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Here’s something interesting for fellow spa enthusiasts in a bargain hunting mood … a spa promotion online search directory.

This is how it works - supposing you are in the mood for a spa or massage session, and you jolly well know that spa establishments run promotions all the time - you look up on the internet: http://www.totallyspa.com, and bingo … you’re shown a list of spa establishments in Singapore that happens to be running a spa promotion! Just pick one and off you go happily!

This website is essentially a niche web search directory targetted to spas in Singapore. In their own words:

“totallyspa is your online source for Singapore spa promotions. Treat yourself to the many available treatments on promotion now.”

Nifty idea, isn’t it? Well, almost…

This website is useful if you are too lazy to check out various spa websites and so, you can find various promotions consolidated here on your behalf. However, I find their spa directory and promotions not comprehensive and seems to only cover spas that, I assume, has signed up for their directory services. If your favorite spa is not listed with them, you’ll not find their promotions even if they are indeed running a promotion.

The key attraction for this website is their spa promotions. However, I noted that these are standard spa promotions and not something at a even better pricing or discount. If I have a bookmark of my favourite spa websites or are on the mailing lists for these spas, the promotions I am likely to recieve from these spas will be as good if not better. Hence, this website may only be useful for the occasional spa customer and not hard-core spa and massage enthusiasts like myself or some of my readers.

However, I do appreciate the logic behind the website’s founders. What I can suggest to them is to expand their directory services to not only Singapore but the entire Asia region. Hence, if I intend to make a trip to Hong Kong, I will definitely do my research at this website because I am obviously not familiar with Hong Kong’s spa environment, much less the promotions being offered by Hong Kong spas.

I will also suggest that the website sign up independent writers or get readers to review the spa promotions that are offered. Due to competitive circumstances, almost every spa worthy of it’s name run price promotions almost everyday, and so it is important to differentiate the ordinary promotion from the really, special promotions.

In addition, not every reader go for promotions but some may choose a spa based on service, variety of treatments, location, ambiance and other reasons and hence, independent and well-written spa reviews may attract a reader more than the best price promotion. A poorly managed spa will still fail to attract customer despite the best price promotions!

Regardless, I must commend the website for their attempt in making spa promotions that are running wild all over the various medias into one consolidated location. If they can improve further based on some of my comments, then I am sure spa enthusiasts like myself will make this website a must-have reference in the future.

Pix credit: http://www.totallyspa.com

As a keen spa enthusiast, I was surprised to find out that my older sister, a modern cosmopolitan working mother in Singapore, had never been to a spa or a massage! This is so unacceptable … and I felt that it was my personal mission to let her experience the wonders of what a spa can do to one’s mind, body and soul!

I decided to buy a spa package as a birthday treat for her at the Aramsa Spa - The Garden Spa located at Bishan Park. As this was a surprise gift for her, I called her one week earlier to ensure she allocated 3 hours of her time for me.

The Aramsa Spa - The Garden Spa was opened in August 2006 and it was billed as Asia’s first outdoor spa in a park featuring more than 22,000 plants from 200 species. This 7,500 sqm (cluster of eleven low-level buildings) has twelve treatment rooms that include massages, body treatments and facials, a wellness studio, corporate events room and outdoor courtyards, organic health cafe and a retail outlet.

On the day of her birthday, she was driven to the spa by me. We arrived at the spa 15 minutes before our booking slot. At the spa reception, there were 4 staff sitting at the reception table. The decor of the spa is rustic yet modern but the reception area was really small for such a large and busy spa! One of the receptionists showed us to the common bathrooms to change and asked us to wait at the lounge for our therapists.

Shortly, two therapists came to us and led us to the treatment room. As this is the first time my sister was experiencing a spa treatment, I opted for an individual treatment room so that she could be at ease. We could hear the birds chirping as we walked through the pebble footpaths to our treatment rooms.

The massage treatment room is of a good size with a single seater sofa in a corner. The outdoor rain shower and sunken bath are in the open greenery area. Aida, my therapist, introduced herself and led me to the sofa to soak my foot in a hot water that has been filled with mineral salts.

She carefully dried my feet and led me to the treatment bed. I started off with a body scrub. In between the scrub, the therapist asked me if her scrubbing technique was acceptable, which was very nice of her. To my astonishment, she was so attentive that she even scrubbed my belly button! When she finished the scrub, she turned on the shower, ensured the water was at the right temperature before leading me to cleanse myself.

While I was having my shower, she quickly cleaned up the treatment bed and got ready for my massage. The massage was one of the signature massage for this spa…. The Aramsa Touch Massage.

I guess most spa will come out with fancy names for their massage treatment and this is no different. The Touch Massage is nothing more that a Shiatsu massage with some aromatherapy techniques thrown in. Oh well…

After the treatment, we were ushered to the lounge for some tea and cookies and to relax. I asked my sister about her first spa experience and her only word was “shiok”; a local expression for an extremely exhilarating and wonderful experience. The hot lemon grass tea with pandan leaf (a tropical fragrant plant) and honey at the lounge was unique and certainly a plus.

I am glad my sister like her first massage experience and had left the spa feeling recharged & radiant. One more happy spa and massage member! Time to give myself a pat on the back for adding another die-hard spa and massage fan!

Location of Spa: Bishan Park, Central Singapore
Size of Spa: Twelve private treatment rooms, wellness studio, organic health cafe and a retail outlet.
Friendliness: Friendly masseurs.
Facilities: Private Shower in Room. Lounge, Wellness studio
Pricing: Special UOB promotion of S$88 for scrub and massage. Normal spa prices for other packages.
Transport: Central, Singapore. Free Parking at Bishan Park.

I recently enjoyed a 1 for 1 spa treatment offered through a HSBC credit card promotion.

I had booked a 60 minutes Swedish massage with this spa located at Marina Square, a large shopping mall in Singapore. I had two different kind of treatment vouchers from HSBC for this spa. Initially, I wanted to use both vouchers at the same time since there were vacant time slots for both treatments. Unfortunately, the spa was not flexible enough for me to use it on a single visit. They said I need to come back another day to enjoy the other treatment… why…I’ll never understand.

The spa is nicely decorated with a mix-style of Thai and Balinese concept. There were 2 people at the reception attending to customers. We were led to a waiting area to fill up a “Getting to Know You” form and a flowered tea and hot towel were served to us. (This is something nice and relaxing which I hardly see when you are not in a 6-star spa).

Shortly after, our masseurs led us to the treatment room. Surprisingly, the couple treatment room was quite spacious for a spa located in a shopping centre. Both the masseurs attending to us were local Singaporeans.

Susan, the masseur, who attended to me look quite young (perhaps in her mid 20s). Her strokes were very soft and gentle with just the right pressure. I liked the way she slowly cover or take away the towel on me. She was also so gentle and careful whenever she wanted me to change lying position or when she needed to adopt a stronger massage pressure.

My partner had exactly the same massage treatment in the same room and I could hear loud feet shuffling, repetitive clearing of the throat, dropped blankets and curt calls to change position.

I had long concluded that getting a good masseur is a luck of the draw in Singapore even if you are doing the same massage treatment, in the same room, in the same spa! When will spa operators in Singapore ever wake up to the idea that spas must de-stress their clients - not add stress!

After the treatment, we were served with another flowered-flavoured tea and this time, a cold towel. This is great. This was a special offer spa treatment and as usual, there was a selling spiel by the spa sales personnel to promote some spa packages membership.

It seems that there are obligatory sales talk nowadays whenever there is a special offer for spa treatments. However, the sales person doing it was nice and not pushy and we let her do her sales promotion. This is not the case with many other spas establishment and which often leave a bitter after-taste especially after a nice massage session.

Spa operators, if you are reading this, let it be known that as customers, we understand that you may want to promote your spa and we can allow some time for your sales people to do their sales selling stuff. However, we do put our foot down on non-stop sales promotions or pushy sales people. No matter how good your spa is, I will walk out and never return.

Location of Spa: Marina Square, Singapore
Size of Spa: Quite a number of private room, a large common room and nice foot reflexology chairs and rooms.
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and sales girl.
Facilities: Private Jacuzzi and Shower in Room
Pricing: Special promotion of S$138 for scrub and massage for two. Normal spa prices for other packages.
Transport: Downtown CBD, Singapore. Subway, Taxis and buses easily available.

Fullerton Hotel is one of the grandest hotels in downtown Singapore. It was formerly the General Post Office, a grand and imposing British colonial-era building, before it was retrofitted to become a hotel. It is now a swanky 6-star hotel right smack in the middle of CBD and by the Singapore River and hosts daily grand events and banquets to the rich and famous of Singapore.

Hence, it was an absolute delight when my credit card offered a special promotion to the spa located within the hotel. It has always been my desire to try out spas in swanky 6-star hotels but my wallet had never allowed me to entertain those desires.

I made an appointment on behalf of myself and my husband, the credit card promotion being a two-for-one offer. At S$138 for two for a complete massage and body scrub in a 6-star hotel spa, I consider it an absolute steal in expensive Singapore!

The spa is located in basement level of the hotel, next to the hotel gym. The fresh fragrance of lavender ‘greeted’ us as we walked towards the reception of the spa. The receptionist was a guy; which is a rare sight anywhere in the spa industry in Asia! Anyway, he introduced the spa menu available and I chose a lemon-flavoured sugar scrub and aromatherapy massage and my husband chose a sea-salt scrub and a Indonesian deep tissue massage.

We entered the spa area and were immediately reminded of the best spas of Bali or Thailand. The massage room was big and roomy and in one corner was a large jacuzzi tub and another corner was a large changing room with it’s own shower and clothes cabinet. There was even space to fit in two soft chairs in a corner of the room. You don’t normally get such space and opulence in a Singapore spa as most massage rooms tend to be small but this being a 6-star hotel spa obviously has to offer the very best!

However, unlike a good spa in Bali or Thailand, spas in Singapore just cannot reach the same high standard because of a lack in service standard and attention to close detail even in the very best spa.

We were not happy that the shower room was absolutely small! Add to the fact that the shower temperature knob tend not to follow instructions, you can get pretty burned because you can’t jump out of the way in the super-small shower room. And then, the tea served to us was more like hot water because there was hardly any tea leaves in the water. We were also surprised that a plastic sheet was used as an underlay during the scrub because it made a lot of ‘plasticky squicky sound’ throughout the entire scrub session!

Call me demanding but if you want to compete in the high value competitive Spa market of the Asian region, spa-operators need to be demanding of their spa’s quality and service and then some.

The massage was surprisingly good but the service attitude could be better. One of the masseurs was Lilian Teo and she was absolutely polite, attentive and soft-spoken, a rarity in Singapore but very normal in Bali or Thailand. Her other colleague, better not named, was typically curt and impatient, something quite common in Singapore.

Would I return? I doubt very much if I have to pay list price because it’s just too expensive in Singapore but the lure of promotions and special offers may just entice me back again.

Location of Spa: Fullerton Hotel, Singapore
Size of Spa: About 6 massage treatment rooms
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and masseurs depending on who you get
Facilities: Private Jacuzzi and Shower in Room
Pricing: Special promotion of S$138 for scrub and massage for two. Normal spa prices for other packages.
Transport: Downtown CBD, Singapore. Subway, Taxis and buses easily available.

I want to share with you my joy in finding the right club recently. As you can read from my blog, I enjoy visiting spas, practising Yoga and doing a bit of gym work. Hmmm…I also enjoy good food after a good workout too!

However, these places happen to be in different physical locations - and the time spent running from one spot to another can be tiring. Like any other Yuppie in Singapore, I started to look for a club that had all the necessary facilities under one roof to join.

However, unlike many Yuppies, I do not have a lot of money to burn! Country and social clubs were out because some of them can cost tens of thousands of dollars to join and hundreds of dollars to maintain monthly. Besides, I don’t play golf nor do I feel like subsidising these clubs with their grand auditoriums and golf courses which I am unlikely to use at anytime.

I then look at spa clubs. Many spas has very good value for money spa membership but other than jacuzzi and steam bath, they don’t have other facilities such as a gym or even an exercise studio. No value for money there.

Because I recently joined a Yoga studio, I knew that a Yoga studio was not value for money too. True, it has a gym but there were no spa and massage facilities and besides Yoga, there were only Yoga. They don’t teach any other classes such as boxercise, aerobics, pilates, kickboxing or dances. Haven’t they heard, variety is the spice of life…

I then checked out one of those mass-market gyms but I didn’t like it either. Many of these gyms were very hard-selling and many of them were packed with people at all hours. Besides, there were nothing but weight and exercise machines and it was not like I was trying to build muscles!

I then found this club. It has a well-equipped gym, a mass exercise studio, a cafe, a lounge and get this…. a spa! Not to mention that this club is brand new, had a window view to die for …. and it’s membership price was even cheaper than a mass-market gym or a downtown Yoga studio! Ha! Ha!

Now, I get to run on a treadmill, do kick boxing, sip a milkshake, surf the net, enjoy a massage, entertain friends, all in the comfort of one club. No more running around. And no more squeezing with a hundred and one other people in a mass-market club!

Interested to join me? Hmmm…perhaps I may just reveal the club’s identity in my next post… Stay tuned!

Whenever I do research using online search engines on massage matters, I often notice this advertisement for Qi-Mantra, popping up. After a while, my interest was piqued and I clicked on their advertisement.

Apparently, this is a massage palor that specialises in Chinese Tui-Na and Thai massage. Their website revealed that they have been reviewed favourably by many local lifestyle magazines and they had recently opened a new branch. Both their palors are located in Chinatown, Singapore. I made a mental note of their location and their specialty.

One day, I had tired shoulders. Two of my good girlfriends felt knotty in their arms and calves. I knew it was time for a visit for a Chinese Tui Na because I know that Chinese Tui Na or Accupressure is one of the best massage treatment available for sorting out knots and nooks in the body. I knew it was time to re-call Qi-Mantra’s telephone and address.

We had a good chicken rice dinner at Chinatown itself and then made our way to one of Qi-Mantra’s palor at Club Street. Club Street is a street filled with pre-war buildings and some of these buildings have been converted to offices, restaurants, clubs and bars. Located on one of these buildings is Qi-Mantra itself on the second floor.

We did not have an appointment and were taking a chance. Qi Mantra, Club Street, has about 7 rooms and offers both Chinese Accupressure and Thai Massage. Unfortunately, they were full but were gracious enough to make a booking at their other branch at nearby Pagoda Street for us.

We took a short 5 minute walk over to Pagoda Street. Pagoda Street is a busy street filled with shops and eating places right smack in the middle of Chinatown. In fact, one of the major entry point of the Chinatown MRT (Mass Rapid Transit or Subway) comes up right on to Pagoda Street and Qi Mantra is located right near the entry point. (See picture above)

There are also about 7 private rooms in Qi Mantra, Pagoda Street. They offer a mix of Full Body massage as well as shorter localised treatment meant for the busy executive or office worker. We took up their recommendation of their most popular treatment - the Complete Health Blast - a complete deep accupressure treatment that concentrate on the shoulder, back and thigh that is designed to unlock knots and strains in these areas.

Of the three therapists that treated us, two were locals and one was from China. All three therapists were polite, nice and wanted to know if we had any specific pain or strained area for them to concentrate on. The massage attention were indeed on the shoulders, back and thigh and the massage strokes were the repetitive, deep push and pull strokes so typical of Accupressure massage. It was a matter of time before these strokes ironed out the knots and strains in our body.

We like the ambiance and treatment of Qi-mantra. Previously, if I had wanted a Chinese Tui Na, I could only get it done at a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) clinic or small Chinese massage shops that were rather clinical and unfriendly. In addition, these TCM clinics and shops were more familiar with using Tui Na for treating sprains and muscular pains caused by injuries or sporting activities rather than using Tui Na as a therapeutic form of massage relaxation to release stiff muscles caused by sedentary lifestyle.

What I don’t like was looking for their palors in such busy streets. I wished they had more prominent signboards especially for first time visitors. I also wished they could have been lower in their prices because at S$70 for a one-hour massage, I certainly would not be able to make this my regular Tui Na place.

Location of Massage Palor: Club Street and Pagoda Street, Chinatown, Singapore
Size of Massage Palor: About 7 massage treatment rooms each
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and masseurs
Facilities: Treatment Rooms and Toilets
Pricing: Minimum SGD30 for a 30min Foot Massage up to S$125 for a 120min Jet-Lag Revival Blast
Transport: Taxi or bus to Chinatown. North-West MRT line and alight at Pagoda Exit, Chinatown Station.

Can you imagine having a massage treatment in the middle of a swimming pool overlooking swaying coconut trees and the beautiful blue sea? Wow…. this must surely be your first reaction and a double “wow”, “wow” if you are about to find out that this is not some high-end luxury spa resort in Bali or Maldives but in urban, high-rise Singapore!

Welcome to this new spa located at the Labrador Park Nature Reserve, Singapore.

This newly opened spa is located in a refurbished British colonial house built in the 1930s at Labrador Park. (Labrador Park used to be a defensive stronghold for British forces against the Japanese during WWII. Many artillery and machine-gun bunkers and underground ammunition and communication tunnels can still be found in this Park. )

You need to drive into Labrador Park, find the nearest public car park and then drive into the driveway of the spa building which is just besides this public car park. (You can also take a bus to drop off at Pasir Panjang Rd, just outside Labrador Park, and take a short walk in).

As you walk into the reception area, there is a waiting area decorated in a contemporary theme with luxurious sofas and large wooden tables. If you are a guest of the spa, you will walk past a curtain which serves as a divider between the public and private guest area. Immediately into the private area is a small lounge which serves as a rest area for spa customers and a small gym.

Located besides the lounge area are eight treatment rooms in various beautiful Oriental, Indonesian, Thai and Japanese themed suites. One of the treatment room has an outdoor jacuzzi in the open garden area (cordoned off with bamboo plants for privacy) and two other treatments room has indoor jacuzzi as well. All the treatment rooms are relatively large and are meant for a couple to use in comfort. The spa also has a outdoor swimming pool and in the middle of the pool is a floating glasshouse, which, at a request for that special occasion, can be turned into a couple’s treatment room as well.

The spa offers everything from scrubs, wraps, traditional massages for the head, body and feet and facials as well. I opted for a 60 minute Raintree Touch Massage (their signature treatment). It is a vigorous deep tissue massage that is good for undoing tight muscles, tired backs and can actually improve blood flow.

Other interesting treatments available at this spa, which I did not have time to try, includes Moor Mud Bath, Balinese Boreh Body Wrap, Eporex Mesotherapy, Paraffin Wax for feet etc. Prices ranges from S$50 to S$208.

After my massage, I was led to the spa lounge, which offers a menu of fast fat-burning light snacks that include sandwiches, organic food and juices. I find this a nice touch to end a massage session and find it disappointing that not many spas in Singapore offers this.

Overall, I am very happy with their service as well as the skill of their therapists. In addition to massages, guests can also use the swimming pool, gym as well as get generous discounts at the various restaurants located at Labrador Park. I also found that this spa has a special spa party package that anyone can organise for 4-8 friends and spend an evening at S$48 each with massage and food and drinks inclusive.

Location of Spa: Labrador Nature Reserve, off Pasir Panjang Rd, Singapore
Size of Spa: 8 massage treatment rooms, a small gym, lounge, shower room
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist, beauticians and masseurs
Facilities: Steam room, Jacuzzi, Shower room available.
Pricing: Minimum SGD110 for a one hour of aromatherapy massage. Other massage, slimming and facial treatments available. Members scheme and bulk massage packages are also available. Do check with the receptionist for such programs.

It’s been months since I had my last facial treatment because it was always so difficult to get an appointment at my regular facial spa salon. On the other hand, whenever I did manage to get an appointment, I ended up postponing it because of work commitments ….sigh… such is the hectic life in a modern city.

I finally managed to go for my facial treatment recently. My regular facial spa salon is located in a pre-war shophouse at Peck Seah Street, Tanjong Pagar, near to the CBD (Central Business District) area and is exclusive to ladies only. The spa salon offers a comprehensive range of treatments that include facial and body massage, body scrub, facial treatments, slimming treatments, pedicure & manicure all under one roof.

The spa salon is divided into many small individual rooms that gives you privacy for massage and facial treatments. There is also a sauna and steam room available for guests to use.

I was assigned my regular beautician. Even though my regular beautician was already familiar with my facial conditions, she always start off by first analysing my skin.

This time round, she commented that my face was dry and had lots of blackheads. She then started the appropriate treatment by cleansing my face, explaining to me every movement as she cleansed, massaged, removed unwanted blackheads and plucked my eyebrows.

Next, she massaged my neck, shoulder and head and followed with a soothing eye mask & cold face mask. She then left the room for me to rest & relax. About 20 minutes later, she returned to attend to me. She removed the mask and applied toner and moisturiser to my face. This concluded my facial treatment which took a total of about 90 minutes.

What I like about this spa salon is that it is near to my working place at the CBD and they do offer a membership scheme - which brings each facial treatment session to an affordable S$55(US$34) per session instead of S$90 that one would typically pay for one-off sessions.

I also like the fact that it is a ladies-only environment and most of the clients are from the CBD area - making it like an after-office relaxation club. I also like the fact that treatments are offered alarte carte; giving me the choice of adding a body massage after a facial treatment if I wanted to or vice versa.

What don’t I like about this salon? They are too popular and getting a treatment slot is sometimes difficult. I also dislike the fact that some facilities like the sauna and steam room can get crowded at times.

Location of Spa: Peck Seah Street, off Tanjong Pagar Rd, Singapore
Size of Spa: 30 individual treatment rooms or more
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist, beauticians and masseurs
Facilities: Sauna, Steam room, Shower room available.
Pricing: Minimum SGD90 for a one hour facial treatment session without being a member. Additional pricing applies for other treatments: S$40 for pedicure, S$28 for manicure, S$108 for aromatherapy massage

One lazy sunny morning, my hubby and I had just finished a hearty breakfast along Mohammad Sultan Road, Singapore and happened to pass by some traditional massage shops along River Valley Road, just besides the Tank Road Indian temple. There were large, colourful banners advertising the shops and you just can’t miss them. Being in an extremely relaxed mood, we decided to try out one of the massage shops.

This massage shop is located in a two level pre-war shophouses. The friendly receptionist introduced their available massages and prices. Both my hubby and I opted for their signature massage… Balinese and Thai massage respectively.

This is a no-frill massage shop or boutique and hence does not offer the any type of spa facilities. Their main focus of business is Therapeutic Massage. In Singapore and Asia, there are many of such type of massage shops that focused strictly on massages and not spa frills and facilities. Personally, we prefer this type of no-frill massage shops as prices tend to be at least 50% lesser than a spa-type of massage boutique.

We were lead by the massage therapists to our respective mattresses as they do not have individual rooms. This place is like a typical Thai massage shop one can find in Thailand (i.e. one row of beds or mattresses with separated curtains in a common area). At least they bother to separate the male and female customers!

I opted for the Balinese massage as I wanted something soft and gentle. Balinese massage uses a combination of gentle stretches, acupressure and aromatherapy oils to stimulate the flow of blood, oxygen and ‘qi’ (energy) around your body, and bring deep relaxation and wellness.

Balinese massage uses a variety of techniques including skin rolling, kneading and stroking, acupressure and reflexology.

Overall, my therapist was not too bad even though she is Thai and not Balinese except that she was rather rough when she moved my leg, arms etc. Other than that, her skills was quite good as she ensured every part of your body was massaged.

My hubby loves Thai massage as it gives him the ‘kick’ when the therapist stretches/bend his body. So whenever we are in Thailand, he will try at least a few rounds of hard Thai massage.

Thai Massage is also called Thai yoga massage because the therapist uses his or her hands, knees, legs, and feet to move you into a series of yoga-like stretches. Many people say Thai massage is like doing yoga without any work! Thai massage uses passive stretching and pressure along the body’s energy lines to increase flexibility, relieve muscle and joint tension and balance the body’s energy systems. It is both deeply relaxing and energizing but for many people, especially first timers, they may find Thai massage less relaxing and more painful than other forms of massage.

His therapist was from Northern Thailand. After the session, I asked for my hubby’s comments. The only words he said was that he slept all the way during the session! On one hand, some people may think that the therapist was so good that the recipient actually slept through the treatment. This will sound right if you are doing Shiatsu, Aroma or Swedish massage. Unfortunately, it’s Thai Massage…. whereby the therapist literally uses her whole body, including her elbow, knee and feet to move, twist, turn and contort your body into various yoga-like positions…. so how can one sleep? Hmmmm……

Location of Spa: River Valley Road, Singapore
Size of Spa: 20 beds in common rooms
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and masseurs
Facilities: Minimal. Shower room available.
Pricing: Minimum SGD50 for one hour session

The latest health and wellness craze to hit Singapore is YOGA. There are big banners hanging from buildings and full page advertisements in newspapers exhorting the merits of Yoga everyday and everywhere! In fact, I understand that Yoga is hot in many large cities across the world.

Personally, I had always wanted to try Yoga because I had always thought it consisted of easy stretching exercises which will not cause me to sweat too much and yet I get to exercise at the same time - best of both worlds Hence, I readily agreed to attend a introductory session when one of the Yoga studios near my office in the central CBD district started handing out brochures.

The Yoga studio was tastefully done up. Warm lights exuded a soft welcome in the main reception area where a number of people were chatting and relaxing in a cosy sofa corner.

A friendly consultant attended to me and showed me around the studio and introduced their facilities. There were shower rooms, lockers, steam rooms and a member’s relaxation area.

I had a lengthy discussion with the consultant. She explained to me the various types of yoga classes as well as the membership cost. I was shocked with the membership price! I immediately held back my intention of joining up immediately!

I told her that I will try out the 7 days trial before making any commitment. She explained to me that as this is my first try with Yoga, she would recommend me to attend the Hatha Yoga class to get a taste of Yoga.

Hatha Yoga is an age-old discipline of Yoga that combines stretching exercises with relaxation techniques to form a complete system of holistic care designed to rejuvenate the body and free the mind from tension and fatigue. Sounds good… so I decided to check it out.

I made an appointment for my 1st Yoga lesson. When I arrived at the Yoga studio, the place was packed with office executives! Looks like lots of white collar people are in need of relaxation exercises! Before the class began, I was asked to take a shower. By doing this, it will help to cool down the body system before starting Yoga exercises.

My first yoga lesson was interesting. The class had about 20 trainees. The lady coach was very nice. Soft music was played and we started off by doing meditation for about 20 seconds. The coach explained that by meditation, it helps to calm the body down after a hard day of hectic work.

Next, we laid down onto our stomach and put our forehead on the floor, raised our head, neck and chest slowly (The Cobra pose). We then sat on our heels and stretched our hand upwards. Lastly, we laid down on the floor with legs and arms wide open and slowly raised our hands up and down. All positions were repeated for at least 8 times.

For the last 20 mins, the coach dimmed down the lights and asked us to sit down, massage our face (eyes, cheeks, ears) and set our mind blank (The Corpse pose). The entire Yoga session lasted about 90 mins.

For a first timer, like me, the most difficult part was to balance yourself with one foot. Most of the fresh trainees were Yoga first timer and we had lots of fun giggling whenever someone toppled over!

At the end of the class, I could indeed feel myself “lighter” and”fresher”. I certainly look forward to my next class!

Location of Yoga/Spa Studio: Raffles Place, Singapore
Size of Yoga Studio: Very big!
Friendliness: Most of the staff are friendly
Facilities: Shower rooms, steam rooms and rest lounge
Pricing: Need to pay a joining fee and membership fee to enjoy unlimited Yoga classes & usage of the spa. Need to look out for joining-up promotion!