Maldives

Can’t say no to “Maldives for free” is how we sold it to ourselves. It probably took a whole of five seconds to give in. So, with cheaper flights back to Cyprus from Maldives than from Kuala Lumpur, we conceded into a weeklong paradise stopover.

The move was also a chance to erase an embarrassing dent into our traveling ego. Last time we were going home from the Pelican (The Sequel) our plane landed on Maldives to pick up extra passengers. And so we were there, in our seats, with time to spare and no chance to get off. Pretty much a disaster scenario for the Jug team. We said we will be back. At some point.

And there is no better time than now. Especially as things changed in Maldives. Basically, the government realized a few years ago that they are missing out on a whole universe of budget conscious tourists – you know, the ones that trawl up and down Thailand. In historical move to get more beach worshippers they opened their local inhabited islands to tourism (as opposed to resort islands you have seen in the postcards). We selected Dharavandhoo island as out host for one key reason – it practically rolls of the tongue and they are known for a Manta ray or two. Sunny days we thought at this stage.

In yet another masterstroke of planning we decided to stay on one of this islands during a holy month of Ramadan. It didn’t take long to realise that outside of tourist islands they take they religion seriously here. Not only are there no drinks on the island (other than lime infused water, ginger infused water, or even lime and ginger infused water) there will also be no food until sunset. Just to confirm, drinks were available only after sunset as well. OK, why not we though, as we imagine our bodies slimming down to Kate Moss size before leaving Maldives.

As we settle into our beach front property (everything in Maldives is beach front located anyway) our ears start picking up that all too familiar sound of minimal pest control. We wanted authentic local and that translated into s*it load of mozzies and send files. So much so, that part of our team (you really don’t need to guess at this stage, right?) was forced to be locked in the room. Just for a record, we (well, Nives) got bitten through clothes and that is with “natural mosquito repellent” on. And this is during the day. Don’t even ask about evenings and nights. So, room it was, with 24h CNN coverage, we never felt as informed on a holiday before. So much for the real Maldives - best to stick to a tour operator brochure island for you next honeymoon.

None of this mattered to us anyway. We are here to be entertained by endless tornado of Manta rays in Hanifaru bay as promised by yet another UNESCO designated site. What you see on TV / online isn’t what the real life turns out to be yet again (at this stage, we are asking ourselves how stupid can we be?). Out of 6 days hunting for manta rays we only managed to go out once. This is even after using all the latest drone flying technology to find them. Overall it was nice, but we have not seen as many manta rays as we wanted (well, as many as Nives wanted).

With deeply mixed feelings we packed one last time and prepared for a four flight 30h ordeal called “getting our cattle class asses back home to Cyprus”. And also, that Kate Moss thing didn’t work out either – you actually can consume a day’s worth of food in one sitting.

Some bonus pictures here.

Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

We didn’t write a lot of about KL on this blog. We have been here so many times by now, we don’t do the tourist stuff anymore (so much so, that we struggled to find a single picture from our stay here on this trip!). It is our Asian home; our home away from home. Place we know and love. Where we come to rest, recuperate and lick our wounds. Where we have our favorite places to eat, party, shop. Or just do “normal” stuff like cinema, laundry or watch TV late into the night. And as the trip went on, we realized we were happier and happier to come back and less and less keen to leave. That view of the Boys (AKA Petronas towers) is just magical and keeps you glued to the city.

So, what part of town to stay in? For us the key is to stay within golden triangle with walking distance to all our must visit locations. This is also where all the high-rise hotels and apartments are – what a happy coincidence. With KL topping the charts for most affordable accommodation on the planet it totally makes sense to get some sunshine into the wallet and go for a 5 star fancy apartment high off the ground. This will set you back less than sleeping on the bench in Singapore. Also they will allow you to leave luggage behind between visits – key for us as we are hauling around almost 80 kg on full load by the end of the trip (if you have shares for Crocks, well done! This will be a very good year!). It's all nice to be practical, but the key sales point is sleeping on 40th plus floor as we are bottom dwellers back home. With frequent visits we often get upgraded for free into deluxe 100 m2 apartment – not that we need it for anything other than play hide & seek. Still not convinced? They even have a Nespresso coffee machine – I hear your brain buzzing about buying flights to KL.

So how does our time here look like? We finally caught up with technology and are using Grab or Uber to get in / out of the city. Once settled into our home, it’s time to walkabout. Petronas towers with its Suria shopping mall is the place for Nonya laksa dish. That’s lunch sorted, before we head over to Pavilion shopping mall to stock up on French wine, Irish butter & cheddar cheese and Japanese Hokkaido tarts. Across the road is i-setan store for sushi and on the way back home we stop in Indian restaurants for dinner and breakfast takeaway. If we don't have too many perishables we drop in one of massage parlors for quick foot massage. Then we settle into dinner at home pigging through all the excessive grub we bought. Pass out and then repeat next day – we are sane enough not to expect a different outcome.

Needless to say, it was hard to pack and say goodbye. Especially as we do not know when we are coming back next. But we are coming back, that is for sure.

So this is not a goodbye, but rather until we see you next time, Kuala!

Japan, Epilogue

As we are sorting out our impressions of Japan – and they are plentiful – few things will definitely stick with us.

This is an amazing place. It is definitely very special and different. It has its own culture and set of values that are so different to what we are used to. Only regret we have is to have traveled to Taiwan before Japan. Some things, that would have been absolutely special and unique now were not (we caught ourselves few times saying how similar something was to Taipei). But then, not sure why we are surprised, Japan and Taiwan have been sharing a lot of (intertwined) history and Taiwan was actually under Japanese rule until after WW2.

Connection with past and traditional values. It feels very alive in Japan. Seems as thou there is some way traditions are still influencing modern life more than they do in west. From clothes to attitude, from manners to music, fashion to makeup, seems they are still very aware of their past.

Food

Japan has amazing cuisine that is so much more than sushi. Not that we don’t like sushi – we adore it! But it was nice to have been able to see and try other things as well. What surprised us thou, were prices for fruit and veggies. We thought we were blind first time we saw a melon for a €100 (well, there were specials for two for €170). Cherries retail at about €3-5 a pop. As do strawberries. Mangos are sold wrapped with ribbons at about €100 a package of one, albeit a very handsome package. We dare you to be vegetarian here!

Toilets

I know, sounds bizarre, but it took quite a time to figure out all the functions: from different types of washing to drying. Not to mention heated toilet seats. If anyone ever decides to start selling this in Europe, you have a buyer.

Safety

It is absolutely ridiculous how safe Japan is, like a Vatican vault. Just to make a point let us share our experience. When we crossed Japan Alps we sent our luggage with currier service. And when we were arranging this at the train station (yup, train station – synonym for all bad that can happen to you everywhere else in the world), the luggage guy went to get a new pen and left money unattended for about five minutes. Seriously! We were in total shock. We just felt for all those Japanese tourists who find their way to Johannesburg. They probably get mugged on Day 1 and just head back to airport to go home.

Queues

Seems Japanese are waiting for everything. To eat. To have coffee. To buy things. To enter museums, shops… anything really. To cross the street. To go on bus, train, metro… But it is not the waiting that mesmerized us, it is the orderly queues they do it in! Seemed so natural. Well, possibly not to the two of us. Instant gratification is really not a thing here.

Traffic jams

There are none. But there are considerable people jams. Especially on the metro! Everyone is neatly waiting in the queue for their turn to get on already full trains. Not to worry that you won’t get on – they actually employ people who push passengers in! Seriously, we have seen places where cattle was treated better. And RyanAir seems like a first class service.

Stairs

There is something in Japan about the escalators – there are few and rare. So, we went up and down, and down and up. Over and over again. One would think its fine as long as you can find a nice place and rest on a bench. Yeah, in theory! These are non-existent in Japan. As are bins (we kept carrying our garbage back to the room!). It is probably government policy to discourage loitering and resting. Really hard on our Mediterranean souls…

Order

There is order and effectiveness in everything. Even the roads are built in 3D, so traffic can go on and on with minimal interruptions. Trains, busses and every other way of transport are on time here. For real – we do not mean the Irish way where plus/minus five minutes counts on time. Taxi cars are all same and they have doors that automatically open and close. It is almost as the whole country has an OCD!

Road Safety

So many people are doing menial jobs trying to keep everyone safe: directing traffic and people. You would think you are in a third world place where government is just coming up with schemes to fight unemployment, not in one of the G7 countries. It takes two people with jedi sticks doing the dance to get a car from the garage! On the other hand, they cycle without helmets and let you get so close to moving trains (and they move pretty fast here!) you can feel the wind in your underpants. Bizarre!
Space. It definitely is a commodity. Hotel rooms are beyond small. IKEA is prospering here, only the furniture probably is not compact enough. They actually sell 120cm beds as a double. We booked twin rooms quite a few times to avoid midnight bed fights.

But most of all, Japan will stay with us as a magical, special place. One that you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. And then come back. Again and again.