Noor A.'s Profile

I've been trying to learn how to swim on and off for the past year and have used several different instructors.  Christy is by far the best - I really wish I had found her sooner.  Christy seems to really know how to instruct adults.  She's very encouraging, patient, and adapts her techniques to your learning style. I've only taken a few lessons with her but I've already noticed a huge improvement in my breathing and confidence in the water.  Each lesson is pretty fun and leaves me super excited about swimming.  Highly highly recommended.

This review is for their swim lessons.  I'm not a member but I took some lessons here last fall.  Some background, I'm 29, never learned how to swim as a kid, and have tried several different instructors.  My instructor at the Decathlon Club was extremely professional - probably the most professional instructor I've had.  She certainly knew what she was doing and really focused on helping me refine my various strokes.  However, I always felt like she was teaching above my level.  I still need to work on my breathing and my fear of the deep end - those seemed like they were more important to tackle than fine-tuning my strokes.  I think it is really hard to teach adults how to swim so it isn't totally her fault.  Based on my experience, I think their swim lessons would be perfect for somebody who already knows how to swim and wants to fine-tune their skills for a triathlon or race.

I lived here for a year when I first moved to the Bay Area.  For the most part, I really enjoyed living at Park Place South.  The apartments are pretty new and the nicest I looked at in Mountain View.  Because everything was so new, I rarely had maintenance requests.  And when I did, the maintenance guy was super nice and always fixed them in a timely manner.  My apartment was pretty large for a one bedroom and it had central air/heat, full size washer/dryer, and fairly new appliances.  It was also extremely clean when I first moved in and everything worked as expected.  The location can't be beat - right in downtown Mountain View.

The main reason that I give it three stars, though, is the price.  I was paying almost $2300 (for a one bedroom! in Mountain View!).  Sure the apartments are nice but they're not THAT nice.  Moreover, the gym was always crowded and the machines were really showing their age.  There was always at least one treadmill that was out of order.  One of the elevators was almost always out of order.  And some of the people in the office were either really rude, snobby, or just lazy.  At the price I was paying, I just expected far more.

Where do you go for a hummus sandwich in Kauai?  Wait, somebody sells hummus in Kauai?!?

I had my doubts when I ordered my hummus (read hippie) sandwich but it was actually very good.  And being that my people are all about hummus, I can be a snob about hummus.  The sandwich was full of veggies and hummus served on a tasty thick wheat/multi-grain toast (I'm wondering if they make the bread on-site?).

The place is rather unassuming and a bit too lacking in character for dinner but it is a nice little lunch spot.

For my last night in Kauai, I really wanted some sushi but didn't feel like venturing too far away so I figured I'd try my hotel's sushi place.  The two rolls I had (spicy tuna and california) were actually pretty good and the fish was very fresh.  The service was laughably horrible and the atmosphere is rather lacking.  Naniwa is stuck in a small little room at the end of the Shells dining area (the other restaurant at the Sheraton).  It is super cramped and feels like a hole in the wall.  Given the price of my meal, I would have expected much nicer atmosphere and considerably better service.  This is the sort of place that I wouldn't visit again, even if I was staying at the Sheraton.

I dined at Shells twice last week (once for breakfast and another for dinner) while I was staying at the Sheraton.  I wouldn't (and I didn't) go out of my way to dine at Shells.  The breakfast buffet is pretty impressive - especially if you're in the mood to binge on carbs!  They had a pretty standard selection of breakfast items (e.g. scrambled eggs, pastries, french toast, etc.) and everything I tried was actually pretty good.

My dinner experience was OK.  I had a goat cheese salad that seemed to only have two little balls of goat cheese (and they didn't even really taste like goat cheese).  My swordfish was very fresh but was hardly seasoned - I had to pour a bunch of salt to even taste the fish.  It was a shame that such awesome ingredients were wasted on such a mediocre preparation.

On another note - the Sheraton's dining area is really starting to show its age - they really could use to renovate it.  I also wasn't super impressed with the huge signs indicating which restaurant you were dining at.  What am I in a food court?  Must I really know that this section of the dining area is Shells where as the other end is Naniwa?

Whether dining in the morning or evening, the ocean view is pretty nice and possibly the best part of the dining experience.

OH. MY. GOD.

Best meal I had in Kauai.  And possibly best meal ever.

I dined here last week to celebrate my 29th birthday and was really glad I had selected the Plantation Gardens to mark the occasion.  The restaurant is really low key and casual.  Something about the decor and atmosphere gave me a 70s Hawaii vibe (remember when the Brady Bunch vacationed in Hawaii?), which I actually found really cool and authentic.  If you're staying at the Sheraton, it is actually right across the street from the beach/ocean wing.  The address is actually for the front of the building so if you map it online, it looks much further than it really is.

The service was great and the food was amazing and meticulously well-presented.  The portion sizes were a bit too huge, though.  I had the island stir fry, which came with really fresh and tasty swordfish and prawns.  For dessert, I had the Baked Hawaiian, which was AWESOME (see photos).  I can't wait to go back to Kauai just to have another meal here.

I really liked this place, even though I found it a bit overpriced.  I dined by myself - had a couple of rolls and a seaweed salad and my bill was almost $50!  The restaurant is pretty tiny and incredibly hard to find.  I dined inside on the bar and that was really fun.  The sushi chef was super nice and it was fun to watch him make the rolls.  I had a Kauai roll (papaya, eel, macadamia nuts - OMG sooooo goood) and a rainbow roll and both were pretty awesome - fresh and tasty.  The servers weren't great at service but the sushi chef's attitude and pride in his work totally made up for it.

I've been seeing Cate for about a year and a half and she is brilliant.  She seems to specialize in eating disorders and one of few therapists in the area (whom I'm aware of) to actually treat obesity/binge eating disorder/emotional eating.  I've been struggling with my weight my whole life and she's the first person to actually help me figure out the root cause of my problem.  Aside from seeing awesome results on the scale (60 pounds as of this morning!), she's really helped me with my emotional development and it is simply awesome to have somebody to vent to about all the annoying little stuff in life.

Seeing Cate is simply a pleasure (and rather life-changing).  She's nonjudgmental, respectful, caring, encouraging, and supportive.  She offers comments and feedback as appropriate.  She also seems to have this incredible ability to remember EVERYTHING I tell her.  And her referrals are equally good.

Highly highly recommended.

Having recently switched to a different primary care internist, it is very hard for me to recommend Dr. Wells or to even give her a good review.

On the plus side - she's very nice and seeing a doctor at PAMF is pretty convenient - they take my insurance, you can see your records online, and they usually won't make you wait very long.

I saw Dr. Wells for about two years.  She was usually hurried, rushed, and dismissive.  She also never seemed to remember me or my medical history.  I know doctors see a lot of patients but at least make an effort!  Look at my chart BEFORE you walk in the room.

A few months ago, an appointment really irked me and eventually got me to switch doctors.  I went in to ask about a medical concern I had.  She quickly dismissed my concern and told me there was nothing to be done about it at this point in my life.  She didn't even examine me - she simply told me to lose weight.  The funny thing is that I have been losing weight!  At that point, I had actually lost about 40 pounds.  I got the sense that she didn't think that was good enough or that I was losing weight fast enough!  She even recommended that I go on a liquid diet!  Ughhhh!  A liquid diet!  How ridiculous is that!  Here I am working really hard to lose weight naturally and she wants me to lose weight by going on a liquid diet?  What kind of a doctor recommends a liquid diet?

Instead of being supportive or encouraging (or heck even examining me), she left me feeling devastated and demoralized.  So so awful.