Alex:
What is the difference between a foot massage in China compared to one in
Vietnam!
After the “mallet treatment” he continues to massage my feet and then I hear him reach into the basket again and I flinch in anticipation. I am determined to relax and keep my eyes closed, because what else could happen at this point. I hear a spray, the “wooosh “ of flame and my eyes pop open in time to watch him take a small glass consumed by a flame and stick it right on the bottom of my feet. I feel heat but the flame is extinguished immediately which creates suction in the cup that he glides up and down the bottom feet. I later learn this is called cupping therapy and is like the inverse of massage as the pressure from the suction draws the muscles upward. He repeated this a dozen times and that was the end of my first (but hopefully not last) Chinese foot massage.
Here in Vung Tau, Vietnam a 60 minute foot massage is only 1000
dong ($5). We weren’t sure to expect
the first time we had one and there were definite surprises, but it was a blissful
experience. We sat in padded chairs with
green tea served to us as we felt the warm ocean breezes and listened to the
street sounds of Vietnam. The massage started
with a warm foot bath followed by an acupressure/ massage on our feet and
calves. Following our foot massage our arms, neck and
head were attended to before we were guided to the massage tables for a back
rub. Yes- they include a back rub with
the foot rub! The massage therapists
jumped up on to the tables and straddled our backs before starting the massage, once
we were over that surprise it was a very relaxing way to spend an hour.
Fast forward two weeks later to Shanghai
during a rainy and cold week and I decide to venture out for a Chinese foot rub.
There is a building across from our
hotel that is advertising foot and back massages and looks “legit” so I decide to give it
a try. No one speaks English but I am shown a menu which shows that a one hour foot
massage costs 100 Yuan ($16). I am introduced to my therapist, Ping, and escorted
to a dimly lit private room with an overstuffed chair, a stool and an antique looking
Chinese basket next to a foot basin. I
sink into the plush chair for a very soothing warm soak in a wooden foot basin
and a neck rub as a “Best of Lionel Richie” soundtrack plays in the
background. I find myself humming to “Stuck
on You” as the massage therapist then sits in front of me on a stool, places my feet
on his lap reaches into the basket and pulls out a Black and Decker head lamp. OK, so the room was dim but really do you
need a head lamp to see my feet? In the glow of the headlamp I
flinch as I watch him unroll a leather packet filled with what looks like straight edge razors . He doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak
Chinese but he motions for me to calm down.
Ten minutes later the bottom or my feet are as smooth as a baby bottom
and I am glad he had the head lamp so he could see what he was doing,
I am relaxed;
happily sipping tea and listening to Lionel sing “Hello” when he reaches into
the basket again and pulls out a pair of small rubber tipped mallets. At this point I trust him but still nervous as
in my head I play out the scene of “Misery” where Kathy Bates takes a hammer to
James Caan’s ankles. With a rubber mallet
in each hand he gently hits my feet and calve muscles and I have to say it
actually feels good and I relax and close my eyes again. After the “mallet treatment” he continues to massage my feet and then I hear him reach into the basket again and I flinch in anticipation. I am determined to relax and keep my eyes closed, because what else could happen at this point. I hear a spray, the “wooosh “ of flame and my eyes pop open in time to watch him take a small glass consumed by a flame and stick it right on the bottom of my feet. I feel heat but the flame is extinguished immediately which creates suction in the cup that he glides up and down the bottom feet. I later learn this is called cupping therapy and is like the inverse of massage as the pressure from the suction draws the muscles upward. He repeated this a dozen times and that was the end of my first (but hopefully not last) Chinese foot massage.
Both massages were an experience I will never
forget and any time I hear Lionel Richie playing it will always bring back
memories of Shanghai, Bing, headlamps, razors, flames and rubber tipped
mallets
Cheers to Good Travel and new experiences wherever
you are
No comments:
Post a Comment