Encore: relaxing massage?

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2007

Here is one of the nominees from May 2007. My recent trip to China was not the first for my dad and I. We had been there before, together. This was the most prominent memory from that first trip - we still talk about the night he came back with all the welts on his back.


Fiona and I decided to go to hot yoga tonight. Bob didn't want to stay home, he wanted to get out and do something. There is a massage parlor not far from the yoga place. Bob thought a relaxing foot massage would be nice. The driver dropped us in between and we went our seperate ways.

At the end of yoga we met up with him at the car and asked him about the massage. He said, "I don't speak Chinese." Obviously something was lost in translation because this photo shows the result of his relaxing foot massage. Yikes! There are 24 of these red, inflamed bumps on his back. He described them as "tender." Personally, I don't know how he's going to sleep tonight. I imagine it is uncomfortable to lay on your back, or even have the blankets touching the skin.

I guess they use these suction cups and fire to make these bumps. It's supposedly cleansing. Helen, one of Fiona's friends, said her husband did it and he has a hairy back. His result was much worse as it involved the smell of burnt hair. Would you like a relaxing Chinese massage?