Serendipity
She kneaded me
Yes, she did. She kneaded me, pulled, pressed and squeezed me -- and I wanted more. With each firm touch of her hands, I was undoubtedly, irrevocably and deeply hooked. Relax, this is not some lesbianistic tale worthy of Ladlad, Tibok or any of those Pinoy gay and lesbian anthologies. I am merely recounting a therapeutic spa experience that I had quite recently. (Never mind that I only had a "sample" massage, a "quickie", so to speak.)
I am and will always be a spa junkie. Ever since I had my first Shiatsu massage at the ripe age of 21, when spas were still a relatively alien concept here and even in Manila (wait, am I betraying my age here?), my addiction to full body massages have gone from bad to worse. If I had a choice, I'd do it everyday until I break a bone or damage some muscle or tendon. But then again, life always gets in the way of these pleasurable pursuits (i.e. not enough time, not enough cash or some Korean beat you to your favorite masseuse), and so you end up with a 15-minute "sampler" that will only leave you with muscles screaming, "More! More!"
Well, those 15 minutes of pure bliss was the end result of a press con I attended at the Days Hotel last Saturday. It was the grand launching of the "Traditional Filipino Hilot Massage", the newest addition to the Wellness Club's Spa Menu. My good friend and spa guru Atho de la Cruz, DOT's official spokesperson, gave us a "lecture" on the rudiments of Hilot and expertly fielded our questions (which were probably motivated more by hunger than anything else). You all know how the press is wont to ask the most controversial queries. And so, hunger notwithstanding, we were able to learn a few facts outside of our Mang Kepweng concept of the so-called hilot or rather elot (did I get that right, guru?).
I am not going to bore you with a recount of how this modernized "hilot" massage came to be, but yes, before it became a spa staple, DOT funded its research and spent good money to market it abroad. It didn't just arise from some spa addict's need for more acrobatic, albeit soothing slaps, strokes and twists (the deep tissue or shiatsu massages would suffice), but the modernized hilot was carefully studied and choreographed for our spas' generic "consumption" / application.
The relaxing and therapeutic hilot massage at the Wellness Club as done by my "kneady" masseuse whom I'll call Maria, ideally starts off with "su-ob", a warm footbath which is actually a sort of "cleansing ritual". But since I only had 15 minutes to spare, she just went right ahead and kneaded me. Maria did her choreographed movements with ease and I realized that hilot was even better than the Swedish massage I was accustomed to.
I was slathered with virgin coconut oil (emphasis on the 'virgin', as if a non-virgin coconut oil was an aberration that will give me a disease or something... but I digress) until I felt the soothing effect it had on my aching muscles. Then, before I could even say "Mang Kepweng", I felt something warm (ok, it was a little bit hot) on my back. I learned that Maria put banana leaves that were warmed by candles on the small of my back as well as my legs to rid my body of toxins that are responsible for aches and pains. After the banana leaf ritual, Maria again did her strokes -- pulling and pressing and kneading. The experience was so good that I went out of the zen-like massage room light as a feather from a newly-plucked chicken.
And that, my dear readers, is a tale worth telling. I can't wait for my next spa visit. I'm imagining 60 minutes of heavenly "manhandling" and another soothingly pleasant encounter with those banana leaves. Hilot, the new Swedish -- Pinoy's always do it better.