Refreshing Thousand Miles Massage Center in Taipei
What to do on the last night in Taipei? Time to pull a last minute traveling Hail Mary in the little time we have left and find something to do because I can only eat so much.
Night Markets… Check!
Food, Food, and More Food…. Check!
Pineapple Tarts… Check!
Massage…. What Massage???
Thousand Miles Massage! That’s right, a massage!?
The ever refreshing therapeutic services that employ the healing powers of touch practiced around the world. Some places the same services can be more expensive than others and then there are the venues that are less enjoyable than most, but one thing most people agree on is that they always get excited for an honest to God foot massage after a long journey. We’ve done nearly everything else here in Taipei but get a massage.
Though to be fair, it’s not the first thing that would have popped into my mind when thinking of things to do in Taiwan. Since enough people wrote online about these relaxing services to draw our attention that we had to check it out for ourselves. Time to get a massage. But where do we go? We looked high and low online and all of the reviews and posts are either not really helpful, outdated, mixed, or in another language.
I guess we’ll just have to draw our own conclusions and then take into account our particular tastes… Which is value! When push comes to shove we’re more interested in ‘Bang for your Buck’ than anything else; everything else on top of it would be gravy though. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t NEED all the bells and whistles, but it would be nice. If something has got to go then we don’t mind some a few cut corners to get a once in a lifetime experience.
Found it!
Thousand Miles Massage seems to hit most of, if not all, the bases for what we were looking for. More importantly, they got consistent reviews across the board for value, service, and availability. It’s a funny thing about that last descriptor, it’s hard to not get good reviews since they are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We went inside Thousand Miles Massage Center and hoped maybe they could squeeze the 2 of us into their schedule super last minute right there and then? Not the case, but they said they could fit us in about an hour. We didn’t have any pressing appointments to keep that night and we really wanted to get a massage so we waited and watched nearly the entire population of Taipei go in and out of the place, all happy faced and wide eyed and cheerful from their massage experience. Instead of being discouraged by the wait, the crowd made us hopeful for things to come.
That’s hits the spot!
We waited and waited and finally were called to have our muscles rubbed and feet touched, and everything else barring a happy ending. Our attendants led us to the first stage of the process; getting a foot massage. We were seated on these reclining chairs in front of a pullout basin where our foot baths was prepared. Our feet were cleaned and then massaged into blissful Nirvana. To be quite honest with you, between you and me, my guy was quietly manhandling the crap out of my feet. I admit to you all, here and now, that there was a tear or 2 forming, but I kept it all on the inside. “Never show them your pain!” At least that’s what I told myself to get myself through this.
Nadia’s guy was a talkative fellow and they were chatting it up about the nightlife in Taiwan compared to the time he spent in Australia. Me and my guy were like Ahab and the whale… I still recall him asking if he was too intense? “No, I’m fine.” Then he asked whether I wanted more pressure. “No, I’m good (tear).” I think he knew that I was dying inside, but I couldn’t give him the satisfaction. Perhaps we were feeding of each other’s machismo, but alas I could feel his strokes weaken a bit against my steel resolve. V for victory! I don’t know why I just didn’t tell him to ease off. Oh well…
The room of relaxation
After the foot massages they led us to another room upstairs for our full massages. I picked my sandalwood scented oil and let him go at it all over my back, and shoulders. As the minutes passed and the pressure slowly devolved into something I would have expected from an elderly person, we were released; rather, I was woken up sparing everyone anymore of my snoring. Nadia was reluctant to leave, she enjoyed her treatment so much.
We dressed ourselves in silence, her in the afterglow of her treatment, and I in the defiant determination to not be massaged into submission. Such contrasting experiences despite having been next to each other entire time.
C’est la vie!
To be fair, I’m probably making more of the experience than how it really was, but damn it, it’s my story, so I’ll tell it as if it was a war between me and him; makes for better drama. Either which way, I’d still go back and try out their other services the next time I’m back in Taipei.
And yes, there will be next time. There’s still much more to see, eat, and do in Taiwan before I go without a Thousand Miles Massage.
Thousand Mile Massage Center | 千里行 足體養身會館
What’s your favorite massage service?
