Day 1: Touchdown at Male'

August 26th. The day has come!!! I was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang...checking in was little less than a breeze...my dive gear bag was lighter than usual and the check-in personnel made me put in more stuff from my handcarry bag to the bag... I was at gate G8, till they flashed C-32 as the new gate... my fellow passengers were left shuffling down to the aerotrain to reach C-32 which is located in the Satellite building...MH 189 was awaiting...carrier...Airbus A330...which took-off about 8.30pm that nite...I had dinner on board... rendang beef rice and watched the movie for the flight, MI:III on route to paradise... I was too excite to sleep and spent the rest of the journey reading Aug-Sept 2006 publication of Asian Diver.

The plane touched down at precisely 9.10pm (Male' time) at the Male' International Airport located at Hulule...just 15 minutes by dhoni (boat) to Male'... I had a tiff with the immigration personnel cuz I didn't have the address of Aindhy's place...geee... you reckon that backpackers have to think of a place to stay in advance... didn't have the decency to give me a number to call...anyway, I was allowed to see Aindhy who was waiting for me at the arrival section to liberate me from this dillema...
I promptly gave my buddy a hug and we took to the dhoni (fare was only 10 Ruffiah)




Aindhy flagged down a cab for us and we proceeded along the narrow, stone-block roads of Male'...yours trully was naturally amazed at the number of people traversing the streets at nite, and the number of bicycles and motorcycles.... life is a buzz at nite.
Aindhy's house is located on the street perpenducular to the National Library and National Art Gallery Building... it was there I learnt that Maldivians prefer to name their houses...although houses are numbered...imagine..."Chateau Peter"....he he he...Aindhy's house is named "Anbuge" ...

Mazlan Rasheed came to know of mine imminent arrival and decided to come over...he's the dude in red... Mazlan is a good ol friend of Aindhy and were college mates in Malaysia too...I read law with both of them...;)... later, Naseer (whom his friends fondly refer to him as 'Ambe') (pictured on the left, beside Aindhy) came along for the welcoming party too. After settling down, we took a ride on a couple of bikes to the Seagull Restaraunt, Aindhy's uncle's restaurant and I had my first meal there... Tuna Garlic Pasta...which incidentally meant the start of a fish diet for me in Male'...you will see why later in the upcoming posts...