Mood: Irritable 
Drinking: Warm Water
Vaping: Vozol 12000 Watermelon Bubble Gum
Weather: 28°C, Light Showers
Location: Alif Dhaal Atoll, Maldives
I’m not in the best of moods this evening, it’s the low social battery thing again. It does suck to be introverted. After the hectic day of travelling coupled with the seaplane delay (I expected to be at the hotel some time around 9:30am but we arrived at around 1pm) not to mention I’ve been exposed to too many strangers all day, I’ve had enough for now. I just need the quiet time alone to recharge or I’ll go insane. I also haven’t had any snacks today and that’s enough to ruin my day.
Here are a few pictures taken of today, let’s start with the seaplane:
I’m already quite used to the whole seaplane experience, but it’s always quite nice to see the amount of atolls that Maldives have. It’s just one after the other, scattered in close proximity to one another. Many of these atolls are converted into resorts, and it’s common to actually see one in the midst of construction from the seaplane. I cannot imagine the competition faced by all these hotels, all the deals negotiated with travel agencies to promote their hotels, their intensive and extensive marketing strategies. There are just so many to choose from and I’m sure the competition will continue to grow in time. The number of tourists flying to Maldives is just insane. Some hotels also hire in-house marine biologists and they work with a team that develops and maintains the biodiversity of the marine life around the resort. That works in favour of both the guests and the marine life.
Jetty:
The seaplane landed next to a platform and as we arrived, a boat approached with disembarking passengers. So there was an exchange of the new arrivals with those who were leaving. I took a few pictures as soon as we arrived. We were greeted by staff, and then I saw my second cousin at the reception area. It’s funny how fast these kids grow. I used to babysit her when she was just around 7 and when she talks to us I still see that kid in her. Her personality is the same as I remember, extremely extroverted. She’s worked here for close to a year already and she claims that she is very happy here in Maldives, and expressed no desire to return to Seychelles just yet. It made me think about how I could never work in the tourism industry in this way. It would be a nightmare to constantly have to greet new arrivals to an island and then to have to show them the best side of you no matter how you’re feeling that day or how they make you feel.
Late lunch:
I decided to go with the in-villa dining option for my late lunch. I ordered an Impossible burger with chips, as well as a large glass of soy milk. They brought in some kind of vegan mushroom burger with a carton of soya milk. I was a bit disappointed with it not being an Impossible burger, but it still tasted quite good. The mushrooms did have a meaty texture, and the vegan cheese was on point. I ordered it by calling reception, the staff who picked up the call sounded Chinese. When I asked for “Impossible burger” she said “yes but we have different types of burger: chicken, beef…” and when I repeated “Impossible burger” she didn’t understand me. So I said “vegan burger” and when she was reading out my order right before we ended the call, she said “okay so you want a virgin burger and a big glass of soya milk” so I’m not surprised that I didn’t get an Impossible burger. My sister and I shared this lunch because we agreed to share (to limit calories) every time we want to eat the same things.
Tomorrow’s lunch will depend on what I see after weighing myself, but there is a high chance we’ll do the buffet. I have absolutely no intention to gain weight while I’m here but it won’t be easy because their vegan options are tempting. The buffet is a great way for me to limit my consumption because I get to restrict my portions. I try to stick to boiled or cold vegetables and one or 2 pieces of fruit while skipping the other options altogether. That way, I don’t have to wonder if what I ate contained 1 tablespoon of oil.
As soon as I arrived I weighed myself using the bathroom scale (as opposed to the Xiaomi smart scale that was still in my sister’s suitcase at the time). I weighed 49.80 Kgs. This is thus the maximum weight I need to be when I leave after 2 weeks. I cannot have too many “indulge” days. I don’t know how many calories I consumed, but I would definitely consider this to be an “indulge”. My mother has scheduled her trip to Maldives a few days after I return to Seychelles. According to her, she “cannot not eat” while she’s on holiday. The issue however, is that she eats a lot when she is in Seychelles too. She was blessed with good metabolism until she hit 60. But there comes a point when you’ve gained so much weight and everyone around you calls you “fat” and it’s not easy to digest the insult. But you eventually get used to it, people stop mentioning your weight, and you stop caring about what others think. I’ve been there. When you stop caring about what others think, you end up eating more, and there’s that addiction to the feeling that eating good food gives. I absolutely hated being overweight. Not only did I look horrible in clothes, but I also stretched and damaged them. None of the pictures of my chubby self ever came out nice. I am now still used to wearing oversized t-shirts with knee-length shorts because I wanted to veer all attention away from me. Even worse than how it affected my self-esteem was just how incredibly uncomfortable it was to feel “heavy”. I did myself an injustice to look that way during the part of my life when I was going through perimenopause and of all the times I needed to feel good about myself, it was then. I’m trying really hard to get out of the place where my bad decisions led me to.
Beach Bar:
There was supposed to be a fire show this evening but they’ve cancelled it due to the rain. My sister and I decided to stick around to have a few drinks anyway. My sister had 2 glasses of Lion beer but I decided to go with something more hydrating and zero calories – a Sprite Zero. There was some kind of British marine biologist holding a lecture (can be seen in the background). It was a full-house and he went as far as sharing statistics, lol. Reminded me of my uni days. We’ll try to catch the next one.
We’ll be at this hotel for another 6 days or so. After that we will head to a much larger island resort that I’ve been to twice before, with a lot more people, bikes, Pokemon gyms and more adventure.
I’m going to try to pay some bills online, but the internet speed here is quite slow so it’s taking ages for anything to load.