Asian massage

This isn't the type of place where I'd impulsively jump in for a cheap massage, but my friend Dolly recommended it for foot reflexology.  This isn't up on Aurora Avenue, actually it's next to University Village, the fanciest shopping mall in Seattle.  The Eileen Fisher and Tiffany stores are just around the corner.  You gotta love Seattle's crazy neighborhoods.

Well, I'm usually up for trying new things. Sometimes it works out and sometimes-- not so much. Remember my boiling hot "water massage" in Desert Hot Springs?  After that, a little Asian foot massage should be like nothing!

So I splurged and got the $35 combo, lasting an hour and 15 minutes. Very inexpensive, considering a 50 minute "spa massage" around here sets you back $80+ tip.  I gave up on massages lately, since most are not that good, and too often you have to endure a talkative masseuse.

Price list

So you walk in this place expecting a creepy warren of massage cubbie holes, but the space is reassuringly open. Best of all, there aren't forms to fill out and there isn't any chit chat, because only one lady at the front desk speaks English. It is quiet with rows of low soft beds.  It smells good, but it's too dim to tell just how clean, so you hope for the best. You take your shoes off and keep your clothes on.  You lie down, get covered with a warm towel, and put your feet immediately into a tub of hot herbal water with a hygienic plastic liner (good) to draw out the toxins.

Then someone comes out of the dark and begins a wonderfully painful, pressure point head "massage."  On to the arms, hands, etc.  Deep work on the upper back and 30 minutes spent on the all-important feet. It was very businesslike, and nothing like those lazy Swedish massages. This masseuse had that uncanny ability to zero right in on the tight spots, on a total stranger. What a professional.

Years ago on a business trip to China, I had a similar restorative massage on a cold, rainy day. Fully clothed, there was a lot of strange whisking away of bad energy (Reiki, I think) combined with light acupressure all over my body.  I jumped up feeling like a new person, jet-lag and headache gone, and the dampness on my Qi vanished.

But of course I was 16 years younger then. This time I didn't leap up quite so fast, but I still felt good. I wandered around University Village in pleasant, relaxed daze looking at expensive things. It took me quite a while to even decide what I wanted for lunch.  After staring at their conveyor belt for 15 minutes, I ate a California roll at Blue-C sushi. Eventually my brain started up again, and I headed home across town.  Thanks, Dolly! This might be the biggest bargain in Seattle.