Photo by ThaisWellnessCentre

Yesterday I found myself really yearning for a foot massage. And I then happened to find myself in the Ambience mall in Gurgaon. Well, it just so happens that there is a foot spa (whatever that is) in Ambience mall – Aroma Thai Foot Spa. Off I went to check out the place. First thing first – I am not sure why they call themselves a foot spa. They offer the full range of body massages as well other than the foot massages and reflexology treatments. Anyway, as I said, I was in the mood for a foot massage – so that’s what I asked for.

The bad first

So, I was really happy to see that there are online businesses that let you shop for fruits and veggies from the comfort of your computer. And so far, I have tried two of them, and I will talk a little bit about both.

Disclaimer: both these services will be charging you more than the market rate of the goods you buy. I think that is natural. The pros are that you can order late at night, or from your office – it’s one task off your list of to-do’s.

The first and my recommendation from the two choices:

Farm2Kitchen (www.farm2kitchen.com) has a decently designed website and carries a very decent selection of fruits and vegetables. While on their website they say that they deliver to a limited number of places (and my location was not one of them), when I placed the order, it arrived the next day (they also offer same day delivery under certain conditions).

Another thing that they offer, which is a good idea is “Automatic Orders” – it’s like buying fruits and vegetables through a subscription service – you basically get a pre-defined bouquet of goods every week at a designated time. This way you don’t have to remember to order your most commonly used things.

Pros: the following is what I liked about Farm2Kitchen:

• Quality – the fruits that were delivered were of an excellent quality. Better than what we normally get from the local market.
• On Time – I received the goods I purchased on their site the very next day.

Cons: the following is what is not the best about them:

• Price – they are priced higher than the market and also their competitor.
• Progress updates – I wish they were giving better updates on my order. For instance, I would have liked to be called before the order left for my house the next day (what if I wasn’t home).

All in all, I still like them better, and will repeat with them.

The second service looks to be a more established player in this area, but doesn’t get my vote:

MandiFresh (mandifresh.co.in) is also a nicely designed website, and offers a comparatively larger variety of things that you can buy. I placed an order on this website as well, and the same fruits that I ordered on Farm2Kitchen.

Their stuff is priced lower on average from Farm2Kitchen – however, when they arrived with my order, it was sent back. The chikoos were all squished. The best part about it all is that the guy never came back with the order, and I wasn’t called by them – no apology note, or anything.

To top it all off, I received an SMS saying “your order has been delivered” – or something similar.

Pros: here’s what I like:

• Price – closer to market price, but looks like it represents the quality – or maybe it was a one-off chance with them.
• Better established – they have a lot of good things on their site which makes me think that they have a better handle on things – just need to improve quality.

Cons: what I don’t like:

• Quality – when I shop online, I expect that I will receive good quality since I am not physically present to inspect the purchase. They really need to improve this.
• Customer service – like I said, no one got back to me about the non-delivery/non-acceptance of that order.

For me at least, I am not ordering from them unless I am desperate.

If you try either of these services, or have tried them in the past, please do leave a note here on how you liked or disliked them. Thanks.

This is where Juassa comes in.

Juassa is located in the brand new shopping complex at the corner of the road to South City 2 (next to Fortune hotel; in front of Vipul Greens). For me, it’s a convenient 10 minute walk (gives me an excuse to walk as well).

The salon itself is great. Large area, doesn’t look crowded (bigger than most of the salons I have been to). Well lit, clean, and shiny (it’s new). The chairs were comfortable.

The guy who cut my hair was competent (I was happy with my hair cut). I was offered bottled water the moment I sat down to get my hair cut.

The hair cut was Rs. 200 (for men), which I think is very reasonable. I went on a weekday, and there wasn’t any waiting, but I am told (by my wife) that weekends can be crowded.

About the only thing that I didn’t like was that before starting, the guy who was cutting my hair got my hair shampooed. It turns out that the shampoo was charged extra (Rs. 100) – now if it was a charge, then I should have been given an option to say no. The way he simply asked one of his helpers to shampoo my hair made me think that it’s part of their process (in fact, that’s how I am used to it – this is what the other salons I have been to do).

Anyway, I will definitely be a regular there – since it is so conveniently close to home. No parking hassles. No driving hassle.

BTW: they have a full menu of services for the ladies.

But, let me clarify a bit more.

Location: This place is located in MGF Mega City Mall (you know, where Spencer is). Easy to get to, and plenty of parking space since this is not a super busy mall.

Facilities: Nice modern, well decorated place. Good shower room; clean; good flowing hot water.

Therapist: I was attended by someone named Naro. She spoke good English, was attentive, did good work on the muscles, and put me right to sleep when she got working on my head.

Services: although I went in for some Swedish massage, they offer a number of beauty treatments too.

Experience: Okay, with the basics out of the way, let me quickly talk about my visit. When I got there, it looked like a popular place (not crowded) but there were plenty of clients already there, and enough traffic on a weekday to make me believe that they already have a lot of loyal customers.

Anyway, my total wait time before being moved to a room was less than 5 minutes. This is where the experience started going bad for a while. After I had disrobed, and put on a bath robe, I was asked by the therapist to wait for 5 minutes – I said okay. And I kept waiting for almost 15 minutes, and was just about to start putting my clothes back on and getting out of there, when in she walked, with a smile, and an apology, and a plate full of Christmas cake.

Apparently, just as I had got in, the staff was about to get together to cut a Christmas cake, and hence the wait. Well, the cake was delicious, and so I quickly forgot my wait time.

One thing I want to point out is that I was asked if I wanted water many times – right in the beginning, after the cake, post treatment (along with various options of tea). It is very important that you have plenty of water when getting a massage (and specially before a massage), and I have been to a number of places where they don’t even ask you for water.

The only other bad thing for me was that he bathing robe that was provided in the room looked to be previously worn (I am not saying it was, but it looked as if it was).

Go ahead and ask for Naro when you are there because she did very well while attending to me.

Click here for a list of Spas in Gurgaon.

Coincidentally, I have had the opportunity to interact with Dr. Gogia directly as well, so I am including my impression as well after Prabhakaran’s.

Here’s what Prabhakaran had to say about Dr. Gogia:

• very good experience so far.
• really good with children.
• does not give unnecessary medication.
• responds to your questions very promptly.

Now for my impression of Dr. Gogia. First of all, I have to agree with Prabhakaran overall. Below is our experience with Dr. Siddhartha Gogia, who we met after my wife delivered a baby at Max hospital last week. He was the attending pediatrician during the delivery.

Our daughter ‘Aanya’ was born with a slight case of fluid in her lungs which caused her to grunt while breathing. This can happen, and usually clears out on its own. Dr. Gogia was very patient in answering all my questions, and thanks to his calm manner, I felt myself not getting overly worried. This is important because a lot of times doctors tend to act self important and not explain properly what the issue is.

To monitor Aanya, they kept her in the NICU for one day. Dr. Gogia visited her regularly and kept us updated on her status. What I liked was his continuous attitude towards not doing unnecessary tests or giving not required medication. They just kept her under observation.

At this stage, it is very safe for me to say that he looks like a competent pediatrician, and I have decided to continue with him for the follow up sessions for Aanya. Let’s see if he turns out to be as good as the initial impression in the long run.

Here’s some more information about Dr. Gogia:

• he practices out of Max Hospital and his private clinic in DLF Phase IV.
• his contact details are: 9971799012 and gogiasiddhartha@gmail.com.
• he has a website at http://childspecialist.wordpress.com/ – this website contains a collection of articles about various topics related to parenting and child care. On first look, all these articles seem to be copied from various places on the Internet – so these are not his own publication; however, it is still a good place to go to find all this information in one place.

Has anyone consulted with Dr. Gogia – please mention your experiences (good and bad) in the comments.

The Sawasdee Thai Spa is located in Ambience mall on the second floor (just below Rockman’s Beer Island). You can walk in to a nice snug reception and the folks behind the reception desk are very friendly and helpful. There is a menu of treatments and massages that you can choose from, and I chose to have something called the Lotus Signature Massage (it wasn’t really called this, but something similar) – this massage was a combination of Swedish style and hot compresses – it sounded good.

You have a choice of a male or a female therapist, with your choice not necessarily always available (a busy place this is). I waited for about 10-15 minutes while they prepared the room. In the meantime, they brought me a glass of water – this is important. Before any massage, you should drink water because a massage releases toxins into the blood stream, and if there is not enough water in your body to dilute and ‘wash-out’ the toxins, then you will end up with a headache after the massage (as the toxins hit your brain). It is very important to have water before and after your massage. And since I didn’t ask for the water, it shows that they know their business (not every spa I have been to does this).

Before you are led to your room, they get you to change into soft slippers (you leave your shoes at the reception where they are placed securely in a shoe rack behind the counter). The room was very nice – clean, softly lit, with a built-in shower area. The masseuse that was assigned to me was really strong. She gave my body a very nice workout and squeezed weeks worth of stress out of my body. I have to mention the quality of the place a little more in terms of cleanliness – I have visited other spas in Gurgaon (such as Body Spa) and sometimes felt very dissatisfied with the cleanliness of towels and sheets for the massage table. But this place I had no concerns (by the way, its new, so let’s see if they keep their quality up).

I felt very good after the massage, and I got the impression that the masseuse was a qualified professional who knew what she was doing. There was hot tea offered post massage, which is a great alternative to water for hydrating your body. I felt so relaxed that I started walking out without my shoes and would have if the receptionist hadn’t called out after me to remind me. Another point I noticed is that there was no external noise in the massage room. This is something that is good. I think its very important for the mind to relax as the body is being worked upon, and there should be no intrusion on your mind during this period. I often fall asleep during a good massage, and the same thing happened here.

Obviously, I recommend this place highly.

Now for the cost – this 90 minute massage cost me almost Rs. 3500 (they have an introductory discount going on). Needless to say, it is not cheap. However, if you compare this to places such as Body Spa (which cost almost as much and doesn’t provide a fraction of the quality that this place offers) and also the fact that it is situated in one of the best malls in Gurgaon, the price is reasonable.

Another thing to notice is that you might want to call up in advance to book an appointment. While I was waiting for my room to be prepared I saw a number of people who came and left disappointed because there was no open slot available. Their website is still under construction, but it tells you the number to call: +91 124 466 5454.

Have you visited Sawasdee? If yes, please leave your impression in the comments.

Click here for a list of Spas in Gurgaon.

Almost all malls in Gurgaon have a salon – a lot have more than one. The mall that I most visit is Ambience Mall on NH8, and the salon present in this mall is called Hair n Shanti. I am a regular at this place, as is my wife, and this blog post is a quick review of our experience with Hair n Shanti.

If you are in a hurry, here’s the quick review: generally, you will be pleased with the outcome of your visit. There are no red flags in terms of services provided and the quality of service. So, I recommend this salon.

However, if you need a little more detail, read on.

The place is usually crowded, so either take an appointment, or be prepared to wait a little while you are adjusted in between appointments. I normally just walk in there the moment I enter the mall to see when the next slot is, and then adjust my other activities in the mall accordingly.

The services offered to the ladies are fairly good (as witnessed by my wife – she has never complained once, so it must be good).

For myself, I can vouch for the haircut and head massage which are always excellent. I have been nicked a couple of times while getting a shave, so I generally avoid that (but I think that is pretty much the norm anywhere). My wife forced me into getting a manicure once, but I didn’t like what they did and nor did she. However, there are always plenty of men getting a variety of face and hair treatments, so overall it should be good.

Most people seem to be regulars (as evidenced by the familiarity between the service providers and the customers). What this says is that they are happy with what they get and that is why they return.

The guy who I normally get catered by is named Sahil, and he is fairly good. You can ask for him by name.

Now the main negative – the place is expensive. A men’s haircut costs Rs. 400. So you can scale the other things accordingly. I guess that is the price you pay for the location and the convenience. But if that doesn’t bother you, this place is certainly recommended.

Have you had experiences at Hair n Shanti? Please leave comments.

Two incidents happened which has almost ensured that I am never going back to Artemis.

They don’t care about the customer’s time

I have been having a pretty severe pain in my wrist and needed to visit an Orthopedic. I went to Artemis and sat at their OPD registration desk. They told me that Dr. Hegde is on call, and I can have an appointment with him. I said, that is fine. Then as he tried to book the appointment, he told me that Dr. Hegde will only be available after one hour, and so I had to wait. Since I didn’t have the time I told him not to bother and I will come back another day (as I can’t wait for an hour). Then he told me to wait while he got on the phone. Then he said, a doctor will see me now. He said another doctor who is an associate of Dr. Hegde’s will be able to see me. Since, I was only there for a preliminary diagnosis, I didn’t care and told him that it is alright. Incidentally, this doctor wasn’t even listed in their doctors’ database, and the appointment was made in the name of Dr. Hegde.

Never mind, I said to myself; I made the payment and off I went to look for this doctor. Now here’s the kicker. I still had to wait in this doctor’s office (there were no other patients) FOR ONE HOUR. This is after I told them that I had more important things to do and I can not wait for an hour. It all went downhill from there. I couldn’t leave as I had paid already and every visit to the registration desk yielded a he’s-just-coming response. I would have expected that after waiting for an hour, Dr. Hegde will show up; but no, it was his ‘associate’. If ever, a doctor has not looked like a doctor, it was this time. In any case, all this guy did was hold my wrists for a minute or two, move it around, and then told me to go get an MRI.

That’s it.

Getting an MRI and how incompetent these people are

I went back to the OPD to see if I could get an MRI right then (I was already late), but I guess I was overly optimistic. There was no chance of that, so I left thinking that I will take an appointment and then come.

Well, a couple of days later when I did have the time, I called them up for an appointment. I asked and they gave me an appointment for the same day, and asked me to come sharply at the appointment time. Well, good I thought. Since that would mean I wouldn’t have to waste my time.

I got to the hospital almost on time, and went to their diagnostics desk. For almost 10 minutes, nothing happened. This is a private hospital, they charge a lot of money for their services, and they are still understaffed? The guy who was holding the prescription just didn’t do anything about it for 10 minutes. He just kept yapping on one phone call after another.

In any case, when I got a little pissed, he started looking for my appointment details, and then told me that I don’t have an appointment. I said that’s impossible, since I had confirmed the appointment on phone. He then looked and found out that I had been given an appointment for the next day. Once again, this was a sheer waste of my time.

I told him to cancel my appointment for the next day and left. Of course, I still haven’t got an MRI done on my wrist, as it seems that there are not enough MRI machines in Gurgaon and too many people need to get an MRI done, so there’s always a queue.

Somehow, they managed to get hold of our phone number and called us with their offer. Their sales pitch was good, and so we were interested. Here is what they offered:

They would take Rs. 500 and provide 15 free service calls where they will send an electrician or a plumber (based on what you need) throughout the year. There is no labor charge for these services, and you will only have to pay the charges for actual material used.

In addition they will also do 2 free services for the air conditioners.

And they promised a visit in the next 24 hours.

Well, this was the pitch. And we liked it. So, what went wrong? Everything.

After we signed the contract and made a measly payment of Rs. 500, these guys disappeared. Let me put it this way, they were calling us up everyday before we made the purchase, and afterwards, we just couldn’t reach them at most times.

We needed a plumber to visit and do some jobs at home. We called them on the first time and asked for a visit. We were told that a plumber will be available the next day. Can you guess when the plumber showed up? Not for a week. And during this week, we tried several times to call up and ask for a status. But no-one answered their lines most of the time.

And incidentally, when the person did show up, he didn’t look like a trained professional. He spilled a bottle of glass cleaner in the bed room, and our bed room still stinks of the smell.

So, if you are receiving this sales pitch from Pentacle Service, I suggest that you tell them to get lost, and rely on your neighborhood electricians and plumbers.

Oriental Senses is the latest massage service which has opened in Gurgaon. It is located on the second floor of DT Mega Mall on Golf Course Road (incidentally, the same mall also has an Ayurvedic Massage Center). Oriental Senses offers traditional Thai Massage, Shiatsu, and Foot Massage.

A one hour massage costs less than Rs. 1000. I think that is a great price.

The place itself is small. Once you get there, you are asked to change into soft tee-shirt and shorts which are provided. Then the therapist begins the massage in a very Thai style setup (a small mattress on a wooden floor). The entire setup is very Thai, with the next person only separated from you by a curtain (this is just how a lot of massage parlors in Thailand are setup).

As for the massage, it was great. The therapist who worked on me knew her stuff. She was able to increase or decrease pressure according to my needs. And after the massage I felt quite refreshed.

I think the only drawback is that the noises of the mall can penetrate into the massage area and so it is not as relaxing as it can be. But the quality of the massage more than makes up for this.

I recommend everyone who visits Mega Mall to take out this hour. Oh, and you should call ahead to book as they can only take three people at a time. Here are the phone numbers: +91 9818111433, +91 124 4307505.

Update (Sep 26, 2008): I visited Oriental Senses again today. And once again, I can safely say that I will continue to recommend the place to anyone and everyone.

This time it was a Foot Reflexology session that I tried and yes, even this was as good as the Shiatsu Massage. What is really good is that the therapists seem to be automatically tuned into your needs.

For example, today a group of people came in for their massage while I was having my massage, and they were (as is expected of us Indians) pretty loud while conversing amongst themselves and very chatty – with no regards to the quiet atmosphere in the facility. And it was actually quite disturbing, and my therapist must have read something on my face, because right as I was about to get up and request them to be quiet, she actually did it herself.

Have you tried Oriental Senses? Please leave a comment about your experience. Thanks.

Click here for a list of Spas in Gurgaon.