8 Moves and Counting!: Part 2 / The Massage

Part 2 of Sunday

Typically Walter is not a impulsive kind of guy. He made an exception this day. We had just finished with riding the elephants and were having a much needed lunch, as well as a much needed talk, remember my kids did not say much during our morning elephant ride. After expressing our amazement over the morning I decided we needed a little relaxation. Walter was thinking pool and a little email. Though when is Walter not thinking of email these days. I had a completely different thought, Thai massage.

Here in Thailand there are many Thai foot massage places. Yes one may think Thai girls with happy endings. That is NOT what I was thinking. Not all Thai foot massage parlors are that either. One particular place had caught my eye when we were here back in April. It is right around the corner from our hotel and seems very professional. It reminds me of the numerous nail salons in the states. It has large windows so you can see entirely in the store. The difference is that the chairs are lined up right in front of the windows so that the entire public can see what is going on. Somehow this gives me a sense of safety. Weird I know but come here and you will understand.

Erin and I have wanted to do this since our first visit. We tried in April but the wait was to long and we were short in baht. This was on our list of things to do once we returned. I thought it would be really fun if we did it as a family. I always know that Walter really loves me when he follows along in one of my crazy ideas. He was not to keen on having someone touch his feet. We were only going for a foot massage, come on. Family peer pressure got the better of him when all the kids agreed that this is what we were going to do, he is also not one to miss out.

Taking off your shoes is customary here for entering most places, this was no exception. The 6 of us enter this store to be greeted by all these ladies. We as a party of 6 with our distinct difference in our nationality is a show in itself and Walter is like Godzilla in this country so he gets lots of respect whether he likes it or not. His feet are no exception either as the ladies liked to point out. With very little English they do know BIG FEET. The ladies lead us to these sinks on the floor to wash our feet then lead us to the chairs for the entire public to watch. This place is very professional. It smells amazing like a mixture of menthol and jasmine Right now I feel like I'm describing a cartoon but it wasn't like that, though we all giggled like school girls. For a complete hour our feet were rubbed and not the kind our grandmothers did where it was to the point of tickling. I'm talking hard pressure almost hurts but feels so good foot massage. For 50 minutes they rubbed our feet and legs. We were lined up next to each other. It was like a well choreographed line dance the way these ladies moved. They dug their elbows into our legs, they popped our toe joints. It was amazing. The last 10 minutes was dedicated to our back and head. What an amazing massage. Erin and my boys were in heaven. I've never seen them so quiet and content for an hour. Even Walter relaxed and I think secretly enjoyed it.

These ladies were amazed that I was the mother of all these kids, sometimes I am too :). The only thing strange was the women kept touching me. Not in an inappropriate way just grabbing my arms and forearms. It was strange and I have no explanation.

At the end we were given tea and led outside to collect our shoes. It was definitely a memorable moment. One that Jack would like to repeat daily as he has so obnoxiously reminded me of since.

I definitely can say that this experience will be repeated, when? Maybe Wednesday. ;).

Getting our feet washed