So I'll bet everyone is wondering what a "milk bath" is like? Here's a little 4-1-1 on yesterday's experience at the spa.
First of all, we only went to this particular one because we had coupons for a free treatment... last week when we were getting our nails done, a lady from this spa next door (that had just opened) came over and started handing us all coupons. We had no idea what they were for, so we asked our friend Andrew (Olivia's husband) if he could go find out. I'm not even sure how, but Andrew knows nearly perfect Mandarin... he can read, write, and speak nearly perfectly! I've known him for a month now so I've stopped being in awe when he talks, but it's pretty close. Andrew comes back and says that our coupon is for a FREE 50 minute spa treatment with a 30 minute milk bath and 20 minute massage. (apparently there was an "eye exam" also thrown in, which we chose to forgo, for obvious reasons) It was by appointment only, so we decided to make appointments for yesterday, as a girls' afternoon out kinda thing.
The routine: they first took us to a room with cozy couches where we sat for about 10 minutes (while they got our rooms ready?). We got some hot tea, and they traded our shoes for Chinese slippers that were too small for all of our feet! We were led to our rooms (labeled VIP, haha!) that had two people to each. Luckily, another colleague of ours had decided to come at the last minute and we had even numbers, 2 and 2. Yvonne and I went into a room together and they told us we would be doing the milk baths first. Through a bit of charades, we figured out that we were supposed to shower (in a nice, rainhead shower) and then put on some disposable, gauzy underwear before getting into the spa-like tub. Needless to say, Yvonne and I now know eachother much better than we ever expected to! We had separate tubs, but were in the same room... so figure that out for yourself.
The "milk bath" was pretty much just a regular bath at first, and then once the water was at a high enough level they turned on the jets that shot in some milk-like stuff... so our water turned white-ish. Now this wasn't terribly impressive to me, but we figured that for a Chinese person this would probably be extremely luxurious. You hardly EVER see bathtubs in China... everyone has the "shower on the bathroom" floor thing going in their homes (not us, though... because we looked for a place that specifically had a real shower!).
After the bath we showered again and then were told to come to the adjacent room for our oil massages. I must say that the massage I got was by far THE BEST one I've had in China yet! It was more of a pressure point massage instead of some lady just squeezing muscles. It was super nice. I told Rex that I might go back someday for the massage... but probably not the milk bath =)
We spent the rest of the afternoon searching for flights (no luck yet) and deciding what to do for dinner. We finally decided on dinner at Coyote's, the one Mexican food restaurant here in Xiamen! They have 2 for 1 pizzas on Saturdays and half price drinks... so we had some BLT and Mexican pizza... super yum! Someday I'll try their enchiladas, too =)
We caught the public bus (only 1 RMB per person... about 15 cents US) to the RT Mart, a Wal-Mart like store that many people had told us about. It was in a Chinese mall that was apparently the place to be on this particular Saturday night! There was a Chinese guy on a stage singing (not a bad voice) with a bubble machine blasting bubbles into his face. All these kids were gathered around with not a care about the singer... but totally enamored by the bubbles! We even saw one kid jump on stage to chase some bubbles, and his parent quickly jumped up to get him down.
RT Mart had lychee soda, so we stocked up! If you ever have the chance to try lychees or lychee soda... do it! You'll be addicted.
First of all, we only went to this particular one because we had coupons for a free treatment... last week when we were getting our nails done, a lady from this spa next door (that had just opened) came over and started handing us all coupons. We had no idea what they were for, so we asked our friend Andrew (Olivia's husband) if he could go find out. I'm not even sure how, but Andrew knows nearly perfect Mandarin... he can read, write, and speak nearly perfectly! I've known him for a month now so I've stopped being in awe when he talks, but it's pretty close. Andrew comes back and says that our coupon is for a FREE 50 minute spa treatment with a 30 minute milk bath and 20 minute massage. (apparently there was an "eye exam" also thrown in, which we chose to forgo, for obvious reasons) It was by appointment only, so we decided to make appointments for yesterday, as a girls' afternoon out kinda thing.
The routine: they first took us to a room with cozy couches where we sat for about 10 minutes (while they got our rooms ready?). We got some hot tea, and they traded our shoes for Chinese slippers that were too small for all of our feet! We were led to our rooms (labeled VIP, haha!) that had two people to each. Luckily, another colleague of ours had decided to come at the last minute and we had even numbers, 2 and 2. Yvonne and I went into a room together and they told us we would be doing the milk baths first. Through a bit of charades, we figured out that we were supposed to shower (in a nice, rainhead shower) and then put on some disposable, gauzy underwear before getting into the spa-like tub. Needless to say, Yvonne and I now know eachother much better than we ever expected to! We had separate tubs, but were in the same room... so figure that out for yourself.
The "milk bath" was pretty much just a regular bath at first, and then once the water was at a high enough level they turned on the jets that shot in some milk-like stuff... so our water turned white-ish. Now this wasn't terribly impressive to me, but we figured that for a Chinese person this would probably be extremely luxurious. You hardly EVER see bathtubs in China... everyone has the "shower on the bathroom" floor thing going in their homes (not us, though... because we looked for a place that specifically had a real shower!).
After the bath we showered again and then were told to come to the adjacent room for our oil massages. I must say that the massage I got was by far THE BEST one I've had in China yet! It was more of a pressure point massage instead of some lady just squeezing muscles. It was super nice. I told Rex that I might go back someday for the massage... but probably not the milk bath =)
We spent the rest of the afternoon searching for flights (no luck yet) and deciding what to do for dinner. We finally decided on dinner at Coyote's, the one Mexican food restaurant here in Xiamen! They have 2 for 1 pizzas on Saturdays and half price drinks... so we had some BLT and Mexican pizza... super yum! Someday I'll try their enchiladas, too =)
We caught the public bus (only 1 RMB per person... about 15 cents US) to the RT Mart, a Wal-Mart like store that many people had told us about. It was in a Chinese mall that was apparently the place to be on this particular Saturday night! There was a Chinese guy on a stage singing (not a bad voice) with a bubble machine blasting bubbles into his face. All these kids were gathered around with not a care about the singer... but totally enamored by the bubbles! We even saw one kid jump on stage to chase some bubbles, and his parent quickly jumped up to get him down.
RT Mart had lychee soda, so we stocked up! If you ever have the chance to try lychees or lychee soda... do it! You'll be addicted.
Lychees!
I awoke this morning to the Aggie game coming from the speakers in the living room. Rex had put the game on the computer (hooked up to the speakers) so we could listen to it! I reluctantly got out of bed... and eventually made some pancakes and did the dishes. Aggies won, and it was a good start to the day!
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