Nana oh nana

While I am in Brazil, Nana was with mom and dad at KB. Tok ayah ask her questions about our recent trip to Maldives

Tok Ayh tanya: Nana pgi Maldive?
Nana: pgi Maldiv, yg pantai.. Nana main pasir
Tok Ayh: sedap tak?
Nana: Tak lah...Nana tak makan pasir

Ha ha. Oh my Nana..

About Balneario Camboriu

Belnario Camborio is located about 600km south São Paulo. Local flight flying to the nearest airport i.e Navegantes (NVT) is Azul which departs at Terminal 4 of São Paulo International airport (GRU).

What about Balneario Camboriu??

It is in the State of Santa Catarina,.. Famous with beautiful beaches. People are warm, siper nice, love to party and they laugh a lot.  Hiiiii

English is not much spoken here. I even help a guy installing Google translate app on his phone so we can communicate.

It was fun, and enjoyable trip indeed

SIPDA XIII @ Balneario Camboriu, Brazil

Another journey to be recorded.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.. Rabbi yassir wala tu assir.

Tonight InsyaAllah I'll be flying to Sao Paulo via Abu Dhabi. First timer on Etihad airways.. That was the cheapest option I found from Matta fair... (just study the route. Booking was 100% done myself online)

Recorded journey hours 23h KUL to GRU + 15h at GRU + 1h GRU to NVT

KUL - AUD (Abu Dhabi) ; 7 hours
Transit ; 2 hours
AUD - GRU (Sao Paulo) ; 14 hours

Transit for 15 hours at GRU airport, I took a little room for USD60 (~RM270)... It's 'cute' enough it can fit only one sejadah on the floor. Luckily the kiblat was pointing on the perfect angle so I can put my sejadah just on that floor.

My next flight will be the next morning at 7.20am.. Arrived yesterday at 4.30pm at GRU ,. Luckily I didn't take the earliest connection to Navegantes which was at 6.30pm via Azul. I'm not a risk taker though..

Found out that the arrival from AUH was at Terminal 3, Fast Sleep airport hotel at Terminal 2, and Azul domestic flight will be at Terminal 4. Terminal 4 is pretty far as it is in a separate building.

So, about Fast Sleep hotel,. It is located here in Terminal 2 of São Paulo airport. Paid Rs229 (~USD60 or RM250). But it is worth it. I really need a good rest before next flight to my final destination at Navegantes.

Will be missing the keynote speeches on Monday morning but it's ok. I'll chat with them and gain back what was lost.

See ya

~~~~~~

0825hrs: Finally arrived NVT. It's a very small airport. They have only one carousel for luggage so I guess maybe one flight at a time will land here.

There are two options from here to go to Mercure Hotel where SIPDA XIII is.. Taxi or public van operated by Lufer. The van travels frequently (1 to 2 hourly from 8am to 855pm daily) from NVT airport to common hotels in Balneario Camboriu. It cost me BRL35 per trip (~RM40).. That is good enough for a budget traveller ;)

Taxi would cost around BRL90

Syasya and books

Syasya with cousin Nazeem

Syasya's birthday is coming this weekend. I asked her what she wants and guess what,..  

"Kakak nak voucher buku MPH "

Hrmm, I can't remember myself crazy for books when I was 9. Oklah. Bayar hutang.  He he

She used to read Diary of a Wimpy kids. Now she would read novels and comics sometimes of course.

About Maldives

General knowledge about Maldives... 

Malaysian don't worry,,..  Plug socket are the same,. So leave your international adapter behind.

TV channels are mostly in English, and got Indonesian language subtitles. So again, feel like home.

Before arriving in Maldives, check with your hotel about the transport. Public transport (boat/ferry) are only available from airport to nearby island. The rest u might need to get hotel transfer or sea plane, cost is superrr!... high!

Currency used are mainly in USD.. Even though they have Ruffiya, but it's not widely used. In Male city they accept mainly all top currencies I.e USD, Euro.. 

There are like hundreds of Atolls (island) forming Maldives. Pick yours 

The best month (really sunny) would be March - Apr... Whilst rainy season would be July - August..  Dec until Feb are normally fully booked here in Holiday Inn due to end of year school holidays worldwide and also valentines in Feb.

Ferry transfer from Male to Airport are available almost every 30mins. Trip only took 15mins and costs Rfy10 or USD1 (USD1 = Rfy15). They don't give change if you pay usd so better pay in Ruffiya lahh :)

About Holiday Inn Kandooma

The rate? Yes,. Crazy expensive.. But it's worth every penny.. 

There are so many activities here.. And very kids friendly...  The Kandoo Kids welcomes children and they can take care of your kiddos while you enjoy other facilities. Activities like frame making, face painting, origami etc are all FOC. Enjoy as much as they like.

PS4 game are also available..  Movie nights (or day) can be requested if they feel like watching one.

Surfing, diving, sailing, paragliding, etc are all chargeable but it's worth the try!

Even if u don't plan to spend extra on those activities, there are a lot more things to do here on this island... Just have a stroll along the beach, or snorkel on your own at the lagoon (equipments I.e. Mask, goggle, life jacket etc are available at the sports center...  At no charge of course!).
Kayaking is also complimentary. 

Kids eat free here.. With at least 1 paying adult (for dinner and lunch only. Breakfast are free). Food are awesome... 

The staff are super friendly. They called each of us by name.. Even Nana! Ha ha. I didn't know when did she knew Nana's name. Hiihi.  Salute tu Bandula and Janice

Worth every penny!!!

Wow! We surely did not make any mistakes by choosing this resort at the first place.

Yes the rate are crazy but everything else are COMPLIMENTARY 

Since I booked a double room and turns out five that arrives, they informed that it is compulsory to pay for an extra bed for USD60 per night for syasya. Aril and Nana gets to stay for free! Phew. Somehow with the crazy Ringgit drops and 22% extra taxes charged by Maldives government, we ended up paying around RM1,400 ++ per night.

When we arrived Male airport, the hotel staff were already waited for us with his Holiday Inn sign. I only discovered last week that there are no public transport to this private island so we have to pay US200++ per adult and USD100++ per kids.. Nana travel for FREE.! Yay!!!

In Maldives, from Male airport, public transport only goes to Male island (the city center), and few island nearby. Others are all private speedboats.. Or even sea plane.

In 30 minutes or so, we arrived Holiday Inn Kandooma at South Male Atoll... The welcoming greet are awesome!! Everybody knows us, they know exactly each and everyone of us.. Welcomed us with sweet drink and they even offered to do the documentation in the Kandoo Kids center as the kids started behaving "wild". He he

We booked the sea view double room. It was awesome,.  We've got a garden with hammock. And of course the kids most favourite, outdoor shower! 

In this resort almost everything is complimentary. Kayaking; snorkeling gear, lesson and trips; diving for beginner; and even dolphin cruise because we booked very much earlier.

Breakfast was for 2 adult,. And kids below 12 are all completely FREE!
If we purchase dinner for 2, again kids are all FREE!

And owh,. Free flow of drink at the beach station. Weehooo

The paying activities are like surfing and wind sailing.. This is because it is operated by other company. 

This is what I call peace of mind 

Dolphin cruise

We found them,, yay!

hello kandoo boys

It's the day

It's the day!
It's finally here!!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim..  Rabbi yassir wala tu assir.

Kids have been asking for weeks. We've been waiting for months. The day is finally here. Our most awaited Maldives Trip. Yay

Did I share before thay MAS has contacted us to inform that starting August 1st, there was no more direct flight to Male from KL. So they re-routed us to Colombo and then to Male via Sri Lanka Airlines (Code UL) 

We arrived KLIA very early to pick up the hotel and meal voucher, as per advised by the call operator. Upon arriving at counter C17 at Level 5, nobody knew abt the voucher. They said that thw collection shall be at Colombo airport. They confirmed our reservation at Tamarind Tree Hotel via the system.

Ok then,. So I took the paper and direct for check in.. Hoping everything will be smooth once we arrive in Colombo.

We should be arriving near to midnight (local time) and our connection flight will be at 7am the next morning. 

Settling everything, we then went to Plaza Premium Lounge. Awesome. We used both our priority visa platinum cards from Maybank and Citibank for a free access, and guess what.. All our kids get to get in for FREE! Awesome.!! 

I am now on board the plane. Alhamdulillah So far so good. Will be updating more later InsyaAllah