The top ten romantic experiences in Western Australia for a Valentine’s Day getaway are..

1. Toast each other at an extraordinary sunset at one of Western Australia’s many stunning beaches. Perth’s Cottesloe Beach is iconic, Broome’s Cable Beach is unforgettable  for its camel rides and Esperance’s Lucky Bay has been scientifically proven as Australia’s whitest beach.

2.  Get to know each other better over a meal or a cocktail at new trendy outlets in  Perth’s inner city precincts such as Five Bar and Clarences in Mt Lawley; The Garden and Kitch in Leederville; Beluga and The Duchess in Claremont ;and the Venn Gallery, XO and The Sentinel in Perth city.

3. Lock yourselves away in award winning boutique retreats  such as   Cape Lodge or  Stonebarn   in the South West region and experience luxury like you’ve never experienced before.

4. Hit the new Indian Ocean Drive in a convertible to Cervantes where the Pinnacles are located,  with a collection of your favourite songs and soak up Western Australia’s unique landscape with the wind in your hair.

photo credit – Cervantes Pinnacles by Gouldy99

5.  Go cycling on a tandem bike for two on Rottnest Island(half an hour ferry ride from Perth) and spot a quokka,  a pint-sized kangaroo-like creature  unique to Western Australia

6. Show how much your significant other means to you by presenting him or her with a Western Australian treasure  – a Broome pearl, a Kimberley diamond or a piece of Kalgoorlie gold.

7. Stroll hand in hand through the vineyards with a glass of local wine in the Swan Valley, WA’s oldest wine region or the Margaret River wine region with over 200 vineyards.

8. Reach new heights together at the 600-metre long Walpole’s Tree Top Walk perched at 40 metres above the ground in the South West region, the first of its kind in the world.

9. Pack a picnic for two and admire Perth’s skyline and the Swan River from Kings Park, one of the world’s largest inner city parks or join a tour to learn about the indigenous culture .

10. Immerse yourselves in the port of Fremantle, just 30 minutes from the city, with its quaint Victorian charm – historic buildings, lively weekend markets, Fishing Boat Harbour  for great fish & chips and microbrews.

For more information, visit www.westernaustralia.com

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*Comedy night – If laughter is truly the best medicine, when paired with good food it might be able to alleviate just about anything that ails you.
Two KL institutions – fine dining restaurant Samplings on the Fourteenth and humour The Comedy Club KL – are putting the theory to the test, blending great food and non-stop laughs to bring KL-ites Comedy High this January.
“This collaboration allows us to present international comedian acts as well as highlight our local talent,” says Adrian Chung, general manager of Berjaya Times Square Hotel KL, where the restaurant is located. “I’m sure this will be a fun-filled night with great laughter for all.”

Five years ago, I met Xian when he first visited Malaysia together with his team of air traffic controllers. They were in Malaysia and Singapore for courses related to their profession. For some of them it was their first time to Malaysia and probably first time out of Mauritius Maldives (Oops..). They were an eager bunch wanting to explore a tropical rainforest land which also happened to be one of Maldive’s largest trading partners. They wanted to go into a jungle, hike up a hill, raft down a river and go to a fast food joint – things which they had only seen on satellite television. Nevermind the costs involved, they just wanted to experience things they weren’t sure they’d get the chance to experience again, once they walked back into the departure hall. They wanted to do anything except eat fish (including sushi), curry, rice, coconut, ride a boat, or see the beach. They succeeded in pursuing their adventures in Malaysia and I had the opportunity to  join them on their exploration. Needless to say, they had fun here and so did I, with them.

Amongst them and in no particular order.. Xian, Hamid, Dhonu, Tata, Afshal, Shaheen

My first impression of Maldivians were that they were a very shy bunch. The shyness came -  I assumed – from their concern on how others looked at them. It wasn’t that they didn’t speak English. It’s their second language. It wasn’t that Malaysia didn’t welcome Muslims. Islam is the national religion. It wasn’t that Malaysia was a country of deep religious fanatics or a country of terrorist groups breeding. Hey, we’re pretty safe just like any country not plagued with civil unrest. You could point out that I had been a stranger to them and they rightfully should be weary of me. I found out later that besides being weary of me, they were concerned about creating the right impression. They were polite. They were well groomed. They smiled a lot. Xian was their senior in age and rank – he was their unofficial leader and planner. They were collective in their thoughts and decisions. They were a united lot.  Their unity could have stemmed from the close living proximity due to the limited livable land and space in their nation. Their happiness and desire to enjoy the best, could have been the result of knowing at the back of their minds about scientific projections, that predicted that their country might sink in the near future. Their moto was to live now to the fullest, because they would not know, what might happen tomorrow.

Crowd outside a political party office in Malé

Xian and his motley crew opened my eyes to their world. It’s easier for them to imagine living in a large country than for me to picture living in a crowded populace within a living area less than 5 square kilometers surrounded by the sea. Malé people also reside in many surrounding islands in crowded homes. What is a public bus ride for us is their boat taxis. Xian shared that his family and parents, making up 7 persons, live in an apartment that’s less than 1000 square feet. So crowded is Malé that there is a constant hive of activities in the city even after working hours. Its inhabitants just can’t hangout at home to watch a movie or to have some peace. People go out to play football, have tea, play chess and window shop. There are no alcoholic bars because a Maldivians Islamic religion prohibits alcoholic consumption although some of them might drink when the opportunity comes. There aren’t any cinemas because there isn’t a large enough populace to meet the cinema’s bottom line. As an alternative, satellite television provide the dream-scape for those that can afford it.

Apparently there are drug fueled rave parties at uninhabited islands plaguing the authorities. You can’t snuff the rebellious teen spirit, even with religion.

Xian and the group once shared with me that there wasn’t anything else to do in Maldives except the sip cocktails, lookout into the great wide ocean, and do some water sports. They were absolutely right. Maldives is a rest and relax haven, and a deep sea fishing, and scuba diving majesty, as I had finally a first hand experience on a recent trip. I once told them I didn’t think I’d ever make it to Maldives because the mentioned activities were never of big interest to me. They replied that if I ever did visit, they would show me the other parts of Maldives which they were sure I would love. So when I was finally in their ‘waters’, Xian and a few of them put together a short itinerary for our group to visit the flight control tower and see a little bit of the rest of Malé before I departed from their country in the vast Indian Ocean.

Just like an episode of Hawaii-Five-O we were whisked away by the “Malé Five-O” upon returning from W Resort

Always give way to planes!

We were on the way to the airport control tower. This picture obviously taken much later.

Manual operations from the past requiring excellent mathematical skills to calculate the routes.

Modern operations and convenience with computers. No more manual calculations. I imagine you could even play Spider Solitaire and check out Facebook as well!

Up the elevator.

We make it up to the airport control tower with 360 view. Polo Ciki always well dressed for the occasion.

A lady in control.

In case of disaster, a first aid kit is available.

Xian showing us the flight path.

We continued our tour with a cruise into the new district of Hulumalé.

Construction of a new place to stay. Things are a moving here in busy Malé.

More living spaces are being made available with reclaimed land. The residents have a new government that is making big changes.

Bigger and better things to come in Hulumalé.

The streets are wider and plenty more space for all.

A beach for residents

Tata buses providing public transport for the new township.

We watch fishermen returning home after selling their day’s catch.

We headed to Malé on speedboat.

Headed for a snack cum dinner. Yes, its ‘nice food one’ coincidentally resembling Malaysian and Singaporean’s street-speak. How was it?

Residents enjoying an intellectually stimulating game of chess seated in Maldivian netted steel benches.

After our ‘short eats’, we jumped into Xian’s brother’s Suzuki compact, cruising the small streets of Malé in our final minutes for a city tour – against traffic too. There isn’t much space in Malé but residents still dream of owning a car.

With only 20 minutes to spare for flight check-in and we still needed to catch the boat taxi back to airport, Ciki who is always a stickler for punctuality, looks at me with great discomfort. We drive fast but there is heavy traffic. At the pier, we miss the express boat. Ciki looks even more worried but luckily, there was the slow boat/dhoni, that we managed to catch and she was a little more relieved, but still kept giving me the evil eye. The boat disembarks, we reach the airport jetty and rush to the check-in counter. Ciki finally heaves a sigh a relief. We made it.

Given more time, I would have liked to visit more islands inhabited only by locals.

The kindness of strangers is rare. Even more difficult is letting our defenses down to receive a stranger, or to help one. We are always weary of strangers and their motives. Desperation to attain success and wealth leads many to unscrupulous means. We have all fallen for some kind of confidence trick, at least once in our lives. It is much more convenient to build a wall to shield ourselves from being waylaid. Better to be safe than sorry, the saying goes. When you travel you sometimes meet the oddest strangers,  and under even stranger circumstances. Be it a good or bad outcome, it still provides a great story to tell. The experience of crossing paths with Xian and his gang years ago in Malaysia, was certainly a blessed one. They reinforced within me the faith that there are genuinely kind, thoughtful and wonderful souls in the unlikeliest of places, and it is for me and you to discover them and continue to extend the goodwill of mankind.

Malé and me weren’t always friends but today we are more than friends.  Thanks for the memories. I will return one day to a more modern Malé but I will always remember the one I first walked on.

If you find this post fascinating and would like to know more about Malé and the Maldives, here are some of our other posts:

1. Maldives, Hello!

2. Chef in the Spotlight, Chef Sven Cepon of the Sheraton Maldives, Part 1

3. Malé and Hulhumalé, Maldives

4. Chef in the Spotlight – Chef Sven Cepon and the Beef Tartare, Part 2 & 3

5. 13 Reasons the stay at the W Resort and Spa, Maldives 

6. Meeting Rock Star Executive Chef Mauro Gomez of W

Oh.., I do like this place.. very much.

What I die for every time is the silky smooth ganache in their macaron and their exquisite flavours. None can come close.

The prices are not cheap, but they are pretty standard for what’s on offer in Kuala Lumpur at the moment. The quality of the cakes at Les deux Garcons, Jalan Telawi are fabulous – do yourself a favour and have tea there one day. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and don’t forget to invite me along. I can never get enough;)

Passion – Joconde base, silky passion fruit mousse, mango coulis – RM13

Eclaire – pate a choux, traditional French premium vanilla/rum creme patissier – RM10

Le Palladio – crispy almond tart, layered joconde, vanilla ganache, white truffle mascarpone – RM22

Journal by Plan B at Publika, Solaris Dutamas

Since Plan B at Publika is supposedly famous for its coffee, ( I read somewhere that this modern coffee shop prides itself in its specialist coffee blend and its seasonal selection of single origin beans, all roasted and ground fresh in-house daily.. etc etc) I just had to try it. Apart from the usual styles, the cafe also offers alternative brewing methods such as siphon, French Press and Pour Over. Very impressive, but for the moment, I’ll just have my Italian Iced Coffee. The coffee was good – a fabulous aroma and a terrific caffeine kick to it. I was all smiles.

slurps Italian Ice coffee in glee!

Actually, this place goes by the name Journal by Plan B. Does it give discounts to journalists? I am not sure, but since I am not one, I didn’t ask anyway. The deco in this joint is rather haphazard with no one particular theme reigning supreme. There are LCD screens showing old P Ramlee black and white films. There are antique cameras on display along with laboratory beakers and scientific paraphernalia. What has all these to do with a Journal, I have no clue. But who cares.. on to the food..

Slow-Cooked Ox Tongue with hot English Mustard

I’m a sucker for tongue. So it was with great relish that I read, Slow-Cooked Ox Tongue with hot English Mustard on wholemeal bread, served with gherkin & chips on the menu. Yes, that would be my lunch. There’s a similar sandwich and Bens General Food Store and I supposed that this would not be too far off the mark from what the other BIG outlet offered.

beef burger with cheese and onion rings, and a side of fries and salad

The husband decided to have the beef burger. One can hardly go wrong with that. When the burger arrived, as in, when it did finally arrive , it tasted OK, but the patty was on the mushy side. My ox tongue sandwich was tasty enough, but nothing to shout about. The bread it arrived between was slightly hard and cold. Service was slow as well as it took 40 minutes to get our food. However, I must say that they sure were generous with their gherkins. I got entire one and could hardly finish it.

Plan B deco – cute but confused..

Plan B at Publika is OK for a quick lunch, but it will remain at best, our second choice, when all else is closed. Sad but true.

After lunch, a quick walk around Ben’s Independent Grocer

We were surprised to find the items reasonably priced – same range as Village Grocers really

Malaysians like to sniff their fruits before buying them..

Fresh as Fresh Gets.. Hydroponic veges anybody?

interesting deco

a chocolate bar that sells local chocolates – samples tasted great .. could not tell that they were not imported chocolates

S.wine deli.. selling piggy of course

We will definitely be back to check out Ten again next week! Another great reason to walk around Publika, Solaris Dutamas and window shop some more.