18 Hours in Doha

On our way back to Hong Kong from the Maldives we opted for a stop over in Doha. At Doha's airport there are different terminals depending on whether you are transiting to another flight or staying in Doha. Everyone gets crammed on the same bus after deboarding the airplane and the bus stops at both terminals. We started to question our logic in staying in Doha a little bit when departing the transit terminal and Melissa and I were the only two people left on the bus.

As soon as you step out of the terminal Doha's heat hits you and you begin to sweat if you don't find ac, fast. It was "only" 100 the taxi driver said, but that was hot enough for us!

Checking in we were informed that we had been upgraded to a W Suite! We have stayed at one when we were first visiting Hong Kong so we knew we were in for a real treat.

Multiple bathrooms, executive desk, dining area, the room was spectacular! As we arrived around noon and most places would be closing for afternoon prayer soon, we just decided to order room service - chicken shawarmas.. yum!

Over lunch, we signed up for the hop on hop off bus tour. After speaking with the concierge, he arranged for the tour bus to stop by our hotel and pick us up! We felt a bit sorry for the other tourists, but not that much - it was hot, hot!

As soon as you step on the bus you are handed a set of headphones and bottle of water and after 15 minutes in the heat we really needed it. We took some seats on the open air upper deck. The tour was advertised as two plus hours, but we could have driven the route in 45 minutes if the bus driver actually drove the speed limit.

The first thing we noticed was how clean and blue Qatar's waters were which were not at all what we were expecting.



Most of the sites were good enough just driving past or I didn't want to wait in the heat for 30 minutes for the next bus. Qatar's wealth comes from liquified natural gas or LNG, and they spare no expense on their buildings or city infrastructure! There is so much green grass and a skyline that's as unique as any modern city. It was like every building was a "special project".

Construction is everywhere and construction cranes dot the skyline. There seem to be more unfinished buildings in the central business district than finished ones!

Zig Zag Towers

After walking around the narrow alleys of Souq Waqif and doing some shopping, we decided it was time for dinner and we were not going to miss an opportunity to get some authentic Arabic food. We ended up at an Iraqi restaurant where we had hummus and chicken kabab. When I asked for the bill we were a bit puzzled when they came out with a plate of sweets and arabic sweet tea. We didn't really want it but tried the sweets and drank our tea to be polite.

On our way to the taxi stand we went to a Arabic pastry shop where we stocked up on various types of baklava. 

A few days prior to our departure we were emailed a great offer from Qatar Airlines to inexpensively upgrade to business class for our long haul flight back to Hong Kong. Just jokingly I mentioned it to Melissa, but with a big grin she was all over that! Qatar Airlines advertises itself as a 5 star airlines, and now we can truly testify to it. When we arrived at the airport the taxi dropped us off at the premium terminal where there were no lines and you sit while they check you in. Within 5 minutes we had checked in and were already past security making our way to the lounge where they had a huge buffet and even eggs made to order! This might be too much info but I even saw a staff member cleaning the mens toilets with fresh scent and tidying up after every use! On the plane the level of service was equally extraordinary. In business class you are presented not only with a toiletry kit, but also a full set of comfy pajamas to change into for the flight, and a Ferragamo gender specific perfume kit! The food was great as was the service, simply stated truly a 5 star airline. United Airlines economy plus leaves a lot to be desired after that experience! 

Afternoon in Male

One afternoon we took a tour to Male, the capital of the Maldives. The largest city is only a 15 minute boat ride from the hotel. The main island is so small you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 minutes.

The tour guide explained all the sights on a map and then we were off. As soon as we made it between the buildings, we lost the cool ocean breeze and it became very hot! We walked past the president's office then headed to a old mosque made out of coral with ornate carvings on the exterior as well as the gravestones.

Next stop was the Sultans park. There were some old historic buildings with huge trees in the center. At the tops of all of the trees, there were hundreds of large bats just hanging upside down getting some sleep. 

The last stop before the shopping was the largest mosque on the island. I had to cover up in order to enter. Since it was not prayer time the place was empty but they said over 5,000 people attend Friday prayer there.

Heading to the market we first stopped at a fish stand. They had barracuda, dolphin fish, and swordfish on display but the main fish in the market was tuna.

The Maldives prides itself for its sustainable tuna harvesting practices.  Only the bait fish are caught with nets and all other fish specifically tuna (their largest export fish) are all line and pole caught. The varieties were huge from 18 inches long to ones that were 5 feet long. That gave me an idea for dinner that night - Maldivian tuna curry which was awesome!

We quickly walked past the vegetable market and got to the souvineer street so Melissa could get down to business. Our main tour guide wanted to take us to specific shops and we quickly figured out that there must be some kickback to the company as the prices were crazy. We pulled the tour guide in training Youseuf and told the main guide we would meet him back at the boat. This was much better as we hopped from every store until we found the perfect (and much cheaper!) authentic Maldivian lacquered vase to add to our collection. After our successful shopping trip, we treated ourselves and Youseuf to ice cream as we waited for the rest of the group for the boat trip back to the Sheraton.

The Sunny Side of Life

Our first post busy season trip of 2014 was to the Maldives! There are almost 1,200 islands in the Maldives but we only saw a few...While doing research for the trip Melissa saw these red seaplanes and was really looking forward to taking one to get to our resort. I reluctantly had to inform her that the Sheraton Full Moon Resort was just a 20 minute speed boat ride from the island airport, good that saved us the exorbitant $450 ticket price per person. These islands are so small that even the capital and its main (only) airport are on two different islands. The space on the airport's island is at so much of a premium there are no taxiways so once you reach the end of the runway, you have to turn around and head down the same runway to take off or exit to the terminal.

As the Maldives is an Islamic nation they are very strict on what can be brought into the country including no alcohol or pork. After you claimed your bags they even x-rayed them to make sure of it! But lucky for us it would not be a dry trip as alcohol is allowed at the resort islands which comes at a cost - a very expensive hotel alcohol permit.

After exiting the terminal, we located the Sheraton desk and were soon boating off to the resort's island. After getting checked in we took a golf cart to our room. We were not there for long as we were itching to explore the island. In front of our building there was a nice little beach with a beach bar and the main restaurants were just a short 10 minute walk away. We walked down the beach to the Anchor Bar for a late lunch and to watch the sunset.

The next morning we hit the beach just after breakfast claiming our lounge chairs under some palm trees for a nice spot to spend the day. On our walk along the beach it was hard not to notice these "don't touch the stingrays" signs. If you look a bit closer you will see a white stingray partially covered by the sand. We saw this same white stingray every day as it would swim just along the shore. While hunting for shells most of the ones we picked up were already homes to little hermit crabs. Just off the beach were a few coral reefs that had seen better days but were still home to plenty of colorful fish.

The island is covered with different types of palm trees and numerous flowering plants from hibiscus to frangipani that were so fragrantful you could not help but pick one off the tree for a sniff.

Melissa absolutely loved this peacock fan palm tree! 

There was not much to decide except where to sun and what to eat - perfect for a relaxing vacation!

Anchorage Bar has outdoor beds which were perfect to watch the sunset and have a beer. Every evening there was a shark feeding, with a lonely small black tip reef shark being the only one that showed up. 

One of our last sunsets the hotel put on a traditional Maldivian dance show which was quite interesting - note there are no women? After the show we headed toward the over water bungalows to view the sunset. A perfect way to end a great stay. We will be back!

Food and Fun in Kota Kinabalu

When my mom asked me what we were planning on doing in Kota Kinabalu (aka "KK"), I told her that we were just going to eat seafood and relax...and we did just that! We quickly found the promenade with its ocean side restaurants and bars. We ate and drank there several times during our stay in KK - just enjoying the view and the nice ocean breeze. Our first day, I had a dark Irish Kilkenny beer which I had not had in a while. I guess I will not have it again - until I forget again that it is in fact a dark beer. 

Across the street from our hotel there was a huge night market which has a large variety of fresh grilled seafood. When we asked the hotel staff about it, they all tried to deter us from eating there. We decided to stay away from the ice and proceed anyways. Boy it was over whelming! Some of the seafood we knew but other things we had to inquire what they were. Our first night we settled on a 12 inch shrimp, stuffed squid, tuna steak and for our first time - sting ray - all for around US$15 including a side of rice and 2 drinks! (I love Asia!) There were two types of sting ray on offer and we settled on the wing, which was a white and very light meat - yum! 

One day we took a day tour to Poring Hot Springs. A few hours outside of the city we started gaining elevation, so much so that at points we were driving through the clouds! We made a short pit stop at a viewing station of Mt. Kinabalu.

Then, we finally arrived at Kinabalu Park (our first real destination) for a nature walk. We were pretty high in the mountains and it was down right cold. It didn't help as periodic clouds would float in with gusts of wind. There were beautiful wild orchids everywhere, which are small and less colorful than the cultivated types. The area is mostly known for its "pot" plants which attract insects and traps them with a lid. 

The guide proudly told us we were having Chinese for lunch - what a (huge!) let down as Malaysian food is very good and we were looking forward to the variety (and a break from Chinese food!) After lunch near Poring Hot Springs, we took a short hike up the mountain to the Poring Canopy Walkway. It was a little concerning when the guide told us that the limit on the bridge was strictly 6 people. I almost asked if that was 6 Americans or 6 Asians...As soon as you step on the 12 inch wide plank it begins to sway from side to side. I didn't think about it while I was up there but those canopy bridges would not have passed a basic US safety test as the rope side rails barely came up to our waist. The view was spectacular as it looked out upon a near by valley and really gave you the tree's eye prospective. 

After trekking uphill to where the canopy walk was, we were ready for relaxing in the warm hot spring's water. They had numerous tubs with two taps - a hot and cold one. Yes - cold! The hot spring's water was so hot that you needed the cold water to make the water tolerable - but it was relaxing never the less. 

At the source of the hot springs it smelled awful as the sulfur smell was so strong! The water at the source was so hot that they had a sign telling people not to put their hands and/or feet in the water and more importantly - not to put eggs in there either (just in case you brought some along for cooking in the water I guess). We laughed at first but then remembered that we did see hot spring boiled chicken and quail eggs in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We had a long drive back to the hotel, and by the time we made it back we were ready for some dinner. What's for dinner... yep the (unrecommended) seafood market again. We stuck with the shrimp (smaller this time), tuna and the thicker part of the stingray which was more like a steak... and really good too.

Another night for dinner we went to another area of town for some...seafood -  this area was recommended by the hotel and cost us more than 3x as much as the night market across the street. Oh well, I guess I got to say hi to the fish before they cooked it for us. Before we chose a stand we walked around admiring all the exotic fish. One stall had stone fish that begged to be poked, but had an ominous warning sign about it being dangerous. I guess the locals know not to touch as the sign was not in Malay, only English and Chinese.

Once we selected a stall, we picked out our fish and shrimp and how we wanted it cooked. We had our shrimp cooked in a local way with egg. Since we picked off the shells it really didn't taste all that different, oh well.

After eating Melissa built up the courage to pick up a horse shoe crab. She was fine until the lady decided to tickle it and it began squirming around.