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Spa by the park and sea in urban Singapore! 2007-09-30 22:31:04 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
Pilates and Yoga - What’s the difference? 2007-09-27 10:08:54 At an initial glance to a beginner, pilates and yoga seem to have a lot in common. They are both mind/body conditioning routines that rely on smooth, precise movements and measured breathing. In fact, the similarities between pilates and yoga work are not entirely coincidental. Joseph H. Pilates
, the founder of the Pilates Method, studied yoga and martial arts extensively and sought to integrate the mind/body aspects of these practices into his new body conditioning exercises and routines. Hence, it is not surprising to find the influence of Yoga in Pilates. Now, if pilates and yoga have so much in common, what are the major difference
s between these two very similar mind/body conditioning routines?
Perhaps the most obvious difference between pilates and yoga is that yoga is an ancient mind/body practice that originated in India over 5,000 years ago while pilates is a relatively new phenomenon. Pilates was developed and popularized by Joseph H. Pilates and his wife Clara in the early t
Detoxification and toxin removal 2007-09-19 04:18:37 Detoxification is a popular treatment offered by many spas. In fact, as more and more people begin to believe and appreciate in holistic living, the practice of detoxification or detox for short is gaining rapid popularity.
Detox is the process of ridding the body of toxin
s and other impurities. It is believed that there are much toxins and impurities in the food we eat and the air we breathe. Our body is not able to purge our body of all the toxins that we ingest everyday. As a result, too much toxins in the body can lead to tiredness, listlessness, general lethargy and pains in the body and joints.
In severe cases, buildup of toxins in our body in the long term can lead to liver and kidney problems as well as cancer and other major ailments. Hence, advocates of healthy living and holistic lifestyle actively advise that detoxification is built into part of a health living concept that we can put into daily living.
Detox treatment offered in spas are commonly mud or wrap treatments. It
Facial treatment and Massage 2007-09-15 03:27:31 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 r Read more:Massage
Massage therapist training 2007-09-11 03:54:57 I have been asked many times about how does one go about to become a massage therapist. I shall do my best to provide a balanced answer.
Massage
therapy is a field that is growing by leaps and bounds in today’s stressful society. There is a perpetual shortage of professional massage therapists especially in many Asian countries where massage skills are valued as both a traditional art and a tourist money spinner. There are an average of 4 female massage therapists for every male massage therapist that has undergone professional massage therapy training.
To become a massage therapist, you have to ask yourself if you are capable of doing constant physical work. Then, you have to ask yourself if you have a good service attitude and have a calming and soothing personality.
Massage therapists can offer their customers relief in many different ways; some specialize in helping to relieve stress and muscle fatigue, some work towards helping sports athletes to perform at the top of their
Spa Relaxation Music 2007-09-07 11:42:53 I love relaxing in a spa. They invoke your inner senses with their dim lights, aromatic smell and soothing background music.
I remember this spa that I visited in Mines, KL, Malaysia, a few years back which even had a room with soft sofas called “The Sense Room” that had nothing but flowing curtains, soft lights, scented candles and soft music.
Guests moving in and out of The Sense Room were not allowed to make unnecessary noise and magazines, MP3 players and mobile phones were strictly not allowed. All you were allowed to do was to lay back and relax to the soft music.
There is something about spa music that is so soothing. Many of them are back-to-nature sound, nothing but the repetition of ocean waves or rustic bamboo swinging in the wind or spring water bubbling over stones or the collective call of sea gulls.
These music tracks were unique and difficult to get. I’ve checked many CD shops and the closest I can get are zen, inspirational, instrumental or aborigina Read more:Relaxation
, Music
Relaxation Techniques to Relieve Stress 2007-09-04 21:36:28 Given the fast and furious pace of modern life, wherever you may be living in the world, you may find your friend, relative, colleague or even yourself suffering from mental stress and burnout.
However, there are some relaxation activities you can do for the relief of these conditions before you may need to seek professional help. Certain of these relaxation methods can be effective in reducing stress in your life. These relaxation methods can include muscle relaxation techniques, deep breathing exercises, meditation or prayer, massage therapy and biofeedback. Massage therapy and biofeedback are usually done in a professional setting but the first three methods can be done at home.
Muscle relaxation
Muscle relaxation is a great activity to practise before going to sleep each night. It will help you calm down and help you sleep better. You should lie down in a comfortable position without crossing your arms or legs. Begin concentrating on each part of your body starting with your he Read more:Relaxation
Foot Massage in Hua Lien, Taiwan 2007-09-01 05:43:42 Have you been to Taiwan
; a lovely country located between mainland China and Japan? A tourist impression of Taiwan is that it is full of friendly people, hot springs and night markets (street bazaars). Yes, besides friendly people and hot springs, almost all Taiwanese towns, large and small, will invariably have a night market where small stalls sell all sorts of food, tidbits, clothes, home accessories, comics, DVD and CDs, and others.
Crowds gather whenever there are night markets and where crowd thrive, there will always be a foot massage parlor or two. After spending a night of shopping at a busy night market in the city of Hualien, Taiwan, I visited the foot massage parlor, pictured on the left. (Left pix: Note the large foot on the bright neon signboard)
This foot massage parlor has a unique, simple and clean zen design concept. Like all foot massage parlors in Taiwan, a foot massage always start with a hot foot bath and this is where this parlor is unique again with it’s Read more:Massage
Pilates exercise - move over aerobics! 2007-08-27 05:43:08 Do you know what’s wellness and fitness exercise is hot with celebrities, yuppies and women today?
Yes, move over Yoga, boxercise and aerobics… the latest in-thing making the Hollywood and posh clubs round is Pilates
. Huh….what exactly is Pilates?
Pilates (it’s pronounced pa-lah-teez) refers to a type of body conditioning exercise that used a series of controlled movements to strengthen the body and tone muscles. Pilates can help increase your range of movement, muscle strength, improve your mood and sense of well being, and provide you with greater flexibility and better posture. Pilates has been popular with gymnasts and professional dancers for many years.
One major reason for its popularity has to do with the fact that pilates can help increase
Family oriented Hot Spring Spa amongst the mountains 2007-08-24 11:26:16 One of the fascinating features about visiting earthquake-prone countries such as Taiwan or Japan is that hot springs can be found almost anywhere in the country! It is not too difficult to spot hot-spring signboards while driving through the countryside in either country.
Hot spring visits in Taiwan and Japan are traditionally family or communal events; where entire families or communities share a hot spring. Of course, in recent years, many communal hot spring facilities have converted themselves to private room resorts to cash in to the younger population who are more willing to pay for privacy, comfort and exclusivity.
The Bunun hot spring spa is one of the hot spring spa in TaiDong(or Taitung), Taiwan that has kept true to the communal spirit of a hot spring spa. Despite being situated and surrounded by scenic mountains
, it has remain a communal hot spring spa that caters to the young and old, rich and poor alike.
Bunun hot spring spa is more like a communal swimming pool complex Read more:Family
, Spring
Chinese Tui Na 2007-10-10 10:21:01
One of the oldest massage technique still in popular practice today is the Chinese
Tui Na method. Some say that the art of Tui Na or Acupressure gave forth to the modern Japanese Shiatsu massage which most spa and massage goers are familiar with today.
Tui Na is a hands-on-body treatment using acupressure whose purpose is to bring the body into balance based on the Chinese Ying Yang principles. Tui Na has no side effects compared to modern drug-based and/or chemical-based massage treatment methods.
The words ‘Tui Na” literally means ‘Push Pull’ - a realistic description of what’s involved in a Acupressure massage. Tui Na is not just pushing and pulling your muscles and flesh but a holistic body treatment method of the acupoints or meridian points of your body based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Meridian principles.
Tui Na is actively practised as part of traditional Chinese medicine for thousand of years for a wide repertoire of medical treatmen
Baccarat Asia Spa Awards 2006 2007-10-04 21:37:26 A couple of decades ago, Asia
’s Spa and Massage industry used to be a small cottage industry but it has certainly grown tremendously in the last decade or so and is now widely recognised as one of exotic Asia’s key tourist attraction. In a recent gathering of Asia’s spa industry key stakeholders, recognition awards were handed out to the spa’s industry key contributors.
Many of the award winners are from traditional spa resorts in popular Asian countries such as Thailand, Bali, Philippines and Maldive but there were also significant newcomers to the spa scene such as India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. Do you recognise any of these winning spas? Would you not like to try them out at least once?
Or if anyone ever ask you to recommend a good spa in Asia for a break again, simply refer them to this winning list and your recommendation certainly won’t go wrong!
Destination Spa of the Year
Ananda in the Himalayas, India
Urban Spa of the Year
i.sa Read more:Awards
Qi-Mantra Accupressure 2007-10-15 10:14:26 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 o
Eat the right food for healthy living 2007-10-18 19:37:21 We know that the right balance to a healthy
life is to exercise regularly, maintain an active mind and of course, eating the right food.
Hence, any discussion on keeping healthy must also include the important subject of food and healthy eating. For those of us who can never remember or differentiate carbohydrate from protein to fat nor remember on what quantity or quality we should eat to keep healthy, here’s a simple pictorial chart that simplify the complex subject of healthy eating.
Why not print this chart and paste it somewhere prominent? How about your fridge?
carbohydrate, food chain, food chart, healthy eating, healthy life, keeping healthy, Nutrition, protein, Spa and massage health articles
Yoga miracle - Believe it or not! 2007-10-23 20:45:27 If you are a Yoga practitioner or even a casual Yoga observer, I am sure you would have heard stories of Yoga gurus who have made claims to be able to survive without food or air for long period of time or even gurus who can self-levitate and float on thin air!
Well, believe it or not but watch this Dutch man who is prepared to prove his ‘floating’ ability in public!
levitate, Spa and massage health articles, yoga, yoga guru, yoga practitioner
Read more:miracle
Found my ideal gym and spa club! 2007-10-27 20:59:47 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&rsquo Read more:ideal
Three months of Yoga 2007-11-04 09:27:41
This is my third month of taking up Yoga. In 3 months, I have grown from a Yoga novice to a basic Yoga practitioner.
Despite a busy work schedule, I try to visit the Yoga studio at least twice a week. I look forward to each and every Yoga practice and can’t wait for the next. I guess I have never stretched my body as much as I did during these 3 months.
Yoga has brought me more than just physical release. It has brought me mental release as well.
In these three months, I have tried Hatha Yoga and Therapy Yoga.
In Hatha Yoga, we were put through a series of stances, poses and postures. It may look easy when our Yoga master demonstrated these positions but when it came to doing it ourselves, our body certainly had a tough time. Many other trainees and myself had a hard time and it was only through our Yoga Master who pushed us to develop our bodies and strengths and overcome our weaknesses and our fears that we were able to achieve many of Hatha Yoga poses.
He kept Read more:Three
Deepavali - Festival of Lights 2007-11-07 21:33:40 Today is Deepavali or more popularly known as “Festival
of Lights
” to Hindus. Celebrated as Deepavali in Southern India and Divali in Northern India, this is one of the most significant festival for Hindus not just in India but across the world.
While Deepavali is popularly known as the “festival of lights”, the most significant esoteric meaning is “the awareness of the inner light”.
Central to Hindu philosophy, is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Deepavali is the celebration of this Inner Light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one’s true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, imminent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman, comes universal compassion, lov
Pampered Weekend @ Angsana Spa at Bintan, Indonesia 2007-11-10 21:56:55 Looking for a pampered and quiet weekend getaway? If you are in busy and bustling Singapore, just head to Bintan, Indonesia
.
Bintan is an island off Indonesia that is a mere 55-minute trip away from Tanah Merah Ferry terminal in Singapore by fast catamaran. There is a scheduled trip every hour and it is common to see Singaporeans visiting Bintan on a regular basis for leisure and pleasure. In fact, we took the morning ferry ride and reached our hotel-resort before noon.
Bintan is a relatively large island that is typical of so many other outlying Indonesian islands. Unlike Bali which is world famous, Bintan tend to only attract visitors from Singapore and nearer countries only because it has not really gained international fame. The island has a indigenous population that is increasingly dependent on tourism. Resorts and hotels dot the island although the main cluster of resorts are concentrated towards the north of the island where the best beaches and sea-view is.
There are a few Read more:Weekend
Make Asia’s Best-Spa-Massage part of your web life! 2007-11-14 08:09:27 Do you browse so many websites and then loses track of what is where after a while? This is a common problem that many of us face. So many websites. So much info. And so little time!
A couple of readers had wrote to me that they would love to be part of this website; having enjoyed some of the spa reviews and other massage articles. Can a spa and massage community be formed? Can we keep in touch? Can we be updated of new articles as soon as they are released?
Being a spa person and a technical nut, I asked my technical support manager aka husband if these readers’ requests can be fulfilled? I bribed him with a couple of spa sessions and even then, he had to look far and wide before he found a possible solution.
Here’s the solution. Click and download the tool you see below. This will install a toolbar on your web browser (such as Firefox or IE) that will allow us to keep in touch. It will also install a couple of other nifty tools on your browser. If you would like to keep Read more:Asia
, Massage
Found my ideal gym and spa club - II 2007-11-20 09:37:45 Let me tell you more about the new club that I joined a month ago. It’s a gym. It’s a spa. It’s a studio. It’s a cafe. It’s a cozy hang out corner.
Well, I don’t really know how to categorise it. First and foremost, it’s a gym club but it’s really more than that. Let me explain.
What caught my eye about this club in the first place was it’s location. It is located in a shopping mall near the sea in the southern part of Singapore. Hence, the entire club has a fabulous view of the sea - whether you are jogging, doing Yoga, getting a massage or having a drink.
Secondly, the club was being marketed and ran like a lifestyle club more than a gym club. Yes, there are state-of-the art exercise machines but at the same time, equal or more emphasis was laid on a full range of popular exercise programs, the good and healthy food at the cafe, the nimble fingers of the masseurs at the spa, the soft, fluffy cushions at the lounge, the large scree Read more:ideal
Personal Trainers - are they neccessary? 2007-11-27 10:28:05 As a new gym goer, I was recently introduced to the concept of personal trainers (also known as personal fitness trainers) in a gym. I have read about personal trainers and how all the rich and famous must have one but this was really my first contact with personal trainers up close and personal.
Because I was new to my club, I was offered free services of a personal trainer for 3 gym sessions. It is then up to me whether I need their service further; for a professional fee to be paid.
I had seen personal trainers in other gyms previously. To me, many of them look like muscle beef cakes and seem to be fond of walking from one corner of the gym to another, strutting their muscles along the way. Others seem to be posing in front of mirrors all the time. Yet others seems to be hovering around female gym goers only. They don’t seem to be doing a lot of personal training…
Well… maybe it’s just because I wasn’t familiar with personal trainers or perhaps the Read more:Personal
, Trainers
Winners for SPAASIA Crystal Awards 2007 2007-12-10 01:58:22 Ths prestigious SPAASIA Crystal
Award was held at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, Manila, Philippines, between October 3 to 5, 2007.
At the end of the 3 day event, the fourth SpaAsia Crystal Awards
were handed out to deserving Asia-based spas and spa organisations. The award winners were measured and tested by impartial judges, industry peers and readers of SpaAsia magazine. The prestigious Best Awards were given out to:
BEST HOTEL SPA
Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
The Mandarin Spa, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
BEST SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE
Giraavaru Sacred Water Ritual - The Spa & Ayurvedic Retreat, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru
BEST IN-SPA EDUCATION PROGRAMME
ESPA International
BEST DAY SPA
LI’TYA Spa Dreaming St Kilda Sea Baths
BEST COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE CENTRE
COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri
BEST SPA CONSULTANT/COMPANY
ESPA International
BEST WELLNESS RETREAT
COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri
BEST PRODUCT Read more:Winners
Hot Stone Massage - What is it? 2007-12-06 10:49:46
A relatively new type of massage therapy that is gaining fast popularity is Hot StoneMassage
.
Although it looks like a relatively modern massage technique that is designed to cash in on the popularity of fancy massage methods, hot stone massage practitioners will tell you that this form of massage has been in practice for many hundreds of years and it’s roots can be variously traced to Egypt, India and Indonesia.
In hot stone massage, warm stones are placed at various points of the patient's body. More often than not, massage therapists choose to use basalt stones, as they are conducive to retaining heat well. Also, the stones that are used are often ones that were found in riverbeds as these stones tend to be quite smooth and rounded. A common size for a stone used in a hot stone massage is roughly the width of a chicken egg. The stones are placed in an electronic heating ele
Conversation with a Chinese Massage Therapist 2007-12-23 08:00:47 I met Liu Lu when I went for a foot massage in a small shop near my house.
Liu Lu was my assigned foot massage therapist and it was soon obvious that she was a notch better than most local foot massage therapists I had experienced in Singapore. I struck up a conversation with her…
Liu Lu is from Shandong, China and had recently move to Singapore to continue to work as a massage therapist. She grew up in Wei Hai, Shandong, China and had enrolled in the Shandong College for Traditional Chinese
Medicine in Jinan for a massage therapist diploma.
Liu Lu explained that one can qualify to be a traditional massage therapist in 3-years in most Traditional Chinese Medicine College in China. The courses she had to study were rigorous and included studying the body meridian, acupuncture, guasha, tuina, bagua, accupressure, reflexology, detoxification and others. She also had to do a one year internment in a Chinese hospital before she could graduate as a fully qualified traditional TCM mass Read more:Conversation
, Massage
, Therapist
Christmas Greetings 2007-12-25 19:04:51 It’s the time of the year where festive cheers are in the air permanently wherever you go in the streets with Christmas
music, Christmas trees, artificial snow, decorations and fake Santas romping about.
May I wish all readers a very Merry Christmas!
For those of you who have never been to Asia before, well, let me assure you that the Christmas festive mood is true and well in Asia with many party revellers, shops, departmental stores , restaurants, pubs and TV and radio studios celebrating Christmas as if it has been a native Asian holiday for centuries!
Photo credit: http://blog.hofstaetter.chÂ
Christmas greetings, General Spiritual
Read more:Greetings
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