Korean Massage, Soreness, Cucumber in my Hair



Photo by uggboy


"A naked 300-pound woman squirted 2 bottles of baby oil onto my back and started massaging as fast as a carwash. Relaxing? I had to hold in for dear life!"


That's how my friend Lisa described a Korean sauna treatment to me, years ago. I stayed away, for ages.


Yesterday, lured by the low low massage price at my favourite Korean sauna, I bit the bullet.


Some notes:


the good


Price price price: the equivalent of $20 Canadian for a 45-minute facial, body scrub, massage.


Though the rest of the sauna runs at a relaxville snail's pace, the masseuses hum around very efficiently. Car wash, indeed. 


My masseuse grated up a fresh, ice-cold cucumber and pressed the pulp onto my face, It felt superb.


My chronically stiff shoulders feel pretty darn good.


I'm as smooth as a baby's bottom.


A friend later called me "glowing."




the bad


More than a few people looked over to gawk at my pink foreigner skin, which was pink as a shrimp platter from all the firm scrubbing.


Not gonna lie, there was a bit of pain as my masseuse lay her elbows into my vertebrae. I usually say "the deeper the better" when it comes to massage, but this was... pointy.


It was a little embarassing, just how much dead skin came off during the scrub.




the strange-ee


My treatment table was covered in vinyl Burberry plaid.


The rinsing off portion involved throwing warm buckets of water.


Some parts of my body do not like being scrubbed like a kitchen soup pot. My armpits are sore.


The massage involved a lot of punching. Not to say it didn't feel nice....






The verdict? Thumbs up. Go. Experience it. Share your story with me, please.