FLIP + CHING

Just a Few Videos

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Ching under Travel, Videos.

This is a video of the pristine beach and beautiful blue water.

Another beach video.

Fun Boomerang with Jay and Becca.

Video of Jay and Becca and some friendly folks we met at the resort playing pool volleyball. I took this video from the tower.

Brian got a video of me and a few other drunkies dancing in the tower.

Afternoon at the Pool

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Ching under Travel.

After spending our first morning at the beach, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Here are a few pictures.

It was low season in the Bahamas so the pool wasn’t overcrowded. Our butler managed to reserve a cabana for us despite deciding to move to the pool late in the day. We also got a cabana for Jay and Becca just one over from ours.

Mostly they just needed their cabana to have a spot to store their stuff while we played volleyball in the pool.

I decided to bow out of pool volleyball after more people joined in so that I could participate in reggae dancing in the tower.

I snapped this photo of the pool volleyball as I walked by.

Entertainment team members Bratavia (left) and Ryan (right) taught us some reggae moves. I had a blast dancing with them. After it was over, they stopped by our cabana to tell us about the special Halloween show that the staff will be putting on later in the week. We also took a quick photo.

More vacation recap on the next post. Stay tuned!

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First Wake Up in Great Exuma

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

We got room number 9404, which is a beachfront walkout villa in the first 9400 building. I liked how the had really subtle lighting throughout the property. It was sufficient to find your way back to your villa after a long day of drinking but not overpowering so that you can still see the stars in the sky.

This is what we woke up to the next morning.

The view inside wasn’t bad either. I love watching Brian sleep… but not in a creepy way. I usually get up well before he does. He looks so adorable when he sleeps. It’s so peaceful. Even when he snores, it’s cute.

It was awesome to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of waves lapping on the beach. I took a short video for you guys but it’s not quite the same as being there to experience it. It’s the best I can do, though.

Meanwhile, we wanted to enjoy the amazing view a bit longer so we decided to have breakfast on our patio that morning.

Bacon, eggs, and potatoes for Brian.

Omelet for me. It doesn’t turn out quite as pretty as when you’re eating at the restaurant because the butlers carry these around while they’re riding their bikes.

The plus side is, it’s still warm when it arrives. If he had walked it over, that wouldn’t have been the case as we are on the far end of the resort.

The fresh fruit was delicious and is one of my favorite parts of vacationing in the Caribbean. Fresh fruit is abundant and tastes so much better than the produce we get here at home.

Bread assortment. I guess I could have asked the butler to swing by the cafe for the good stuff. They have chocolate croissants and Danish there. That wasn’t an option on the breakfast card, though, and I didn’t think to do it. I only realized it after.

Later that morning we decided to hang out at the beach. Our butler reserved a palapa for us, which was not the one pictured above. LOL.

I hung out at this palapa a good while before Brian came out and was like, “What are you doing over here? This isn’t ours.” Our palapa was a couple of palapas over. Brian and I had a good laugh about it.

Our butlers were great and, anytime we were at the beach or pool, the would pack us a cooler full of waters and beers (usually Kaliks because Brian doesn’t like Sands). The Kalik Light is in there for Becca.

Here’s a panoramic photo of the beautiful beach. It was a cloudy day and we probably shouldn’t have been out there. This was the start of several weeks of misery for me.

Apparently, the sand fleas come out when it’s dark (like at night) or cloudy (like that day). They’re kind of like chiggers and when you get bit the bits are super itchy. Most of the rooms at the resort have bug spray in addition to the usual toiletries that hotels provide. Ours didn’t have one. Brian and I brought our own bug spray and we sprayed but, I guess, it wasn’t strong enough. We did ask our butler for bug spray and he brought it out to the palapa for us but it was too late. I already got several bug bites. Sometimes you can see the tiny bugs but most of the time you can’t. So you really don’t even know that you’re getting bit until it’s too late.

On the plus side, the beach is beautiful and so pristine. The sand is super fine. It rivals Bavaro Beach in Punta Canta.

Obligatory beach selfie.

Here’s another one with the villas as the backdrop.

Just look at that beautiful, clear, blue water. We were told that, when you look down on the water on a calm day, you can see a hundred feet down.

The water is that clear.

Here’s a pic of the horizon with my toes in the foreground. I took it while we were waiting for Jay and Becca to join us.

Here’s a pic of Brian. We set up some lounge chairs for Jay and Becca next to us.

Our butlers were Garth and Jackson. Garth was on duty that morning and he was very attentive. He came to check on us several times and even brought us food and drinks without prompting.

Here he is bringing over some chips and salsa.

He brought me a yummy frozen cocktail. I think this is called a Bob Marley.

I really wanted a frappucino from the cafe, though, which he went and got and brought back to me and that made me really happy. Those frappucinos are yummy. I got so hooked on those drinks that I would have one (sometimes two) everyday on our way to breakfast.

Anyway, we were very spoiled during our entire stay. I will post some more later. For now, this is how our first morning on the island went. Other than the bug bites, we were off to a fantastic start!

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Dinner at Il Cielo

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Pictures of our first dinner at the resort… but first, a selfie.

You can tell we hadn’t been at the resort long because my tan line isn’t as pronounced. It’s just getting started.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Il Cielo menu.

Il Cielo is the Italian restaurant on property and it doesn’t require reservations.

This is the Prosciutto e Melone starter, which isn’t quite what I expected.

I think this is the Insalata di Cesare. The menu didn’t mention the anchovy but I guess that should have been a given because any decent Caesar salad includes it.

This is the Pollo Parmigiana, which everyone ordered but Brian.

Brian got the lasagna, which is probably not quite what he expected either.

This is the fresh fruit Panna Cotta. We also got a tiramisu dessert (below).

I’m thinking that I must have taken the menu pictures on a different day than when we had dinner because we had several things that weren’t listed on that menu. The restaurant must change their menu each day of the week or something.

Anyway, here’s a picture of our handsome foursome at dinner.

We capped off the evening by hanging out in the games room next to the Drunken Duck pub, where we enjoyed some drinks and a few games of ping pong.

Incidentally, our friend Jay decided to buy a ping pong table for his basement because enjoyed playing so much. I think he wants to practice and get better so he can kick my ass next time we play. LOL.

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Arrival at the Resort

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Ching under Travel.

I know I kind of posted some photos backwards. Before our first meal at the resort, we completed our in-room check-in with our butler. It’s actually kind of interesting. Jay got a video of it but I don’t know if he ever posted it anywhere.

Here were are at the lobby, waiting for our butler to come get us.

Here’s a picture of us with one of our butlers, Garth. He was the one on duty when we arrived. He met me and Brian at the resort lobby and gave us a 50-cent tour on our way to our villa/home for the week.

This is the view that greeted us as we entered our beach-front walkout villa.

Here’s a standard letter explaining butler service.

You communicate with your butler via a special phone. This letter explains that if you lose or damage the phone, the resort will charge you $100.

Here’s a picture of our bed.

They also did awesome towel art, like on cruise ships, but better because they incorporate local flowers and plants in the designs. Brian told me that they actually pick these flowers fresh right from the bushes outside your villa. He knows because he saw one of the housekeeping staff doing it one day.

They also use the flowers to decorate the food. We had a plate of cheese and crackers everyday around 5 pm. This one was there when we arrived and so we enjoyed some snacks while we completed our in-room check-in.

We also enjoyed some champagne while we were checking in.

This is a picture of the full-sized bottles of liquor that they give you in your not-so-mini bar in your villa. The sad thing is except for a splash of gin and a bit of the rum, we didn’t even make a dent. That’s probably not uncommon, though, considering you can get far more delicious drinks at the many bars on property.

Besides the full-sized bottles of liquor, you also get full-sized toiletries. Which is fabulous because it’s good stuff and you never run out. They also give you additional ones before you even run out. The best part about these is the tubes are sealed with foil so, for those who want to them them home as mementos, you don’t have to worry about the liquids exploding all over your clothes on the trip home.

After checking in, our first order of business was lunch. That was at Barefoot by the Sea, which I already posted about previously.

Jay and Becca’s room came available by the time we finished lunch so we went to check on their digs. Here’s a picture of us testing the bed.