As I tweeted/status'd (amazing what words come into being thanks to the Internets!) yesterday, I was pretty stoked about last night's episode of The Amazing Race as it brought the contestants to Beijing. My international travels have been pretty limited, so it was fun to have them finally go to some place I had actually been! (I know they've been the big European cities, but in the past seasons... not the after I had been there!)
Overall, I was a bit disappointed as they arrived... and pretty much all of last night's activities took place... at night... and they even arrived domestically, so I couldn't even recognize the airport terminal!
I got excited when they said they were headed to the natatorium... so thought they were headed to where we saw water polo! But alas, it wasn't the natatorium (Yingdong)... but a natatorium (Guangcai), which apparently there are quite a few of in Beijing... even sporting the Olympic logos (but they were everywhere... and apparently still the winter after the Games).
And while the episode ended at the well-known/tourist spot of the Drum Tower (oddly enough, the location where those American tourists - family members of the US Volleyball coach - were killed in the opening days of the Olympics), we didn't make it there and/or (???) only saw it from afar. But it looks like from next week previews, we'll see a bit more Beijing...
Anyhow the one thing we did recognize and pretty much laughed our way through was the foot massage roadblock... which also inspired the name of this episode "Having A Baby Has Got To Be Easier Than This":
While we didn't go to this particular foot massage palace, there was a lot of things that were quite recognizable... from the very gaudy interior design, to the massage room set-up an chairs, to the bucket/plastic bag set-up (which you can kind of see in the picture to the left).
I will say immediately that ours was not nearly as painful as what was going on in this episode. I think they were told to go easy on us and to give some indication if it was too rough... something I don't think the Racers had the option of requesting with their full-on service. We were also given tea at the start, but it wasn't awful tasting as Kisha suggest (again, could have been something totally different).
Now, I will say it was uncomfortable... very uncomfortable at times! Our massage lasted over an hour... so more than 10 minutes on the feet... but also some rhythmic slapping of our feet, calves and thighs (again, personally not terribly pleasant)... and a neck/head massage (which Todd painfully describes in the comment section!). Thankfully I was the only one (there were 6 of us in one room) NOT to get upper body treatment as I was in a seat/chair that couldn't be moved or for someone to squeeze behind... that said, it was tad awkward to be sitting there watching everyone else get it done!
Now, we pretty much thought we were in the minority... most folks in our group really seemed to enjoy it (a couple even fell asleep towards that end... granted it was after our long flight over/on our first full day in Beijing)... and even my friend James, who lives in Beijing, voluntarily gets this done on a regular basis (!!!)... plus these huge facilities (I wasn't joking when I said "palaces") suggest there is very high demand for this... so we had just made peace that we just didn't "get" it.
All this said, we (well, particularly myself!) are not a huge fan of any kind of massage... again, one of those quirky people who don't like to be touched... feet or otherwise... so that was personal roadblock #1... but also that this was the replacement/"oops, sorry!" activity for not going to the Opening Ceremonies (that was promised for 5 months in advance)... well that didn't provide any improvement over getting a foot massage either.
It was really a big thrill to see TAR last night and see folks not enjoy it as much as we did... haha! Heck, even James stumbled upon a "non-relaxing" one not too long ago! (Update: James clarifies in the comments that it was not a foot massage... my bad!) So at least we're not crazy... while not a highlight of the trip, it is still one of those things that we will always remember about our trip to Beijing!
