Chinese Massage...

So I decided to hit is hard at the gym again. (I've got goals ya know... and my friend Jenny is the only one that knows about one of them... love ya girl!), You may be wondering, what does this mean to hit it hard at the gym - it means I am actually lifting weights again.  I used to love weight training at the gym. I would spend like 3 hours a night at the gym and granted 4 years ago I was in the best shape of my life, but come on - we have to live and sacrificing the best shape of our lives for having a life can sometimes outweigh people's idea of perfection.

None the less, my arm workouts have made it so that I can't move my arms... literally!
I usually frequent massage envy a few times a month, but money is being spent elsewhere and I have had to sacrifice my  90 minutes of painful pleasure for paying bills. So back to my stiff body, taking yoga this last week, I have had the pleasure of getting the extra massage from the instructors -if this is what they do for all newbies then I will continue to say I am new every time, but I am assuming it is because they can see how my shoulders seem to not be able to relax and stay in a constant state of stiffness. I feel as though my shoulders are up in my ears and the only thing I know that can fix this is a massage.

Being that I do pay for a monthly membership at Massage Envy, I called around to a few stores to try and get in for a massage today. Call me picky, but I don't like paying for a sissy massage. I remember my first massage ever at a day spa in Chico and it was so wonderful that I almost fainted when I stood up after my massage.  So, you may call my a snob when it comes to getting a deep massage but hell, I am not paying them to put me to sleep.

After calling two stores and finding out that the only people they have available for a one hour massage are the people that give,  "relaxing massages"... no way am I going to waste my money on that. This are the people that when you ask how long they have worked there and what they specialize in, the front desk receptionist starts to stutter and puts yon on hold because she doesn't know how to say in polite terms "they suck".

Annoyed at the fact I can't get a massage when I really want one, I remember the awesome "Chinese Massage" that  you can pay by the minute at Country Club Plaza. So you can only imagine what I do next - I get in my car, that has had the gas light on for about 20 miles (which is about it's limit) and i drive myself the half mile down the street to the "Chinese Massage" parlor. Now, many of you may be thinking this is one of those  "special" massage parlor's but come on, it's in a old folks strip mall... Granted, the people in there have some nasty old couches and chairs for everyone to sit on (and for some reason they are always slurping some soup out out a bowl when  I walk in) but the  handwritten signs  that they "charge by the minute" and have "special deals" only add to fact that this is the best damn Chinese massage parlor I have been too..

In Thailand, my friend and I visited many seedy massage parlors and still, I would still vote "Chinese Massage" as my favorite.  When you walk in, you have the choice of the massage where you sit in that odd massage chair, or a foot massage - but, there is a secret room in the back where they have tables and you can get a fully clothed full body massage. Being that I have been to the secret room and know the benefits of the YING YANG massage  or whatever the guy called it, I walk in and tell them I want the back room massage and it was amazing. I do believe in the Ying Yang and the pressure point's that they hit somehow seem to relax the whole entire body.  After my awesome 20 minute (she did more like 30)  $15 Ying Yang Chinese Massage, I tell them that I would also like to add on a 30 minute reflexology detoxifying foot massage for $20.  All, I can say is AMAZING!


The funniest thing was that as I was receiving my two different massages, the place was backing up with regulars who were waiting in line to get their massage too. I know sometimes people may walk by this place and think, "I would never go there" - but for $35 bucks that was even better than some of the massage therapists I have paid quite a bit more for at massage envy....

I am not one who is scared to try out that crazy seedy massage parlors, as I mentioned you can't get much worse than the massage parlors in Thailand and if you don't know what I am talking about go and watch Hangover 2  or ask me about my experiences...

So what I would like to leave you with today is a question - Do you frequent massage parlors? If so, which ones, and if not why not - do you know the benefits of the human touch?