Wow. What a trip of a lifetime. My husband and Ever After Honeymoons put this magical trip together, and I am so grateful.
It was perfect, despite the fact that I twisted my ankle and had several other hilarious injuries (you know me).
We flew Singapore Air Business Class the whole way. The amazing Krisflyer lounges and overall luxury of a Singapore Air made for a vacation, even in the air. However, one thing to note about Singapore Air - my TV was broken on the way back which was highly unfortunate since we strategically booked our flights home during our day time, I was going to stay awake and hopefully get a head start on adjusting back to Mountain Time. Singapore Air did not compensate us for the loss.
Our first leg on Singapore Air was from San Francisco to Tokyo. Tokyo is 17 hours ahead which is super weird.. and since we were only there for 2 days, we hardly adjusted. In hindsight, we may have spent a little more time in Tokyo, because we enjoyed it so much.
[Singapore Air acknowledging our HONEYMOON with a cake. Too cute.]
[Before take-off drinks, obviously the OJ is for some small child (or Kevin)]
[That hat, never to be seen again. I didn’t even make it to the Maldives with it! You can buy it here]
Don’t leave home without your (all gold everything) notebook and computer!
If you’ve never stayed in an Aman hotel, I suggest you add that to your bucket list. The Aman Tokyo is the hotel of all hotels. I could have stayed the entire two weeks inside on full relax mode but there were things to do and see. We were severely jet-lagged so we ended up spending more time inside than we would have liked in our short two days, but no regrets here – the Aman is an experience in itself.
[Our Room]
[You know how obsessed I am with bathtubs]
[I ate porridge every morning for breakfast because my tummy just wasn’t adjusting to Tokyo time!]
[Yoga in the clouds? I won’t complain]
[We took one really long nap right here.. how could we not?]
[The day we were leaving, Tokyo cleared up. Bright crisp skies..]
Tokyo culture is so neat. The service, no matter where we went, was impeccable. We landed in Tokyo and fell asleep in the car on the way to our hotel. Got dressed, and went straight for Sushi at XEX ATAGO. Exceptional meal, even jet-lagged. We had a great time there, despite being sleepy. . . and when dinner was finished, our host had a free limo waiting for us. It was such a treat and the perfect way to kick off our trip!
[Sushi at XEX]
[Xex was beautifully designed]
[Yes, I cut his hair]
[Shot from the famous Shibuya-Crossing – taken by my amateur husband. He did a good job, right?]
We flew Singapore Air from Tokyo to Singapore (7 hour flight) and from Singapore to Male (4 hour flight). Traveling was pretty easy-peasy and there were no delays! Woo. I know for sure that this was because our travel agent used her expertise when scheduling the flights – we had plenty of time to hang out in between (and who doesn’t love hanging out in the KrisFlyer lounges??).
[They have Ramen & Wine & Wifi]
Malé is the capital of the Maldives. It’s such a cool experience to land in Malé, a city in the middle of the ocean! The Maldive Islands are Muslim in religion, and even though you’re going on a “beach vacay” – I suggest respecting their religion and not wearing anything too risqué in Malé (save that for your over-water-villa!).
[Flying over the islands]
If you’ve never flown in a seaplane.. WHAT are you waiting on?? Bucket list that for sure! The Maldives islands are breathtaking from way above and to get to your island, you must take a seaplane (or boat, I guess). Cheval Blanc has their own seaplane, which was such a treat.
Landing in Randheli (the island Cheval Blanc is on) was like a dream. You’re immediately greeted by smiling staff holding fresh cold towels for you to freshen up. This is when we met Anwar, our Island dad, or I guess some people cal them "butler"...but I don't really like that word.
[Arriving at Cheval, unreal]
[Anwar below, "dad"]
Our Villa (#40) was an over-water oceanside villa, and it was magical. How could the inside be just as amazing as the outside? How is this possible? Well, it was.
The villa design looked to be inspired by a cathedral. The ceilings were tall and lofty – we had so much space.
Anwar asked if we would like him to unpack for us and even though we declined, we knew we were embarking on something luxurious and unlike anything we’ve ever experienced!
What are honeymoons for though?? RELAXATION. Because, WHAT a year.
[We lived here for 10 days]
We spent the afternoon getting to know our villa and listening to Hotline Bling really loudly (it was super popular then, ok). I did a lot of swimming in our infinity pool with a champagne bottle.. I think you get the picture; FULL ON celebration.
The next ten days we soaked up every bit of paradise we could. We took naps, rode our bikes, looked for seashells, searched for the baby shark, you know, really stressful things.
The highlight of the trip was our jet-ski adventure. There is something invigorating about driving those tiny jet-skis out in the great wide open with crazy waters beneath you. I was unfortunately dealing with a sore ankle so I was trying hard not to toss myself off – it’s not as easy as it sounds! TAKE ME BACK.
[Shisha aka Hookah, too fun on the island — and that twisted ankle]
[Some days, we had the meals brought to us]
One extra romantic night at Cheval, Kevin coordinated a private beach showing just for us of Eat, Pray, Love. We even had a private chef who set up a kitchen on the beach and cooked us seafood BBQ and dessert (with extra Cloudy Bay) - I still drink this wine to this day.
Poor Anwar had to take me to pee like 6 times. I was fine popping a squat right there in the ocean but it would've embarrassed Kevin and we were trying to be romantic.
Leaving Cheval was not easy. Among all the other fabulous things about it, we made friends. I hope one day we get to return and relive that entire experience.
Malé to Singapore was another easy leg of the trip. We made it to Singapore around 7pm, had dinner at our hotel and did some walking around. Singapore is such a clean city, it was impressive right from the start.
The Fullerton Bay Hotel was cozy. Coming off a high from the Maldives and going to a place like Singapore took some adjusting. But the delicious food and sightseeing claimed worthy. My highlights from Singapore (don’t laugh – they’re obviously eating) were high tea and chili crab!!! Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Botanic Gardens (and I even saw a weird animal, possibly a dragon, see INstagram).
[We even saw Kim Kardashian, photo below]
We spent two days in Singapore and then we traveled Singapore Air back home. Coming home was so weird. I miss the honeymoon life — like crazy — but hey, real life ain’t so bad either!
Make sure you’re subscribed to collectivelycandice.com so that you get my newsletter! The good, the bad, and the ugly. Mostly good though.
[You can find more photos from our trip on Instagram #mooninginthemaldives15]
What is the best trip you’ve been on?? I would love to hear about your excursions!
