it was with some scepticism that i followed my mum to that chinese massage place she's been raving abt for weeks. i think i tend not to trust anything with the propensity to be dubious/shady/etc... even with my mum recommendation. but heck, my shoulders and back were aching so badly that i decided i might as well give the place a shot. it's only 5 min from home, my mum says they're not ex [she's paying anyway] and that they're good. fine, mum.

ok, so the place looks respectable enough. everything is quite open, with the foot reflexologists visible and noone wearing dubiously skimpy clothing. as i later ascertained from my mum, they're mostly from china, and the sound like it too. my mum leads to me to where i should go and then i'm on my own.

oh boy.

i swear my shoulders got ripped off by that woman. if anyone ever thought that males were the superior sex, they haven't visited the aunty i will now call "Elbows of Steel". i've been told before that my muscles are very tense, but Elbows of Steel elbowed her steel into my malleable shoulder muscles. thank goodness i was facedown otherwise i sear she would've laughed her head off at the growing grimace on my face.

so i had an entire hour having a first-hand experience of the Biblical analogy of God being the Potter and me being the clay. although rubber might be more apt because that's how my whole body feels like right now. i tried to distract myself by trying to decipher the thickly-accented chinese of the people talking outside but that strategy could hardly work when i could feel my fingers being lobbed off.

that said, i feel a lot better. still a bit sore in the shoulders and back but apparently it's supposed to feel very suang after 2 days. i'll see. for now, i'll start drafting my letter to MINDEF, to make a trip to a chinese massage parlour compulsory for all enlistees.