My Longkang

We planned to go for supper but ended up in a reflexology center. I was a bit apprehensive as it was my first time . Guess what? I met four of my friends there The reception area was brightly lit and overall the decor was bright and cheerful with lots of Chinese trappings and colorful flowers in a vase.

There was a guy there on duty. His P.R. skills were excellent and he could speak many dialects. He introduced us to the various types of services available. But we hadn’t booked in advance. It was full so we had to wait a few minutes. The girls were all young, fair and obviously from China. The girls seemed genuinely happy and quite at ease. There were a few moments guessing who would end up with who.

I was directed to an arm chair. I was then served a cup of unusual medicinal tea with a strong smell. Then a big wooden basin was brought out. I unceremoniously dumped my feet inside. It was mainly through gestures as we couldn’t understand each other. There was some very hot steaming water inside. They covered the tub with a piece of cloth so that my feet were softened in the steam from the boiling water. Then the tub was replaced with a tub full of delicious exotic smelling herbs I think.

Then was the fun part. The experienced masseur. ( I shall call her the Cynic henceforth ) She was slim, very fair, obviously young and quite pretty dressed in knee length shorts and a bluish grey blouse. ( I think as it was a little dark ). Miss Cynic massaged my back and head using a combination of techniques. Basically it was pain therapy and some simple stretches

We teased her if she had a boy friend in China. She retorted that if she had a boy friend in China, she wouldn’t have come all the way to Malaysia to earn a living.

Then the agony resumed: the leg massage began. She was very strong. Her finger tips could exert much force and you could call it sweet agony or torture or whatever you chose to call it. I felt like bursting out loud into laughter as I was ticklish. She looked at me for a moment and with a frown she changed tactics. She used her hands and knuckles instead of her finger-tips. Then it became more bearable. She was just a pair of hands and my world was limited to my feet. It was just pain. Real pain. Putting on a brave front, I endured her patient, experienced hands.

Not wanting to lose face, I kept a tight control of my facial expressions but she knew. Soon, Miss Cynic reduced the intensity of her massage. All this while there was a large tv blaring out news about the tragedy in China. Miss Cynic wasn’t impressed with the politicians holding babies and presence at the scene. But we could sense her affinity with her suffering countrymen.

Once I got used to it, it became quite fun in a way. Miss Cynic had made up her mind I understood nothing and started to gossip with her fellow masseurs, Miss Demure and Miss Next-Door-Neighbor. Overall it felt good as the effects of kneading and massage sank in. I could feel the stress leaving me. For the past few days I had been experiencing pain in the legs. It just went away. I was almost lulled into sleep.

It ended with a leg towel wrap. Altogether 8 towels were used. The towels were steaming hot. But at the end of it all, it was money well spent. Seeing that I was more relaxed now, she asked me if I would like to continue with another hour of back massage but the hour was late.

I smiled. She smiled. I imagine she must have been very tired too.