A day of pampering (and a little pain) .....

The cups.

Yesterday, after I had finished doing my little bit of work (at Uberfood mind you!), I headed down to the international plaza where I picked up a couple of new DVDs and went for a massage. First, I had a foot massage while watching a chick flick. After that, I had a cupping treatment, which I had never had before. The ladies at the massage place recommended it after they noticed I had a cold. After doing some research, it seems that cupping can be used to treat many ailments including asthma, depression, paralysis and gastrointestinal disorders.

Check out the skin, fat and muscle sucked into the cups.

It was a very strange sensation at first, particularly when I couldn't see what the woman was actually doing. They light an alcohol soaked cotton ball inside the cup to suck out the oxygen and then place it on your skin. Once the cup is on, it sucks up the skin, fat and superficial muscle, creating a really strange pinching feeling. The cups are left on for about 15 minutes and then pulled off, feeling a little like a bandaid is being removed. I then followed the cupping with a head massage.

The end result.

This morning, I am feeling very sore and stiff where the cups were, particularly across my shoulders, where the marks are even redder than they were yesterday. I'm hoping that the marks disappear before next weekend, when I'm going to Shanghai and hoping to wear a party dress on Saturday night!

These marks have since reddened even more.