Let Relaxation Begin - Day 2 (July 24th)

Day 2 - July 24, 2011:

As we stepped off the yacht & took in our surroundings, I felt as though I was an extra in the movie Couples Retreat (definitely not one of the main characters headed for couples counseling, but a fun couple on their honeymoon haha).  We knew that they filmed the movie at the St. Regis, but I was surprised that I recognized so many locations from the movie. ** In case you missed Couples Retreat, the St. Regis makes sure by the time you leave the resort you've caught up by dedicating an entire channel on the TV that loops the movie (24 hours a day).

Enough about the movie and back to serenity...

We were greeted by members of the staff that were assigned to assisting each party that got off the boat (there were 3 parties - a family of 4; a man and his 16 year old son - at least I'm hoping that I made the correct relationship connection; and us).  Our concierge informed us that our room wasn't ready (which we sort of expected going into it, since it was 9AM).  Our bags were collected & we were shown to the beach side restaurant for breakfast.  On our way, I noticed how peaceful and absoluetly stunning the grounds were.  There were hardly any people walking around the grounds & only 5 other couples eating breakfast.  

We ordered omlettes from our server (who was a woman, but we questioned whether she was actually a woman or an island trannie).  We perused the pastries & I picked up two Bloody Marys (there was a bottle of vodka and fixings next to the pre-poured bloodies, so I assumed they were tomato juice & you fixed it yourself **I heavy handed them with some vodka).  Curt & I toasted to the start of our honeymoon & sipped our Bloody Marys - only to find out that they already had alcohol in them & I had just added my own heavy hand to them.  During breakfast we noticed that everyone else eating seemed to also be on their honeymoon.  We would later realize that about 95% of people staying here are on their honeymoon (our celebrating their anniversary), while the other 5% were families (mostly with children that were between the ages of 10 & 18). Our second observation was that about 85% of them were from Europe or Australia, while remaining 15% were Americans.  

You could spot the Americans right away because they were the only ones all blinged out (all the woman had their engagement rings prominently displayed), while the Euros & Aussies opted to only wear just their wedding bands.  **I had decided to leave my engagement ring and our actual wedding bands at home, since we'd be spending the second portion of the honeymoon on a sailboat (God forbid pirates hopped aboard and stole our rings right before the wedding).  We opted to wear "fake" wedding bands, so that we actually fit in with the "honeymoon" crowd **we are in fact imposters since this is our pre-wedding honeymoon** (they are two very plain but classy titanium bands & we actually won them through the bridal show I went to in RI).  Needless to say my poor ring finger felt left out & really missed having my beautiful diamond displayed, but in hindsight we didn't stand out right away as Americans.

After breakfast our room still wasn't ready (we were told it would be ready by 12PM), so we wandered around the grounds (feeling rather gross from all the traveling and still wearing our airplane outfits, while others were in proper beach attire).  We explored the side of the hotel that the beachfront villas were located, which were pretty impressive.  The villas were very large, had their own hammocks and the own private beach.  I was blown away by the Royal Villa, which was more like a compound.  Curt joked that Brad & Angelina were probably staying there w/ their many children.  I sort of wonder who actually is staying there (it's apparently 40,000 a night).  

We also located the spa, which sits on a little island in the center of the resorts lagoonarium.  There were many colorful fish swimming around the lagonarium.  Curt & I were like 2 little kids in a candy shop everytime we spotted something new & even more picturesqe we were giddy with excitement. 

Our room was finally ready at 11AM.  The concierge brought us to our room on a golf cart and showed us all the amenities in the room.  OMG!! This place was unreal (and actually the exact room type that Vince Vaughn & Malin Akerman had in Couples Retreat).  

Our deluxe overwater villa has 1 bedroom with a king size bed; a living room that has a glass bottom viewing area under the coffee table; a large deck w/ two lounge chairs; an outdoor breakfast nook; a few steps down from our deck there is a diving dock & ladder into the lagoon; our bathroom has a large soaking tub, an amazing open air shower with a rain style shower head, his & her sinks with a vanity in the middle (complete with a mirror that opens to look out into the bedroom) & a walk-in closet.  The villa has a few more glass bottom viewing areas (1 in the bathroom & 2 in the entryway).  

After exploring our room (an experience that was filled with ooohhhh's & aaaahhhh's), we popped open the bottle of champagne that the conceirge brought over (a special congratulations on your honeymoon from the St. Regis).  After our champagne toast, we put on our bathing suits, dove off our dock and splashed around the lagoon. 

We spent the next few hours tanning on our deck (loaded up w/ tons of SPF since we're ubber white thanks to Nor Cal summers).  In between tanning & reading, we occasionally splashed around the lagoon testing out our new underwater camera cover.  We decided our first day would be very relaxed and we'd get into exploring more of the resort & Bora Bora the following day.  Prior to booking our activities with the concierge & checking out the romantic oasis pool, we literally hung out in the room (Curt napped for a bit & I blogged in my lounge chair).  

We met with the concierge & planned out our excursions, spa appointments & restaruant reservations for most of the week (Curt wouldn't allow me to fully book us out within our first few hours of arriving, but me being the crazy planner that I am made sure to schedule as much as I could right off the bat).  You'll have to continue reading the blog to find out what exciting excursions I planned for us.  

Once we were set with our excursions, we discovered the hidden oasis pool & settled into an empty cabana.  Each cabana area has it's own private pool that opens up into a larger pool with a waterfall.  It's very private & extremely romantic.  The concierge told us at night the waterfall is all lit up (might be a good spot for a bottle of champagne & star gazing).  We spent an hour in our cabana reading our books, working on our tans & swimming in our private pool.  We experienced our first sun shower, which was very refreshing after baking in the sun for a few hours.  

After a full afternoon of doing nothing but relaxing, we cleaned ourselves up for our first dinner in Bora Bora.  We chose to eat at the sushi restaruant on the premises.  We had an 8PM reservation, but went down early for a cocktail.  They were ready to seat us when we got there & I was pretty surprised how quiet the grounds were for 7:30PM.  All the restaurants were half full & everyone spoke in hushed tones (upon arrival we were told that the hotel was completely book, which seems odd because we barely see other couples out and about).  Our dinner was great & a bottle of sake was the perfect compliment.  

We finished our meal at 9PM & decided to have the golf cart bring us back to our room (after sunset it becomes difficult to navigate your way back to your villa since there are many isles with villas perched out over the lagoon) & have room service bring over a bottle of wine.  I fell asleep by 10PM, on our lounge chairs, with a glass of wine in hand.  The stars above were breathtaking (I never knew there were so many tiny, tiny stars in the sky) & I thought Moss Beach had great star gazing!  

We've gotten quite a few emails from blog followers letting us know how much they're enjoying the update.  Please feel free to become a follower & post comments directly on the blog.  I was excited to find out that Jason W. shared the link with Twinkie - now Curt will definitely have to chime in with his point of view. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure...