Popagandhi

Not another hiatus post; disclaimer at end

Like many girls, I’m fond of treating myself to a spa. Unlike many girls, I don’t go solely for the whole “experience” ââ�¬â�� I need substance more than fluff, and that applies to my choice of food, airlines, and now, massages too. This is especially so since my points of reference for massage have been better-than-Wat-Pho massages in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, or ayurvedic treatments in India. I need my massages to be authentic and good. That’s something that’s quite hard to come by here, unless you pay top dollar for something like Spa Botanica.

HelioAsia has been operating since 1995, but it was fairly recently that it started reinventing itself. Today, its outlet at Paragon remains, with another 5000 square feet flagship centre at the newly revamped Marina Square. I went in search of a proper Thai massage (of the non-sleazy kind), something I’d been missing from not having been in Thailand for some 5 months now, and may just have found it here.

The branch at Marina Square comes with almost a quarter of its floor space devoted to Thai style salas (apparently there are only 4 spas here with these salas, and they have the largest), which was fantastic for atmosphere. My Royal Thai Massage was, fittingly, performed in one of these. For an hour, my Thai therapist kneaded and soothed my tired body, while acceding to my requests for special ‘bone cracking’ at certain joints. The spa sells, and also uses, the wonderfully luscious Comfort Zone spa products, among the best in the industry for a variety of purposes (and among my favourites). Other than Thai massages, its facial treatments are popular and affordable, along with its oil massages and the whole works.

Best of all: the spa has some nice couple rooms, and, I am assured, is PLU-friendly � staff are discreet and non-discriminatory, and all orientations are welcome here.

The attached cafe deserves its own mention: Clement, a former renowned interior designer turned chef, runs the kitchen here, whipping up notable desserts. The dessert menu changes every other day, but while I was there I was smitten by Clement’s nougat parfait ââ�¬â�� a wonderful blend of dried fruits and cheese, which somehow came together to taste like apricot ice cream. No sugar is added to the chocolate brownies; he obviously believes in the benefits of natural ingredients. (Geeks note: free wifi here).

For good, reliable treatments, this is the place to turn to. For good, reliable treatments, with great desserts after, and free wifi; what else do you need?

Note: Students enjoy a 40% discount, and first-timers get 30% off their already reasonably priced treatments.

HelioAsia
Marina Square Shopping Centre
#03-320
Tel: 63399159

Disclaimer
Popagandhi does not accept advertorial requests, and will only write about products or services she uses herself, and likes enough to tell others about. This is one of them. Even though the treatments in this post were accepted gratis, it was in the form of a very late anniversary gift from HelioAsia’s CEO ââ�¬â�� a personal friend of the couple’s ââ�¬â�� and which she enjoyed enough to write about. (No monetary gains accrued to the blogger, who in fact even had to take pictures for free!) For the indefinite future, this site is entirely supported through reader donations and no advertising plans are on the radar(not even Google AdSense!).