My first New Year's eve...
Door: Yaisa
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Yaisa
01 Januari 2012 | Malediven, Malé
… on an island in the Maldives
… sharing one bedroom with my staff
… without a single drop of alcohol, I repeat, NOT A SINGLE DROP!
So, that sums it up more or less… but that doesn’t mean I had a boring one. But you should have been there to understand. The show we (the staff of the Resort and the Dive Centre) put together was quite something.
Even without the show, I haven’t had the time to be bored ever since I arrived on the island that I am to call home for the next two years: Mudhdhoo Island, Baa Atoll, Republic of Maldives. If you only see blue in the Google map here in the top, it's because we on a very small island in the middle of f...g nowhere in the Indian Ocean. Mudhdhoo is about 18 acres big and the resort is still very much under construction. Planned opening date: February 2012, but I don’t see it happening. I’ll spare you the political, construction and PR details, because if I tell you, I would probably have a very unhappy Resort management after me, should they by accident find this weblog and read it.
But a delayed opening would mean that I have more time to do what I have to do to prepare the Dive Centre for opening. And this includes, but is not limited to: writing Standard Operating Procedures and hundreds of other documents, downloading dozens of PADI forms from the internet, chasing after construction workers to install power sockets, close holes in the wall and connect the water so we can finally take a pee in our centre instead of walking the distance of 5 minutes to the staff quarters, doing exploration dives in the area, finding scraps of wood to build temporary tables until the furniture arrives, receiving the inventory bit by bit and counting, registering and labelling tens of hundreds of pieces of equipment, writing job descriptions for my current and future staff, developing activity schedules, remember names, faces and positions of 200 resort staff members… and this is not even 10% of the things we have been working on… So you can imagine I don’t mind a delayed opening, it would actually give me the occasion to get some decent snooze time. Because even if I actually lie in my bed for several hours a night, my head is buzzing with activity, trying to make mental notes of what to do, what not to forget, what to give priority, how to design, develop, formalise, draw, formulate….
The only night I slept really well was last night. The last night of 2011. And that was not because of an alcohol overdose, I kid you not. This is probably my first NY’s since 1981 without a good drink or two, three, four, five… But I slept like a baby, probably because I finally had Stefano’s warm arms around me again, for the first time since we left Sri Lanka. Next to the lack of alcohol, this is probably the only other bummer we’ve encountered since our arrival on the island (is it weeks or days? I’ve already lost track of time): due to the delay in construction, part of the staff quarters are used to accommodate people from the construction companies, hence we suffer from a chronic room shortage for resort staff. I’m sharing a double room with two girls working for the construction project and Stefano is sharing a double room with our three dive masters, two of whom are actually a young married couple. Far from ideal, as you can imagine. However, we all have to make do and we try not to complain. But last night I decided to break the resort rules (Do not sleep in a room other than the one designated to you) and crawled into bed with Stefano. So now we were five in the room on the last day of the year. Very romantic, don’t you think? But at least we had some cuddly time ;-)
Anyway, I’m very excited about 2012. The pictures of the resort in finished state promise an extravaganza of luxury and pampering in Thai/Maldivian style. We, of the Dive Centre SeaSplash Maldives, are expected to match the standards of Dusit Thani Maldives and I’m embracing the challenge with a great quantity of enthousiasm and ambition. This is a fantastic opportunity for us – witnessing the opening of a high class resort and working on the opening of a high standard dive centre are not something I thought I would ever do.
But here we are, who would have thought, and I am bursting out of my seams from all the energy it awakens in me. I just wish I would have the discipline to get up 1 hour earlier every day to do yoga… but hey, I’m still not smoking and I think that’s quite the achievement…
And the resolution to put less chemical creams on my skin… well, forget about it. There are mosquitoes here, lots of them and some of the bastards carry dengue. So the mosquito repellent flows royally, if I have to choose between dengue or a crumpled skin, I’ll go for wrinkles.
How about your resolutions for this year?
Wishing you all the best for 2012 – whatever the best is for you and then a tiny bit more to top it up!
Love & hugs,
Yaisa Nio
General Manager SeaSplash Maldives
(hihihihi)
… sharing one bedroom with my staff
… without a single drop of alcohol, I repeat, NOT A SINGLE DROP!
So, that sums it up more or less… but that doesn’t mean I had a boring one. But you should have been there to understand. The show we (the staff of the Resort and the Dive Centre) put together was quite something.
Even without the show, I haven’t had the time to be bored ever since I arrived on the island that I am to call home for the next two years: Mudhdhoo Island, Baa Atoll, Republic of Maldives. If you only see blue in the Google map here in the top, it's because we on a very small island in the middle of f...g nowhere in the Indian Ocean. Mudhdhoo is about 18 acres big and the resort is still very much under construction. Planned opening date: February 2012, but I don’t see it happening. I’ll spare you the political, construction and PR details, because if I tell you, I would probably have a very unhappy Resort management after me, should they by accident find this weblog and read it.
But a delayed opening would mean that I have more time to do what I have to do to prepare the Dive Centre for opening. And this includes, but is not limited to: writing Standard Operating Procedures and hundreds of other documents, downloading dozens of PADI forms from the internet, chasing after construction workers to install power sockets, close holes in the wall and connect the water so we can finally take a pee in our centre instead of walking the distance of 5 minutes to the staff quarters, doing exploration dives in the area, finding scraps of wood to build temporary tables until the furniture arrives, receiving the inventory bit by bit and counting, registering and labelling tens of hundreds of pieces of equipment, writing job descriptions for my current and future staff, developing activity schedules, remember names, faces and positions of 200 resort staff members… and this is not even 10% of the things we have been working on… So you can imagine I don’t mind a delayed opening, it would actually give me the occasion to get some decent snooze time. Because even if I actually lie in my bed for several hours a night, my head is buzzing with activity, trying to make mental notes of what to do, what not to forget, what to give priority, how to design, develop, formalise, draw, formulate….
The only night I slept really well was last night. The last night of 2011. And that was not because of an alcohol overdose, I kid you not. This is probably my first NY’s since 1981 without a good drink or two, three, four, five… But I slept like a baby, probably because I finally had Stefano’s warm arms around me again, for the first time since we left Sri Lanka. Next to the lack of alcohol, this is probably the only other bummer we’ve encountered since our arrival on the island (is it weeks or days? I’ve already lost track of time): due to the delay in construction, part of the staff quarters are used to accommodate people from the construction companies, hence we suffer from a chronic room shortage for resort staff. I’m sharing a double room with two girls working for the construction project and Stefano is sharing a double room with our three dive masters, two of whom are actually a young married couple. Far from ideal, as you can imagine. However, we all have to make do and we try not to complain. But last night I decided to break the resort rules (Do not sleep in a room other than the one designated to you) and crawled into bed with Stefano. So now we were five in the room on the last day of the year. Very romantic, don’t you think? But at least we had some cuddly time ;-)
Anyway, I’m very excited about 2012. The pictures of the resort in finished state promise an extravaganza of luxury and pampering in Thai/Maldivian style. We, of the Dive Centre SeaSplash Maldives, are expected to match the standards of Dusit Thani Maldives and I’m embracing the challenge with a great quantity of enthousiasm and ambition. This is a fantastic opportunity for us – witnessing the opening of a high class resort and working on the opening of a high standard dive centre are not something I thought I would ever do.
But here we are, who would have thought, and I am bursting out of my seams from all the energy it awakens in me. I just wish I would have the discipline to get up 1 hour earlier every day to do yoga… but hey, I’m still not smoking and I think that’s quite the achievement…
And the resolution to put less chemical creams on my skin… well, forget about it. There are mosquitoes here, lots of them and some of the bastards carry dengue. So the mosquito repellent flows royally, if I have to choose between dengue or a crumpled skin, I’ll go for wrinkles.
How about your resolutions for this year?
Wishing you all the best for 2012 – whatever the best is for you and then a tiny bit more to top it up!
Love & hugs,
Yaisa Nio
General Manager SeaSplash Maldives
(hihihihi)
-
01 Januari 2012 - 16:49
Mir:
Wow Yais, dat klinkt fantastisch!!! Het wordt dus een geweldig jaar voor je! En dat wens ik je ook! Happy Nieuwjaar!
XM -
01 Januari 2012 - 16:51
Big Brother:
GM after all... I knew it! :-D
All the best wishes and love to the both of you, Rita & YW -
01 Januari 2012 - 17:05
Stefano:
hey babe,
you forgot the romantic star gazing at the best beach of the island you,me and.......2 millions of mosquitoes!!!!! -
01 Januari 2012 - 19:18
Anjo:
Mijn nieuwjaarswens voor jullie: zsm een eigen kamer... :-) -
01 Januari 2012 - 23:46
TT:
We zijn allemaal in Waldkirch/ Bischoffzell, CH, Khay + fam., Estee en vriend, je moeder en de rest van de fam. Liem.
Heel druk met al die kleine kinderen die overal rennen, klieren,huilen en lachen...... heel andere wereld.
Take care and keep it up! Lots of love, luck and good health in 2012! -
02 Januari 2012 - 18:15
Viola Van De Weg:
Lieve Yaisa
Ik wens je een heel gelukkig en gezond nieuwjaar.
Hier alles goed en ik hoop dat met jou alles voorspoedig gaat.
Veel liefs, Viola -
02 Januari 2012 - 19:41
Mama:
bonne année depuis Mt Pèlerin ou je suis chez mon amie Caro,heb je mijn sms vanuit Bischofszell wel ontvangen? je bent dus weer terug in je job als manager, je training bij de ABN komt zeer van pas, maar nu zonder hoge hakken en mantelpakjes, haha! en natuurlijk gaan jullie een lang en gelukkig jaar tegemoet, zonder roken en alcohol hou je het ook wel vol. Super! stuur je me je nieuwe mob.nummer? bons baisers de la douce France, mamita
-
02 Januari 2012 - 20:41
Nina:
Respect!!! Am already looking forward to the next update :-) XN -
03 Januari 2012 - 23:47
LadySKO:
only one resolution... and mantra for this year... i am what i am ;)
I might delay a visit to the resort till it has a drop or two of tonic .... oh sorry i meant ... ;)
Snuffs
SKO -
04 Januari 2012 - 21:20
Rob:
Wat ontzettend cool Yaisa! I am proud of you. 2012 gaat zo te lezen een fantastisch jaar voor jullie worden. Enjoy!
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
