Lacuna 空栖 Spa AVIC City 中航城店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ❤❤❤❤

After getting all hung up about our first pickleball experience in Shenzhen for some time, we finally nailed it down this weekend. The court turned out to be pretty nice, and the best part is that it’s in the heart of Shenzhen just a very short walk from the subway station. Needless to say, we were already looking into our next game there.

I’ve already lined up an oil spa treatment after the game for all parties concerned. For convenience's sake, the spa was arranged close to our pickleball court to keep travel time to a minimum.

Situated at AVIC City Junshang Shopping Centre (中航城君尚購物中心), Lacuna (空棲) Spa offers spa treatments at reasonable prices. They have several locations across Shenzhen, most of them inside commercial buildings. This branch stood out for its convenient location inside a large shopping mall, which made it much easier to plan for dining and shopping after the treatment.

The spa was pretty small, with fewer than 10 private rooms. We checked in at reception first, and it didn’t take long before we found a package we liked.

The one I chose was a 50-minute oil massage priced at ¥209. After getting changed in my room, I lay down on the bed and waited for my therapist to arrive. Next came a five-minute sound-healing session, where I heard the therapist striking some kind of metal bowl. The resonant sound filled the room and came through to my ears. There was also a faint scent of flowers gently wafting onto my face to complement the sound.

At that point, I was so relaxed I was ready to fall asleep. 😴😴 Then the oil treatment began, with my therapist starting the countdown on the timer.

That was the last thing I remembered before I regained consciousness. ☺️☺️ It was a highly relaxing experience for both my body and mind. As my memory started coming back, I got my kid to pick up from school — thousands of miles away in Hong Kong.

Some snacks and a dessert soup before we settled our bills.

I’ve had a number of massage experiences in Shenzhen, and while this one wasn’t the most prestigious, it definitely represented the best value for money. Full marks to my therapist for applying just the right amount of pressure to my aching body — fatigue from the exercise. The technique, strength, and pressure points were all perfect. Happy times.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: ¥¥

Address: Shop L105, Level 1 AVIC City Junshang Shopping Centre, Futian district, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区华强北街道华富路1018号中航城君尚购物中心1层1号L105

Closest Metro Station: Huaquiangbei (华强北)

Tel: +86 15302794272

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 11:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/d0/vtMM

Eonsona Massage Spa PAFC Mall 玖玖 · 予頌 平安金融中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ❤❤❤❤❤

My better half has been really addicted to this massage place called 玖玖 these days. They have numerous locations across Shenzhen, with most specializing in body and foot massage. Personally, I'm not a big fan of foot massages, so I never really tag along with her on her spa treatments.

But today was a different story. I was in Shenzhen alone and I spotted this new concept operated by the same group at PAFC Mall (平安金融中心). It was branded as Eonsona Massage Spa (玖玖 · 予頌), dedicated to high-end spa treatment. With time to spare this afternoon, I decided to give it a shot.

The place had just opened about a month ago, and since it was around 5pm on a Wednesday afternoon, there wasn’t a full lineup of customers.

Of course, I requested a quiet room away from the reception and rest area.

It has been a tough month at work thus far, so I thought I fully deserved a break — a mental break of 60 minutes without thinking about work or anything else. Just lights out!

The massage was really nice. I particularly enjoyed the oil treatment, which was not too greasy at all. While walking down the corridor back to the reception area, I had a chance to check out the bigger rooms. This one was for three people.

And this room was for four, complete with a big screen TV. Little nugget would love that.

Like all the spa treatments in Shenzhen, you get to enjoy a cup of warm tea and a little dessert afterward.

Eonsona Massage Spa is conveniently located inside PAFC, just a comfortable 8-minute walk to Futian Station (all indoor!). I think I'll definitely come back again soon.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤❤

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Level M PA Mall, 5033 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区益田路5033号PA MALL平安金融中心M层

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Tel: +86 18566925929

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 12:00am daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/b1/WRJM

Young Song Foot Reflexology Centre Xinyi 不老松足湯台北信義行館 (Taipei, TAIWAN) ❤❤❤❤

Right before my trip, V told me to keep an eye on a massage place called Yong Song Foot Reflexology Centre (不老松足湯). I decided to look it up on Google Maps and discovered that they have several locations across Taipei, including one on Xinyi Road Section 3 (信義路三段), just a short walk from my hotel. Since I still had another hour before dinner, it made perfect sense for me to head over immediately after my sweet treat at 1789 Café Pâtisserie by Cyrille Courant.

Once I stepped through the doors, there was no turning back! The shortest treatment they offered was a 40-minute foot massage session with a complimentary 10-minute shoulder massage. For NT$800, that’s not bad at all.

I sorted everything out with the staff at the reception desk, and they promptly asked me to wait in front of the changing room. It didn’t take long for someone to call my name. 

Next, I slipped into something comfortable provided by the shop and was asked by my masseur to enter the foot bath area.

There were a lot of people enjoying a traditional Chinese foot bath at the same time. I thought I murmured a few words about “milk” when I was asked to choose from one of the four foot baths available. With my limited Mandarin, that was the only option I could fully understand. 😂😂

The foot bath took less than five minutes, and soon I was escorted to a kind of living room with 10+ sofas. My masseur asked me to settle down and get comfortable while he prepared the towels.

The towel station must have been close, as he returned almost immediately, and that’s where my relaxation truly began. I almost fell asleep a couple of times but remained semi-conscious because I was sitting in the middle of a large living room. If I had been inside a private room, I swear I would have been snoring like a pig.

That was the quickest fifty minutes of my life, and before I knew it, my young masseur alerted me that time was up. I thanked him for the wonderful massage and quickly got changed. Geez, I was already ten minutes late for my dinner and counting…

After settling my bill, I was directed to the dining area, where a small dessert and tea quietly awaited me. I rushed through this before finding my masseur to give him a small tip. I told him that he had provided a very refreshing massage experience. He acknowledged it with a small chuckle on his face. Man, I wouldn’t mind meeting him once a week if this place were in Hong Kong rather than Taipei.

That was my first massage experience in Taipei in a long time, and I’m glad I did it. I had requested a female masseur before the treatment (due to some bad experiences in the past), but in the end, I was so glad they introduced me to my ‘new friend.’ That was exactly what I told him before I left the building. You’re my new friend in Taipei, and I will come see you whenever I visit Taipei in the future. 😊😊

All the prices for different packages below.....if I read it correctly, they're open 24 hours a day. Reservations by phone.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: $$$

Address: Section 3, 153 Xinyi Road, Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Da'an

Tel: +886 2-2706-5333

Website: https://youngsong.com.tw/

Opening Hours: 24 hours

Shoujiwang Theatre Wellness & Spa MixC 手技王 影院足道Spa 萬象天地店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ❤❤❤❤

For years, I’ve been on an ongoing quest to find that elusive trifecta when it comes to massages: clean, reasonably priced, and conveniently located — preferably inside a shopping mall within close distance of great food and coffee.

Let’s just say the search has been... long, and largely fruitless. But on this trip, I think I finally struck gold.

Tucked away inside my favorite stomping ground in Futian, MixC (萬象天地), Shoujiwang Theatre, Wellness and Spa (手技王 影院足道Spa) was everything I was looking for and then some.

This place is a full-blown wellness hideaway, with spa treatments, body and foot massages, and manicures all under one roof. 

The best part? Each treatment is done inside a private VIP room, complete with plush massage beds, massage chairs, and a massive screen playing your choice of movies.

It’s little nugget’s first experience here and he’s loving it!

No massage session is complete without a little fruit platter. A sweet little bonus while we enjoyed our massage and movie together.

Massage + cinema is officially one of the hottest things in China, and I’m 100% here for it. The fact that it’s directly connected to the mall, you can slip in for a blissful one-hour escape, completely guilt-free, then pop right back out for more shopping or food. It’s the ultimate mid-shopping recharge.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop SL316C, Level 3, MixC World, Shennan Road, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

深圳市南山区深南大道华润万象天地L3层SL316C号铺

Closest Metro Station: Hi-Tech Park (高新园)

Tel: +86 13244735819

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/2c/wqek

Little nugget's first snowboard experience and our quick lunch at Choujiya 丁子庵

Jelloman told me we won't be leaving Tokyo for Karuizawa (輕井澤) too early but I guess we have very different definitions for the word early.

We are taking this special-edition JR train to the ski ground. Checking my watch, it was around 8:30am.

The train departs in 10 minutes and the whole journey will be around 60 to 70 minutes. 

I won't say it's a breeze but we finally arrived at Karuizawa Station.

Another 10-minute walk brought us to Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Center, with Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza just around the corner.

Time to get dressed with all the protective gear. 

We met up with little nugget's coach and off we go.

For a Sunday, the ski ground isn't as busy as we had expected.

He's looking good in his ski outfit. 

First, he's learning how to fall!

After about 30 or so minutes, little one was already getting a good grasp of snowboarding.

Comfortable enough for us to retreat and grab ourselves a bowl of rice at nearby Choujiya (丁子庵).

This is a small canteen-style eatery serving simple Japanese rice bowls and noodle dishes.

I went with a small tendon (天丼) with two pieces of shrimp tempura while we waited for little one's meal break.

This was when we got a ping from the coach that they were going further uphill.

He was seen having fun with his snowmen.

Not just one, but an army of them!!! ⛄⛄⛄

Who wouldn't enjoy playing in the powdery snow.......

Time to get back to his snowboard and learn a few more tricks....

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Karuizawa Prince Hotel Snow Resort, 1016-192 Karuizawa, Kitasaku District, Nagano 389-0102, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Karuizawa

Tel: +81 267-42-5588

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm daily

My First Hair Spa Experience

3:20pm, almost five hours since we crossed border this morning, Jelloman and I finally arrived for our hair spa treatment.

Mumu Qing Si (沐沐青絲) (福田 Coco Park店) has recently become Jelloman’s go-to spa house ever since she discovered about hair spa in China a few months ago. And she just couldn’t stop going these days. Today, I stepped in as her partner in crime with her usual partners unavailable to make the trip.

After picking out the package we wanted, we got changed into our respective uniforms and it didn’t take long before we were escorted into our room.

Each of these treatment rooms was equipped with two separate hair washing counters. I started lying down and soon, I smelt a strong aroma of tea coming my way (I picked a treatment with tea which was supposed to be very good with revitalizing weakening hair, @¥158/65 minutes).

They appeared to have a special routine first with a hair rinse using warm water infused with tea, which was then followed by a few rounds of massage on my skull. This would go on repeatedly for 20 to 30 minutes.

Before I knew it, I passed out during the treatment and my therapist had to wake me up for the next course of action which took place in a different room.

I was seated in a lounge with half a dozen seats where she started drying my hair first with a towel and then a hair dryer. Next thing I knew she began giving me a massage from head to shoulder. This would go on for another 10 minutes or so.

I would say, this was a very unique experience. For someone who enjoys massage and spa treatment, it can be quite an addictive event. Simply ask Jelloman and she would tell you that was exactly the case.

Mumu Qing Si is conveniently located on the second floor of Excellence Times Plaza (時代廣場), right across the street from Ping A Financial Centre (PAFC).

The prices on different packages can be found here. 

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop A211, 2/F Excellence Times Plaza, 4068 Yitian Road, Futian, Shenzhen, China

深圳市福田区益田路4068号卓越时代广场1期2楼A211号

Closest Metro Station: Shopping Park (購物公園)

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/35/nGGi