Pain No Gain

On Saturday night I went out to Cafe Demetrie's with Mezie and Drew for some dessert after the Knights game was over. Downtown was so busy and usually in the summer it becomes quite dead. Drew is in the army. I don't see him very often unless he's training nearby or is on leave. He seems much more serious than in our high school days. I think the army must have hardened him a bit, especially after hearing some of the stories he told.

Ok so yesterday I went to Toronto with my parents to move some more of my sister's stuff back home. I thought Boon was a bad packer, sorry sister, you take the cake! :) I think I deserve to raid her wardrobe. Before we got to my sister's place we stopped off at IKEA. I didn't get anything but an encounter with a really rude lady in the bathroom. I was reaching for the door handle to leave the bathroom and as I was pulling, already walking through the doorway, this older lady starts to walk through the door. She doesn't even make eye contact and I have to press myself up against the door frame to get out of her way. Meanwhile, my mom is still propping the door open for me, but this lady just keeps walking and ignores me walking through. OK I don't think that there is some default in manners that says if you're going through the push side of the door, you have the right of way. Usually, the person who gets there first, and is already walking through the door gets to go. Wow, I just experienced a rudeness drive-by, no excuse me, no sorry. Lady, learn some social skills please!

After we had packed up Andi's things we made our way to Markham. My parents wanted to check out this massage place recommended by one of their friends. I was hoping to read some of Romeo's book while they were getting their foot massages but my dad insisted that I try it as well. From now on, I am using the term "massage" very lightly. After a nice soak in warm water and ginseng herbal fragrance my feet were feeling pretty good. I was sitting next to my mom and two ladies entered to give us our massages. I felt bad for my mom because her lady looked heftier and would probably massage harder.

My lady was older and quite skinny and knew very little English. She proceeded to put lotion on my left leg and then the massage began. She started to push really hard on my shins and I thought, this hurts a little, but if I can handle my sister's massages I can handle this. Then she starts digging her knuckles into the base of my foot. I grimace with pain. The lady looks up at me and says, "Pain?" (I think this is one of the few words she knows in English) YES PAIN! If you're digging your knuckles straight into my bones I'm going to feel pain! She then finds every other pressure point in my foot and pushes on it. Holy, is this a practical joke? I think my dad is pulling one over on me. But then I hear my dad ask if I was feeling fine, and then I know he's also hurting. Now she's pounding as hard as she can with her fists. She's a strong little lady.

One leg down, on to the right leg. I have a much higher tolerance for pain in my right leg, so it wasn't as bad. I tried to read calmly but I found it hard to concentrate. It was now a battle between her and me: I was not going to show that it hurt, and she was determined to make me feel pain. She said something I couldn't understand, then in Mandarin repeats it to my mom. My mom's mandarin is shaky, so her masseuse translates into Cantonese to my mom. Then my mom translates in English, "Are you having your period?" What the hell?! What is going on? No, I say and she continues. Every so often I could see her look up at me to see if I was making pained faces, but I resisted. She did hit a couple spots in my foot that really hurt and she says, "in reflexology that is the kidney". Oh, so that's what this is, Chinese reflexology. If I could read the Chinese words on the entrance sign, I might have figured it out earlier. Then she pushes on another spot, apparently the liver. Nearing the home stretch, the endorphins are causing me to sweat a little. Adding insult to injury, my mom says that the lady thinks I look like a teenager. Great, the second time in 2 weeks someone says that.

Finally we're done. The three of us all get up and look at each other with the same thing on our minds. What kind of voodoo massage did we get ourselves into. The Chinese must use this as a torture method in prisons. I barely read 4 pages of Romeo in an hour. My legs feel no better and maybe a little worse than before. I did get one good tip from the massage lady, drink more water. My dad had to take pain medication last night.

We then went to Pacific Mall. I got some good deals, bought a webcam for $30 and some tops for half off. I also got some Dragon's Beard (a peanut dessert). Afterwards, it was off to T&T. It's a supermarket that is similar to Loblaws in size and selection, but it's got an Asian twist. It's a bizarro Loblaws. Except it resembled the mall on Boxing Day and it was a Sunday night! Consumer fanaticism at another level. 15% off baked goods, watch your fingers. I bought some star fruit and green onion pancakes. I also thought of getting some blackcurrant Fruit Pastilles but I found out recently that it is banned in Canada because the food colouring causes cancer in rats. T&T even has bathrooms and a food court.

Having relied on public bathrooms all day I have to say that the Americans are on to something. Why don't our bathrooms have disposable toilet seat covers? It's an essential barrier between me and all the germs of thousands of people who used the toilet before me and I'm getting tired of laying down rectangular pieces of toilet paper over the round toilet seat.

Well all-in-all, an interesting trip.