Relaxing London - Need suggestions

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to massages, spa treatments, beauty days and such.  I have no shame in admitting that I will pay a pretty penny if that means I won't fall asleep with a migraine, a bothersome nerve in my leg or aches in my feet.  I've pretty much done the standard damage on everything from my knees down as a dancer, and I tend to carry a lot of stress in my neck and shoulders and get migraines on a regular basis.  Help, I'm trapped in an old woman's body!!  Because of this and the fact that everyone likes to be pampered from time-to-time, I'm on the hunt for a quality massage/spa location in London!  I also think in addition to my regular London posts and SPOTTED posts, finding places to relax in the city would fit nicely on the bloggy space.

Right now City Sports Massage in Highbury & Islington is the only place I'm considering but this is only based on Google Page Rank, the design of their website and that it specifically offers a sports massage - not this fru-fru oils and chakras and light pats that leave you questioning what you spent £120 on 40 minutes later.

Suggestions are welcome, reviews will follow!

Hootsuite Case Study - Audience Engagement

Not sure why this wouldn't let me digg it so putting it on the bloggy space.  WARNING this is a work related post. Turn away now if wanky marketing words and social media buzz phrases cause internal bleeding and rage.

Electric Artists & HootSuite ~ An Audience Engagement Case Study

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Central London - SPOTTED - Elvis

Well, I didn't really see Elvis, I saw an impersonator.  It was quite random I have to admit and I'm still not sure I understand the link that was trying to be made.

Without much more information, all I can say is that a new salon opened in Fitzrovia called Czaro.  Elvis won't be cutting your hair, but from the launch party they were having it did look to be a bit swanky on the inside.  They invited us in for some of their snackies and drinks but I felt a bit underdressed and was enjoying the more casual setting of the Samuel Smiths pub we were in next door, The Champion.  Also spotted: Comic Sans (!) being used on a sign inside The Champion. *facepalm* I can't take things seriously when it's done in Comic Sans.

Yes, using comic sans over the age of 12 is amiss

Not sure if I'll be going to the salon but they did give me a voucher as an incentive.

Central London - Soho - Bubbleology

I love bubble tea. I haven't really had it since I moved to London, but it was a regular part of my diet back in Columbus, OH.  I'm not sure how I found out about it, but there was some great buzz about a new bubble tea place opening in London called Bubbleology. I checked out the menu and planned for my trip there.

I've gone twice now, just to make sure my view of the place was correct.  The verdict: je suis not impressed. For a regular sized bubble tea it's £3.25, for a large it's £3.75 and any additional jelly/bobbas are 50p. Price-wise, fairly manageable. Service-wise, not worth the money.

Day 1: It was a hot day in London, a rare occasion so I made my way to Bubbleology for my standard flavour: Almond Milk tea. In the states this was typically served hot, but as it was hot outside I didn't mind having the ice in there. I went for the additional litchi jelly in my tea to go with the tapioca bubbles. Overall it was pretty good and refreshing on a hot day.  Unfortunately inside the shop seemed to be about as chaotic as the scientific decoration they have throughout the shop.  There was only one person manning the till and doubling up as the bubble mixer person.  It's fine that there was only one person, it wasn't busy that day, but there didn't seem to be any sense of urgency to take orders and make drinks.

Day 2: The heavens decided to open up and piss down on us Londoners, so comfort food was on the list of desires.  I wanted soups and warm drinks and a blankey to snuggle in while we waited for the rain clouds to go away. I thought that Bubbleology needed a second chance - maybe they were just having an off day before. This time it was heaps busier and there were three people working; A manager that spent his time wiping down the work bench about 20 times, a girl that was taking orders and making everyone's drink wrong and another girl that didn't do anything at all but walk around and finally take the long queue of orders at the last minute. I decided on a large Almond Milk tea this time but I wanted it warm (as I saw someone else ordered a warm drink) and I added mango jelly instead of litchi.  When my drink finally came along (we spent a good 20 minutes in there) it was made with ice, which I specifically asked not to have and the tapioca bubbles that are standard with the teas were missing, I only had the mango jelly. I spent the extra 50p on the jelly so why were my bubbles missing?!  It really didn't help that it was still pissing down rain as well and just made the situation all the more frustrating.  Two times of not being impressed is enough, I won't take my chances on a third for some time now.

Bubbleology, while you seem quite friendly via your Twitter Account, and from the outside you appear to have your tea making game faces on, and the extra aesthetic effort put in to making it look as '-ology' as possible is much appreciated, you and your team are not quite ready to handle people like me, who expect quality when paying the price, as your loyal customers.

Bubbleology can be found at:

49 Rupert Street
London

W1D 7PF
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus

www.bubbleology.co.uk/

Chalkboard depicting the science of bubble tea

A bubbleologist

A very formulaic brew indeed

North London - Holloway Road - Indian Ocean

My first North London discovery since revamping the bloggy structure!  This wasn't much of a discovery as I didn't happen upon it, but rather used the lovely Yelp app on my iPhone to find a relatively cheap place to eat around the N19 area.  I was meeting a friend I hadn't seen in a while for dinner so it had to be somewhere we could chill and talk.

Luckily it was found and we made plans to meet at Indian Ocean for 8pm.  The many reviews I came across online seemed to put them as a top notch Indian restaurant in the area.  Arriving fashionably late (the joys of getting out of Central in a timely manner), the first thing I noticed was the design. I suppose because I was actually looking for the place I was able to appreciate the effort they took in making it look like an Indian escape from the bustling city high street. I've walked past it so many times and never really noticed it before.

Taken from WhoseView.co.uk

When you walk in there's a reasonably large open seating plan and a wall lined with cosy booths separated by hypnotising cutout patterns. My friend had taken a spot in one of the booths which was perfect for our three hour dinner/catchup session.  The servers tried to make you feel like royalty even though the prices are made for the pesants, so that was appreciated as well.  They were quite accommodating to the fact that we spent the vast majority of our time talking and not spending much money, so I'll forgive one of the servers for hinting that it was time for us to leave when we had finished our meal about 30 minutes prior.

The detail in the booths

I'm not much of a curry eater, which I'm sure is some sort of living-in-England sin, and the reviews seemed to praise Indian Ocean quite a bit; but I would say for the price, this was a pretty good meal! I even walked away with some leftovers.  I've been on a coconut kick when it comes to my curry so I had a Murgh Korma while my friend ordered a beef dish with mushroom rice.  We were both very satisfied and it was a brilliant setting for catching up.

Indian Ocean - nothing spectacular but decent for the price. I will more than likely make my way there again if I'm in the area and craving a curry or showing friends around.

Indian Ocean Tandoori Restaurant can be found at:

359 Holloway Road
London
N7 0RN
Nearest Tube: Holloway Road

Beef and Mushroom Rice

Chicken in a creamy coconut sauce