April 27, 2012


Randy has been looking for things to do while we are here, and this week he found a doozy.  We went to the Imperial Spa in nearby Fullerton where we each signed up for a Body Scrub and Acupressure Massage.  
First we had to take a shower.  I went to the Ladies shower and to my surprise, the changing room had no private rooms and the showers had no walls.  Everyone was pretty much out in the open.  I was the only non-Korean there, and in the middle of a group of dark-haired, 4-and-5 foot tall naked ladies speaking Korean, I felt a little conspicuous.  I showered and wrapped myself in a short white bathrobe which was made for a woman a lot shorter than me - the belt loops sat just below my shoulder blades.  But at least it closed in front - barely, but enough.
A nice lady came in and motioned for me to follow her.  She wasn’t naked, she was in her underwear and she spoke about 5 words of English.  I followed her into a small room, doffed the robe, laid down on a plastic-covered bench and got splashed with warm water scooped out of a big plastic bin that looked like the garbage cans they sell at Lowes.  Next she scrubbed me from neck to toes, using loofa-like mitts, lotion and a lot of water.  It was a combination of massage and scrub and I felt like a million dollars when she got done. 
I didn’t want to move but it was time for my Acupressure Massage.  A different lady (this one was dressed) let me to another little room, covered me with a light sheet and gave me a great massage.  She was a little rough on my shoulders but overall it was wonderful.  Later I learned that the tiny Korean lady who gave Randy a massage walked on his back; funny, he never asks me to do that!
After the massage was over, I checked out some of the Sauna rooms.   The Red Clay Sauna room is a large, quiet, low-lit room with rows of small arched rooms, each about 4 feet high and 8 feet long.  They looked like little caves and are made of red clay.  On the ceiling of each little cave is a red light and on the floor is a braided mat.  I crawled in to one, laid down on the mat, draped a little hand towel over my eyes, and simply went to sleep.  Red Clay is supposed to provide energy that increases metabolism and delays the aging process. I don’t know if I delayed the aging process but I sure felt wonderful.
Next I checked out the Red Clay Ball Room, where instead of little caves they had 4 x 8 areas on the floor full of marble-sized balls of red clay.  The areas were heated from below so lying on them was very comfortable, but I didn’t go to sleep.  Every time I (or anyone else) moved even a little, those red clay balls rattled against each other and kept me awake. 
I also spent some time in the Salt Brick Sauna Room, sitting in a recliner and watching a Korean Soap Opera on a big flat screen TV.  Eventually it was time to go so we took one more shower and then the pampering was over.  We will definitely be back.
We ended the day by going to Soup Plantation, which is suddenly one of my favorite restaurants.  What a great day!

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