Saturday, January 24, 2009

Thai Massage

1/19/09 I love massage. There are plenty of options in massages in Taiwan. There are foot massage parlors, 24-hour walk in parlors, "blind people" massage parlors--and yes, advertised as so--where the visually impared are often sent to massage schools by their families and then placed in massage places that employ only visually impared massage therapists. This is a pretty traditional practice that has been around for years, since massage therapy is a job that does not necessarily require the ability to see. Then there's day spas of all kinds; and then there's Thai massage, which came from Thailand, of course, and has caught on in Taiwan since Thailand is so close and Thai massage is so wonderful!!!

The Thai massage I received today was the first massage since returning to Taiwan. Again, this was compliments of my dear friend V. I'm spoiled rotten by friends and family here. Dad says that this is my Taiwan honeymoon; let's see how long this streak of luck lasts.

V and I stepped into the nicely appointed spa, and were ushered to the nice seats to have our feet scrubbe and washed. I felt like a princess already!

After having our feet carefully attended to, we were taken to a room with two mattresses on the floor, with television sets hanging from the ceiling. We changed into the pajama sets provided by the spa, each took a mattress and laid down and started watching TV. This is relaxing aleady!!

Soon thereafter, my massage therapist came in. V and I each requested a Thai massage therapist from Thailand--I have no particular preference but V is convinced that the Thai massage therapists--as opposed to Taiwanese ones--give better and more authentic massages. As such I went with her arrangement b/c she's a regular customer here.

My massage therapist came in and I greeted her with the only Thai word I know of: "sawadeeka", meaning "hello". She started kneadind me with all kinds of techniques and soon I was so relaxed I fell asleep. During the sleepy two hours I remember being bent in pretty interesting ways--as in I have no idea human body or my body could be as flexible as such. I was awaken again when my massage therapist needed to stretch me. I was asked to sit up, put hands on back of my head, and off she went sttttrrrrreeeeeetttcccchhhhhiiinnnnngggg me like a piece of dough. I heard my spine crack loudly although I felt no pain.

Hmmmm~that was total relaxation, for sure.

Here's the website of Siam Spa which I visited: http://www.siamspa.com.tw/

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

And how do you feel now?
How much USD did that 2 hour Thai massage cost?
-Anna

suewun said...

$40 bucks for 2 hours...

Taipei is awesome!!

Anonymous said...

Oh Sue, I would love to get one of those massages right now! Even reading it gave me pleasure! :)
-Arzu

suewun said...

Well, you just have to come on over, then!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Sue,
appreciate the feedback. I'll treat my g/f tonight...

Anonymous said...

How do I get to this place? Can't understand the instructions in Chinese... Thanks!

suewun said...

Hi There Anonymous, Thanks for reading the blog. I tried the link, and there is English link on top right corner of the spa's website. When you glide over the Chinese buttons on the first page, the Contact Us link to the right hand side of the horizontal menu bar also displays in English. Once you click the Contact Us link, the following page displays the address of the spa in bith Chinese and English. As for how to get there, I suppose you can print the address and take a taxi?

http://www.siamspa.com.tw/tc/contactus-01.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sue! I went to my hotel's concierge and they directed me. Terrific experience, cost $1300NT. Just when I kept thinking that the massage couldn't get any better, it did! Terrific recommendation, thanks once again!

Anonymous said...

stumble upon this blog to find a massage place in taiwan. Everything sound so great however the website is offline. Is the place no longer exist?

Anonymous said...

hi sue can u just give the adderess. the web site doesn't help.

Anonymous said...

Nice post really give a valuable information of Massage services. Massage Thailand

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue,

The website is not available anymore. Can I have the address please?

eoin morgan said...

They are beneficial for the health in most of cases and just bring a little relaxation time in others but in any case it’s a purchase that most likely you won’t regret. Sharing with partners and close relatives is recommended.  best foot massager 2017