Would you believe if I said that this trip was impromptu?

About 3weeks before the long Eid and National Day weekend came, I told Mama, “Where can I escape to this year?” and she replied, “Lets go to an island paradise”. Our initial plan was to go to Phuket. But flight and accomodation cost were higher than usual. So we decided to go for Langkawi instead. But the budget airline flight to Langkawi was already fully booked. Then one night, Mama came up to me and said, “I wanna go to Maldives”. I gave her a blank stare thinking that she was kidding. “Really. I want to see Maldives before I die”, Mama responded which reminded me of my own Bucketlist too. So we packed our bags and left for our island paradise… literally…

We took a transit flight from Singapore to Colombo, then from Colombo to Male. Food served were either chicken or vegeterian. I had a pleasant flight and won’t mind taking Sri Lankan Airlines for my next visit to Maldives (cheh, like real).

We stayed at the lovely island of Fihalhohi for the weekend. We were a little worried from the reviews stated on Tripadvisor but we had a great stay throughout.
Due to the short stay and our budget constraint, we stayed at the second storey bungalow facing the beach and just a few steps away from the water bungalows. It was simple and cosy.
Since our vacation was fullboard, breakfast, lunch and dinner was provided. Each room is assigned to a table for meals throughout your stay here. My tummy was thoroughly satisfied and full from eating, eating and eating! There was a wide variety of dishes for the buffet spread and different dishes for every meal.But what I love most of all was the breathtaking scenery. The water was crystal clear turquoise blue and the sand was white! I took so many photos (and shamelessly, a lot of selfies!)

White dress from H&M. Love it to bits but didn’t get the chance to wear it as much as I pleased. It will definitely make an appearence again.We woke up really early in the morning (around 5am!) because nights in Fihalhohi can be very long, not a lot of night activities except for night fishing so unless you’re interested, you can look forward to a good sleep. Mornings in Fihalhohi was soothing and peaceful. I had the chance to breathe in the cool morning breeze and watch the spectacular sunrise and you can see Mama loving it too.Maybe someday I can come back to Maldives and stay in a water bungalow and jump out into the ocean from the deck (its good to dream). But it didn’t stop me from jumping into the ocean right after breakfast.While Mama sat in her hammock and ate her Kuachi (sunflower seeds)…My dear Mama was very sweet. She drew ‘Happy Birthday Watie’ on the sand. No, my birthday is in September. This trip is and advance birthday present from her.Get a tan. Swim forever. Ice-Cream. My Mama. I love you Mama!We took a tour around the local town, Guraidhoo, and did some souveneir shopping. Enjoyed the tour more than expected as we got to see the simple lives of the Maldivians and bought some pretty neat stuff – an album made out of coconut tree leaves, Maldivian traditional design sarong, shark’s tooth, hand painted t-shirts and a absolutely gorgeous south sea pearl necklace. I was so happy with our purchases that I told Mama that I’ll refrain from shopping unless I’m on vacation. But she knows I’m too much of a shopper-holic. If anything, I’ll shop before, during and after my vacations.We got to watch the sunset. It was simply breathtaking.We spotted quite a number of different species of animals. These were just some of the ones that I was able to capture in pictures – a Grey Heron, Manta Ray, White crab, Parrot.Got this from Bali some years back. I love the design and wear it a lot for beach vacations and parties.Mama lazing on the sundeck with her Kuachi again! I couldn’t get enough of the water…Shamelessly taking selfies…Changed my bellystud to suit my bikini.I was happily swimming with the fishes when this little fella decided to join in the fun. It gave me a shock and I ran out of the water as fast as I could. But it was very pretty and gracefully swam away.I had a lovely experience in my short time in Fihalhohi. As I was there sitting there in the shallow waters surrounded by the clear blue waters, the little fishes swimming around me, the sun shining on my face and the water bungalows in sight, I felt like the luckiest, happiest girl in the world. Its like the best of my element, it felt like a dream, I felt like a mermaid! I guess God must love me very much to let me have this moments to keep. Its like for every hardship I had gone through, I am rewarded with something wonderful. Thank you Mama for this amazing trip. And thank you God, for giving me this opportunity to visit this beautiful island in Maldives that I will cherish always.

Sometimes in life, we complain about the bad stuff, we forget to see the good in it. Some days will be stormy. But remember, it can’t rain forever. At some point the sun will come out again. And maybe a rainbow too. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a little piece of paradise. I’m one hella lucky girl and I’m a happy mermaid.

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