This weekend I have had my feet washed, my back massages, my feet and legs massaged, my hair washed and scalp massage. A girl could get used to this! I met up with a few friends who had done the project last year and we ate a baked spaghetti dinner, not the same in China but they sure tried. We walked around to find a tailor to order some tailor made clothes since my clothes are falling off of me I have lost so much weight the last 2 months here. Everything is fresh here, even the fried noodles are light and not greasy. Plus they don’t sell all the salty snack foods that I crave so I just don’t snack . And I sweat buckets just walking down the street or up 5 flights of stairs to my apartment.
But anyway we decided to waste some time since everything is closed for the holiday. We find this hole in the wall place advertising food washes and take a crowded elevator up to another world! This wooden smelly elevator dropped us off in this huge hardwood floored, chandeliered, matching furniture room. Well I am disappointed it doesn’t sound that special on paper but you have to remember a table cloth in a Chinese restaurant means that you pay double! So anyway fancy! So there are 4 of us so we get to go back into one of the rooms instead of the communal chairs lined up in the open space. There is a tv that they struggle to find the one English channel for us. As we settle in a group of masseuse are gathering at the door, I assume fighting over who gets to work with the foreigners or maybe just getting a look at these mysterious creatures! So the manager guy asks what we want and discusses price ($5 each for foot wash). Thank God Annalis has amazing Chinese and did all the talking. He asks if we want guy or girl masseuse and she says either way. One of the guys crowded outside the door immediately says “BOYS!” in his best excited English. To which the manager pushed him out of the room and closed the door. So we sit in these recliners and they bring buckets of hot good smelling water to soak our feet in and take our drink orders. Then they have us sit up and they massage our backs for like 30 minutes! I don’t even like massages and it was wonderful. I think I scared the guy that way massaging me bc I turned around and said, “don’t hurt me, be nice!” and then proceeded to cringe every time he touched me until I finally relaxed. So we are all talking in English and the guys are talking to each other in Chinese forgetting that Annalis can understand them. She said they were talking about how we all looked different, 2 skinny, 2 big, 2 blondes, 2 brown hair, all big breast. That last comment made Annalis brake out her Chinese and they were all embarrassed and apologized.
Then they dry your feet off and massage your whole feet and legs for another 45 minutes! Once I got over my leg jiggling around as he pounded either side, it was relaxing. I still laughed loudly and jumped a few times not really knowing what was going on or why there were bringing hot rocks to hit us with. I looked around at my friends who almost kicked their guys when they hit a tickle spot. I did get a little nervous when a man brought in 8 steaming towels wearing oven mitts! The guys were like playing hot potato passing them out and then wrapped Anna Rae’s legs up in them. She assured us it didn’t burn but my little China man looked like he was in pain. It was like my legs had their own personal sauna! But I couldn’t help laughing when I looked down the line of the 4 of us all wrapped up in our leg casts. I felt bad because I have such and explosive laugh the guy thought I was dying every time I cracked up and like ran to take the towel off! The best $5 I ever spent. I am told it gets addicting and it is a rude awakening when you go back to the states and $5 will only get you some bath salts for a do-it-yourself foot wash!
The other girls tried to convince me to do a suction-cup massage. I decided I would supervise and maybe I would do it next time.
The suction-cup is horrifying to watch but apparently never enjoyable to experience. Basically they take these light bulb shaped clear glasses and rub a flame inside then press in against your skin. So the cup sucks your skin up about an inch into the glass! The flame thing looked like the one they use in the circus freak act where they breath fire! So the girls all lay down on the massage table and this guy comes around with about 20 bulbs to spread evenly down your back. He starts with a quick back massage to relax your muscles then places all the blubs on your back. He covers the bulbs with a towel and lets you lay there for 15 minutes. The girls say it’s like a constant massage all over your back. As if you have 20 people massaging you at once! The worst part is when he takes them off there is a popping sound, that everyone said didn’t hurt(liars!) and it leaves a perfectly circular and symmetrical pattern of hickies all down your back and shoulders! I am told for the next week it feels like a sun burn and the bruises last 2 weeks. I am curious but I don’t think I am that brave, at least not yet.
My new favorite part of China is the hair washes!!! Apparently any hair salon will give you a hair wash/scalp massage! I woke up after a late night with a little bit of a headache and Heidi decided to go find a hair wash place. And then maybe I went again 2 days later with Ros. I am hardcore addicted. The have you lay down in the washing chair. But this is not like the ones in the US it is a massage table and they remove the head rest and there is a sink under it. So they spend a good 30 minutes lathering and massaging your scalp, rinsing and re lathering, re-massaging. I fell asleep a little I was so relaxed. I had to fight back the urge so ohh and aww like a dog getting scratched in just the right spot! After the hair wash they put a hot rag on your face and literally clean your eyes and q-tip your ears!! That part was a little weird. Then you think its over but the massage your arms and hands! Wow! The hardest part was trying to understand what they were saying and gesturing for us to lie on our stomachs so they could rub out backs! I kept sitting up and she pulled me back down, lol. To finish it they blow dry and style your hair much prettier than my hair ever turns out for me. While the Guy is drying my hair the manager lady starts taking our pictures and about 3 other employees came and asked if they could touch my hair! “It real? So beautiful!” he said. China makes me happy!
But anyway we decided to waste some time since everything is closed for the holiday. We find this hole in the wall place advertising food washes and take a crowded elevator up to another world! This wooden smelly elevator dropped us off in this huge hardwood floored, chandeliered, matching furniture room. Well I am disappointed it doesn’t sound that special on paper but you have to remember a table cloth in a Chinese restaurant means that you pay double! So anyway fancy! So there are 4 of us so we get to go back into one of the rooms instead of the communal chairs lined up in the open space. There is a tv that they struggle to find the one English channel for us. As we settle in a group of masseuse are gathering at the door, I assume fighting over who gets to work with the foreigners or maybe just getting a look at these mysterious creatures! So the manager guy asks what we want and discusses price ($5 each for foot wash). Thank God Annalis has amazing Chinese and did all the talking. He asks if we want guy or girl masseuse and she says either way. One of the guys crowded outside the door immediately says “BOYS!” in his best excited English. To which the manager pushed him out of the room and closed the door. So we sit in these recliners and they bring buckets of hot good smelling water to soak our feet in and take our drink orders. Then they have us sit up and they massage our backs for like 30 minutes! I don’t even like massages and it was wonderful. I think I scared the guy that way massaging me bc I turned around and said, “don’t hurt me, be nice!” and then proceeded to cringe every time he touched me until I finally relaxed. So we are all talking in English and the guys are talking to each other in Chinese forgetting that Annalis can understand them. She said they were talking about how we all looked different, 2 skinny, 2 big, 2 blondes, 2 brown hair, all big breast. That last comment made Annalis brake out her Chinese and they were all embarrassed and apologized.
Then they dry your feet off and massage your whole feet and legs for another 45 minutes! Once I got over my leg jiggling around as he pounded either side, it was relaxing. I still laughed loudly and jumped a few times not really knowing what was going on or why there were bringing hot rocks to hit us with. I looked around at my friends who almost kicked their guys when they hit a tickle spot. I did get a little nervous when a man brought in 8 steaming towels wearing oven mitts! The guys were like playing hot potato passing them out and then wrapped Anna Rae’s legs up in them. She assured us it didn’t burn but my little China man looked like he was in pain. It was like my legs had their own personal sauna! But I couldn’t help laughing when I looked down the line of the 4 of us all wrapped up in our leg casts. I felt bad because I have such and explosive laugh the guy thought I was dying every time I cracked up and like ran to take the towel off! The best $5 I ever spent. I am told it gets addicting and it is a rude awakening when you go back to the states and $5 will only get you some bath salts for a do-it-yourself foot wash!
The other girls tried to convince me to do a suction-cup massage. I decided I would supervise and maybe I would do it next time.
The suction-cup is horrifying to watch but apparently never enjoyable to experience. Basically they take these light bulb shaped clear glasses and rub a flame inside then press in against your skin. So the cup sucks your skin up about an inch into the glass! The flame thing looked like the one they use in the circus freak act where they breath fire! So the girls all lay down on the massage table and this guy comes around with about 20 bulbs to spread evenly down your back. He starts with a quick back massage to relax your muscles then places all the blubs on your back. He covers the bulbs with a towel and lets you lay there for 15 minutes. The girls say it’s like a constant massage all over your back. As if you have 20 people massaging you at once! The worst part is when he takes them off there is a popping sound, that everyone said didn’t hurt(liars!) and it leaves a perfectly circular and symmetrical pattern of hickies all down your back and shoulders! I am told for the next week it feels like a sun burn and the bruises last 2 weeks. I am curious but I don’t think I am that brave, at least not yet.
My new favorite part of China is the hair washes!!! Apparently any hair salon will give you a hair wash/scalp massage! I woke up after a late night with a little bit of a headache and Heidi decided to go find a hair wash place. And then maybe I went again 2 days later with Ros. I am hardcore addicted. The have you lay down in the washing chair. But this is not like the ones in the US it is a massage table and they remove the head rest and there is a sink under it. So they spend a good 30 minutes lathering and massaging your scalp, rinsing and re lathering, re-massaging. I fell asleep a little I was so relaxed. I had to fight back the urge so ohh and aww like a dog getting scratched in just the right spot! After the hair wash they put a hot rag on your face and literally clean your eyes and q-tip your ears!! That part was a little weird. Then you think its over but the massage your arms and hands! Wow! The hardest part was trying to understand what they were saying and gesturing for us to lie on our stomachs so they could rub out backs! I kept sitting up and she pulled me back down, lol. To finish it they blow dry and style your hair much prettier than my hair ever turns out for me. While the Guy is drying my hair the manager lady starts taking our pictures and about 3 other employees came and asked if they could touch my hair! “It real? So beautiful!” he said. China makes me happy!
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