Travelling Starfish

Me - graduation in Birmingham

Just about a year ago, I headed to England to do something very exciting from a professional perspective – I graduated.

While I lived in the UK, I studied and completed a Professional Postgraduate Diploma through the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).  The course was distance but the annual graduation ceremony is held at Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

Over the years, I’ve heard various things about Birmingham. My good friend worked there for a couple of years and liked it, a few of my other friends said it was nothing to phone home about.

I was only in Birmingham for a day but I definitely liked what I saw. My graduation was at Symphony Hall and I have to say it is a lovely venue. I would love to go back one day and see a show. It is a lovely auditorium with great acoustics so i can just imagine what a wonderful experience it would be to come for an actual orchestra performance.

Actually, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is one of the world’s leading symphonic ensembles. Symphony Hall is a stunning contemporary music venue that’s acclaimed for its perfect acoustics. Together, they bring truly world class music to the city. The CBSO established itself as a major force in world classical music during its 18-year association with Sir Simon Rattle.  Standing up on the stage of the Hall, I felt honoured and excited to be there.

After my graduation ceremony I grabbed a bite at a local restaurant and observed – something I do often when I go somewhere new. I saw a nice environment with a multicultural feel. I liked it.  Birmingham is known for having a large Indian community so I grabbed myself a yummy authentic curry and was on my way.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Birmingham is a city in the West Midlands county of England.  Outside of London, it is the most populous British city, with a population of 1.03 million.  It has a rich history – it was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution which led it to have the nickname, “the workshop of the world” or the “city of a thousand trades”.

Birmingham is a national hub for conferences, retail and events along with an established high tech, research and development sector, supported by its three Universities.  People from Birmingham are known as “Brummies” and they definitely have a distinct accent like most of the people in the UK.  I found them to be nice & friendly people which I always enjoy when travelling somewhere new.

After I got my expensive piece of paper and ate some yummy grub, I took the train to the airport.  I remember this night clearly as I was totally exhausted from all the trekking around.  I booked my hotel completely last minute through Hotels Combined and found a cheap hotel walking distance from the Birmingham Airport Terminal, the Ramada Encore NEC.  All I remember was that I got into the room, ordered room service and collapsed. I had an early morning flight to Jersey and I actually overslept!  This is my worst nightmare. Luckily I caught it in time but not without adding a lot of stress to my day.

I must say – the hotel was fantastic. They helped me grab a cab and even poured a cup of coffee for me to go – can’t beat service like that.

Even though my time in Birmingham was short it was definitely sweet.  Hopefully there will be more opportunities for me to check out more of this town soon!

So where was I a couple of years ago?  Well, a desert oasis with an edge that’s where.  Almost 2 years ago, I was en route from Toronto to a city that definitely never sleeps – Vegas, baby Vegas!

Natalie & I

Even though I was still living in the UK at this time of my life, I headed over to Vegas with my closest friend from Canada.  See, we both celebrated a very special time in our lives – our 30th birthdays!  You should all feel very special, I’m giving up my age here:).

From Toronto, there are a lot of cheap deals to Vegas.  I think ours came to just over CAD$300 and included 3 nights at the Flamingo Las Vegas (a Hilton property) and our flights direct from Toronto with US Airways.  It was going to be a girly trip we’d never forget.

The Flamingo

When we walked off the plane after coming from chilly Toronto, the weather was absolutely lovely.  I’m such a desert girl (as you can probably tell) and being able to be in the desert climate at the end of October always puts a smile on my face.

I must say that I’m not a Vegas virgin – this was my 4th trip to sin city.  Yes – 4!  The first was with my mom actually when I was working out in California.  We drove from LA to Vegas (which was a great experience).  We stayed at the now demolished Stardust Hotel.  My second trip was with an ex-boyfriend and we stayed at the Rio (off the strip but fabulous).  The third time was with a friend of mine I mentioned before – she had a wedding to go to so I joined her as her date (hehe) and we stayed at a really low budget hotel and even visited the Grand Canyon (which I’ll spotlight another time in Travelling Starfish Archives).

The reason why I like Vegas is that it’s a place where you can live it up in luxury or do it in on a budget.  I’ve done both and either way it’s been a blast.  It’s a great place to go for 3-4 days as it’s simple and little advanced planning is required.  All the trips I’ve booked have been through hotel or travel sites like Hotels Combined or Expedia and using these sites has always proved to get me the best deal.

After we checked in at the Flamingo, I was very impressed with the hotel facilities and room.  Our room was recently refurbished and all the pink was perfect for our girly time.  Looking back, I honestly think its a great hotel – great location and good value for money.  It is great for a family or singles – has a few pools on-site, decent restaurants and a flamingo zoo too!  I thought that was cool.

Duelling Pianos (New York, New York)

This is the best part of Las Vegas – all the free entertainment.  Most hotels offer some sort of free show and as you walk around, especially on your first trip, this can consume most of your time.  My friend Natalie and I had a lot of fun – we took in a Cirque de Soleil show which I adored but her not so much (it’s not everyones cup of tea), we tried our luck at the black jack tables and partied it up at the nightclubs too.

One club you have to go to just for a laugh is Coyote Ugly at the New York, New York hotel.  Like the film, this bar has live dancers and they invite girls and guys up on stage in exchange for a shot directly from the bottle.  It was a crazy and funny experience – we had a good laugh and celebrated in style.

If you do go to the New York, New York hotel I also recommend checking out the dueling pianos bar, Bar at Times Square.  I’ve gone to it a number of times and whether you go at 2pm or 2am there are always crowds.  You can request a song and one of the 2 piano players will make your time worthwhile.

The Fremont Street Experience

There are so many things to do in Vegas and we managed to fit in quite a lot.  We hung out by the pool but also had fun checking out the nightlife – including the club in the Wynn Hotel and The Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas.  The latter is a definite must do in Vegas and it was my first time to visit this part of the city.  Basically all you have to do is hop on a local bus (which is an experience in itself) and go!  The bus drops you off at the top of Fremont Street where you can see the nightly laser light show (to Rock n’ Roll music – our night Queen – one of my fave bands of all time…woo hoo!).

It was absolutely amazing!

Looking back on this trip, I’m so glad my friend and I took this time together to have some fun and let loose.  Life takes so many twists and turns, taking some time with friends when you can is really what life is all about.

And always remember – what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas lol.

A couple of years ago, I took the 10 hour flight to somewhere completely incredible.

The Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean and consists of other 1,000 islands.  With all the activity when it comes to climate change, many say that the Maldives may cease to exist in the future as water levels rise and because the Maldives is the lowest country in the world.

When we decided to book a trip, we thought we’d better see these glorious islands while we could, so we did.

The Maldives is marketed as a luxury holiday destination.  Excluding a couple islands, there is usually only one resort per island.  This makes for an interesting holiday as you can literally wander around the entire island taking in all of the resort rewards.

Lounging on our water villa

We decided to go all out when we booked our Maldives holiday and go all inclusive – it would be rude not to:).  Before we booked anything, we did a lot of research.  There are so many forums out there and it’s always good to get some word of mouth. Before you book, I strongly urge people to do their research as the Maldives is an expensive destination.  When we looked at our options, we wanted a place that was in the north as we were told it is the nicer part of the islands, wanted our transfer included (either sea-boat or seaplane) and all-inclusive with various options for food/drink.  After all this research, we decided on Kuredu Maldives.  We never looked back!

We booked our trip with First Choice Holidays – they are quite a big tour company in the UK.  I can’t fault them in anyway either.

The flight from London was about 10 hours and we arrived first thing in the morning to the international airport in the capital of Male.  As we descended, I saw all the lovely little islands and couldn’t believe my eyes!  As soon as we stepped off the plane, the heat hit me and I got that holiday vibe!

An important thing to note is that the Maldives are a Muslim country and the capital, Male, is very observant.  When you arrive in Male, they scan all your checked bags for any alcohol so don’t buy any duty free as it will be thrown away.  Don’t worry – all the resorts are fully stocked with all your favourites!!:)

Once you get through immigration and grab your bags, there are a series of booths where you check in with your tour operator.  From there, they take your bags which go on a sea-boat that will arrive later in the evening.  You then grab your boarding passes for the seaplane flight.  From memory, we had to wait about an hour to board the seaplane so they put us in an air-conditioned lounge with some refreshments – nice start to the holiday that’s for sure.

Seaplane action

The seaplane journey was about 30 minutes and it was so much fun.  Not only is the view incredible, looking down at all the islands, the experience of flying in a plane like this is really different and adds to the fun.  As we approached Kuredu, the island looked so lovely.  The plane landed on the water, we got off on the jetty and headed to meet our tour organizer.  First thing – we get handed a cocktail – I think I’m going to like this holiday…hehe.

After all the check-in procedures, we headed to our villa.  We decided to really treat ourselves and got a water villa – yes you heard right.  The water villas at Kuredu are called Sangu Water Villas and they are located in the Sangu part of the island.  There are about 4 areas on the island (Sangu, “O”, Koamas and Bonthi Beach).  Each area has its own restaurant and activities but you can switch between areas throughout your stay.  Personally I liked the Sangu area – it was chilled and beautiful but the “O” area was fun too where I noticed a lot of young couples stayed too.

When we opened the door to our water villa I nearly cried – it sounds so ridiculous but I guess I never imagined staying in a place like this in my life and I guess I really appreciated it when I saw it.  As we checked out our room I was instantly drawn to the deck.  We had a double deck with a ladder into the sea.  Amazing!

Water villas - oh ya!

The first day we were there, we realized the intensity of the heat.  A warning to anyone going – you must have a high suncream factor.  I rarely wear suncream (I know, it’s bad!) as I never burn but here I did and it was painful.  Just make sure to realize that you need to really protect yourself here.  The Maldives, and especially the northern islands, are very close to the equator so its uber-intense.

The week that we were there we did a number of things – lounged out on our decks and tanned (with suncream), snorkeled, went out for our dinners – a la carte & buffet, did a night fishing excursion and also went on a complimentary sunset cruise where we saw the dolphins. It was really fun and there is lots more to do if you feel like it.  Or you can just chill out, have a few drinks and take it easy!

Snorkel time!

Getting up on our last day there wasn’t an easy thing to do – it is always hard to go home but when you are sitting in paradise (literally) it makes it that much harder.  Back to reality I guess.

Hopefully one day I’ll go back to the Maldives – it is expensive but it’s somewhere that is truly special.  I’ve never felt so pampered by the staff in my life and never seen a lovelier place.

Treat yourself to a visit there – you won’t regret it!! M x

Since I started Travelling Starfish earlier this year, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to share all of my past travelling experiences.  I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of places around the world and I think it’s a shame if these adventures didn’t come out in this mini-expose of my travelling life.

My first big trip was in 1997 but I really started getting my travel on in 2002.  So most of the journeys I’ll share will be from 2002 until the present.

Kuredu, The Maldives, Indian Ocean (Sept '08)

Some of these travel hotspot moments include:

• Touring the East coast of Australia – from Melbourne to Cairns
• Driving up the Highway 1 coast road in the beauty that is California
• Visiting the fun city of Cleveland, Ohio – some people call this place the “mistake on the lake” but I beg to differ
• Chilling out in quiet villages and towns in France – St Malo, Dinan and the Loire Valley
• Taking it all in at picturesque ski resorts like Banff, Sun Peaks and Whistler in Canada
• Getting my groove on in party island Ibiza, Spain
• …and much more

Lake Tahoe, California, USA (Jan '04)

So, starting this month – I know there is only a week left – I’ve decided to add 2 features to my Travelling Starfish blog – please contain your excitement…lol.

Every month, I’m now planning on running two blogs that will highlight some of my adventures from the past – they are:

1) “One or Two Years Ago on This Day” – As I’m sure you can tell by the name, I’ll pick a day out of the month and reflect back a year or two on where I was in the world and what I was up to.  Luckily over the past couple of years I’ve been flying on a lot of planes, meeting lots of interesting people and seeing some amazing places.  I’m hoping you’ll find reminiscing about them as lovely as I always do.

Three Sisters, Blue Mountains, Oz (Jan '05)

2) “Travelling Starfish Archives” – In this monthly blog post, I’ll be randomly selecting an adventure I’ve had over the past decade and telling you all about what made it such a fabulous memory.  I’m expecting this to be quite the emotional experience, stirring up memories of fun, friends and random excitement.  Should be a blast!

View over The Danube, Budapest, Hungary (May '09)

Don’t you worry…all of my current adventures in Israel and elsewhere will still be flowing throughout the month.  These 2 posts will just bring some of the old in with the new.  I’m really looking forward to casting my memory back to some of my old adventures.  You never know, it may make me want to go back for more.  Just one word of caution for all my readers: take no notice of my photos.  This Travelling Starfish has changed over the years!  But haven’t we all.

So, watch this space…

I’ll be posting my first back to the past Travelling Starfish blog this Thursday (26th August) so stay tuned!