As a millennial with chronic back pain, my favourite way to end the first day of a vacation is with a trip to the spa. The first day I was in Kuala Lumpur, I had booked a 90 minute full body massage for 6pm, right after a plushie-building workshop that ran until 4.30pm. I was really looking forward to it as I had no time to relax ever since I got down from the airport (though of course it was my own fault for scheduling things back-to-back). A nice hour or so of self-care would set the tone for the trip. And I could definitely use some TLC after the horror show that was 2025.
So, after the workshop, I hopped in a Grab right away with my new plushie bunny friend. It took a full hour to get there in traffic despite being only 20km away. With no way to will the traffic into being more efficient as we inched along the congested toll lanes, I sat back and chewed the fat with my driver Jit (I remembered his name because he had his own little mnemonic: “Just In Time”) and he told me about his travels all over the world. He used to be a hotel manager, and he had been to Greece, Italy, the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, and other far-off places. He talked about the beautiful architecture and places abroad, and also shared odd stories, like how he was once hypnotised into giving money to strangers on the street.
All these stories got me wondering if I would ever be able to travel to all these places as well, while I’m still young enough and have energy to travel. I guess there’s my motivation to lock in and really get that bread when I dip my toes back in the corporate world this month. Yeah, these last 2 months have been a wonderful long break from working life. I have enjoyed myself immensely despite the occasional mood swing, but I’ve had enough R&R already. I’m ready to start working…so I can start funding my future travels again.
Never having been to this mall before, I had trouble finding the spa because apparently the mall has a pink zone and an orange zone and it was in the orange zone but I unknowingly went in the direction of the pink zone at first. I have no intuition for directions. To my relief, I finally saw the spa signage in the distance. I’m very neurotic about being on time for appointments (as a kid, I once cried because I was late to class) and didn’t want to have minutes shaved off of my session for tardiness. My back was really feeling the strain of running around carrying stuff all day while dehydrated. I really needed this.
At first glance, the place looked pretty upscale. There was a tea shop as an extension of the spa premises. The woman at the counter asked me which aromatherapy scent I wanted. There was a rack with four small bottled oils to choose from. I almost chose lemongrass but wasn’t sure if I wanted the smell of citrus hanging in the air for 90 minutes. I went with the rose scented oil. They then led me to a table with three different tea blends and told me to choose one for my post-session drink. I chose a honey-coloured one whose name escapes me now.
They then took me to the foot bath room which also had a selection of tea urns on the table. I was asked to pick from one of the tea urns, and I chose the detox one (排毒). They poured it into the foot bath. Fancy. That tea water was really hot, though. I asked the lady to add colder water two or three times, like I was some kind of baby who couldn’t handle a hot bath. Then, the massage therapist came in to do my foot bath. It also involved scrubbing the heels of my feet with some kind of file. I was fighting for my life to keep a straight face because of how much it tickled. I had a chance to feel my feet afterwards, and was amazed at how smooth they felt, instead of cracked and dry and like sandpaper.
After that was done, I went to the massage room. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, though. It was very spacious and clean. The table was forgiving and comfortable, and the face cradle didn’t give me a headache. Everything was very nicely padded. I noticed the room was pretty bright; I was more used to rooms being in near-darkness.
As I lay there, feeling myself melt into the table, life was all right again. Here I was, feeling all these pesky aches and pains leave my body; I would be starting my new job soon, with a better title and pay; I was finally spoiling myself with a much-needed getaway; all I needed to worry about in that moment was the logistics of having dinner sent to my room later…I relished in the knowledge that those next few days in KL would be filled with all the fun things I had signed up for…I had nobody to answer to…
My train of thought and the soft meditative piano music would occasionally be interrupted by jarringly loud text notifications because I forgot to silence my phone beforehand. Oops. It was in my bag which was hanging about ten feet away from me, and I was too relaxed to get up and break the flow just to go mute it, so I just let it be.
The session cost RM 218 / B$ 70 (including aromatherapy oils) which was the most I had ever paid for a massage, but it was the best massage I have ever had, so I felt it was absolutely worth it. The MT was excellent, professional, and attuned to my comfort. It felt like the perfect balance of deep pressure and relaxing that I find tricky to articulate in any language when explaining what work I’m looking to get done. The pressure was consistent throughout the entire session. I was very impressed by the level of attentiveness. My calf hurt while being kneaded, and I must have tensed up or something because they softened their grip almost immediately without me saying anything. That same calf cramped up later on while I was sitting up at the end of the session, and I endured it quietly while screaming on the inside. The MT, who was massaging my shoulders from behind, noticed despite not being able to see my facial expression, and asked me if something hurt.
After we were done, I went to have my tea.
They had someone playing the 古箏 in the corner. It’s only during the weekends, and I just so happened to be there on a Saturday. Night had fallen and I didn’t want to get back late to my hotel, so I just finished my tea without ordering anything else from the menu, tempted as I was to sit there a little longer and enjoy the ambience. I’ll definitely come back though, the next time I’m in KL.