An Anniversary to Remember, Asia Blog
Karen & Richard Lee travelled to Singapore and the Maldives with us for their Silver Wedding Anniverary. Karen has very kindly written a blog about their experience - enjoy the read!
Having worked out that our wedding anniversary coincided with the timing of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, Richard and I were delighted to use the talents of Abi and the Bushbaby team to plan our Silver Wedding trip. After extremely successful holidays as a family of four (to South Africa, Australia and two trips to Oman) it was time for us to do something for ourselves, and we knew we were in safe hands asking Bushbaby to arrange things!
We arrived in Singapore after a comfortable overnight flight with Singapore Airlines, and were quickly checking into the Fairmont Hotel. This proved to be an excellent choice for our stay in Singapore, and in spite of not paying for a ‘track view’ we actually had one (if you leant over the balcony a little bit!). Even better was the fantastic view of Raffles Hotel (where, of course, we had to try the famous Singapore Sling in the Long Bar one evening!).
Our room was spacious and extremely well equipped, the hotel staff very warm and welcoming, buffet breakfast, spa and the swimming pool all of a very high standard. The hotel’s location for getting to the track (based around the Marina Bay area) but also for access to shops, restaurants and the metro was perfect. We also made use of the bars on the 70th floor of the Fairmont’s adjoining sister hotel, Swissotel The Stamford. The views were simply incredible and no extra charge to go up there!
Our reason for being in Singapore was obviously to see the Grand Prix and we made the most of our three day pass. Singapore certainly knows how to throw a party and we had the delights of Kylie Minogue, Queen and Imagine Dragons to entertain us in the evenings, along with the racing itself. We got out and about too and enjoyed meals of all descriptions (and prices!) over the few days we were there. The Marina Bay area is spectacular, particularly at night, and we also enjoyed a meal at Boat Quay on our last evening. The Gardens on the Bay were so beautiful, but we left the Botanic Gardens and Night Zoo for a return visit.
Having walked our feet off it was time to unwind and relax, so off we headed to the Maldives. Arriving in Male we were met by staff from Constance Halaveli and transferred to the sea plane lounge a short bus ride away. We waited in comfort until we were able to board our sea plane for the magical journey to the island. The view from the plane, looking down at the atolls was stunning - a little like a piece of blotting paper (for those who can remember what that is!!) or tie-die made by the children.
We landed at Constance Halaveli a short 25 minutes later and were met by some of their wonderful staff. They gave us a tour of the facilities (on golf buggies) then took us to our water villa. Everything was just as it had looked in the pictures. The villa as spacious and well-equipped as it could possibly be, the sea an incredible shade of turquoise, and the sand pure white. We spent our 6 days there either lounging on our own private deck (jumping into the sea or into our own plunge pool), by the main pool or on the beach. One day we went on a snorkeling adventure and were lucky enough to see a turtle and a manta ray, along with all kinds of colourful fish. Another day we went on a ‘behind the scenes’ tour, seeing how the 300+ staff live on the island all year round. They all seem very content there, and very proud to work for the Constance chain. Somehow I ended up doing some ironing for them..... not sure how that happened! The staff could not have been more friendly – providing an excellent standard of service, but making it feel very personal.
Our actual anniversary date arrived and the staff went to great efforts to help us celebrate, with lots of lovely surprises throughout the day. Our meal that night at 'Jing' (where we had the taster menu) was superb. In fact all of the meals were of an extremely high standard and we made good friends with the extremely knowledgeable sommeliers.
After a blissful 6 days of warm sunshine our adventure came to an end. So, another perfect Bushbaby trip – thank you so much Abi and the team for once again understanding our likes and dislikes so well, creating the perfect trip and giving us more wonderful memories.
