The shuttle to the airport goes really smoothly. They wanted us to get on the shuttle for 9pm but I said it was too early and so we switched it to 10pm. Jay's Dad flew out from the Doha airport back to London and I asked him if it was smooth and he said it was so I wasn't concerned about timing since we are flying Business and so have dedicated check in and security.
The Doha lounge for Business is the largest, nicest lounge I've seen. The restaurant is still buffet but they have servers who come and take your drink order and seat you. We met Jim and Maria up there and have a light meal (because it's 11pm).
They're not on the same flight as us - some kind of debacle. When I originally booked my flight it was at 1:05am and so when Maria asked what flight we were on I checked my confirmation and forwarded it to her and it said QR676 1:05am..but somewhere along the way (without notification) our flight got moved to 1:20am and they added a NEW flight at 1:05am which is the one Maria booked. No big deal but kind of a pain in the ass. The only reason we found out before actually getting to the airport was that Maria asked for the Hotel to confirm that we are on the same seaplane flight to the resort and they said "you're arriving at different times but we can likely accommodate that because the times are close together". WHAT?! When I gave the hotel the flight times I must have gone to the Qatar Airways website instead of using my confirmation in my email and given them the correct timing. Anyway, we're at Gates 53 and 59 and departing within 15 mins of eachother and our planes are parked next to one another so it's not the end of the world.
On the flight as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign goes off and we're at altitude Jay and I both put our seats down in the lay flat position and go to sleep. I asked the flight attendant to wake me up for a light breakfast (instead of the dinner option), she wakes me with 90 mins left before landing, so I slept for a solid 2 hours, and have a yogurt, fruit and a croissant along with this Orangeade drink that I had on the flight here which is delicious. It's fresh squeezed orange juice with soda, lemon and a little simple syrup - so good.
We land, we grab our bags, we find the JW Representative in a sea of resort representatives, find Jim and Maria and the Rep takes us to get checked in for the seaplane and then takes us to the Lounge to wait until our flight.
The girls had their 5th (of 6) play off games tonight and the timing is right that I can watch the score unfold on Team Snap by updating the app - they won 1-0. So we now have 8 points with 3 wins and 2 ties. We have 1 game left vs Lindsay. If we win or tie this one we are moving on to the next round. If we lose we could still move on if Napanee loses or ties any of their remaining 3 games but if they win them all they would move on if we lose. There is a 2nd round of Play Offs and that's it, the winner of that round moves on to the Tournament of Champions in April.
Paige hit a player and fell and hit her head on the ice tonight, Jim took the girls to the game so they called me from the car. Jim is serious about concussion protocols and I trust him, he said that she has a bit of a headache but no dizziness, nausea or anything so he doesn't have any concerns. She says she's fine so we'll check in with her tomorrow.
Our flight is ready so we get escorted to the gate, sit for about 10 mins and then are escorted to the plane. They really have this whole thing down. Originally the email that we got about the transfers made it sound like it was first come first serve when you got to the airport and you could be waiting for a while. The transfer service only runs from 6am to 3pm which is the reason we went on this overnight flight because we wanted to make sure that we got to Male early so that we could get transferred to the resort. But Maria found out a few days ago that the day prior to your departure they'll give you an actual time for your flight. This would have likely changed the way that I organized my return to Toronto too because we have a SUPER long travel home. We will try to get the last transfer to Male and then will have about a 4 hour wait before our flight to Doha, once in Doha we have an 8 hour layover so I've rented a hotel room at the airport so we can nap and relax checking in at 11:30pm and checking out at probably 6am, then we have the 6 hr flight to Frankfurt with a 3 hr layover and then the 8 hr flight home to Toronto. We leave here at 3pm on the 7th and arrive home at 7:30pm on the 8th (but that's 8:30am here time on the 9th - so it's a fucking long way home).
The flight is on a little 16 seater seaplane, it's hot and extremely cramped. One of Jim and Maria's bags didn't make it on that flight so will be arriving at 1pm (they told us that in the lounge - they had extra bags because they went to Dubai and then Doha and then here). They had everything they needed in their carry-on roller bags and backpacks so losing one of their medium size rollers for a few hours wasn't a big deal.
The flight is just under an hour and you can really see just how many little islands make up the archipelago. We learned when we got here that we are another hour ahead of Male, which we didn't realize so we lost an extra hour from home (now we're 11 hours ahead) which will make work stuff even harder now but Nicole and Cindy have been AMAZING. Nicole helped clients purchase a home while I was in Doha and she has another set of our clients who are putting an offer in on Tuesday while I'm gone. I love that I can leave clients with someone that I can trust to do the same job I would do.
We arrive to a lovely greeting. A row of staff welcoming us at the pier and a welcome drink which is honey water and fresh basil. We meet our butler, Assan, who takes us on a tour of the resort by golf cart and then drops us to our room and then takes Jim and Maria to their room which is further down. We were upgraded to a sunset overwater bungalow (from the sunrise one) which is nice because, now that we've been here for a day, I realize is on the less windy side - we still get a breeze but it's not blowing directly at our pool area. Jim and Maria, because Maria is a Titanium Rewards Member get upgraded to a duplex overwater bungalow which is the same as ours but has a living room area on the second floor with a 2nd bathroom (which is good for Jim!).
When I booked and they asked if we were celebrating anything I said we were celebrating our 20th Anniversary - which was in October and we didn't do anything really to celebrate because typically we don't celebrate each other (which we should more). But because of that they had a nice cake in our room on arrival and had written in palm leaves on the bed.
Jay and I have the Savour the Endless (all-inclusive) package, it was somewhere between $200 and $250 a day US for us to add and includes our food and drinks so it made total sense for us because I figured (rightly) that a la carte drinks are probably about $25 USD each. Jay doesn't drink a lot but he often has 2 entrees at dinner so even just on food it was a good deal. Jim and Maria booked the trip on points so for them to add the package was almost $600USD per night so they opted not to add it but I would guess it's going to be about a wash for them. The only dinner that isn't included for us is at the Japanese and Steakhouse which we get a 60% discount on our food there.
I take photos of snacks in the room thinking they’re included. They’re not, I say to Jay “do not eat the M&Ms!” they’re $12 or $18 USD
It's HOT here, like hot hot. But there is always a breeze so it's bearable, it's also humid.
I've been popping cold medication like its Jr Mints since we got here, my equilibrium is all messed up because of the little seaplane flight and if I close my eyes I feel like I'm on a boat.
We get settled in our room and decide we'll go for lunch. We walk over and decide to sit by the pool, which is the Italian restaurant. Jim had a meatball sandwich, which he said was more like a chopped steak sandwich and was excellent, with fries, Maria had the spagetti bolonese, Jay and I both had the caesar salad him with chicken and me with shrimp and then we shared a burrata appetizer and bruschetta on crisps. I also had a pina colada with dark rum and this is the first example of them not scrimping on the alcohol because it was beige, just like it should be. Yum.
After lunch we walk back to our rooms, I went for a swim/float while Jay had a nap inside. I'm so tired at this point because it's almost 4pm and I haven't slept more than the 2 hours on the plane. When Jay comes outside and starts his second nap (really just a repositioning nap) I text Maria, we agree to meet at 7:30pm for dinner at the main restaurant and I go inside, lay down, set an alarm for 2 hours and fall promptly asleep for an amazing nap until 6pm.
On our tour there was a boutique that they have where you can buy hats, etc. We didn't go in but Jay said he might go grab flip flops. His flip flops broke last year and he went into town and bought awful sandals from the shoe store in town, they're Merrells but they're bad. Anyway, Jim made a comment about how he didn't know he was dining with Jesus and I said "we call him Jay-zeus" - Jim cracked up. Jim is a funny guy, one of the wittiest people that I know so a comment like that was right up his alley and I'm sure he was like "damn, why didn't I think of that".
Dinner at the main restaurant is a la carte, I wasn't sure if it was buffet but that's only at breakfast. Jay and I decide to split a rice dish and an asian noodle dish. I have a margarita (I actually ordered a drink that Maria introduced me to in Curacao in December called a caipirinha which is the native drink of Brazil, it's made with a liquor called cachaca which I would say is similar to rum, lime and sugar but they don't have the liquor) with our appetizer and then have a glass of prosecco with dinner. Dinner? Also excellent. The staff is extremely attentive and the chef comes to the table to welcome us.
After dinner everyone was tired still and so we walked back to our rooms. Even though the sun had set and there is a breeze it's still hot. I had a cool shower before dinner and again afterwards to cool off. I haven't been having hot flashes per se but during my travel days I'm definitely running warm - I don't know if the travel stresses me or what but on our travel day home I'll definitely wear something light.
I love our room, but it's not the same as sharing a space with Jim and Maria where you socialize as well. I sent her a message this afternoon to tell her I wish I had brought my floatie and we were floating together and I brought 5 Crowns and a deck of cards so hopefully tomorrow when we're all rested we can hang out together. Their living room on the 2nd floor is just like a couch bed kind of set up (no table) and outside I think it's too breezy for cards (but you need the breeze so I wouldn't give it up!) so we'll have to figure out something.
It's about 10pm and it's time for bed.
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