Had a dreamy weekend in Cyberview Lodge. It's very nice to be whisked away from the hectic city to a completely modern (and dead-looking) town. Cyberview was very nice - full of plants and landscape. The hotel has various single and double-storey buildings scattered around its huge grounds. No high-rise hotel blocks here, all small chalets. You can drive and park in front of your room (or request for buggy service - reminiscent of our Bali holidays).

The room has solid timber flooring, clean and not dusty nor contaminated with unseen bacteria in old-looking carpets :P Nice rainshower (but no way of avoiding getting your hair wet). Big big four-poster bed with the dreamy white curtains (but the bed is just too soft and it has no quilt - not like Westin's Heavenly Bed). Great-smelling spa toiletries in ceramic bottles (so you can't steal them home). A big, rather dramatic pool. Huge room (like a big studio suite) with LCD screen at the foot of the bed, and free use of a PC in the room with internet access. The room has a kitchenette with cabinets and a rather big single-door fridge (not the small minibar kind). Big balcony (though we didn't use it). Fantastic grounds.

We only spent like 12 hours (including sleeping time) at Cyberview. But I had a good impression of the place. And I guess those who plan garden weddings there definitely found the place pretty - very tropical, very Malaysian. And very good reception counter service.

I know, this review is like so boring right. No pictures and all. My camera's really cacat these days, the flash doesn't work properly, so all my photos come out so dark. Luckily I'm not some shopaholic, or I'd have bought myself a new one a long time ago, seeing that compact cameras these days are so cheap.

Busy washing linens and cleaning up the house these days, the family's coming next week so we can all make a family trip during Raya. Luckily it's a single-storey, I really dunno how I'd be able to handle a double-storey.

Btw, Moonlight Resonance ended yesterday - and it's the bestest-ever-drama EVER! I believe the DVD sellers will be roaming town soon with the full series, so get your hands on one! Trust me, you will not regret it.

And now, I shall take a respite from TVB dramas, until the next grand production. Spend the night scouring and washing :P One week only. Then it's shopping and eating and massage haven, yippee! :)

Rustic Nirvana

For the past few days, I've been stressing away at work, even typed till 1am for 2 nights running (and reached office by 7.30am the next day to continue typing away). Brainjuice really squeezed dry. But I persevered, because I knew I was in for a treat on Saturday :)

Anyway, finally, after 3 weeks of trying, someone gave up her appointment slot and I could go in for my session, yippee! I got this promo voucher from Rustic Nirvana that gives a full treatment (tell you more about it in a bit) for only RM68. And ... wait for it ... if you bring a friend, your treatment is free! Wah. I ask you, how could I give up such a totally fantastic offer?

So, I went with a friend (only girl customers allowed at this spa, no couples even). We went to the branch in Solaris Mont Kiara. Stepped in, they gave us each a cup of warm water, told us to fill up the usual personal data form, then we sat around and waited a bit because the rooms were not yet ready as the previous customer was a bit late for her appointment and therefore dragged all the later appointments later. We were given brochures to see, and the treatments are indeed quite impressive.

So, I was led to my room - which had a shower area, a bed, a sink, a mirror with hairdryer and shelf, and a whole lot of candles and pots and pans arranged neatly on the floor around the room.

Okay, here, I'm gonna be as descriptive as I can - because I've surfed but can't seem to find anyone who's blogged or reviewed the massages in Rustic Nirvana. I shall do just that.

Scrub

The girl, Beverly, told me to change into these disposable bra and panties and showercap. She took my body weight with this machine that requires your age and height. Then, I lay face down on the bed (with that hole to put my face in), and she preceded with mixing (yah, she mixed it with some ingredients she found from the cabinet under the sink) the body scrub for me. It was a "Sea Salt Scrub" (RM200 for 30 mins) which is apparently very good for detoxification and aids in the skin's healing processes. She then rubbed it into me, really scrubbed every inch of me. Took her about half an hour to do that and I could see beads of sweat on her forehead. Then I stepped into the shower to rinse off all the scrub. Wah, my skin has never felt so clean and soft and so smooth!

Massage

Then I dried up, put on another new set of disposable stuffs, and watched her scoop some black thick liquid stuff from a claypot in the corner of the room (okay, Nat, I know you will so not like the smell, but it sure smelt nice and herbally to me). I then lied down again, and she began the Jamu Body Massage (RM350 for 45 mins). Oh, here I have to say that my voucher originally allowed me for the Chopsticks Healing Massage (RM350 for 60 mins), but my therapist said my skin felt too soft and she said I probably wouldn't be able to take the pain of the chopsticks as it was similar to "guasar". So okay, I didn't mind a more relaxing treatment that costs the same :P

I didn't fall asleep though. There was this one part after she'd massaged my tummy - she told me she was gonna "push my womb". She poked her fingers at 2 points on my lower tummy (I presume they are where my uterus is) and told me to breathe in, then she slid her 2 fingers upward towards my chest and told me to slowly breathe out. But I ended up giggling because those 2 points she was poking just felt far too sensitive. So I guess that "pushing womb" thing didn't succeed with me. But apparently, that's one of the specialities of massage in Rustic Nirvana, they cater for women's pre and postnatal needs - for slimming, women wellness, detox, womb enhancement, etc.

Wrap + Steam

Okay, next up the therapist again dug in the cupboard under the sink and mixed up a bowl of sticky black herbal stuff that smelt even stronger than the Jamu oil. This was the Jamu wrap (RM240 for 30 mins). Apparently this treatment is good for cellulite reduction, detoxification, and of course, womb wellness (I haven't heard the word "womb" so many times in a day before in my whole life). The therapist rubbed the black stuff all over me, then proceeded to Gladwrap me all over, and all over again. After that, I awkwardly tumbled onto the bed, and she put some kind of dark tent over my body, with a rice cooker pot of more hot steaming black stuff at the foot of the tent, thereby effectively "cooking" me in the tent. I was cooked in this Steamy Wonder (RM180 for 20 mins) and can you believe it, I actually fell asleep while being cooked?!

But I felt real good after that. The tent was dripping wet when she lifted it off me, and well, I was wet as well. She cut off all the Gladwrap and then I hopped in to shower again. After that, I really felt refreshed. Stepped on that weighing machine again - I'd dropped a whole kilo! I really have a water retention problem eh. Then I trooped happily out to the reception area, where I sat down for a really nice cup of ginger tea (I so love ginger tea, anyone know where I can buy them?) and listened to the salesgirl Carmen try to sell me a package.

Actually, the package they offered was quite good. But, too bad, Solaris is just too far, making a Saturday appointment for treatments is just too difficult, and I really dunno when I can find so much time in my Saturdays to actually go for these treatments. The whole thing lasted about 3 hours. Sorry I didn't take pictures. But the room was quite spartan, cement flooring with cement-like walls, but generally, a nice ambience. I particularly liked that they use local Chinese women (who I think are about my age, or even younger) as therapists.

I think it was one of my most well-spent RM34 ever, especially for something of which the retail price is RM970! Only thing is now, about 7 hours later and after my 2nd bath, I can still smell that Jamu ...