Reflexology

Thursday:

I've done an hour of exercise with the Kinect for the past two days. Exhausting but fun. Food intake not so controlled. Gradually losing that holiday kilo.

Nothing much to say today so I'll give you an anecdote from my recent holiday. While the kids were in a fun four-hour session of Kidz Club at the hotel, Tim and I wandered into town and decided to get a massage. The masseuses were Asian, and there were some communication problems. We had a couple's room. Tim had asked for a shoulder & back massage (as listed on the menu), so was a little puzzled when told to strip down to his undies. They ended up doing his whole body, so not quite what he had asked for, but still ok.

Mine was more confusing. I asked what the reflexology massage involved. I was given to understand they would massage my hands for the half hour. I love hand massages, so this seemed ideal. Then there was some talk of using a "stick". This sounded worrying. What were they going to use a stick for? I've had many massages, but generally of the remedial painful physiotherapy kind, and no-one has ever used a stick. They saw my concern and told me they wouldn't use the stick if I didn't want it. Ok, great. I was told to take off my shorts and lie face up on the bed. My shorts? To massage my hands? The masseuse explained they would do my calves a bit as well. Hands and calves seemed an odd combination, but ok ...

She massaged my feet. And calves. And the fat bit just above my knees. Didn't go near my hands at all. Of course I worked out that she meant she was going to use her hands to massage me, not massage my hands. This translation had not occurred to me because for me, the use of her hands was just a given. Apparently not, when there is an alternative of using a stick. And Tim's masseuse apparently used her elbows a lot. You live and learn. Presumably she thought I knew that reflexology was a massage of the feet.

It wasn't as horribly painful as most massages are (Tim's was), but she did tear the skin at the base of both little toes while pulling my pinkies around.

Last massage I had was in China, where even though my Chinese sister-in-law impressed upon them that they needed to be gentle with me it was still the most painful brutal massage I have ever had and I couldn't lean back in a chair for days afterwards.