In Kerala! God's Own Country

If you do happen to visit Kerala (Cochin) you can call up Wilson Tours to arrange a boat cruise for you. I emailed them before my trip and they said I could pay on arrival. I was a bit hesitant that they might cancel last minute and I emailed them like 3-4 times before my trip.  As we didn't want something which kept us out until late evening, we opted for a canoe boat day cruise. The total cost for 2 was Rs 2,800 which is approximately AED 185. It included lunch, pick up and drop to the hotel. I thought this was an extremely good deal. At this price do not expect an air conditioned car. The lunch was simple but nicely prepared. It included 3 types of vegetarian dishes, 4 pieces of fried fish (which was some local catch) and rice. If you forget to tip the boatman do not worry, as he will remind you :P.

 Visit their website http://www.wilsontours.co.in/about.htm for more details.

If you prefer staying somewhere close to the backwaters, check out Ilona Lake Resorts, Kumarakom (http://www.ilonahotels.biz/factsheet.html). We booked them through Iris Holidays (http://www.irisholidays.com/) and paid Rs 8,500 (around AED 580) for one night stay (including breakfast).


The resort has a variety of things you can do like mini golf, badminton, cycling, swimming etc. I would suggest not visiting their "Ayurveda spa". I cannot say much for the food either, however the rooms were clean, the showers had hot water and the folks were hospitable.

Oh and if you are in Cochin do make a dinner reservation at the Marriott (near the airport), the servers there are extremely polite and friendly and the food is awesome.

Happy holidays :)

 

BBC (Belgian Beer Cafe at Crowne Plaza, Dubai Festival City, Dubai)

This weekend hop on over to the Belgian Beer Café and sample some of their delicious beers. If you cannot make up your mind, they also have a sampling tray pictured on the left. Excuse the picture quality as it has been taken from my mobile phone. If you do make it there you can also try the Belle-Vue Kriek (Fruit Beer which tastes like cherry) and mussels either in a plate or a pot. And you can take part in their contest - "pop in before 14 June 2013 and tell the manager how to pronounce the new chef's name (Stijn Surinx) and you will get into a draw to win dinner and drinks for 8". For more information visit their website which has other offers too http://www.diningdfc.com/.

 Cheers!!!

Coffee and Coconut Spa Review at Oxygen Spa (Dubai, UAE)

So in my previous post (http://oopssorrywrongblog.blogspot.ae/2013/03/oxygen-spa-deira-dubai-and-random.html) I mentioned that I was dying to try out their coffee and coconut spa. The name itself sounds delicious. The spa includes a full body massage, body scrub, hair mask, milk body wrap, honey facial and blow dry for AED 169 in all (we had purchased the vouchers beforehand via "Hit the Deals").

The aromatherapy massage was just perfect for me. However the rest of the spa was not as expected.

So here goes - My friend and I were seated together in a big room with 2 stone/granite tables in the middle. We were seated on a bench which was attached to one wall.  

A therapist entered and sprayed me with a hand shower, then rubbed some shampoo on my hair rather quickly and washed it off. I realised at that time that my friend and I would be sharing the same therapist for reasons unknown. Anyhow , following  the vigorous hair wash she then put some conditioner and washed that off too and then added a hair mask. All this was probably done in a span of 5mins. She then did the same for my friend.

Then came the process of the scrub. We were made to lie down on the stone tables. The therapist started with me first and applied milk and honey on my entire body and proceeded to scrub me with the coconut and coffee scrub (which were actual coconut shavings and coffee powder). This process was not very soothing and it somehow seemed like she was in a hurry. She then applied some honey on my face which was supposed to be the "facial" bit of the spa. The scrubbing process was also done in a span of 5-10 mins. She then repeated the procedure on my friend.

We were then left in the room with steam rolling in for about 10 minutes, after which it was just too steamy and suffocating. We had to call her to turn it off.

We were then given some soap and told to wash ourselves off. We were given robes and told to go for the massage. The body massage was heavenly (remember to take the towel off from your head before you go in for the massage  I stupidly didn't).

The blow dry which followed later was relaxing. The hair stylist was a very sweet woman and if anyone deserved a tip, it was her (unfortunately I don’t recollect her name).

Oh and the masseuse too was very good. My friend was very pleased with her massage too.

After the spa treatment I felt very very very clean and thoroughly scrubbed, down to the last coffee grain. But if you are looking for something more relaxing then I suggest you opt just for the massage. The whole spa deal can also be quite scandalous and you have to be prepared to bear it “almost” all! We definitely weren’t expecting to be put in the same room…lols