spa visit

Today Jericho and I went to Palace Spa in Federal Way and had a couple of full body treatments! It was the first time either of us had ever done that kind of thing. I'm glad we had each other there for moral support, lol. We had a full body scrub and then a full body mud wrap. At the front desk they give you a stack of towels, a pair of shorts, a tee shirt, a terry wrap for your hair, a bath robe and a key for your locker. Just inside the lobby there are small lockers with a number that matches the number on your key. You remove your shoes and socks and lock them up in there. Then they take you through to the locker room area. There again is a locker with a number that matches the one on your key. You get naked and go into the shower area and shower off before you get into one of 3 different jacuzzi/soaking tubs. One is cold, one is warm and one is hot. They ask you to soak for 30 minutes before they do the body scrub. As you walk in to the shower area there is a large room to the right that is used for the scrub treatment. We saw a couple of ladies in there getting scrubbed down. So we put our towels in the little cubbies on the wall and get into the warm tub (which we both thought felt almost hot) So we sit in there and chat and try to get comfortable with the fact that we are naked and slowly start to realize, hey, so is everyone else in here! We start to feel a little overheated so we walk over to the cold tub and sit on the edge and just put our feet in-yowzah! It's cold! So we just hang our legs in and splash a little cold water on our faces to cool down. We look at the clock and realize we still have 15 or more minutes before they will be ready to start our scrub so we go put on the shorts and tee shirts they supplied us and go sit in a sauna room where the walls and floor are lined with these orangey peachy colored salt blocks. The floor is actually covered in salt chunks that resemble gravel. They put mats over the top of that for you to sit or lay on. We layed on the floor in there for about 5 mins then went back to the tub room. We were sitting next to the cold water tub again when this little Korean lady comes out wearing a matching bra and panties and gestures to both of us to get into the soaking tub that is labeled hot. Ok, we get in-yeah it's hot. She makes us stay in for a few minutes then gestures to Jericho to follow her. I get out and get in the warm one. My little Korean lady comes and gets me, she is wearing what looks like a two piece swimsuit in black. She shakes my hand gives me a little bow and tells me her name (which I promptly forgot) and leads me to a table that looks like its covered in white vinyl. Its wet and slippery, so I'm hoping I don't slide right off of it. She puts a small towel down under me and has me lay on my back. First they pour a couple of bowls of warm water on your then she puts on these mittens, grabs a bar of soap and starts scrubbing you down. Those mittens are very rough and they just scrub and scrub till your skin is red and all the dead stuff has rolled off! They roll you over, pull up your arms, bend your knees, scrub, scrub, scrub,scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub!!! Then they rinse you off with a couple of more bowls of water, then they oil you down. They scrub your face too though not quite so thoroughly, and wrap it in a hot towel, like you see men do when they go to get a shave. After she wrapped my face in a hot, steamy towel, on top of the chin, pull down tight, up under the chin, pull up tight across the cheeks, fold across the forehead, cover the eyes, then whack, whack, whack, on the forehead right at the hairline!! Off comes the towel and now we get oiled up! By this time I'm looking at Jericho and trying not to burst into a fit of giggling...After the body is done she massaged my arms and legs, with a few slaps on the thighs for good measure, then massaged my face and head. She kept telling me to relax. Kind of hard to do when your starkers and not sure when the next whacking will come.
This process takes about 45 minutes, not counting the 30 mins we spent in the tubs. They help us both up off the tables when we are done and with lots of smiles and bowing, lead us out the doorway. We get our towels and dry off. We get into our robes and go upstairs for our next body treatment the mud wrap. This we can't get done together as there is only one girl that does the treatment and only one room for it. So I go first. It's a nice quiet little room with a heated table for you to lay on. She starts with a ginseng toner that she sprays over your chest, arms and legs. Then a rubdown with an oil that smells like cinnamon. Then comes the liquid mud. You get wrapped in a sheet of what looks and sounds like a combination of waxed paper and cling wrap. Once that is stuck to you, you roll over on your stomach and she does your back and the backs of your arms and legs. More paper wrapping then flip onto your back and then she piles some blankets on you. You start to sweat pretty quickly. Lay there for about 15 mins or so then she takes away the blankets, peels off the plastic wrap and starts wiping off the mud with damp, hot towels. She also massaged my neck and shoulders and scalp. Then she stepped out so I could put the robe back on, and then it was Jericho's turn. I went downstairs and got dressed then came back up and sat in a massage chair for awhile. My skin feels amazing, nice and smooth and soft and I feel pretty relaxed. Thanks Jericho!!