February 6, 2005

Bella was going for her “glamour” pictures on Monday and wanted to get her hair and nails done. We all jumped on the bandwagon. When I heard about the head and face massage I was in!

We arrived at the salon which is located on the main street right in front of our apartment building. We pass it every day on the way to and from school. It seems like it is open 24 hours a day. It’s always busy! There is a concierge out front who helps people park and escorts them up the stairs………very posh. Inside you put your coat in a locker and they give you a pink jacket to wear.

(Back row: Bella, Heather, Marrie, Emily, Grace. Front row: Janice, Kim, ChiChi) You go upstairs for facials that range from 200 to 450 yuan. We opted out of that……..a little too pricey. So back downstairs we went to the hair washing area. There are about 20 washing stations and 20 hair washers. There must be at least 50-60 employees with the washers and at least 30 stylists. We sat in a waiting area for about five minutes and were called one at a time when a washing station became available.
It was so relaxing……comfortable chairs………and comfortable sinks……..you laid back and the attendant washed your hair…………then rinsed it……..then washed it again…….then rinsed it…….. ChiChi was there with her Mom, Grace and she came over to talk to me. The attendant realized she could speak Chinese and English so she would ask ChiChi to ask me questions and then she would relay my answer. Not bad for a five year old! She will make a great translator when she grows up! She can speak Indonesian, Chinese and English.
They wash your face and clean your ears………..massage your face, then the head and back of the neck……….it was wonderful! The whole process lasted about half an hour. Then it was on to the drying and styling area. My stylist did not speak English so we did the charades thing. I really only wanted my hair dried and brush under on the ends. But somehow he took the “under” thing for meaning “curled” and proceeded to curl it. In China there is no such thing as a curling iron or curling brush………they blow dry it with a round brush. Turns out I got ‘ringlets’ that were poufed up into curls. I realized what he was doing and let him go ahead to see how it turned out. Not bad…….but a lot of work. The whole thing ended up costing me 80 yuan. The wash is only 20…………and after hitting the coffee shop and walking in the spitting rain I had nothing left by the time we got home……….oh well, it was worth it for the experience. I will treat myself to a wash and massage every once in awhile. That was the best part! Kim, Marrie and Bella had their nails done. Weird though, with all those employees there was only one nail girl.
We would have been there all night if we all got our nails done. As it was everyone finished at different times so it was impossible to get a final group picture. There was talk of going out to the bar that night but it didn’t happen. After a pot of fruit tea and strawberry waffles at the coffee shop down the street, everyone went home. I watched some “tv” on my computer and went to bed. My hair gave out way before I did!