Best of the Maldives: Over Water Decks – AaaVee

AaaVeee overwater decks

You don’t need a water villa to enjoy the over water lounging at AaaVeee. This fresh new face in the Maldives resort crowd has added special decks that any can use for that over-water lounging vibe…

Perched majestically in 3 sturdy decks above the sea, these 3 nature discovery decks set on stilts overlooking the calm blue lagoon, scenic beach, peaceful islands and the ocean, boasts simply stunning views of dazzling sunsets. You could sunbath on these quiet comfortable wooden sunbeds while chilling with the excellent drinks which we provide.”

Best of the Maldives: Standard Water Vila Roof Deck – Nika

Nika - roof deck selfie

As much as people think about the underwater landscape of the Maldives, I enjoy just as much the view down on the mottled blue landscape. So it’s great when resorts offer a slightly elevated platform from which to enjoy the cerulean scene.

A number of high decks are available on resort islands, but Nika’s water villas provide a great platform from the comfort of your own vacation home and smack in the centre of the azure action. I’ve titled it “Standard Water Villa” because Six Senses Laamu also has a water villa roof deck, but it is a significantly higher cost band.

From Carolina Amora’s snap above, it looks like a nice view to me (the ocean looks good too).

Best of the Maldives: Vintage Cocktails – Velaa

Velaa - vintage cocktails

Vintages are the marques of distinctive quality for the finest wines, but how about “vintage” cocktails?  Velaa bills them as the Maldives’ “Rarest and Most Expensive Cocktails”.  Starting at $1,230, they would make a Top 10 list in the world are a mostly certainly the most exclusive in the Maldives.   But anyone can throw together lots of expensive ingredients. What I like is their distinctive attention to the story behind each…

History in a glass – the cocktails celebrate vintages from bygone years – using the finest vintage Ports, Cognacs and Armagnacs, such as Guy Lheraud, Vieil a unique 1930’s vintage as the base liquors for each drink…The dedicated mixology team at Velaa has developed their first-class repertoires for these fine aged cocktails and aim to transport guests back in time to the prohibition years in New York or Chicago.”

  • The Goal of 1934 (USD$2,090) – Inspired by the 1934 World Cup in Italy, where Czechoslovakia lost 2-1 to the host nation in the final. This cocktail is created with Guy Lheraud “Carafe Eve” 1934 and Bollinger “RD” Extra Brut, 1996.
  • A Good Year Cocktail (USD$1,930) – 1930, known as the year of peace and tranquillity, heard BBC Radio from London on 18th April reporting that “There is no news” and a good year for all, uses vintage Armagnac – Guy Lheraud, Vieil Armagnac 1930 and topped with Louis Roderer Cristal.
  • Lucky & Al (USD$6,530) – Homage to the Prohibition era in the US, this cocktail is created with a vintage 1930’s Guy Lheraud, Vieil Armagnac and Salon 1988 Champagne.
  • The Belle Époque (USD$4,285) – A time of peace and prosperity, this era is considered the start of the ‘golden age’ post World War I and is made with a rare Guy Lheraud, Vieil-Armagnac, “Baron Gaston Legrand” 1888 and Dom Perignon Cuvee Rose 1982.
  • Eiffel Tower (USD$2,470) – For 1990, when the Paris World Exhibition celebrated the Eiffel Tower, this cocktail is created with Guy Lheraud, Vieil-Armagnac “Baron Gaston Legrand” 1900 and Dom Perignon Onotheque 1996.
  • Fly me to the Moon (USD$1,230) – Based on the moment when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon, uses Vintage Port- Graham’s 1969 or Cognac Guy Lheraud “Fins Bois” 1969 and is topped with Salon 1999 champagne.

So you can toast today’s 127 anniversaire of the Tour Effel’s opening with a double distillation of “drinking stars”.

Best of the Maldives: Fish and Chips – Amilla Fushi

Amilla Fushi - fish and chips

Lillian Gish and hairy nips.

If molecular cuisine is the epitome of epicurean epiphanies, then the opposite end of the spectrum would be good old fashioned fish and chips. But in the Maldives, even this austere staple can have an artistic twist.

Amilla Fushi’s has taken a page from one of London’s top eateries, The Ivy, famous for both its celebrity clientele and for serving luxury fish and chips. The Fish & Chip Shop venue is located in the Baazaar eaterie run by leading Aussie chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan on the resort. They serve favourites such as battered or crumbed cod, haddock and scampi, as well as some of the more exotic local fishermen’s ‘catch of the day’.  Complete with newspaper wrapping (though I hope it is The Times or the International Tribune).

Chic Chippie.

 

Best of the Maldives: Instant Ice Cream – NIYAMA

NIYAMA - instant ice cream 2

If you can’t find gold, then make it. Instead of a pirate, that calls for an alchemist to magically turn ordinary ingredients into the most coveted taste treasure. That’s what NIYAMA has brought to its resort this past week with its pop-up Chin-Chin ice creamerie…

“Chin Chin Labs, the pioneers of made-to-order artisanal liquid nitrogen ice cream, is conjuring up culinary creations and haute cuisine ice cream at PER AQUUM Niyama from 16 – 21 March. Part of PER AQUUM’s PULSE line-up for 2016, adults and mini VIPs alike will be put under the spell of the ice cream magicians, straight out of London’s Camden Market, as they unveil exotic limited-time flavours at the pop-up parlour on the resort’s new island, ‘Play’. With all ice creams made fresh to order, the exclusive flavours will feature ingredients from the resort Chef’s own herb garden ranging from Roasted Sweet Coconut Curry, Mango & Saffron, Banana Blossom & Jasmine to dairy free options such as Passionfruit & Raw Cacao Nib. Guests can also get involved at the hands-on Nitro Workshops at BLU’s Cooking School on 17, 19 and 21 March. Hailed as the ‘Best ice cream parlour in England’ by The Times and the ‘Future of Ice Cream’ by The Observer in the UK, Chin Chin Labs has achieved a cult status amongst chefs and ice cream aficionados – not to mention children – the world over. Shunning traditional techniques and convention, Chin Chin Labs has been creating artisanal ice creams to order, frozen with liquid nitrogen and billowing with clouds of ‘ice’ since 2010. Having pioneered liquid nitrogen ice-cream as a retail concept, Chin Chin Labs uses liquid nitrogen at -1960C to freeze their handmade bases, which then boils away in a vapour cloud creating fresh ice cream.”

Liquid nitrogen chilled ice cream has been a staple of molecular gastronomy popularised by Heston Blumenthal (his Fat Duck restaurant is a few miles from our house and we have been frequenting it since he first started out). I’ve actually wondered when this culinary chemistry would make its way to this epicentre of epicurean luxury (#34 of ‘Haven’t Seen Yet – part 4’).

NIYAMA - instant ice cream

Best of the Maldives: Dine Around Tour – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

Park Hyatt Hadahaa - culinary treasures

Happy Easter! If the Easter Bunny didn’t bring you enough eggs, then maybe you need to go hunt for them. When our kids were younger, we not only organised treasure hunts on our Maldives visits, but we organised Easter egg hunts at our house or church before we tucked into our traditional Easter dinner of roast lamb and Lori’s famous carrot cake.

Park Hyatt Hadahaa offers a gastronomic treasure hunt every day (including eggs, though not the chocolate version), with their “Culinary Indulgence”. For $670 per couple, you are treated to 5 meals (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, evening cocktails with canapés, and dinner) at assorted special locations around the island.

Fortunately, I pilfered a treasure map about from a scallywag rogue indicating where the culinary treats and treasures can be found.

Happy hunting.

Best of the Maldives: “Glass Floor” – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi spa glass floor 1

One of the classic “wow” features of the super-deluxe properties are the glass floors in the water villas to peer down on the aquatic playground below. Soneva Fushi’s lack of water villas hasn’t stopped it from it from offering its own version of a truly ‘glass’ floor in its yoga pavilion. Down the centre of the room are glass floor panels. But instead of maritime life beneath, it has a sparkling canvas of crushed glass recycled from the island. It’s like an aquamarine carpet. Just another example of Soneva’s glass ingenuity.

Soneva Fushi spa glass floor 2

Best of the Maldives: Glass Tub – Six Senses Laamu

Six Senses Laamu - glass tub

The ‘Complete’ opposite of an ancient bath is a state of the art glass bath as featured by Six Senses Laamu. Not just a glass portal to the aquatic wonders below, but an entire 360 degree wrap-around of transparency. And if the simple concept of it wasn’t alluring enough, Kirsty Streater posted a modelling shot of the tub.

Clear?…Crystal!

Six Senses Laamu - glass tub 2

Best of the Maldives: Ancient Well – Anantara Kihavah Villas

Anantara Kihavah Villas - ancient well 2

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink…” – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

World Water Day today celebrates the precious commodity that is water. The magic elixir that makes our ‘blue planet’ teeming with life.

When a human being is left without food, shelter and any resources, it will die first from lack of water. One doesn’t necessarily think of the Maldives as a desert of water and yet it is probably as a precious here as anywhere on the planet. The vast majority of the county’s water supply has to come from desalination. Some rain water does fall on the land and get captured by natural aquifers. But modern Maldivian society long ago outstretched the capacity of these natural resources. You can still find these water relics around standing testimony to a society that cherished many precious natural resources not least of which was the water that surrounded it.

One of the best examples on a resort island of the old school water supply is the ancient well on Anantara Kihavah. The resort has reserved the site and put up a special information plaque for visitors…

  • During the 16th century traditional Maldivian methods to obtain fresh water on uninhabited rural islands including digging a hloe in the ground by hand. This method was limited to suitable types of ground only, such as clay, sand, gravel and mixed soil where only small boulders were found in the ground.”

Adjacent to the well is another related memorial to antiquity, the “Kihavah Gravestone”…

  • “According to the script on the Kihavah gravestone it dates back to the early 18th century and would have been crafted locally during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar. The stone offers a glimpse into this island nation’s history during a time when such beautiful coral carvings were typical. Though uninhabited until recently, Kihavah Huravalhi Island would have been visited by islanders from the neighbouring islands and atolls to collect fresh drinking water from the well, wood and palm trees leaves for use in everyday Maldivian life, as well as to harvest the Kui Ruh palm trees for young coconuts. Kihavah means ‘young coconut’. In addition, the tranquil isolation of the island provided an ideal sanctuary in which to cleanse the body. During one such visit to take a bath. Ms. Aiminaa Faami passed away. She was buried where she died, in accordance with the customary practice at the time. The gravestone marks her death as 1227 in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.”

Anantara Kihavah Villas - ancient well

Best of the Maldives: Tree Planting – Sun Siyam Irufushi

Sun Siyam Irufushi - tree planting 1

The first day of spring today as we passed the Vernal Equinox. A natural cause for celebration (especially up north) as the days now get longer than the nights. This celestial event is celebrated in a number of ways from throwing coloured powder (for the Hindu Festival of Holi) to balancing an egg (ancient Chinese belief says that you can stand an egg on its end on the first day of spring since due to the sun’s equidistant position between the poles of the earth at the time of the equinox, gravitational forces are balanced out).

But spring is especially a time of sprouting and rebirth. The baby lambs have started emerging on the farms in our area. The Mirror describes, “Spring equinox is symbolic of rebirth, renewal, and growth, and in ancient Italy, it was traditional for women to plant seeds in the gardens of Adonis on this day. The custom persists in Sicily, where women plant seeds of grains – lentils, fennel, lettuce or flowers – in baskets and pots. When they sprout, the stalks are tied with red ribbons and the flowers are placed on graves on Good Friday, symbolising the triumph of life over death.”

A number of resorts have offered tree planting on their property, but a few have stopped (running out of space) and others don’t support plaques. I appreciate that such commemoratives need to be done with taste and aesthetic sensitivity, but I do love the notion of being able to leave a positive part of yourself after your departure. Giving a people commemorative opportunities builds the sense of connection to this paradise and a reinforces an enduring empathy and support for its environmental challenges.

Sun Siyam Irufushi does support tree planting accompanied by simple wooden plaques noting the special occasion of the visit (cost is $300).

May your spring blossom with the vibrant colour of the Maldives wherever you are.

Sun Siyam Irufushi - tree planting 2