#NoFilter: Our Trip to the Maldives

A week ago, I was on a plane to paradise. This was the view:

#NoFilter

We arrived late last Thursday night, turquoise waters and white sandy beaches veiled for the time being under a sky of bright stars. Excitement and time change woke us up early enough the next morning to catch the sunrise (we were both pretty excited, but I'll let you guess which one of us really woke up the other). We spent the morning jumping into the water from our bungalow (yes!) and exploring the fish below. There were so many colorful ones right in our lagoon that excitement grew for scuba diving later in the day.

In the afternoon, Mike completed the first of four dives required for his certification. I joined him, and together with a guide, we dove 40 feet deep and swam through schools of fish, eyeing a sting ray and a giant clam.

Not a bad location for your first ocean dive (#NoFilter)

Saturday was dive day. We completed three dives, two of which I did alone with a guide while Mike's scuba skills were getting tested. The first dive was the highlight -- going down to 65 feet and exploring cliffs of coral where we spotted three (!) blacktip sharks, eels, and a sea turtle, the most magical creature of all. I was surprised at how easily scuba diving came back to me, and I quickly remembered why I had fallen in love with it in the first place. It's an amazing feeling to breathe under water and enter the ocean home of so many different species otherwise left alone and unseen.

On the dive boat

Sunday came way too quickly. It was our last day, but we weren't leaving until later that evening. We spent it swimming in the ocean and the pool, drinking out of coconuts, relaxing in hammocks, and frolicking around the resort. Not a bad way to spend your Sunday.

#NoFilter

The trip to the Maldives was incredible. I'm convinced that it's the most beautiful place on Earth, and I'm ruined for life because nowhere else can compare. I feel blessed to say that I've been even though now, it feels like it was all a dream.

For more photos of this paradise, check out my (#NoFilter) album on Flickr.

Zhoumo kuaile!

I cannot wait to...

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/165296248798415458/

We leave tomorrow for THE MALDIVES!

Zhoumo kuaile!

Have I kept you waiting long enough?

Here are photos of where we'll be staying:

It'll be my Pinterest board come to life!

I'm SO excited. It's all I've been thinking about, at night in bed and when I first wake up. I'm already dreading leaving a place I haven't yet stepped foot in.

Mike did well. I'm not sure how I'm going to top this one.  

He spilled the beans!

It just came out, and when it did, I said, "We're going where?!" 

To be fair, I don't know how he was able to keep it a secret for this long. 

Should I tell you? For now, I'll say that I was floored when I found out. Mind blown. Expectations exceeded. So excited.  

Zhoumo kuaile!

It's a long weekend here in China. Thursday was Labor Day and the Government gave employees Friday off too so they could have three days off in a row. But Sunday is a work day, making next week a six-day workweek. All Chinese holidays, by the way, work in the same way. The system, to my foreigner mind, is flawed. I don't get it and I don't like it. Isn't working on a Sunday sacrilegious or something? Give me one day off and don't mess with my weekends.

In other, more exciting news, Mike is getting the first part of his dive certification done this weekend (thanks to Padi-endorsed Big Blue). I joined him in the pool yesterday to get my certification refreshed and I was a pretty happy to be breathing underneath the water again, if only in an indoor swimming pool in Shanghai.

A couple of weeks from now, we'll be exchanging the pool for a sea or an ocean in a tropical destination -- or so I'm told. Remember my mystery trip? Here are a few more clues I've received since then:

• Our layover is in Hong Kong. 
• We're staying in a hotel that's not part of a major chain. 
• Our return is a red-eye. 
• It's a country Mike has not yet traveled to (so it could be Thailand since I went there without him). 

Any other guesses? Help me out!