Indulging in Bohol: Sparadise

Judy and I headed to Body and Sole to have a much needed massage, a treat to ourselves because we've been working even on weekends. But to our dismay, Body and Sole was full and it was already past 9 in the evening so they would be closing in an hour. Yes, the people of Tagbilaran is nowhere to be seen way past nine in the evening during ordinary days. Ordinary means no festival or fiesta. Tagbilaran is a dead city after 10 o'clock.

But beside Body and Sole was Sparadise, another addition to the mushrooming clean massage centers in Tagbilaran, thanks to the reinforced tourism industry that was started by Cong. Rene Relampagos and Gov. Edgar Chatto. I would like to emphasize the CLEAN word because so many massage parlors in Manila and Cebu were used as prostitution dens. Believe me, I have experience.

Anyway, Sparadise (Door 1, Sun Avenue Building, Gallares Street; telephones 038.501.9756; 0929.884.9217) was a good find actually. They offer facials, foot spa, body massage and detox (whatever was that I did not ask). They specialized in traditional hilot (you will undergo steaming first called toob in Bohol) but we could not avail of it because we were told they have to prepare for at least an hour before the therapy.

My masseur was a small guy (I forgot his name, I'm sorry) with powerful hands. He used reflexology in his treatment. It was good, although for those not used to reflexogy, you might find it painful and uncomfortable. Full body massage would cost you 250 pesos an hour.

With wellness now in the dictionary of Tagbilaranons, I hope they would maintain it that way- clean and healthy. Of course, this Sparadise was nice and clean and the masseurs/masseuses very professional. I highly recommend it.

Meanwhile, if you want to try something extraordinary- try this: Acupuncture.

Pic grabbed from mynewsletterbuilder.com

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)

Service Guaranteed at UniSpa Zamboanga

When my friend asked me to accompany him to Zamboanga for a brief respite from the urban jungle, I readily accepted the challenge. Challenge because that place has the reputation of being unsafe. Bombings, kidnappings and other Muslim-related issues abound Zamboanga. I know Zamboangueños are crazily mad about the tag. They hate it when some kidnappings occur someplace else and reports would always based them in Zamboanga. Poor them.

Anyways, off we go and we literally walk the place. From our hotel, we walk downtown. We walk to Fort Pilar and Museum. We walk to the Boulevard. We could have walked the road going to the Yakan Village (which is not what I expect it to be) but a standby might have seen my dirty feet so he told us to ride the jeep going to Ayala so we could get to that village safe and okay.

That walking would leave us dead tired in the evenings. And while walking to our hotel we pass by this small sign offering "Wellness made affordable." Isn't that inviting enough? We decided to try.

UniSpa (telephone 062-990-2071) is just a small space at the third floor of Perlita Hotel along Jaldon Street. When we got there, Muslim ladies crowded the elevator door. They might have attended a conference at the hotel. As if the walking was never enough, we took the stairs to the third floor. I was literally dripping wet  when we arrived at the UniSpa. 

A very sweet lady attended us at the front office. She was so sweet I could not forget her face but my gosh, I forgot her name! She made us feel comfortable despite of the fact that there were no massuers around. She has to call them up. Knowing it would take time, we decided to return.

Refreshed, we came back. The masseuse were already there but UniSpa is a same-sex massage center so we still waited for the masseurs to come. The sweet girl at the frontdesk (Letlet? Netnet? hayyy I really forgot!) made us feel relaxed. Her voice is enough to make us sit back, relax and wait. She offered us tea.

When Vincent finally came, the long wait was worth it. His hands worked wonders to my body despite the hard pressure I requested. The pressure was consistent all through out the session. Much much different from masseurs in Cebu who only wanted to have the massage done and the tip given. Vincent literally put me to sleep. I could have slept at the massage table if the one hour massage had not been done.

Later at our hotel, I drag myself to bed because I felt so relieved. I woke up at 10 the next morning.

So why should I advertise UniSpa? One thing for sure- I want tired visitors of Zamboanga to find a relaxing spot and just be that: relax. I hope when I visit the place again, Vincent will still be there.

Take note: Even if I already arrived in Cebu, UniSpa sent me a text message thanking me for availing their services. Isn't that cool?

Photo from chiropracticclinic.wordpress.com

A Night at the Aviary

My body hurt all over. My back is painful. The prize of getting old. Damn!

I asked a friend where I could have a decent massage. I don't want to be in Thewi Thai because during my last massage there, the masseuse was actually snoring while doing the massage on me.

My friend suggested Aviary. What a funny name for a massage center. I don't want to expect birds there. When in fact there are birds there, he told me. I was amused. Whatever bird that was, I wanted massage so I could sleep soundly.

The incharge at the reception was called Peacock. I could not help but laugh because the lady looks like a peacock too. She was calling everyone asking who was free. She mentioned a certain Vulture and a Pelican.

I was actually praying that my masseur would not be Vulture. Just by the name, I could imagine what would happen to me in the room.

Someone called me to proceed to room 2. I went in. The linens looked used. I have 

to smell it to tell the difference. There was even a hole/rip on the linens! Graciousness. I don't know what to do. I was used to at Thewi Thai, Banyan Tree and Grand Royal, when all there linens smelled good and looked clean. But at Aviary, I could not be certain. Even the place did not smell good.

I asked the massuer where were the shorts. He asked me back if I wanted shorts. I stripped in the nude and used the curtain material at the massage bed as cover. It was taken from me to cover my entire body when he told me we would start the massage. I was uncomfortable.

But later, the masseur put me in a comatose situation. He was actually good. I almost fell

 asleep if not of his hard massage. It was a new experience for me.

Feeling revived and soothed, I gave him a generous tip. And then I asked him who he was. I'm Vulture Sir, came the answer. Boy, I was more than glad I did not came out dead or else I could imagine what a vulture would be doing to me.

One more observation- there seem to be NO ladies at the massage clinic. As we were about to end the session, a horde of screaming fags came and did not even mind talking in a hush hush despite the warning signages. They were talking about whose going to be their masseur of choice.

Now this made me wonder...

The Best Things In Life Are Still Free

I was asked by Ynday to attend a meeting in her behalf for their cooperative’s general assembly. With nothing to do and with an incentive for attending, I readily accepted it. Even if the meeting started early, I actually took pleasure in attending the meeting because I knew I would be seeing familiar faces once again. Liza, the provincial agriculturist was there trying to convince somebody to give her the other’s chair so she can seat beside me. Tata, the project coordinator of UNFPA was across my seat, busy chatting with everyone. These two are my friends.

After the meeting (and a hearty lunch), Tata and Liza dragged me along to a massage session at Grand Royal Spa at the back of the Gallares Memorial Hospital. I was actually laughing along the way because massage was the last option they had. It was foot scrub first, then hair spa, then foot massage. When we arrived at the Grand Royal, they wanted a body scrub after all. Oh, women. While they were arguing, I already had body massage in my mind.

My masseur did it well and I fell into a slumber with the music of three of the most beautiful musicals I’ve heard- Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd. I had one of the most relaxing massages ever.

The therapeutic session was actually free. Tata and Liza said they would pay for me, sort of a gift because I had my birthday two weeks ago. Had I known, I would also take the body scrub session. But that’s abuse, of course.

A hot cappuccino capped our day. Tata dropped me home. I was feeling sleepy and relaxed. Feeling grateful and somewhat inspired, I opened my computer and started poking on the keys.

And so I wrote this blog.


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Sleepy Massage at Thewi Thai

Feeling the strain of the day's work, I decided to go to Thewi Thai Massage along Llorente Street. Liam was tagging along because we were not able to shop for fruits at Robinson's due to heavy rain. I wanted a one-hour back massage.

Thewi (angel daw in Thai) was flooded with customers despite the rain. The minty atmosphere for sure was a welcome respite. The moment you took a seat in the front desk area, a masseuse would readily gave you their standard slippers and offer you a cooling hot water foot wash.

Off I went to cubicle number 5.

While the masseuse was doing her job I noticed that she slept every once in a while during the massage. She would jolt out of sleep if someone passed by the cubicle. Funny. This young woman made so many bodies go to sleep soundly but she has to keep working without sleep. I could have made wild antics on her but I pitied her situation.

But the massage was still great. My back pain was relieved.

I gave her 100 pesos as tip and told her to go home and sleep.

She smiled like an angel.