Pretzel Massage---not for the faint of heart or 'inflexible'

I love blogging! To know that when I have a thought or insight on something I can come home, write it out and have others that I know and love (and some that I've never even met before) share it with me. Sometimes something neat happens here and I wonder who would like to hear the story...this way, I can write it and you can pick and choose whether you want to hear/read it:)


There was an incredibly beautiful butterfly ('mati' or dead) on the sidewalk on the way to school this afternoon. I stopped to take a look and thought that it was too bad that Matthew wasn't with me. He would have really appreciated seeing it, being the nature/God's creation lover that he is. Wouldn't you know it, when I returned from school later what sat upon our piano but the same butterfly...out of hundreds of students that pass by that way, it was Matthew who picked it up and brought it home. I love how he loves life and creation!
Tris and I are waiting for friends to pick us up and take us to a basketball game in or near Jakarta, so it's my hope that in that time I can do a quick blog of our 'massage' adventure last night. For four months now we've talked of trying out a well-known foot reflexology place nearby and finally ventured in last night. The kids stayed home and Tris and I had the experience of a lifetime for 1 hour and 20 minutes. We went into an apartment tower and on the first floor, thru a hallway maze, we found a dark little room that was partitioned by dingy white lace curtains. Two men came out and we were directed to two side by side reclining chairs, almost like lawnchairs with cushions. Each of us had our own fellow massaging our feet and legs. Little did I know that the foot massage included my legs, arms, hands, shoulders, back and punching of my thighs. Yup, the guy folded me up very much like a pretzel (no, not the straight ones, the ones that look like glasses...), lifted my knees into the air so that my lower back was off the chair, and then literally punched the backs of my legs. They punch a lot when you get a massage here. The guy punched the bottom of my feet quite a bit, too. There's also this thing that they do where their hands are cupped together, so that when they hit it makes a slapping-popping noise, quite a bit like when you cup your hand and slap water in a lake. Very different. Not sure what the benefit is, but it seems popular in the massaging industry here. I noticed that Tris' guy wasn't quite so liberal with how he stretched Tris...I think I'll try that guy next time. Of the 3 massages I've had here now, this was definately the best one. We've talked of going back regularly, and for $6 a person there's no excuse not to! We're trying to get the kids to come for the experience, but they're not up to it yet. Maybe we'll send them with Grandma and Poppa when they arrive in December, except I won't let the guy doing the massage fold any of them into a pretzel. Guess I had better figure out the word for pretzel in Bahasa-Indonesia!

Thanks for reading.