A good day out

Had a bit of a day off today, with some essential me time (all people need this - it's not self-indulgent). It involved a delicious lunch of sushi at my favourite Waterfront eaterie, where we sat at the counter watching the chefs preparing the food (under a critical eye of my companion, the inimitable Giggling Gourmet). Procedure passed muster - despite a small incident when kitchen staff dropped a stack of cleaned plates on the floor nearby, which will probably take care of a week's wages for the poor man - and every mouthful of those tempura prawns was savoured with much mastication. The strongest cappuccino I have ever had set our hearts racing as we set off for our favourite pastime - a Chinese foot rub.

This must surely be a form of Chinese torture. I have had a few now, but today's required dogged determination and much face pulling to withstand the pressure and pain as the tiniest young woman proved that you don't need brawn to have hands of steel. I didn't know I was such a knot of tension until she dug her fingers deep into my shoulders and found rock-hard knobs of muscle that she literally ironed away over the course of the treatment. An hour of yanking, twisting, pummelling and kneading left me feeling like softened butter, all warm and pliable. I think if you can remember to breathe and relax your muscles while under attack, it might be a little less harrowing, and is definitely not for those with a low pain threshold, but there is no doubt that the healing properties of the massage last for days, and if undertaken regularly will become painless once the underlying causes are resolved.
I'll be back soon to test this theory.