This massage place caught my eyes because it advertises that it has a Korean style sauna room…read more However, as I neared the place located near the ladies market, I started to have doubts about the neighborhood.
Like most massage places in Mong Kok, it's converted from a small apartment unit in an old building, it looks dingy and shady, the "bedroom" has two beds in it for body massage, and the "living room" is lined with massage chairs for reflexology. I started to wonder why I would have think that jjimjilbang in MK can be a good idea. The sauna room itself looks spacious and clean enough, but the shower area is just a tiny shower stall in the bathroom, and I just don't feel comfortable using it. Being too nice to just walk out, I signed up for a foot massage, meanwhile regretting wasting my time and money and wondering if I should even bother yelping about such mediocre experience.
When the masseur started working on my shoulder as I soaked my feet, he commented on how tight my shoulders are. Yeah, tell me about it. Soon we agreed that it's better to get a proper tuina session on a massage table instead.
Amazingly, 10 minutes into the massage, I was already mentally scrolling my calendar to see when I could be back. Yup, it was that good. Afterall, once you lie down on the massage table and close your eyes, the ambiance matters zilch and what counts is the hands. I started telling Lau where it hurts, and he told me, don't worry, I have massaged for almost 20 years, I can tell where your body needs work. Sure enough, he's not bragging. I've always felt that a good masseur, as well as a good Chinese doctor, does not need to ask a patient what ails her. He knows by touching and observing your body. And Lau did just that, which is a rarity in these days; he has experience and understanding of the body way beyond what is taught at massage schools. I walked out, my body straighter and more balanced, my shoulders more relaxed than it had been a long while.
Now, just to warn you, tuina can be a painful massage, and the place really does score -10 for ambiance, and you can hear all the noises of a city: bicycles ringing, cars braking and honking, and at one point even some Buddhist chants on CD...