Nirvana at The Spa
tuesday is evs' and my lakwatcha day. it's the only day of the week where we can really be together, so it has become a weekly routine that we hit the Gs after work to shop or window shop (depending on our wallet size), eat, catch a movie, browse the shelves of PowerBooks, and unwind with our fave mocha fraps. yesterday, we had to carry out our routine half-heartedly. after taking calls the whole day without much sleep due to our Metro gig the night before, both of us weren't in the best of moods. we agreed that we would just eat and then go straight home to catch lost zzzzzs.
we ordered lasagna, garlic bread and refillable iced teas at Pizzeria Veneto (not sure how the resto's name is spelled). i guess the scrumptious combination of pasta, tomato and bechamel sauce, ground beef and rich layers of melted mozzarella heartened us and we became our usual yakkity selves again. i complained about all the knots i had in my neck and back. evs agreed and said how great it should be to get a massage. on an impulse, we searched for a spa who could provide a great but affordable body massage. we didn't dare go into Suriya fearing that its services may be too steep. so we walked all the way to park square to look for Let's Face It. Their body massage priced at P320-450 (ano 'to, depende sa lapad o laki ng katawan?), but they could not accomodate us because they only accepted walk-in clients til 7pm and it was already a few minutes past 7.huh! it was the same sad story at the Mendez Center. we were about to lose all hope, but being the single-minded brat that i am, we went ahead to look for The Spa.
the moment that we entered The Spa, we knew we just had to get a massage there! We could only pray that it wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg. So, we walked up to the counter and looked through their menu of services to find that we could get a head and shoulder rub for around P500. We really wanted a fully body massage, so we went for a 60 minute shiatsu which cost more than a pair of Havaianas tops but whaddaheck!?
after we signed up for the services, evs and i were given locker keys and ushered in to a room where we were supposed to get ready for our shiatsu. a lady was there to assist us and we were provided with towels, bathrobes and rubber slippers. The locker room was very clean and the scent of mint and rosemary filled the air. the lady told told us we could take a shower and go into the steam room before our massage. so, into the frosted glass cubicle we showered and dried ourselves with the fluffy white towels. we changed into the sea green robes, smelling faintly of olive oil. evs laughs at this quirk of mine, i have to identify the scent of all things that my nose comes across with.
we waited a few minutes on the plush couch and drank a tangy ginger tea concoction then the lady guided us into the massage room. the massage room contained neat beds with white linen and firm pillows, again the smell of mint and other woody, spicy notes pervaded the air. the masseuse (what's the plural form of this word?) came into the room and had us lie (yes, this is the correct form, it's called intransitive verb) on our chests. i asked leizyl, the masseuse who attended to me for an oil shiatsu. evs and i disrobed and we were covered in white linen sheets. after leizyl started doing magic with her hands, i dozed off to the sensation of my muscles and flesh being kneaded. she had to wake me up and tell me my 60 minutes of bliss were over. aawwww! before evs and i hit the shower we sat in the steam room for a few minutes and there i learned how a teabag must feel like...
evs and i went home without any shopping bags but definitely a few bucks poorer, but sometimes you really have to spend on the intangible things in life to experience Nirvana.
