小島活過每一天，城中人間伏塵囂。

今天聽到這一個動人真事。 哥哥數年前跑到一個老遠的小島過著樂天知命的生活，早上出海打魚，下午回島做飯給客人，賺夠一天的工資就是圓滿了一天的生活，晴天又過一天，雨天又過一天，吃多吃少也總是活著的一天，不問天有多高，不聞地有多厚， 水平線上無邊無涯，恰如他壯濶胸襟，蔚藍翠綠伴衣懷。

這天哥哥得知妹妹一家三口，為剩餘的三數個口罩面對那煩囂都市下的恐慌。不發一言，趕忙跳上船，到另一大島後，騎著單車，去最近的城鎮撲買口罩。假如可以像戲劇般情節發展下去，應該最後可以做到。 世事無常，哥哥遍尋不果，一個口罩都找不到。哥哥沒料到原來這麼簡單的城市物品變得遙不可及。

落破的一天，回到島上已繁星滿空，東來之風帶點涼意問道：可讓我吹散你今天的憂愁？ 這時電話傳來一段信息，哥哥的友人找到一些口罩，明天就可以送到妹妹家中。這夜這小島又回復過往的平靜。 然而活在世界另一端，我們的夜晚又可再回復平靜?  有幸能聽到我認識多年的這位朋友，還有他的妹妹，來了這段舒發人深省的這一天故事。 

Goodbye Noku Maldives

5:30pm, Noku Maldives

The beach, Noku Maldives

Seafood platter dinner, at Thari restaurant, Noku Maldives

Came here before dinner time and asked about their seafood platter if it's good for 2 persons.  Got told that it's good for 2 and the plate was about 2 feet long.  Later on, when we returned 30 minutes later, we sat down and ordered the platter.  The waitress suggested us take some more orders as the platter wasn't enough for 2 persons.  We refused so as we didn't feel too hungry.

A bit odd to have 3 pieces for mussels, squid & prawns.  Yet, tuna is a popular fish in Maldives.  They missed it.  The prawn and the mussel were not fresh.  As the restaurant manager came to ask if everything was ok, I raised this issue.  Then they got us a complimentary dessert.  Next time I started not to raise any comments.

The pool with an annoying attendant, Noku Maldives

The pool was at the south west corner of the island with a panoramic sunset view.  On the first day, the pool attendant was very nosey about the swimming tools that we have.  As he noticed that I saw him picking up the swimming paddles without asking, he tried to switch the attention by asking me to take a shower before going to the pool.  Later on, after I went to the sea and returned and further noticed he was checking our beach bag and even opened it.  He then got a bit scared when he noticed I came back and saw him touching the bag.  So he was trying to alarm first by telling me to take a shower like a warning.  It was useless to argue with this kind of person, but I prompted to complain to the resort's manager.  Nonetheless, I felt awlful to see that pool attendant anymore.  

The water, Noku Maldives

Noku Maldives, at night

Another diet breakfast, at Noku Maldives

The below is a summary of breakfast taken for 3 days, except the pastry, cheese & cold cut platter that I just tried a bit.  The next day I just ordered wheat toast instead.  Coffee too acidic but the orange juice could be the best among all.  The better ones were the scramble egg and frittata.  The worst was the baked egg with bacon and beans.  Imagine put some chopped bacon and beans and pour in 2 eggs and bake it.  The egg was overcooked and the bacon and beans were a bit raw.  It could be the first time I tried a quarter cut of passion fruit and a 1/10th cut of banana.  

Close encounter with the sea plane, Noku Maldives

One of the good things about this resort was that you could have a very close look at the seaplane takeoff and landing.  It's also quite lucky that I could see the private seaplane of Cheval Blanc Randheli (LV resort) (photo 4).

On diet with set meals, Noku Maldives

Palms is the main restaurant serving set meals from breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The a-la-carte menu was easy to read, as there are less than 20 items from starters, salads, mains to desserts.  The unfortunate part was their oven was out of order, and the pizza wasn't available.  The set meal made me feel like I was in the novel "Gulliver's Travel" (小人國).  Yet, the set meal served the same for lunch and dinner, and there are only 2 choices of starters and 3 choices of mains.  That means you had no choice for the dinner if you didn't wanna repeat the selection.

I have never seen such a small sushi roll as amuse broche and the dessert as only 1/5th of a common size.  So I had to ask for 2 baskets of bread to make up for this tiny portion.  The set meal is US$45++ (58 net).  Next time I should study more background of the resort.  I thought Noku took over the previous one, but it should be bought out by Roxy property Singapore and let Noku manage it.  Perhaps Roxy would like for the Noku name for this newly purchased property.  During my stay, there came many problems and which simply explained how behind-the-management administered.