Went to ‘Foot Massage at the Village’ (U-village) on Saturday. I’d previously been to Imperial Foot Massage down in the ID, and had kinda  mixed experience there, but FMATV was better, and you REALLY cannot beat 25$ for an HOUR of massage (Imperial and FMATV are both that rate more or less).

These foot massage places are both run by mainland Chinese, and they’re quite a bit different from your typical massage experience. They’re way grungier, and they gloss over most of the relaxing new age bullshit in western establishments. Like, Imperial has a fucking HDTV that all the massage chairs are pointed at (chairs in a common area) running the NEWS. You hear other people, talking, cell phone conversations, etc etc. Relax to that! Though actually I don’t give a shit about any of that and have no problem relaxing in general, the HDTV was a bit much, as I could see it flashing in front of me even when my eyes are closed. I probably shoulda just watched it.

Also, instructions. The masseuse’s english is typically pretty limited, so the instructions just don’t come through right. I should have taken off my shirt and pants for the back-massage portion of my Imperial massage, but the lady doing it couldn’t quite communicate that to me, so it didn’t happen, and a massage through clothes is pretty weak sauce.

Overall the Imperial massage was quite satisfying though. Lots of pressure, lots of pain. HOWEVER, I had lingering pain even afterword, which was bad.

Foot Massage at the Village was much better though!!! Smaller, and although it has a lot of street noise (people accelerating up the hill to the U district), they blasted the old-timey Chinese music loud enough to cover it mostly. No ridiculous TV. The women working there were polite and straightforward. There are male massage folk also. And extra bonus, I felt great after the massage, and no pain the next day. I’ll definitely be back to soak my feet in tea and have some mash my pressure points for an hour.

FMATV is CASH ONLY.