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Maldives, Singapore, & Vietnam
  • The Sadovyis

Maldives, Singapore, & Vietnam

A 20-day adventure by The Sadovyis Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 5, 2023
    The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    11This pup gets a vacation with grandma ❤️

    The Adventure Begins

    March 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    With a Chicago dog 👍

    After a slow and steady weekend, we're all set to head out on our tropical vacation.

    Up first is a stop at the new Delta Sky Club in Chicago, only 4 months old and beautiful. It even comes with a Chicago hot dog bar!

    Only 2 flights separate us from the beaches of the Maldives. Igor seems most excited that I'll finally stop day dreaming of going to the Maldives and asking to plan it as "our next trip" every few months.

    Stay tuned for more sunshine and beachy views ☀️

    Update: we got upgraded to first class and loving it. Feeling extra lucky and super excited for this trip!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler

    Welcome to paradise

    March 7, 2023, Laccadive Sea ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After many hours of travel, we've made it to the Maldives! It's even better than I imagined.

    Once we passed through customs, we were greeted by the St. Regis staff, who helped us get checked in for our sea plane ride and offered us refreshing towels and water.

    The resort is on one of the farther atolls and required a 45 minute flight. The plane was cute and the views were incredible, so the trip went by quick.

    On arrival we had some coconut water, champagne, and a few little treats awaiting us. Our first night is in a beach villa and the remaining nights we'll be over the water!

    Looking forward to unwinding and enjoying the sunshine.    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    Sunrise on the beach
    DosaMaldivian breakfast with different tunas and sambal chilies1

    Spa Day

    March 8, 2023 on the Maldives ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We have had a lovely first few days at the resort. The weather is beautiful and the water is crystal clear!

    Top of the schedule today: relaxing. We started off the day with an amazing breakfast spread, complete with truffled poached eggs, dosa, local fish, and about every other breakfast food you could think of. Oh and of course some prosecco

    Our afternoon has so far consisted of reading on the beach, a quick snorkel for me while Igor napped, and a great visit to the spa. The spa here has a massive sea water jacuzzi which is where we started our massage session, before getting a relaxing full body treatment.

    Tonight we're enjoying our beautiful over water villa and grabbing a late dinner at Cargo, the middle eastern restaurant at the island!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    A tiny little tree trying to growFlapping with the birdsStorms a brewing

    Sandbar Excursion

    March 9, 2023 on the Maldives ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    After traveling half way across the world, to one of the most remote places, why stop there?

    Today we boated out to our own private sandbar, equipped with a tuna sandwich (cut into triangles 😍) picnic. After the boat dropped us and the snacks off they gave us an emergency 90s-esque phone, said have fun, and headed back to the resort ~10 minutes away. We were to have the whole sandbar to ourselves for the next 4 hours.

    No worries, we didn't need the burner phone.. my phone got 5G!

    We spent the next few hours marveling at the crystal clear water, meeting the local crabs and birds, snorkeling, reading, and enjoying a nice bottle of Sancerre.

    It was absolutely stunning, you could walk out far in the sand and the water was perfectly refreshing in the warm sun.

    As we wrapped up our 3rd hour and the remaining wine, we noticed a storm quickly approaching our little spec of sand in the middle of the open and very empty sea. Soon enough we were being whipped by sand and desperately tying down the umbrella and protecting the last remaining french fries from an onslaught of rain. All why crying from laughter at the ridiculousness of our situation. As we held things down and onto our rain drenched hats, I sent a quick text to our butler asking for a ride due to the storm. "Would you like a ride now?" our Butler asks! Why yes that'd be lovely, but you know take your time.

    All in all the boat came through just as the storm was wrapping up, right around our normal scheduled departure time. Nice thing is storms here last only a handful of minutes. Igor and I agreed, it truly enhanced the experience and made for an extra memorable experience.    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    Our little bungalow & bikes
    Pretty close likeness to my snorkeling friendLooking for fish even on landView for our Teppanyaki dinnerEven better view 😍Last breakfast 😢

    Farewell Maldives

    March 12, 2023 on the Maldives ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    What an amazing trip. We had a great time enjoying the sun and ocean these last couple days.

    For our second to last dinner, we enjoyed a Teppanyaki set menu dinner looking out over the sea. Our chef was incredible, and cooked us Wagyu beef, the best fried rice, and seared prawns. Served with delicious aged sake and cocktails, we were quite stuffed by the end of our meal.

    To continue chronicling our food, we enjoyed many free breakfasts during our stay including lobster and crab omelettes, dosa, congee, dumplings, poached eggs, and endless meats, cheeses, and fruit! Oh and free flowing prosecco. 🥂

    We didn't only eat of course, we read, explored the island, spa'd, and I partook in many snorkel trips from our bungalow. On my last snorkel excursion, I spotted a sea turtle and manta ray! A major highlight for me! The turtle hung out in the coral right in front of our villa and let me follow him around for a while. It was incredible! I will miss the daily ocean exploring and swimming with all the colorful fish.

    We wrapped up the trip watching the sunset with some grilled octopus, cooked cod, and lobster (sorry snorkeling buddies 😢). Followed by some star gazing and cocktails.

    As I write this, we are at the airport, waiting for our flight to Singapore. While I'm quite sad to be leaving this dream vacation, I'm glad the travels continue and work is still a few weeks off. And I'm working on daydreaming up my next remote island vacation much to Igors excitement.

    Stay tuned for many tasty food pics!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    2
    1

    Back home in Singapore

    March 12, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Landed at Changi airport around 915 PM - 30 minutes later than expected due to weather and general inefficiencies at the Male airport. However, we managed to get to the Duxton hotel, get checked in and settled, find an ATM (forgot to hit up a ForEx), get dinner at Maxwell hawker centre (wanton mee, oyster bok choy, and dumpling vegetable soup - with a Tiger beer, naturally), and get back to our hotel by 1115. I missed this place so much! Glad to be here with my favorite travel buddy (Danielle, for those not following along). Tomorrow, light breakfast at Amoy St, followed by lunch and dinner/drinks with old friends we haven't seen in a decade. Majulah Singapura!Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler

    All the snacks

    March 15, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We've greatly enjoyed being back in Singapore! And we've taken every possible opportunity to eat and drink delicious things. Which luckily has been paired with a lot more walking than our little island at the start of vacation.

    Top food eats so far:
    Xiao Long Bao - soup dumplings!
    Odette - one of the best restaurants in the world 😍
    Hawker centers - endless snacks
    Lunch at the National Gallery with friends ❤️
    & cocktails at Native with friends ❤️

    Today we've been pretty lazy, mostly reading and hanging out at the hotel, enjoying the included lounge. We rest up for the zoo tomorrow!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    Roti prata for breakfast2Zoo trip!One of our favorites - truffle Xiao Long BaoSingapore Airlines Lunch

    See ya Singapore

    March 17, 2023 in Singapore

    We had a fantastic last couple of nights in Singapore eating way more than we needed to 😅 but loving every minute.

    Yesterday we got to go to one of my favorite Singapore places - the zoo! We saw all the highlights, including visiting the giraffes multiple times and seeing many animals that reminded us of our pup - so many big ears and big tails to be seen!

    Last night we enjoyed a very tasty dinner at Labyrinth (the first Singaporean food focused restaurant to get a Michelin Star). We in true Sadovyi fashion, ate way too much (with of course the wine pairings) and even after a nights rest we were struggling this morning at the airport. Neither of us were hungry but that didn't stop us from sneaking in one last snack at the airport. Some dumplings :)

    We're en route now to Hanoi, Vietnam for our last leg of our trip. We'll be in the city for one night before going to Ha Long Bay for an overnight excursion, then back to Hanoi proper for a few more nights!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    Pho in the making, doesn't look the most appetizing but it was delicious

    First taste of Hanoi

    March 18, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    After a quick flight from Singapore (3 hours) we made it to our first stop in Vietnam - the Sofitel Legend Metropole. A really cool, old French hotel, set in Hanoi's old quarter.

    We sprung for the lounge level and we're welcomed with some champagne and a bouquet of roses 🌹

    A pretty chill day followed with a Bahn Mi sandwich and some back alley pho, A+ all around. We'll be back to the city to explore more after our trip to Ha Long Bay!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    View from our roomSpring roll tutorial and samplingFailing at squid fishing 🎣😂

    Ha Long Bay

    March 19, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I'm writing this post from our little cruise balcony, enjoying some instant coffee. Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba are two major regions of limestone cliffs jutting up from the sea. It feels remote out here though it's definitely found its place catering to tourists. Many ships floating about, with varying itineraries.

    We chose the "Stellar of the Seas" which is quite stellar but we can't help but wonder if we should have chosen their other boat offering "Elite of the Seas"... Sounds like we missed out!

    Boat names aside, our cruise has been lovely. The water is super still so no sea sickness 👍 and it's quite small, only 20 or so cabins, making it feel cozy and personal.

    We spent our first afternoon kayaking through the Dark & Light Cave which was beautiful. It was great being up close to the bluffs. The water is very different here than the Maldives - extremely salty, very clear but it looks murky - if you put your hand in you can see it clearly a ways down but the rock/silt must make the bottom of the water muddy (as opposed to the sandy floor of the Maldives).

    On board we enjoyed a little bath in our room, pretty fun watching the cliffs go past while enjoying a bubble bath!

    We partook in every food offering they provided, all included and you know we can't say no to snacks. Lunch included a cheesy/baked lobster and salmon. Dinner was a BBQ with all sorts of meats - steak, prawns, squid, fish, pork, on and on!

    Our night concluded with some not so successful squid fishing, but we did try! Apparently squid season is May to August, so not an ideal time to catch anything but we did see the main fisherman catch one off the back so that feels close enough! Regardless of our lack of squid we had a great time talking with the crew and making a few friends of our fellow passengers, many from the US.

    This morning we are enjoying the views from the deck and are about to set sail for the main docking area then back to Hanoi 👋    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler
    To the spa!Breakfast champagne and oysters (better than the whiskey and oysters)Iced egg coffee - a Vietnamese classicMeatsHungry forced photosThe aforementioned best meal of Igors life

    Final stop

    March 21, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Sadly we have reached the last leg of our trip. The good news is we've got 5 nights of an uninterrupted stay which means we can really settle in and take our time exploring Hanoi.

    We're staying at the Capella Hanoi which is right across the street from our first night. A great location obviously. The Capella is a beautiful hotel styled around the opera with a nice bit of over the top decor.

    In addition to a cool basement pool and spa area, they have a free cocktail hour every day which we've yet to miss. We've also tried out two of their free activities including a whiskey and oyster pairing (actually quite nice coming from someone who loves oysters but is iffy on whiskey). And this afternoon we tried their gin tasting with a local Vietnamese gin!

    We made it out of the hotel too of course. And have gotten a nice sampling of local beer and street food. Igor claims the bun cha we had for lunch was "one of the best meals" he's ever had. Bun = rice noodles and Cha = charred meats.

    Tonight we're again at happy hour enjoying a daiquiri and the love potion punch 🍸🍹 then off to dinner at a sushi place close by!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler

    Last night of vacation

    March 23, 2023 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

    We soaked up as much vacation vibes as we could on our last few days of the trip. Which entailed much relaxing, reading, spa enjoying, and eating.

    Hanoi is a really cool, happening city with a lot of variety. From little street food stalls to really nice restaurants and gardens. I feel like we got to see a good amount of it but still didn't scratch the surface of all the area offered. We did try to squeeze in and enjoy many of the local favorites as possible. Including some local spirit tastings and local coffee drinks.

    Our last night we ate at the Home Moc restaurant which was all you can eat! We got to try the Vietnamese highlights we missed along our journey including some duck and squid.

    We're headed to bed a bit early as we've got an early flight in the morning - completing our circuit around the world!

    Full tour includes:

    🏡 Madison
    🚗 Chicago (ORD)
    ✈️ Paris (CDG)
    ✈️ Malé (MLE)
    🛩️Tiny St. Regis island
    🛩️ Malé (MLE)
    ✈️ Singapore (SIN)
    ✈️ Hanoi (HAN)
    🚗🛥️ Ha Long Bay
    🛥️🚗 Hanoi (HAN)
    ✈️ Tokyo (HND)
    ✈️ Detroit (DTW)
    ✈️ Madison (MSN)
    🏡 Home!    Read more

  • The SadovyisMaldives, Singapore, & VietnamTraveler

    Obi reunion

    March 24, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    We made it back without issue to the great state of Wisconsin! And our most loved furry friend was waiting us when we got home 😍 big shoutout to mom for giving Obi the best vacation and letting us relax without worry. And to Chamiyah for the 3* Uber ride 🚘

    Thanks for following along on our adventure, it feels good to be home!    Read more

    Trip end
    March 24, 2023
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