Due to the nature of my studies and work (I'm a freelance graphic designer), you can find me seated in front of my laptop almost any time of the day. Needless to say, I often crave for massages to ease the constant ache on my neck and shoulders. I travelled to Johor Bahru for massages a couple of times but in reality, most of us don't have the time to queue three hours at Malaysia's checkpoint to enjoy two hours of massage.

Thankfully, there are lots of massage services in Singapore! My boyfriend and I visited Feet Haven Katong Singapore for a 45-minute full body massage over the weekends to ease the tension that has been building in our bodies.

Nestled along the streets of delicious food, Feet Haven Katong Singapore offers a cosy and quiet retreat for Singaporeans looking for quick and cheap massages in Singapore.


Although we were slightly late for our appointment, the receptionist was welcoming and, being big fans of massages, we were naturally looking forward to relaxing our bodies during the full body massage.


After removing our shoes, we were quickly ushered into this small room for our full body massage. We were there during Feet Haven Katong's off peak period (5pm on Saturday) so there weren't many other patrons around although I could see how privacy might be an issue since it's an open area concept.

I was a little shocked that Feet Haven Katong didn't begin the full body massage by providing us something to change into. I'm not too sure if it's because ours was just a 45 minute massage.

The massage set up was simple and straightforward.

I was slightly uncomfortable when I overheard the masseurs discussing who should be assigned the male or female masseur. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt like there should be a rule that unless otherwise stated or the situation calls for it, the male masseur shouldn’t be assigned to a female customer. I didn’t raise my concern to them since they assigned the female masseur to me in the end.

 My masseur, Maria, was super attentive and knowledgeable. Before starting the massage, she checked with me what were my main areas of concern and started on my neck and shoulders immediately. Within some time, she identified my problems: that my shoulders are stiff and my back hurts from sitting down for too long.

She also made sure I was comfortable during the massage, often checking with me if the strength she used was okay or explaining to me the rationale behind massaging other parts of the body seemingly unrelated to my shoulders.

When my shoulders ache, I often get my boyfriend to give me a quick massage. Maria shared with me that the back and chest area is also connected to the shoulders and it's important to massage those areas as well. Unfortunately, as I did not change out of my clothes, it was difficult for her to give me a proper massage around some areas.

I was impressed by how much strength Maria has in her fingers, despite being a petite person herself. She was also great at locating and removing knots in my muscles, often caused by bad posture or stress. Happy to report that my back felt more relaxed when I returned home that night, after the massage!


My boyfriend, on the other hand, had a less than stellar massage experience. Other than the fact that his masseur did not check with him which were his areas of concern, his masseur’s massage technique was... :/ According to my boyfriend, the masseur was mainly using his elbow and palm to rub parts of his body. I can only guess that he was quite rough because my boyfriend’s neck was red after the massage.

But nothing was more disappointing than the masseur completely skipping the shoulder massage. I know if that was an area of concern, my boyfriend could have voiced it out, but he felt there was no need to point out a specific area as having a full body massage was good enough — he never expected the masseur to omit a shoulder massage. Shouldn’t that be part of the full body massage?

While I was unaware of my boyfriend’s massage experiences until I asked him later on, I was slightly miffed when his masseur poured two cups of water and walked towards my masseur, passing her the water and signalling her that she should quickly end the massage for me, although she still wasn’t done with another of my shoulder. Although we started the massage at the same time, my boyfriend‘s massage ended about five minutes before mine.

Feet Haven Katong 

Address: 136 East Coast Road, Singapore 428821
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 12pm to 10pm | Friday, Saturday, Eve of PH & PH 12pm to 10:30pm

Feet Haven Serangoon Gardens

Address: 4A Maju Avenue, Singapore 556682
Sunday to Thursday: 12pm to 10pm | Friday, Saturday, Eve of PH & PH 12pm to 1030pm