Travel Log: Maldives

Here's a photo log of eating and holidaying in the Maldives :)


Probably the best thin-crust pizza Margherita on the planet!


And it went so well with the Guinness




The same chef whipped up this pasta with cream sauce and a hint of truffle which was unbelievably good


At their Maldivian-Indian restaurant, we had papads with fig chutney. The chutney grows on you - the first time I tasted it, I wasn't impressed, but by the end of the meal, I was scooping it up



And that was followed by an unusual salad of tandoori vegetables in a cream-yogurt sauce


As we lazed by the pool, we ordered many things. One was a bowl of Japanese noodle soup, and then some fantastic sushi and finally a basic mozzarella and greens sandwich...tasted even better after a long swim and with the waves in the background!







And then a romantic dinner: we started off with a bread basket. The basket was so lovely and I enjoyed the wine...


My salad was hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, greens and avocado. I don't much care for avocado but the rest was scrumptious. I was half-way through it before I remembered to photograph it!


My main meal was Thai Green Curry Vegetable, stir-fried vegetables and Jasmine Rice. I couldn't photograph that well at all. The stir-fried veggies had a nice touch of some carved carrots in the shape of crabs! It was a delightful touch since we had crabs crawling around our feet the whole time! But my husband wasn't complaining when he got his clams and lobster.






The dessert was truly decadent. I had chocolate cake. My husband had tiramisu. Nothing could have tasted better! Especially sitting on the beach a few feet from the waves.



Sipping cocktails, snorkeling, swimming, lying by the beach, eating and really not having any agenda at all...that was a perfect holiday!




*sigh* I recommend the Maldives to everyone wanting a lovely break. Just an hour's flight from Bangalore city, or 1/2 hour from Trivandrum airport, the Maldives is a perfect weekend break.

Travel Log - "Do-Buy"

Do Buy - thats my new name for Dubai - the Las Vegas of the Middle East. Everything is geared for the shopper - endless malls and a mall for every block. And the malls are beautiful, you could actually spend a day at each one!

Shopping





















The most breath-taking mall that we went to is the Ibn Battuta mall. Each part of the mall is done up in a different architectural style from various countries. These photos are from inside the Persian section.

Every mall has similar stores. You can find the Pradas, YSLs and Guccis alongside the Forever 21s and Aldos. We spent 4 hours and saw 3 sections - out of 26 sections! As I said, you can spend an entire day...

Architecture

Everything in Dubai is the tallest, biggest, widest, most ostentatious than anywhere else in the world. And they are very proud of that. They are right now building the tallest building in the world at the rate of a floor a week! And they are also building office complexes in the shape of musical notes! And the reason I compare it to Las Vegas is because its all right there in the middle of the desert - all built where only sand existed earlier.

Skyscrapers are everywhere. Our hosts even joked that the nearest neighbor isn't the next apartment in your building, but the neighbour in the next building whose apartment you can even reach into if you wanted to!



There are some beautiful mosques all over the city. At twilight, we saw the Jumeirah Mosque, all lit up. Lovely! Incidentally, its also the only mosque that allows non-Muslims to visit inside its premises.




























Food

Needless to say, the Middle Eastern food is very good. A special mention for Al Hatam and Automatic, which are available in most places and are Dubai chains. The food is excellent. The only cuisine that I didnt get to taste was the Persian - the man at the restaurant politely said "Sorry. Nothing vegetarian" and went on to the next customer!

We happened on an Asian restaurant called Japengo (also a chain - but a "nice" chain) which served the most delicious buckwheat noodles with beansprouts and tofu. I went back to the restaurant and ordered the same dish in the 5 days that we were there. It was that good! Here's a photo that does not do it justice:


While we were at the Jumeirah Beach Park, we indulged in french fries, sandwiches and some za'atar croissants at Malik Burger. I brought some of the herb home with me and have since used it in slow-cooked scrambled eggs. The herb gives a very mild flavor and can be used for just about any seasoning.




Of special mention from my meat eating husband is Calicut Paragon. The Calicut Biryani is different from others in that it isnt flavored with turmeric, thus making it a white rice and tastes much like a ghee rice. Its quite different.

The desert

The most stunning view is from the flight as you land. You suddenly come across endless sand and all the dunes. Its quite amazing. We don't really see too much desert while in Dubai, which is mostly concrete and glass. But drive 20 minutes out of Dubai and there it is, camels and all.

The activity I most recommend is the quadikes. Just travel down the Hatta road, and it takes about 25-30 minutes from Dubai. They are so much fun and anyone can do them. They rent it out by the 1/2 hour and have different sized bikes - even ones for the little kids. The dunes are high and whizzing up and down them is totally cool!





This is a great article by The Independent on spending 48 hours in Dubai.