MALDIVES...A SLICE FROM HEAVEN!

A slice from heaven. Yeah. Imagine this setting: the sun peaked its way above the horizon as if it was scared to shed some light. The smell of the salty sea tingled my nose as I breathed in a breath of fresh air. The waves were saluted me singing a dulcet lullaby. The sand was my bed of blankets. They were inviting me in, with their everlasting arms wide opened. Absolute perfection, right? 

Maldives are ranked the third most endangered nation due to flooding from climate change but I still insist to took a chance in the middle of pinched date with little more than glimmer of consideration. My brother and I took a flight up from Jakarta to Male on Thursday morning.   It was 7 hours long fight because I must transit on Dubai before #wrong_choice_of_airplane :(. There is also a 30 minute domestic flight from Male, followed by a 20 minute speedboat ride to finally arrive at the resort, but the extra travel time is totally worth it.

On the airplane with my bro! Pardon my sleepy face :p

Speed-boat arrived at the resort

Main Lobby

Prior to our trip, we had been saw several review that Maldives is “the most enchanting island in the world.”  Truth to be told, we agreed with them almost instantly! We stayed in Six Senses Laamu; Ocean Water Villa, which completely exceeded our expectations. Looking out over the water, we could hardly believe our eyes to be honest! So beautiful that you even can’t believe it's real. The villa was incredible with lots of space!

A hammocks above the ocean which was successfully made my brother faint easily!

A stairs leading to the attic where you can gaze at the stars

View from the attic

Picture by Cindy Zenata

Indiana-Jones kind of wastafel

Open air bathroom which has a glass made bathtub, again you can see through to the ocean below, or take a rain shower on top of the waving sea

A glass window built on the toilet floor which you can see fish swimming while you’re busy

This place is secluded, private, and 'down to earth'. There’s also have no shoes and no news policy which was fit our style. The resort provided bicycles in guest villa for riding and exploring the entire island. We loved riding our bikes to breakfast and dinner every night. It was just lovely and brings a great atmosphere. The whole resort felt so cool and luxurious without being stuffy.

Mornings on Maldives began at ‘Longitude’, an open-air dining room on the oceanfront where you are treated to a picturesque view.  A light breeze carried the sweet scent of both the tropics and the food.  There is an extensive menu of traditional breakfast dishes and island favorites, as well as from a buffet of fresh fruits, pastries, and wide range selection of vegetable and cheese.  The most impressive were the choices of healthy mix juice every morning and you had to take time to look at the juice list and you were able to order your different choices every morning. We made sure to fuel up, because we were going to be spending the entire day on the white sandy beaches; seeing as much as we possibly could without rushing through anything. Six-Senses leads you to an island getaway which proves that sustainability can be seriously chic.  It is amazing that such a resort on tiny island can have so much excitement!

Wooden pavillion built over the water, taking full advantage of the stunning scenery and cool sea breeze!

Okay, now time to explore the resort!!

Which one are you gonna choose?

Picture by Cindy Zenata

Picture by Cindy Zenata

The sun shine bright and unhibited by clouds as we enjoyed playing around the beach
Picture by: Cindy Zenata

Feel your feet burned after walking barefoot all day? Don't worry!

It felt like we owned the whole island! In fact the only time we saw other guest was usually during meal times at the restaurant. Exhausted from getting around, we decided to take a break for an ice cream at the 'ICE'.

Unlimited supply of sweets such as ice-cream / sorbet + various toppings at the ICE! 

Oh! Their also served a yummy creme-brulee!

In the evening, we tried sport activities that I have never experience before such as ‘Catamaran Sailing’ with Moodo as an instructor. While we were on boat, Moodo took us to the sandbank for free while I  was wondering about a large mass of sand in the middle of the sea. It just happened as a complimentary because he thought that we were newly wed in honeymoon :p. Unfortunately, I’m didn’t prepare to bring a waterproof camera so there was no picture taken. But, I have some example courtesy of google if you hard to imagine, here it is!

Of course, the person in the picture above it's not my brother and me!

After I landed my feet on the sandbank, Moodo giggled and said :

“Take your time guys, I’ll be going elsewhere and I’m not gonna look at you!”

Ohmygod.

What?

Super awkward moment came up between me and my brother, lol. Suddenly, I really hoped that I could enjoying this remarkable sunset moment here with my future one. :’)

I walked up to the edge of the beach again and dunked my toe into the water. It felt as if my numbed foot before melted into a puddle mixed with the ocean. I could see a number of baby white sharks in the ocean screaming for attention. Finally, the sun dipped into a pool of internal light.

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I seem to have the best luck when it comes to resort guides a.k.a ‘Guest Experience Maker and Six Senses Laamu was no exception. Our GEM Abdul was beyond our expectation. He was so friendly and always helping us plan the perfect day. No matter what the request, Abdul was there to deliver. In addition, as a truly unbelievable experience, everyone at the restaurants or sports activity club were equally as friendly and accommodating. Everyone always remembered our names, which is something that truly makes you feel special! They also love to chit-chat and even have ‘curhat’ session like told us their life as a soccer player before.

Me & Abdul as my 'Guest Experience Maker'

For the next activities, me and my brother decided to explore an island nearby which was really awesome and inspiring! Maldives consists of moslem populations so there are many cultural heritages such as mosque everywhere. Since It’s a tropical country, Indonesia and Maldives are much alike unless their skill at managing their resources perfectly and surprise...*drum-roll*.....cleanliness! In addition, actually, everything could be tourist attraction here. Literally. If you asked the reason why, take a look at the picture below and I'm pretty sure that you would questioning, "why we couldn't make Indonesia be like this?"

'Power House' which provides electricity to the whole island....
As known as PLN in Indonesia....

Kind of majority houses on the island

Hang with the locals
PS: is the baby scared with the camera...or me?

People called it mosque over there, but isn't it like musholla...in Indonesia?

Elementary school as a tourist....attraction...

There are also many new things that I just found out or saw over there, take a look!

Breadfruit leaves which people usually eat raw

Extra information for the food experiences! I’m writing this because I promise you it is that SUPERB! The restaurants are brilliant with an enormous of variety and the chef's will always go over and above for you! They clearly take an enormous amount of pride in what they do. Being a lover of food, I have to say I was beyond impressed.

                  Leaf is perched above the organic garden: to get to it, you'll need to walk through the garden, up some stairs and across a rope bridge. 

It serves a combination of Vietnamese and Mediterranian dishes.

At the main restaurant, Longitude, 2 buffet dinners will be served on Friday (Asian Food) and Tuesday (Seafood) nights and there three courses set dinner menu for the rest of nights in the week. My favourite is the coconut milk rice or steam jasmine rice with Maldivian curry or Thai curry + BBQ reef fish for two.
There's also another bar with an ocean overview for chillax in the evening named 'Chill Bar'.

If you're looking for a place to relax, Hammock at the 'Chill Bar' are undoubtedly perfect choice!
Picture by Cindy Zenata

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Overall, this vacation was far overdue, but having such an wonderful experience made it worth! The element of surprise are really tremendous. If you ever find your way there, it will not be a mistake, and you will revel in a slice of heaven. I didn't even need any more a reason to miss this place!