Male Island, The Maldives

We landed slightly past 9pm on a Saturday. Having been to Male ( pronounced as Maa'lay) for the third time, this is the only time I felt most at eased. But it was a truncated relaxed feeling ! for the reception from officials of the Education Ministry was honestly beyond expectation to the point of being uncomfortable; with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and stretching the other to shake hands with our Maldivian friends were abit too much for me. My friends and I were ushered to the VIP room and before we could sit down, tea were served accompanied with tuna sandwiches. And before we could utter any pleasantaries, our luggages suddenly appeared and finishing the spread, we were taken to jetty number one for a fifteen minute boat ride to Male Island. Yes, Male airport is on a separate atoll and the capital of Male is on another atoll. The Maldives is an island country consisting of close to 1200 atolls spreading thousands of kilometers from north to south situated south west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Tourism is indeed the number one income earner for the Maldives. There are many world class resorts on the many atolls, with its beautiful white sandy beaches. And its not cheap ! And if one is lucky enough, one can sometimes meet those rich and famous who frequented those resorts.
Male, the capital of the Maldives is very densely populated. Its an atoll about 2km long and almost .75 km wide. Zillions of motorbikes can be seen ( either parked or on the move ) in Male especially at the waterfront. One would presumed that these two wheelers belong to Maldivians who left their motorbikes in Male for work at the outer atolls. With its narrow streets and people scurrying around, it is an experience to behold for those not familiar with downtown Bangkok or Jakarta. But, it has its own charm and character with its friendly and gentle people. I simply love the waterfront of Male.There are boats and boats and boats and passengers embarking and disembarking all the time, perhaps going to the many atolls
around Male and of course including tourists from many countries. Maybe, if I have the means or meet a nice genie I would certainly request to spend some time in one of those resort islands. Until then, I can only flip the nice brochure of a 7 star resort I found in my hotel room in Male.

The Waterfront - Kota Kinabalu

I had visited Kota Kinabalu ( KK ) many times in the past but none can compare to my latest trip to this capital city of Sabah aka "land below the wind". This time I spent 3 free and easy days with no meetings and appointments. The waterfront has changed quite a bit. Its cleaner, more organised with multi-stories apartment buildings inter-spaced with shopping complexes facing the sea and nearby islands. Very pleasant indeed. Amongst the shop that my other half and I spent some time was Starbucks and the Times bookshop. ( In fact between us, we bought 3 books altogether and gobbled them up before our flight to Kuala Lumpur and home) Immediately by the sea are the normal neat row of eating shops and stalls being active in the late afternoons and evenings. Seafood dishes are the norm and there are some decent outlets here. The waterfront has indeed been transformed since I last visited, to give KK that special place for cities in Malaysia which has an excellent waterfront ! ( unlike Malacca which used to have a cool waterfront in the sixties but gave it all up in the name of progress in the mid-eighties onwards. They called it progress ! I called it sad)