Best of the Maldives: Butter – Dusit Thani

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Dusit Thani - butter

I love attention to detail and during my tours I am always on the scrounge for those little touches that make the experience a bit more distinctive. One of my favourites was Dusit Thani’s butter patties wrapped with a little bow of greens. No balancing on the edge of your knife or unwrapping cafeteria-style packages. Just pick up the patty by the sprig and put it on your plate.

In our household, we have a family saying from Lori’s home turf in The South of the USA – “Everything is better with butter!” And a Dusit Thani, even the butter is better.

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Best of the Maldives: Decorative Dessert – Jumeirah Vittaveli

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Jumeirah Vittaveli - ornate dessert

A treat for women on International Womens Day (though men will like it too) by Jumeirah Vittaveli – Aloe Vera Baked Yogurt with Berries. Created by their Executive Sous Chef Francis Cornelious (see photo below)…

“The life of a modern woman is very stressful and busy, filled with a multitude of tasks and duties that we take on willingly but that also tend to deplete our energy reserves.  To counterbalance our stressful routine, we need to ensure that we take care of our body and mind, through healthy food and moments of rest and meditation. At Jumeirah Vittaveli, our creative Executive Sous Chef Francis Cornelious has created a tantalizing dessert that will assist your physical wellbeing, while utilizing unique yet commonly available ingredients.”

The focus of the creation was the health benefits (and of course the taste), but I was enchanted by the colourful artistry of glassy sweetness on top. May women around the world be treated with the same care, consideration and respect as Vittaveli’s tribute to them.

Jumeirah Vittaveli - ornate dessert 2

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Best of the Maldives: Eco-Garden Plots – Kurumba

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Kurumba - bottle garden 1

What better use for a bottle than an S.O.S. message? How about an S.O.S. for the entire planet? Starting with creating a sustainable gardening plot? Kurumba used old beer bottles to build an array of gardening plots on the island giving new eco-friendly meaning to the word “bottling plant”. I guess the “S.O.S.” message in their bottles stands for “Sustainable Old Steins”. Not to mention that they have literally created the infamous song…

A hundred bottles of beer in the wall, a hundred bottles of beer…

Kurumba - bottle garden 2

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Best of the Maldives: Message in a Bottle – Constance Moofushi

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Constance Moofushi - message in a bottle

When people ask me what’s so great about the Maldives, one of my regular replies is…”You know those pictures of a plot of sand and a palm tree? Well, that’s the Maldives!” It is an iconic image of tropical paradise and isolation. And if there another image that is nearly as iconic and complementary, it would be a “message in a bottle” with an “S.O.S” message scrawled inside.

That’s why I love this little story from the Indian Times that came out this week about a guest couple at Constance Moofushi, “Message in a bottle travels from Maldives to Mahabs”…

“A message in a champagne bottle that was tossed into the sea by a Scottish couple on their honeymoon at Maldives eight months ago washed up near the coast of Mamallapuram on Friday. The bottle travelled over a thousand kilometres (about 700 nautical miles) from the Moofushi coastal resort in Maldives before it was picked up by a local tour operator on his evening walk at the Pattipulam beach along the east coast. The note inside the bottle which was plugged with a cork, was rolled up and tied with a string. It read, ‘Mr and Mrs Giles stayed at Moofushi on honeymoon. We went fishing and caught the biggest fish in the sea. So drank this champagne to celebrate! If found please contact us to let us know where out note went.’ The note was signed, Linsey Wright & Marc Giles, Linlithgow, Scotland. C Kothandabani, who found the bottle on Friday evening, phoned the couple the same evening. ‘They were delighted to hear from me. They have promised to come to India soon and meet me,’ said a delighted Kothandabani.”

S.O.S. (“Special Ocean Surprise”)

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Above Ground Under Water Restaurant

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Huravalhi - underwater restaurant

I’ve always wondered how they made those underwater restaurants (and spa and night clubs, etc) in the Maldives. Did they drop in components and then pump water out? As it happens, these subaquatic wonders are completely refabbed, shipped to the resort and lowered whole into their new lagoon home.

The new resort of Hurawalhi is the latest in the underwater pantheon. And some recent reports on their underwater restaurant is providing a behind the scenes look at this remarkable engineering. The supplier M.J, Murphy in New Zealand posted some “how do they do that” details on their site recently…

“Following the usual 10km route from Fitzroy’s factory to the port, the 410 tonne Underwater Restaurant was manoeuvred alongside the giant crane ship “The Fairlane”, using 3 trucks. Then on 11 Feb, the two giant 400 tonne cranes lifted the UWR onto the ship and readied for its 3 week trip to the Maldives…The acrylic is optically perfect, so diners will feel ‘immersed’ and surrounded by the ocean and the fish life. There will also be a large spectacular panoramic underwater acrylic window (190mm thick) in the end of the UWR which is expected to wow the lucky diners, with amazing long views along the sloping coral reef.”

Here’s hoping that everything goes down well at Huravalhi.

Huravalhi - underwater restaurant 2

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Best of the Maldives: Fruit Art – Paradise Island

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Paradise Island - melon flowers 2

Bed art, tub art, towel art, tree art. How about Fruit Art? The creations by chef Riju Kumar at Paradise Island are a carving cornucopia of Cucurbitaceae. He does both an exquisite array of floral geometric designs (see above) as well as renditions of animals and people. He uses a variety of fruits but mostly sticking to the melon family with watermelons and pumpkins.

With these inspired works, I have created a new category of “Maldives Fruit Art” in the Maldives Complete Pinterest collection. Usually on my boards, I try to show a range of resorts. But the prolific prodigy at Paradise has filled up the collection right from the get go.

Gourd-geous!

Paradise Island - carving

Paradise Island - pumpkin bird

Paradise Island - melon profile

Paradise Island - melon vase

Paradise Island - pineapple chicken

Paradise Island - swan melon

Paradise Island - melon fish

Paradise Island - flower melon

Paradise Island - Watermelon

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Best of the Maldives: Topiary – LUX Maldives

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LUX South Ari Atoll - topiary

International Book Day today is an apropos time for some more Dr Seuss style magic. This time hailing from LUX South Ari Atoll. They have composed their own living Whoville landscape on the resort…

“The gardening team of LUX* South Ari Atoll worked on the Ironwood Trees of the island west point sandbank by shaping them into a Japanese Zen Garden ‘on the beach’. The idea is to have a space of silence where guests can relax and let the day go by, under the shades of the trees but without missing out on their time on the beach.“

For those less familiar with the Seuss oeuvre, I’ve featured one of the drawing from his classic “Cat in the Hat” below which not only shows the parallel inspiration, but also features Mr Cat delivering books suitable for today’s occasion. The illustration further down has some of LUX’s local residents modelling for the topiary tops.

Fah who for-aze!

 

Dr Suess trees

Dr Suess LUX Maldives

  LUX South Ari Atoll - topiary 2

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Best of the Maldives: Green Eggs and Ham – Kurumba

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Kurumba - green eggs and ham 2

I am an aficionado of all forms of egg benedict. I have had just every variation imaginable, but I have never had “Green Eggs and Ham”.  Today is the birthday of the legendary writer Dr. Suess who own trailblazing creativity and whimsy would be right at home at Kurumba.  Their regular menu item is a gourmet delicacy that Sam-I-am (no relation to Will) would be just as enthusiastic about.

I also find it a bit prophetic that the recalcitrant narrator has his epiphany sitting in some shallow water (see below). I too would like them in a boat.  Maybe he was at Kurumba too.

I *DO* like green eggs and ham, Sam I am. Pesto with ham.

Kurumba - green and ham I like them

Kurumba - green eggs and ham 1

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Best of the Maldives: Water Park – Hideaway Beach

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Hideaway Beach - water park 1

If you need a little help with your leaping, then I recommend a visit to Hideaway Beach’s new water park. In fact, it looks like one of the best places to leap in the entire Maldives. Water trampoline, water slide, water bounce cushion, water climbing walls…

“Consisting of six inflatables such as a trampoline, slide, balance bar, linked by floating pontoons, this will be open daily and is free of charge to all of our guests (both little and grown up!). “

It even includes the Inflatable Body Launcher I called for in “Haven’t Seen Yet in the Maldives – Part 6”.

Geronimo!

Hideaway Beach - water park 2

Hideaway Beach - water park 3

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Best of the Maldives: Indoor Cinema – JA Manafaru

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JA Manafaru - cinema

And the Oscar for the best Cinema goes to…JA Manafaru.

About the only thing at our home that provides an idyllic comfort and relaxation on par with the Maldives is nestling down in front of our in-home cinema. When we hit a bit of discretionary income a few years back, we didn’t buy a fancy car or boat or second home. We installed a quite sophisticated home cinema – projection screen, THX 7:1 surround sound, and custom seating where we could put our feet up. You always get an ideal seat, you can drink a glass of wine and you can pause it if you need the toilet.

Today’s “Best of” gives an Oscar weekend double feature to Manafaru. As it happens, they feature double with two cinema set ups – one in the bar and one in the games area. It includes 10 foot wide screen with HD projection and surround sound.   A number of resorts now have outdoor cinemas where you can still soak up the tropical island vibe while enjoying your favourite flick.  But sometimes a bit of shelter from the elements and a space designed for viewing pleasure is the best cinematic experience.  Also, great inclement weather insurance for your Maldives holiday.

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