Vapour was recommended to us by some friends who are extremely fond of brewed beer. So, over the weekend, when my husband and I decided to watch the soccer world cup at a bar that served brewed beer, we decided to take up on the recommendation for Vapour!

Situated in MGF Megacity, where food court once was, Vapour immediately welcomes visitors with its hip, new design and ambience. An open-air like restaurant has been created outside the entrance for those who prefer this type of an ambience. As soon as we entered, several servers greeted us with large smiles; we were asked for our seating preferences, and were quickly seated. We were immediately served water, and upon giving us the menus, the servers left us alone to make up our mind. This was refreshing because at a lot of places, severs are eager to take orders and more often than not, have to told multiple times for water to be served.

At Vapour, you have a choice of four different beer types, each costing Rs. 185 for 500 ml; this is ‘rather cheap’ as compared to other microbreweries in Gurgaon,which is a good thing. I am a big fan of lager, so I chose Vapour Light which had a mild and yummy taste and was not too strong on the tongue. During the course of the evening, we tried all the beers and I would recommend Vapour Light and Vapour Dark which are both refreshing and perfect for lager lovers. With the drinks, my husband ordered finger foods and pasta, which though a little less in terms of quantity, were seasoned well and tasted great! For the soccer match, the premises boasted a large projector screen and two large HD TVs. As the match time came around, we saw more people rolling in.

One of the only inconveniences of the place is that in order to use the restroom, patrons are required to walk one level up; Vapour makes up for this by keeping the bathrooms very clean and well kept. On the terrace is a lounge area with a large screen, a separate DJ, and comfortable seating.

Big screens, good beer, good food, good ambience – this place has the makings of a perfect sports bar. Gurgaon needs more such restaurants.

However, every so often this liberty is misused by people where instead of leaving a genuine comment that presents their experience or opinion, they spam the blog.

Recently, I have had the displeasure of dealing with one (or maybe more) such individuals. I received over 50 comments on 2-3 articles from the same individual using different names and email addresses. I am not going to go into detail about these comments at this point, but I want to make it clear that I will not tolerate such attempts on this blog.

To whoever was putting these comments in place, please understand that you are not as smart as you think you are. It is very simple to see what you are trying to achieve and who you are trying to promote. Please stop doing this on my blog, else I will be forced to present detail evidence of what it is that you have been doing, and who you have been promoting. These are people with tremendous reputations, and you don’t want to spoil these reputations by using these stupid tactics.

For now, all of these comments have been marked as spam.

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.

Mother Care is a well known international brand for parenting and children needs. I have often blogged about how limited the choice of stores in Gurgaon is for maternity clothes (a couple of options here and here), and now there is another that you can add to the list. Here’s my quick fire review of the place based on one visit.

Maternity Clothes

This is certainly a focus for me right now, since my wife is 6 months in. And when we saw this store, we were very happy and went in straight away. Now, there is definitely a dedicated selection for maternity clothes, but it was overall disappointing – not enough daily wear options were there. However, it has better selection than any other store in Gurgaon.

Infant Clothes

Tons of options. You should find what you need. Having said that, we were looking for a gift for a 4 month old, and came back empty handed because we couldn’t find anything that we liked. Once again, the store is way better than anything else in Gurgaon, but still lacks a lot.

One instance pops out – we liked a pair of socks, which were available in green. We wanted the same pair in blue which was also available. But the blue option was only available if you buy it with a cap as well. I found this very frustrating.

Other stuff

There are many other things such as prams, cribs, shoes, etc. It can easily serve as a one stop shop for all your parenting needs.

Conclusion

We think that the lack of options right now is because the store is brand new, and the merchandise is still being setup with a lot of product still not unpacked. It is so new that the location is not even mentioned on their stores page on the Internet (at the time of writing this article).

Overall, a great place.

The closest to what we needed turned out to be LifeStyle Home Center in DLF Plaza Mall near IFFCO chowk. We had been there several times before, and had always found the selection good, but not what we wanted. After several weeks of not finding what we needed, we decided to just go and buy from Home Center whatever we find.

Here are the good things about this place:

• Variety of furniture items: a very large selection of beds are available to choose from. So, you should find something that you like (unless you are super choosy like us). There are several options on dining tables, sofa sets, and wardrobes as well. They lack any office/home-office furniture, though.
• Quality of goods: the workmanship is good because everything is produced through standardized processes, so you don’t see improper paint, or unpolished wood, etc. as you might see in some of the shops at MG road.
• Professional servicing: the people who came to assemble the bed at home knew what they were doing, carried proper tools, and did a very efficient job of assembling the bed.

Here are the things that we didn’t like:

• Discount policy: there was a discount being offered on the bed that we bought. When we made up our mind to buy, we were told that the discount is given in the form of vouchers for the store, which forces you to make another purchase from them.
• Poor delivery service commitment: We were told that the bed will be delivered at our home the next day and it will be assembled at home. What NO ONE told us during the purchase process is that these two things can be very disconnected. The bed was delivered the next day, but they mentioned that the assembly team can take up to 48 hours (post delivery) before they come for assembling the bed (as per their policy). We found this to be utterly ridiculous. Why send the bed in pieces to us if no one was going to come over and assemble it for 2 days. After much fighting over the phone, they sent someone the next day (not even the same day, even though they promised over the phone that it will be the same day).
• Poor inventory management: Earlier we had thought of buying a mattress separately, but since we now had to use those discount vouchers, we decided to purchase the mattress from the store itself. They were able to offer us the type of mattress that we wanted (pocketed spring). However, once we chose the mattress, we were told that the mattress will take 15 days to deliver. So, now we have a bed without a mattress, which will come in another 10 days or so. We think this is a major customer service failure.
• Pricing: We think that there is a 15%-25% premium on their prices, but there is a lot of convenience in dealing with them, so maybe its worth it.

In conclusion, we think the place is worth shopping, if you are aware of the negatives before hand. What have your experiences been at this store?

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.

But let me step back first, and start with the hotel itself. The hotel is located in Udyog Vihar which is one of the busiest places in Gurgaon. If you’re planning to go there on a weeknight, better plan to be stuck in traffic for a while, since all roads going there are likely to be jam packed. However, once you get there you will never know that you are in the middle of hustling bustling city.  The moment you get in the place, you are taken in by the immense architecture of the hotel. It’s like stepping into a different world all together (see below the photo of the entrance – photo by Sanctu)

The reason it is so important to mention so much about the hotel, it’s architecture, it’s lobby and so on is because it puts you in the right mood for a relaxing meal.

Now let’s move on to the restaurant itself. The restaurant that I went to recently is called Saffron and it serves Indian food. I have been here several times. And I cannot say that it has always been the best food, but this last time, the food was really good.

Here’s the review.

Food:

I have normally ordered A La Carte here, however this time around they had an option of a set meal which includes starters, main course, and dessert. We chose this option. Basically, this is similar to what you might get at The Great Indian Kebab Factory, or at Barbecue Nation.

So, they started with the starters (no pun intended). There was an assortment of veg and non-veg stuff. I liked everything, and it was a large variety. They will keep coming back with more of these till you tell them to stop it and bring on the entrees.

The main course it self was pretty tasty, and the as was the dessert (an assortment of 4-5 types). Combine this with their extensive wine list, and I would say that the food is definitely good.

Service:

If I quickly summarize the service, then here it is:

• polite people
• no one rushes you
• they know how to pour wine properly
• basically what you would expect from a five star hotel

Ambience:

Very nice. It is the same as the rest of the hotel. The place is done nicely (see picture below). There is live Indian music (some tabla, sitar, and sarangi) which is very melodious. The space is small, but that has the effect of it not being filled with a lot of people and so doesn’t feel very crowded.

Conclusion:

Its a very nice place to go to for a nice lavish dinner. Lavish because the price will be very high; but I think that just the entrance to the hotel is worth the price tag.

Good place to go for a celebration, an official dinner if you need to wine and dine someone important, a special date, or just to treat yourself once in a while.

Bad for budget conscious dining.

But, I am jumping all over the place here. Let me introduce this place first. The restaurant is called FresCo. It is located towards the backend of the Ambience mall food court (a little behind the McDonalds).

They have both A La Carte and Buffet menus, and I have enjoyed both, and liked them both. A friend of mine however would differ as she didn’t like the soup that they served her (but she is vegetarian).

The staff is very polite and is always watching out for you, and makes you feel very much at home. There are two seating areas, open and closed. The benefit of the closed area is that you don’t feel like you are in the middle of a mall with people passing by all the time.

They have a decent wine list as well, so you should be able to order good accompaniment to the largely Italian/Med cuisine that the place serves. We enjoyed their desserts as well when we tried the buffet. However, if you are really a dessert buff, then you may want to check out IndiJoe’s which is a couple of restaurants down (once we ate at FresCo’s and then walked to IndiJoe’s for dessert).

Overall, the place is recommended. Do try it out, and leave your comments here on whether you liked it or not.

So, I visited an orthopedic expert who has a clinic in DLF Phase I (I do not want to name him here). This person is supposed to be a very experience doctor (he probably is, and I don’t doubt it). He examined my wrist, moved it around, pressed it a couple of times, and asked me when it hurt. He immediately gave me a suspect diagnosis and asked me get an MRI done.

I don’t have a problem with getting an MRI done because that makes it easy to detect any problems that you may have. However, it was the suspect diagnosis that this doctor made that caused a lot of concern. This doctor told me that he suspects “Kienbock’s disease”. If you don’t know what that is, I recommend you to quickly go through that link. It is basically, an untreatable disease in the wrist which leads to disfigurement and complete loss of mobility of the wrist.

I was very disturbed and depressed with this. For a couple of months, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even get an MRI done. Well, I eventually got my MRI done, and decided to take the results to another doctor (this was Dr. Rajesh Bawari, a senior consultant at Max hospital in Gurgaon). When I got to the appointment, I had the MRI report with me. The doctor didn’t look at the MRI report, but asked me what the problem was. I told him about the pain in my wrist. He did the same thing (press my wrist at various points) and gave a conclusive diagnosis. He said that I have a very small Ganglion Cyst in my wrist. Now, if you look that link, you will see that this is a fairly common problem with a known treatment.

So, which doctor was better? Well, the MRI report should tell us. The MRI report mentioned that the scans are indicative of a Ganglion cyst, and the bone structure is completely normal (which it wouldn’t have been if I had Kienbock’s disease).

Furthermore, the doctor said, that the cyst is so small, that neither of the two prescribed procedures make sense, and I should try to endure the pain a little longer, since sometimes these Cysts disappear on their own.

I am psychologically very relieved. I just can’t imagine why the first doctor thought that I had a very rare and serious disease. But the lesson learnt was that one should always take a second opinion when it comes to doctors.