This is the second professional foot massage I've gotten in my life. My first one was at Jeju Sauna. That dude nearly pulled out my toes and felt like he left bruises. So I don't know what a good foot massage is suppose to be like. I'm more experienced in full body neural-muscular type massages.
When I walked in, it looked like a typical spa. One weird thing I saw was the foot massage section was in the lobby. That seemed a bit weird. Also, that made it a bit distracting, not relaxing, as I received the foot massage.
The foot massage isn't private. Like I said, it's done in the lobby, and there are other people in that section getting foot massages. So I could observe people getting massages. All the foot massage therapists have the same technique. They are all robots. They go through the same sequence, rubs, hits, etc. When I heard slapping of the flesh, I knew my foot was going to be slapped as well. And on cue, it was happening.
I seriously doubt these guys went to massage school and got a formal license. They're probably off the streets and given a book or video to learn how to give a foot massage.
Before you get your massage, you soak your feet in some hot tea basin. I guess it was to clean your gross feet and make them not smell as bad. The water felt like a million degrees at first. But my feet got used to the temperature and felt nice.
I had a little girl massage my feet. She looked like she was like 17. Since she was Asian, she was probably 27. Because she was tiny, I thought she would be more gentle with my feet. Nope. Her tiny knuckles dug into my feet pretty well.
Getting a foot massage feels awkward. In a full body massage, you are face down and can't see the therapist. With a foot massage, you face the therapist directly. it's not like a nail salon where they can talk to you. It's more quiet and a peaceful place. So there is an awkward silence. I just closed my eyes and went half asleep. However, if I wanted to, I could've made a pedo-bear face to my young-looking foot massager the whole time. When my eyes were open, I did notice she tried not making eye contact with me. She probably felt awkward as her customers.
At the end, you get a shoulder and neck massage. I thought that was nice. But you have to sit unsupported. That seemed contradictory since you can't fully relax. They should have something to support your heavy head so you can relax when they give you the neck and shoulder massage. Despite all that, my tiny massage therapist gave me a pretty good shoulder and neck massage. She used pretty good pressure for a tiny girl. Too bad it only lasted like 5 minutes. Oh well. I asked for a foot massage, not a neck and shoulder massage, so I can't complain about that.
Like I said, I don't know what a good foot massage feels like. So I don't know if my foot massager did a good job. It felt good, so that's all it matters. I give it 4 stars. read more