Spinning around One & Only Reethi Rah this past Easter was “world-renowned, real-life Iron Man, Richard Browning, also known as ‘the flying man’ [soaring] above the lagoon with his jet-powered super hero suit.”
Best of the Maldives: In Pool Spinning – Kandima
After all those buffet pastries, you might need a workout. Maybe a spinning session, or some time in the pool. Or at Kandima, both at the same time! Another “Finally Seen” gets ticked off (#24 of Part 4).
Best of the Maldives: Red Velvet Croissant – Malahini Kuda Bandos
Next on the buffet table of cross-over croissants is Malahini Kuda Bandos’ Red Velvet Croissants at breakfast (melding in the classic Red Velvet Cake inspiration).
Best of the Maldives: Cronuts – Kandima
Best of the Maldives: Palm Crockery – Sun Siyam Irufushi
Sculpture Day today is a great occasion to share Sun Siyam Irufushi’s sculpted homage to the iconic palm in which they serve their spa tea. And also an apropos time to add the “Sculpture” tag to the blog.
Best of the Maldives: Palm Friendly – AaaVeee
Today Earth is celebrating Earth Day to appreciate the special blessing that is this spinning ball of rock and water. Its fragility as a home to humanity and millions of other species has becoming increasingly clearer in recent years and more people are looking for ways to live in harmony with the planet rather than conquering new frontiers. I’ve always described the Maldives as “that iconic plot of sand with a palm tree on it”. The palm tree is very much symbol of marooned life floating in the ocean and palms are indeed the centrepiece of the island ecosystem. And if one island exemplifies and nurtures this Arecaceae appreciation, it is AaaVeee.
There must be more palms trees per square foot than any island I have ever been to. The resort goes to considerable lengths to keep and foster even more. Many of the buildings were simply built around the trees with their trunks sticking through holes in the roof. The main bar has 5 palm trees piercing the rooftop rather than removing them.
In fact, the palm trees themselves do their bit as well. Nazeeh showed me a few seedling “twins” on the island (two trees growing out of a single pod). And the island features a very curious specimen which refuses to shed its fronds when they die (see photo at bottom) creating quite a striking collection of old fronds.
Best of the Maldives: Instagram Post – Conrad Maldives
Maldives has always been a celebrity magnet from movie stars to world champion athletes, but there very definition of the term celebrity might just go to recent visitor Kim Kardashian. I’ve covered the top Instagrammers invading this tropical paradise using the Follower count. But the resort marketing directors will be quick to point out that it is all about engagement. And that metric starts with “Likes”. When I consider posts for inclusions in my various “Fashion” collections, popularity is a consideration (ie. a borderline photo with an amazing number of Likes might get included). A few hundred likes is pretty typical for a fine shot even among the more popular fashionistas. Four-figures raises an eyebrow, 5-figures is quite amazing and anything beyond that is quite jaw dropping.
So what it the most popular Instagram post from the Maldives of all time? From what I can determine in my pretty extensive research, it is Kim Kardashian’s “shallow wallow” (a class Maldives pose) Conrad Maldives at with a stratospheric 3,323,466 Likes
The next closest (the only other 7-figure post) I have seen is Kriti Sanon’s (19.2 million Followers) post with 1,289,564 Likes.
❤
Best of the Maldives: Skating Museum – Jumeirah Vittaveli
Possibly one of the most unexpected “best ofs” in my decade of writing about the Maldives, Jumeirah Vittaveli’s ice rink, just got a bit more so. The resort has opened an ice skating museum! It feature memorabilia from the career of Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko. Maldives Insider covered the opening…
- “Jumeirah Vittaveli has announced plans to open an ice skating museum at the resort’s ice skating rink in honour of Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko. Plushenko will honour Jumeirah Vittaveli with a performance for the first anniversary of the opening of Ice Ice Maybe…, the first eco-friendly artificial ice rink in the destination…Plushenko inaugurated the ice rink on March 20, 2018, and is returning this year for the anniversary celebrations of the ice rink, as well as to launch an Olympic gold medal winner ice skating museum at the ice rink. The museum will showcase costumes and skates from Pushenko’s famous gold medal winning performances.”
For those who don’t think there are cultural activities in the Maldives, I’ve added a new “Museum” tag to the blog (though I wouldn’t go expecting the Smithsonian).
Best of the Maldives: Luxury Cone – Kuramathi
Epicurean extravagance doesn’t have to be as elaborate as a chauffeured odyssey, but can be as simple as an ever so slightly decadent ice cream cone. Well, really decadent in Kuramathi’s case…
- “Savour our new ice cream cup selections and customized cones at The Palm in #Kuramathi #Maldives. With less #sugar, you can now have healthier ice cream and enjoy them (almost) guilt-free.”
”Guilt free”? Who’s feeling guilty?
Best of the Maldives: Luxury Dinner Experience – Jumeirah Vittaveli
The ever escalating arms-race for the biggest payload of opulence has tended focus on the venue, namely an underwater room. But Jumeirah Vittaveli’s latest foray onto the battlefield of epicurean extravagance demonstrates that you can have an aircraft carrier scale lavishness of experience even without the subaquatic dining table. This Is Insider reports the details…
- “Those opting for the experience will be picked up from their home by a butler and whisked off to the closest airport to board a private jet bound for the Maldives. A private catamaran will then take you to the resort. Then, on whatever day you choose, a private seaplane will take you to Michelin-starred chef Ollie Dabbous’ [see photo above] island pop-up HIDE restaurant for an exclusive meal. Afterwards, you get to unwind on a private yacht. The experience includes a five-night stay in one of the resort’s new Private Ocean Retreats, which come equipped with winding slides.”
And with a price tag of $50,000, it might just be the most expensive meal “out” in the world. So if the spouse says they don’t particularly fancy cooking tonight, be careful saying “anything you like, honey”.