{"id":5847,"date":"2017-02-26T04:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=5847"},"modified":"2017-02-21T16:06:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T00:06:49","slug":"i-love-a-mall-massage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/i-love-a-mall-massage\/","title":{"rendered":"I Love a Mall Massage."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fun fact: Comedian Bob Hope had a massage every day<\/a> for most of his life. Is it any wonder he lived to be a hundred?<\/p>\n

One of my daughters doesn\u2019t see the point of having a massage. Someday, I suspect, she\u2019ll become a fan like the rest of us. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

I used to get full-body, hour-long massages every so often, sometimes once a month. You know, the kind that takes place in a softly lit pastel room smelling of lavender. The therapist waits outside while you take everything off except your panties. Then you climb under a freshly-laundered sheet and wait for her to ask if you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n

Quietly closing the door behind her, she asks how you\u2019ve been. Then she starts the music\u2014Native American flute or dreamy guitar or Enya. She pours expensive oil into her palms and slides them over your skin.<\/p>\n

You tell her your hip hurts or your shoulders or your lower back, and you trust that she\u2019ll get to it, but only after the routine, slow, gentle sliding of her hands over your back.<\/p>\n

You like her, so you always have a lot to talk about even though you realize talking interferes with her concentration and your ability to relax. Even though you know you should just close your eyes and float away.<\/p>\n

Lately, though, because I\u2019ve had trouble with coughing when I lie on my back, I\u2019ve given up on the luxurious, pampering full body massage. Now I go to the mall for my massages. And I love it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For one thing, I don\u2019t have to make an appointment for a mall massage. I just show up. And there they are, two Chinese men, sometimes also a Chinese woman, and their chairs and kneelers. I find them down the hall from Nordstrom, between the bubble tea shop and the Verizon store.<\/p>\n

These Chinese mall massage services seem to be all over the country. My daughter in Maryland and my daughter in Eastern Washington have them. I don\u2019t know about my daughter in Indiana. She\u2019s the one who doesn\u2019t see the point.<\/p>\n

This past Presidents’ Day weekend, my neck and shoulders were tight from too much computer work. So \u2026 off to the mall I went. Presidents’ Day is always a busy weekend at the mall, but one of the masseurs was free. Seeing me, he put down the knife he was using to peel an apple and got right to work giving me a thirty minute massage on one of the kneelers. ($30.) And believe me, thirty minutes is enough with these guys. They don\u2019t waste a second on gentle preparation. They dig right in with all the strength that comes from years of martial arts training.<\/p>\n

The therapist I got that day was really feeling his oats. (Is that an old-fashioned saying? Something from the Old West, I suppose, from the days when everyone rode horses.) Anyway, he was so determined to work out any knots and stiffness that I had to grit my teeth a few times. Better too hard than too soft, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

The mall also has music, but with my face in the cradle that\u2019s attached to the kneeler, the music blended with the sound of the shoppers into a single-noted hum, which was surprisingly relaxing.<\/p>\n

After my massage, I walked to Nordstrom where I bought a cool pair of deep-plum-colored jeans, and then over to Nordstrom\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Bistro where I ate a Cilantro Lime Salad. Such are the related benefits of a mall massage.<\/p>\n

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Save<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 Fun fact: Comedian Bob Hope had a massage every day for most of his life. Is it any wonder he lived to be a hundred? One of my daughters doesn\u2019t see the point of having a massage. Someday, I suspect, she\u2019ll become a fan like the rest of us. We\u2019ll see. I used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,1040],"tags":[1489,1485,1484,1483,1486,1488,1487,1490],"class_list":["post-5847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-life","tag-feeling-his-oats","tag-bob-hope-lived-to-be-100","tag-bob-hopes-daily-massages","tag-chinese-mall-massage","tag-full-body-massage","tag-massage-on-kneeler","tag-nordstrom-at-alderwood-mall","tag-nordstroms-cafe-bistro"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-1wj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10039,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/walking\/a-massage-a-waterfront-walk\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":0},"title":"A Massage & a Waterfront Walk","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Like all massage rooms, this one has green plants, a lovely picture on the wall, and relaxing music. It also has a large window looking out on the waterfront. When you\u2019re undressing and climbing onto the massage table, you can see Puget Sound, the sky, and the Olympic Mountains. You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Edmonds"","block_context":{"text":"Edmonds","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/edmonds\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_3557-e1662663962845.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5685,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/culture\/mall-shopping-on-a-saturday-before-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":1},"title":"Mall Shopping on a Saturday before Christmas","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"December 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cYou\u2019re not going shopping tomorrow, are you?\u201d My hairdresser swung the scissors away from my head and gave an open-mouthed look of incomprehension to our reflections in the mirror. \u201cNot the best plan,\u201d I admitted. Sure enough, when I left home the following morning, nothing seemed to be going my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christmas"","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/christmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2031-e1482296452220.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2031-e1482296452220.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2031-e1482296452220.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9874,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/pariah-a-word-with-a-surprising-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":2},"title":"Pariah, a Word with a Surprising History","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"April 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com Do you ever hear a word over and over, and then suddenly wonder, Wait! Where did that word come from? We\u2019re used to words that come from Latin, Greek, or French. These words are often related to other words we know. 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I met R. on her blog chinaelevatorstories where she writes in the present tense about her life and the people she meets every day, taking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shenzhen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Shenzhen01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Shenzhen01.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Shenzhen01.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Shenzhen01.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10829,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/a-story-about-power-crime\/","url_meta":{"origin":5847,"position":5},"title":"A Story about Power & Crime","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"June 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a story about power. 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