Dabawenya Traveller

I have always dreamed of staying in an island with very fine white sand and crystal clear seawater. I imagined myself relaxing under the shade of a coconut tree looking out to the calm sea on a very nice sunny weather. This island is secluded and only a few people can come because going and staying in this island is very far and expensive. It is a world-class resort with all the complete facilities and delicious international cuisine.

Maldives is a small country located in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka. This country consists of many small islands. 90% of Maldives is water, 10% are small islands. The capital city of Maldives is Male. It is a small city with narrow brick roads and many commercial establishments. The main airport, Ibrahim International Airport is on one small island. The seaplane airport is also located on this same island. Going to and from the islands is thru boat, speedboat, ferry or seaplane.

I first heard of Maldives when a friend of mine worked there as a musician for years. I saw a photo of him playing an instrument on an island. I later found out he has worked in Maldives. I did not expect that I would soon be working in Maldives too.

It was my long-time plan to work outside the Philippines as a musician because the pay was good and the accommodation is nice. I planned to work two to five years time to save money to buy my own house and car. I have been working in Davao and Manila as an employee in different companies for many years but it didn’t seem to work for me. I could not save big money because my salary was too small. I tried going into business for five years but I failed that was why I applied and worked again as an employee in a food company. But after two years I was not happy anymore that is why I resigned and went back to my singing career. It is hard to apply for a job as a singer in Davao City. There were too many singers but very few bars and hotels to sing. The pay was too small not enough to buy delicious food and pay the bills. I suffered the consequence of resigning from my stable job to become the singer. I applied as a singer abroad in different countries, in a different format: solo, duo, trio, full band. But I was rejected. I kept on looking for other musician jobs despite many rejections. Together with my partner, we have been doing audition videos, pictorials and updating your profile to be accepted. I kept on praying every day to get this musician job abroad. While searching for jobs online, I stumbled across a website of a famous musician from Sri Lanka who owns an entertainment company. He provides Sri Lankan and Filipino musicians in Maldives and Sri Lanka resorts. I got his email address and sent him our profile, photo and audition videos. He responded immediately and told us he needs a couple to work as a musician in a 5-star resort in Maldives. He offered a modest salary and a 2-year contract. We accepted the job. He processed our work visa for Maldives. Going to Maldives was postponed two times because of my passport validity. We prayed hard that it will push thru. After waiting for more than three months we are finally in Maldives.

The resort island where we are working is Meedhupparu Island. It is a 5-star resort with 20 water villas and 215 beach cottages. It has 400 employees. We are the only Filipino in the island.

The beach resort is world class with natural corals, powdery white sand, crystal clear clean water with different colorful and beautiful fishes. There are other different species in the sea like manta rays and sea turtles. Sometimes we see dolphins too. When we swim, fishes swim with us. It was very wonderful to see these beautiful fishes up close. There were also colorful and friendly small birds on the island.

I am happy working on this paradise island. It is the best job I have so far.