Ayurvedic Massage

Oil, oil, oil. No, I'm not chanting support for a football game. It was the memorable feature of my Ayurvedic massage yesterday. Actually, perhaps the more memorable experience is the sense of your dignity being stripped away. First they tie a string around your waist; then they place a strip of cloth the width of a toilet roll and tuck it behind the string just below your navel. Then you are told to lose your underpants and when they tuck the other end of the cloth behind at the back of your waist, you'll feel pretty much like you're wearing a diaper or a thong. It's hard not to feel a bit self conscious and embarrassed.

But you soon forget about all that because you'll be wondering just how much oil they could be using for one massage. I was literally covered in oil; even the hair and face were not spared. Actually, once I move past the self conscious me and how oily it was, the massage was actually very good. They were two therapists and they were like doing synchronised massage for 1 hour 45 minutes. The self conscious part of me came back at the end when I had to get off the massage table. The massage table which is basically now a very oily wooden slab and me being so oily - I was having great difficulty getting off the table and had to helped off by not one but two of the therapists. After that, they put me in a steam bath, which is me sitting enclosed inside a box with just my head sticking out.

So, good massage. But it ended at 2pm, which by that time I was famished. And I'm not supposed to have a shower until 1 hour after massage. Just to clarify whether locals are used to the smell of someone who have just had an Ayurvedic massage, I asked the receptionist if people would mind if I went to lunch immediately. I was a bit worried when she gave a nervous giggle and said "no problems, sir". Maybe it was a snigger. But I was too hungry to care by then and headed off to Green Leaf food court. I did choose the outside area to sit and no one actually came to share a table with me. Except for those pesky flies. I like to think they are around for the food. But them buzzing around me made me gobble down my lunch and make a hasty exit and a much needed shower.

Holiday today. Can't wait to start practicing again tomorrow.