage session at 5pm. Lucky got slots!  

We started the day right with breakfast (of course).

Off for breakfast!

 

Since it was our last full day in Niyama and we had a few good hours to spare before our snorkelling session, we spent some time browsing at the resort's souvenir shop to buy what else but... souvenirs! Takkan pergi souvenir shop untuk beli beras and gula kan.

We were told by a friend who has been to Maldives that it's better to buy souvenirs at the airport rather than the souvenir shop at  resorts but we were hurried to the seaplane transfer counter upon arrival and didn't have time to recce the souvenier prices when we first reached the airport.

Since we weren't sure if we'd have enough time to browse before our flight back home, we decided to just borong everything at the resort! We eventually had enough time at the airport before our flight back home and discovered that the tea boxes that we got were selling at MORE than 50% at the airport than the ones we got at the resort.

I think it was just our nasib our resort were selling the same stuff at a lower price!

Happy with our souvenier purchases! We bought boxes of tea for family and colleagues, our bridal party and our major vendors. Bought a vial of Maldivian sand for myself and a magnet for our magnetic notice board back home heh.

Even after close to an hour of browsing at the souvenier shop, we still had a few hours left to 2pm so we buggied back to the villa and decided to watch a movie. We didn't want to swim and spend time in our private pool since we knew we will spend quite some time in the waters during our snorkelling trip.

I think this was the only time the TV behaved well enough for us to watch a movie - itu pun it got stuck in the middle twice and we had to reboot the system each time. *shakes fist*

I chose 'The Lovely Bones' because this is one of the movies that I've enjoyed watching and I wanted Saliheen to know the movie as well. Some critics have panned the movie for being trippy, which it is, but I quite like it! In the end, he thought the movie was great as well. Atta boy! :P

(Click here to know what 'The Lovely Bones' is about. If you're crazy obsessed with serial murder stories like me, you'll probably enjoy this movie as much as I do.)

The movie nicely ended just before 1.45pm so we packed up and made our way out to the jetty for our scheduled snorkelling trip!

Husband couldn't stop laughing over his own allegation that the flippers were "half my height" -___- Sorry hor, I am more than double the height of the flippers lor, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

Oh, and in case you're wondering why husband is giving his stamp of approval and why we were headed out on such a small speedboat, it was because.....

IT WAS FOR THE TWO OF US ONLY LOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

So yes, THIS is why it was fated for us to miss the 10am slot! No other guests signed up for the 2pm slot, which meant that the trip was for just the two of us!!!!! Made us feel like we signed up for a private snorkelling session, you know! Hehehehehe.

So happy when we knew Hassan (the snorkelling staff) could give us his undivided attention and we could be all silly with no other guests around. Very shiok!!!!! And very lomantik, of course :P

Us floating in the middle of the Indian Ocean with no land in sight.

And don't worry, one of the pretty Maldivian stars did not just jatuh to my husband's face, I put that star there because he has been protesting over how he "looks fat" in this picture. (DUDE. SERIOUSLY.)

The session went off without a hitch, the coral reefs and marine were crazy gorgeous and the experience was most definitely different from the experience we had in Phuket okay! It was pretty calm and uneventful until halfway through the session when...........

We saw a baby shark and a sea turtle swimming near the coral reefs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hassan got crazy excited afterwards, saying how freaking lucky we were because it is ~pretty~ difficult to catch a glimpse of a baby shark or a sea turtle during the snorkelling session... what more BOTH during the same snorkelling trip!!!!!

He kept saying that there weren't any baby sharks or sea turtles during the 10am slot and we wouldn't have had the chance to see these two creatures if we had gone for the earlier session!!!

And that was when we realized there was ANOTHER reason why we missed the 10am slot and was fated to go for the 2pm slot instead!!! Alhamdullilah! This is what we call rezeki pengantin, yes??? :P

We didn't get a picture or video of the baby shark since it was darting around (Also, we were apprehensive and scared we might agitate him/her enough sampai he/she activate the whole kaumpuak! We wouldn't want our honeymoon to turn into a scene from Jaws now, would we.....) But we managed to record a video of the sea turtle on our trusty GoPro and it was AMAZEBALLZ!!!!!

It was such a magical moment okay, even though I was floating in the middle of the freaking Indian Ocean, I could feel the goosebumps all the way up my neck and down my spine!!!!!

Not sure if this will give the same effect (obviously NOT) but here's a short compilation of the video footage we got underwater:

 Click on 'Watch on Youtube' and change to 1080p HD setting for best viewing.

After we were done with snorkelling, we sped back to the main island, and entah macam mana, kitaorang tergerak hati and decided to go parasailing right there and then! We were thinking, what the heck, we have an hour to kill before our spa and massage session, our clothes were dripping wet anyway, we might as well parasail kasi baju kering hahahahaha (if only we can all keringkan our laundry this way kan lolololol)

And yes, as mentioned, this impromptu change turned out to be yet another memang-dah-rezeki decision on our part... you will understand why later on in this entry!!!!!

Picture of my husband parasailing high up in the blue, blue sky.

But just share picture like no shiok, right? Okay, I try show you the experience in this video:



 Click on 'Watch on Youtube' and change to 1080p HD setting for best viewing.

I don't know whether you can truly appreciate the experience based on two minutes of video footage ah, but the feeling of being up in the Maldivian sky WAS. FREAKING. AMAZING. GAIZE.

I've gone parasailing twice in my life, both times in Phuket, but I think the parasailing experience in Maldives was the one that TRULY BLEW ME AWAY (figuratively and literally, of course, hur hur hur) because it is NOTHING like parasailing in Phuket okay!!!!!!!

Now that I've tried the one in Maldives, I can safely say that parasailing in Phuket pales in comparison and is damn play cheat lah please.

I'm not sure whether you can understand what I'm saying but here are two pictures of me parasailing in Phuket back in May 2010 that I will use to explain:

As you can see from the pictures, one of the Phuket parasail boys dangled on the strings and he was the one who helped to control and maneuver the parasail whilst in the air.

This is very different from the parasail in Maldives where it is totally machine-controlled and it is just... you. And you alone. In the sky. Admiring the majestic Indian Ocean glistening in the sunlight below you. Realizing how small you really are, and how great your God really is for creating such wonders. Just you, your thoughts, and the laut and langit ciptaan Tuhan.

There is no way a measly parasail in Phuket could have beat that.

I also feel more puas hati with my Maldives parasail session because even though it was for 15 minutes only, it felt like ages! Probably because we circled a mega huge round over the Indian Ocean as opposed to Phuket, where the parasail just makes one small round across the crowded Patong beach.

So that's it lah. I can never parasail in Thailand anymore without feeling like shit. (I still love you Thailand, but no more parasailing at your beaches, I'm sorry!!!)

We were super exhilarated by the time our parasailing session was over but we had no time to waste because we were left with 10 minutes to our spa and massage session! Buggied back to our villa to dump our barang barang and have a change of clothes before buggying to the spa.

The spa reception... and my husband hugging a pillar at the corner. Dia pikir orang tak nampak tau.

Lime sorbet and hot towels as a form of welcome!

We opted for their Maldivian scrub, oil massage and hair & scalp massage.

Had to change into a comfy bathrobe in their pretty bathroom!

WARNING: LEADS TO A PIECE OF PARADISE ON EARTH.

Our spa & massage treatment room facing the Indian Ocean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got get this in Bintan or Batam not????? NO, RIGHT!

Our wonderful masseurs grinning away at the back while husband goofs off at the camera.

RE-ENACT NAMPAK. RE-ENACT NAMPAK. Hahahahahahaha.

They even had a music menu!

Started off with a nice warm feet soak.....

..... and ended off with us waking up to this, two hours of bliss later.

The whole spa and massage session was, in case you couldn't have guessed, WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!! Even Saliheen had to admit that it was NOTHING like the ones we've been to in Batam and Bintan. Our masseurs were so delicate yet so effective in their handling, never been that relaxed in our lives before okay. Felt so so SO blissful!!!

I wanted to cry and beg and make them come to Singapore, you know!!!!!!!

But alas..... :(

Husband demonstrating how ~DIVINE~ it felt after the spa & massage session. Hehe.

We were super ravenous by the time the session was over so we buggied to Epicure for our last dinner in Maldives :(

But how apt was it, for our last dinner buffet in Maldives to be Maldivian cuisine?! I think I love their cuisine night the most because everything could be grilled that night lol.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Mehehehehe. You see, usually on all the other nights, they'll have 3 choices for you to choose from e.g. beef, calamari and salmon OR beef, squid and prawn, etc.

But on Maldivian dinner night, everything goes - they had an endless array of beef, squid, calamari, prawns, different types of fishes waiting to be grilled! SO DROOLZZZZZ!!!!!!!

Oh, by the way, the buffet lines were moved to the alfresco area and tables and chairs were set up on the beach for Maldivian night! (I.e. everyone had their dinner on the beach.) They even had some staff play Maldivian drums and music during the earlier part of dinner. Fantastic atmosphere!

It was here that my husband told me he had a fantastic day out *beams with pride*, and that his only regret is not listening to me about going for the activities earlier.

He said if he had listened to my suggestions earlier, we could have done the activities over a span of few days instead of packing everything into one day!!! But I was okay with it lah, at least we got to try some of the activities before we leave Maldives daripada tak buat terus kan :)

Anyway, we had a really nice dinner by the beach that night, we were feeling relaxed and happy with the fact that we had an unforgettable honeymoon but at the same time, we hated the idea of having to leave the island that has given us so much love and happiness in 5 mere days :(

But I think we suffered the real blow when we stepped into our villa and found a letter at the door, telling us "that our luggage will be collected at 9.30am, and we will have to be at the check-out counter by 9.45am so we can board our seaplane transfer to the airport at 10.00am" D:

SO DEVASTATING.

It was especially devastating for us because we initially thought that we'd get to check out at 12pm since our flight home was scheduled at 2.20pm Maldivian time. We'd already planned to wake up early, have a nice swim then go for a nice slow breakfast... we didn't know that we'd have to pack up as early as 9.30am for our seaplane transfer to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport!

And if you remember from earlier, we initially scheduled our parasailing session on our last day at 10am because we thought we had some time before check-out!!! But as luck and fate would have it, we decided to move forward our parasailing session on a whim after we were done with our snorkelling session :O

Can you *imagine* if we didn't??? We would have totally missed the parasail experience in Maldives lor!!! Takkan nak parasail sampai airport kan??? Siiiiiak ah.

This is really what my mother, my grandmother and my ancestors would say - dah memang rezeki kau, nak. Can't believe our luck, really!

I took the news of the earlier check-out better than my husband, by the way. Dude started wailing and wailing about how harsh the letter was, sulked over how he didn't want to leave Maldives so early, and kept throwing his body weight on the bed in protest. Ngawwwww. (If you've read my blog enough, you'd know that my husband IS A SMALL CHILD in a man's body.) 

After I pacified him, we started packing our bags for home.

Day 5, 11th November 2013, Monday

Unsurprisingly, my least favourite part of the honeymoon was the last day but not just because we had to wrap up our honeymoon, leave Maldives and return back to reality.

It was also because we overslept and couldn't have a slow start to the day like we wanted :( 

We had grand plans of waking up at 4am, go for a quick swim then slowly savouring our last breakfast in Maldives before checking out but as fate had it, we missed our alarms and jolted awake only at 9 freaking am when our luggage was due to be collected at 9.30am. Sigh!

Rushed through our baths (nasib baik bag dah pack semalamnye!), buggied out to Epicure at 9.30am, rushed like mad through our breakfast and we were all ready to check out by 9.45am.

Oh, it started raining just as we were about to start breakfast and naturally, my husband and I very perasantan and started saying macam paham stuff like "Omg, look even the Maldivian skies are crying! They must be feeling sad because we're leaving!" LOL.

Oh, and the rain was yet another indication of how luck and fate was on our side, okay - can you imagine, even if we had some time to spare for parasailing before checking out like we originally planned, we wouldn't have been able to do so at the scheduled 10am slot because - duh - it rained that morning??? The mind BOGGLES at how our rezeki is handed to us!

Please don't ever scoff when someone tells you "Ada hikmah disebalek segala apa yang berlaku" or when someone says "Rezeki itu akan datang dengan pelbagai cara" eh korang!

Anyway.

Bade goodbye to our thakuru Shinan who has been an angel throughout our stay in Niyama!

Best kan dia, pergi kerja pakai baju longgar, slippers and cermin mata Raybans. Lol.

The rain stopped just before we boarded our seaplane transfer.

Last kopek shot at the jetty! As you can see, the jetty is wet from the rain. 

We know how you feel, wahai Maldivian skies!!!!! T___T

Said goodbye to our thakuru and resort manager who were there to see us off, promised to be back for our 1st year anniversary (yelah tu) and off we went on our seaplane transfer.

We had a quick lunch at the airport before borong-ing more souvenirs in the form of coin pouches and teeshirts. I mean, who the hell goes to Maldives for holiday and doesn't bring home an army's worth of "I ♥ Maldives" teeshirts?! Am I right or AM I RIGHT???  

 

Ate my meal and watched some movies until the blue skies turned into this:

Landing back in Singapore zzzzzzZZZzzZZzzzz

But sad feelings aside, I loved that my family picked us up from the airport and my silly sisters flashed a sign that said "Welcome back, Monday Couple!" LOL! Because we arrived back in Singapore on a Monday, geddit, geddit?! (For those who didn't get the 'Monday Couple' reference, GO WATCH 'RUNNING MAN' ALREADY LAH.)

And now that I'm back in Singapore (cheh, padahal dah tiga bulan lah eh hahaha), I've been getting enquiries on how much kita laki bini spent for our honeymoon in Maldives! Oleh itu, to make it easier for everyone, I will list down our travel information as well as our total expenditure in my final entry on Maldives next okay! Nanti korang pandai pandai agak lah eh.