Real deal Holyfield

About 11am today I get a text message from my friend Susan, who was in town from Hong Kong on business.

"Peking duck dinner and then foot massage tonight. You interested?"

Hmmmm. I deliberate. Am I mad at Peking duck? The dish where they slice the duck real thin and you make a lil' Chinese-style fajita with some tasty fixin's? No I am not mad.

And a foot massage? Hey I figure I got at least a 49 in 50 chance this time. And Susan, a frequent Beijing visitor, probably knows a better spot (than the place in the bootleg shopping center).

"Count me in."

Get to the restaurant a tad late and apologize to Susan and her friend, Kevin. Needless to say, food = bomb. Peking duck in Peking is not bad at all (bu cuo!), if not downright delicious. After dinner I must say I was quite content. Sated, if you will.

But then Susan and Kevin remind me that we still have to go to the foot massage place. It's clear they have been to this place before, and I must say I am intrigued by the way they talk about it. 90 minute foot massage.
Free food and drinks. 138 yuan (or roughly $18 USD). $18?!!

Hop in a cab and then arrive at this classy looking joint. Reminds me of the onsen (natural hot springs) lobbies in Japan. The hostess takes us to a private room with 4 plush recliner chairs. This is already much better than sitting crammed with 49 other bootleg shoppers. We peruse the menu that offers complimentary soup noodles, sammiches, fruit juice (no grape drink though), chysanthemum tea, coffee, etc.

Sit down and there is an LCD TV for our viewing pleasure. On the side table lies an electronic bell in case we need to re-up our complimentary nourishments. That's what I'm talking 'bout. This place is peeeeimp.

The foot masseuses enter. 2 girls and 1 guy. Uh oh. The guy goes to Susan (not like it was a big deal or anything), and the girls attend to Kevin and me. First order of business is a neck and shoulder massage. Wow. I am not mad at this. Not at all. $18?

After 30 minutes of loosening up our neck and shoulder muscle fibers, the masseuses provide us with a heated neck cushion. Then the foot massage begins. The 3 of us sitting side by side in our plush recliners, straight loungin'. This masseuse knows what's up. Hitting pressure points and getting the qi flowing like a mofo. 60 minutes later and my relaxation levels exhibit some serious positive curvature (you know I had to get "positive curvature" in this blog Linda!).

Then Susan decides to get a head massage. At this point, I'm like sure why not. I'm not afraid of more relaxation. I was always a big fan of the $7 shampoo/head massage in the NY Chinatown. You know this. The girl then presses a button and my chair reclines even more! Can't stop won't stop.

Another 60 minutes later, and I think to myself: I like China.