Spa-tisfied

Ronald Wan is now a spa convert. He can’t wait for his next session to get his body pressed and twisted.

I have a confession to make – I was never fond of spas because I could never understand the whole mumbo jumbo. Face spa, mud spa, crystal skin therapy, slimming massage – they all sound very alien and cheam to me. Also, being a guy (read: species with lazy body cells), I would rather stay home watch football on TV than to let my naked body be pressed (or is it pinched?) by someone else (doesn’t it sound like torture already?).

Hence it was with trepidation when my editor sent me to do a spa review at Body Contours. He gingerly remarked, “Look, just enjoy the massage. It’s not a torture. You will not die. I will take care of your girl for you if you didn’t survive.”

Body Contours is located at 30 Hill Street and upon arriving, you already felt serene and calm from the cascading water fountain fronting the boutique. The kind people at Body Contours showed me around before I began my full body spa scrub. I uttered a prayer.

I was told to strip and wear a pair of shorts. It seems these days, I’m told to strip everywhere I go (see other story on this writer’s waxing adventures) I feel like a Category III actor already. I promptly laid on the bed and my masseuse Jojo began to apply the scrub. I couldn’t help but feel like a spring chicken being laid out on the chopping board and getting my limbs all contorted. Okay, I exaggerate, and truth be told, I kind of liked the whole thing already.

Maybe it’s the New Age music playing in the background. Or maybe it’s the wonders of the scrub. After the scrub, I moved on to the bathroom to be ‘steamed’. For 15 minutes, I’m sweating in there, totally immersing myself in this whole therapy session so to speak. I cleaned up and then it was show time. Jojo told me gently to lie on the bed again for the full body massage.

I uttered more than a prayer this time. I prayed for salvation. Jojo began the massage from the lower limbs, slowly working her way up to the upper body portion. Everything seemed nice and easy, and soon she worked into full gear. She pressed down on my aching shoulder and neck deftly, working her magic on my lazy muscles. “Your muscles are rather tight,” she remarked. Oh yes, my muscles are so intense it must be due to stress and my heavy workload (dear Editor, did you read that?).

It was a wonderful massage. I have never felt so relaxed and flexible. And when Jojo was about to end the massage session, she asked if I wanted to twist my neck. Um, unsure and confused, I simply nodded hesitantly. I didn’t know what possessed me to say yes, but soon enough, images of killers twisting their victims’ necks in horror movies played in my mind. Wait! Is Jojo a pseudonym for a psychotic killer?

It was fast and quick. To the left. And to the right. I could hear the twisting sound of my neck. Thrice for each direction. Click, click, click. And I was still alive.

The entire full body scrub and massage lasted about an hour and a half. It was a great experience, thanks to the wonderful service offered by Jojo and the good people at Body Contours. Body Contours also specialises in their signature Winergy Infusions, where the properties in red wine is used as a spa ingredient to protect the skin against harmful radicals. It sounds rather bizarre to the uninitiated but I’m definitely game for that. No more football on TV. It’s spa time for me, scepticism not included.