First impressions: Massage at Nenen's Salon in Tagbilaran

There seems to be a different outlook between my Tagbilaran friends when it comes to massage. So finding one was a dilemma. One don't like Body and Sole because the place is tacky. The other don't like Thai. We finally agreed that Grand Royal Spa is good, but the place closed its business long time ago.

One friend suggested that I try Nenen's Salon and Spa (at Maria Clara Street, Tagbilaran City). I was quite surprised because I know Nenen's is a beauty parlor and this was the first time I heard they have a spa/massage. He said I should try it, suggesting a therapist he knew there came from Grand Royal.

So I went there, hoping to try a new experience.

But the therapist my friend suggested was no longer connected at Nenen's. Tired and weary, I submit myself to one of its therapists.

It was a disaster. 

I mean, I have been to a lot of massage centers and have been massaged by several therapists, but at Nenen's it was the first time I saw a therapist who would not leave the cubicle when you strip down. So okay, he is male and why should I care. 

The cubicle even was so small, with no lights and worse they put off the lights outside so I kept on bumping the barber's chair outside the curtained "cubicle." Somebody from the next cubicle turned on his/her mobile phone radio and played mushy songs. What an ambience!

The worst came when he finally did the massage, err, knead. No. PUMP! I don't know if it was a new technique but after applying lotion on my back he pressed it like it was having a cardiac arrest. I stayed silent. He spent 45 minutes and almost a bottle of lotion pumping my back.

Instead of getting relaxed, I felt tensed. The whole one hour session extended to almost two hours of kneading and pumping I already felt like a bread ready to be baked. I don't know why I did not let it stop. I was not even amazed. I wanted to know what the therapist would do next and see if he was doing it right.

Had my friends not asked the front desk why it took so long for the massage, the therapist might not stop. He left me lying there on the massage table. So I changed and came out oily and full of lotion on my body. And like a meek sheep, the therapist offered me a hot towel "to get the lotion off" when I was already fully dressed and already at the front desk.

The 200 pesos as introductory offer was not worth it. Maybe Nenen's Salon should stick to the salon thing and no longer entertain the massage part.

Just a friendly advice though.

(Picture from i.ehow.com)