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You can literally find 20 to 30 foot massage shops side by side, floor by floor, at the People’s Park Complex in Chinatown, Singapore. Can this be the world’s highest concentration of foot massage shops?

People’s Park Complex has been around for nearly 30 years but remain a very popular shopping mall in Chinatown, Singapore. It is surrounded by other old-time popular shopping malls such as People’s Park Centre, Chinatown Point and Lucky Chinatown. These shopping malls are very popular with local bargain-hunting heartlanders of Singapore, camera-toting tourists and recently, new immigrants from mainland China.

The shops in these shopping malls are an interesting mix to cater for their varied clients. They range from traditional Chinese medicine shops, money exchange bureaus, clothing shops, shoe shops, bookshops, goldsmiths, jade shops, travel agents, electronic gadget shops, eateries and to our subject of study - foot massage shops.

You can find other large concentration of foot massage shops in other countries such as Bukit Bintang of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Patphong of Bangkok, Thailand but these are usually large massage shops and are found amongst various different types of shops.

At People’s Park Complex, the foot massage shops are small, and are literally next to one another, floor after floor. You can and will be accosted by massage shop proprietors literally every step of the way - calling for you to patronise their shops.

Most of these foot massage shops are small, between 2 to 4 massage chairs, with the biggest only with perhaps 8 to 10 chairs. Many shops are simply renovated, with few curtains or partitions for privacy and some even have massage chairs that seem to show much wear and tear.

These massage shops has sprung up over the last one decade, ever since foot massage became popular 10 years ago in Singapore. Many close down quickly only to be replaced by yet another similar shop. Many of these shops are staffed by middle age or old folks and their customers remain mostly middle-age and old folks and the occasional curious tourist. Most of them are relatively cheap; at about S$20-S$25 for 45mins to an hour, and they can hardly charge more due to the cut-throat competition and the basic amenities of their shops.

Will I patronise one of these shops? I doubt so; call me bias if you want but I don’t trust these shops. I started enjoying foot reflexology when I was working in China where they have raised foot massage to an art; what with foot bath, soft music, luxurious chairs and young and energetic foot masseurs who had trained for years in Chinese medical schools and understand body meridians thoroughly.

Many of the shops here look like they have been hurriedly put together, with old age masseurs who look like they just picked up the skills yesterday and reek terribly of Chinese ointment smell (tie da you). I also certainly do not fancy having my foot massaged while sitting close to a passage way where people are passing by every other minute!

If you are a curious tourist who may not have time to seek around for the best foot massage experience, you can certainly try one of these shops for that one time experience. However, if you are seeking a therapeutic experience in a soothing environment, then there are certainly better choices elsewhere.

On my last trip to Phuket, Thailand, we rented a car and drove around this popular Thai tourist island. One of our destination was Phuket Town.

Phuket Town is an old town and the administrative centre on Phuket island. There are distinct Muslim, Thai and Chinese enclaves and it is clear that Chinese influence in the town is obvious with a good number of Chinese temples and Chinese old-time architecture houses.

Phuket Town is off the regular tourist route and the entire town was sleepy and quiet on the Sunday that we drove in. Tourists tend to spend more time in the beach where almost everything is available as well rather then to come to town. Tourists who do come to Phuket Town tend to congregate downtown where a few modern shopping malls, large bargain-price markets, fast food restaurants and souvenir shops were gathered.

Among these few busy streets were a couple of small but modern and clean spas. These spas offered almost similar type of treatments and prices were very competitive - even lower than those available at the beach.

I guess it was because there were only a few streets in Phuket town that tourists congregate so the local spa operators have no choice but to stay competitive. I was particularly attracted to one of the promotion package that Kim Spa, one of these small spas, offered. The spa and massage promotion package consists of a body scrub (60 mins), choice of massage (60 mins) and a facial treatment (60 mins) - a total of 3 hours treatment for the unbelievable low price of 900 Baht or US$30!

I was in Spa heaven and chose to try out Kim Spa immediately! Kim Spa has a nicely decorated reception and rest area. On the first floor, it has about 10 cosy massage chairs for foot reflexology and a small corner for a foot bath. The 2nd floor is for Thai massage (beds are on floor) and 3rd floor is for facial and other body massage treatments.

My hubby opted for a foot massage and Thai massage for 2 hours. I opted for the 3 hours spa promotion package. While waiting for my masseur to prepare the treatment room, I whispered to my hubby that I couldn’t believe a body scrub treatment can last for 60 minutes. I kept telling myself … how much time can one person scrub the body? Will my skin drop off??

Shortly, we were led by our masseurs to our treatment rooms. My hubby started his foot bath on the 1st floor which is an open area foot massage area. I was led to the 3rd floor which had private treatment room and en suite shower. My masseur greeted me with the traditional Thai way “sawadee ka” with both hands together and bowed.

Although language was a barrier, we had no problem “communicating” with each other by sign and body language. The masseur indeed did a thorough body scrub and for sure she took more than 40 minutes before heading me to to the shower. My choice of Swedish massage was, in my opinion, average but the facial treatment was indeed refreshing. The masseur went through 2 to 3 rounds of scrubbing and cleansing my face. She then placed many layers of cucumbers on my face that made me feel very “cool” and relaxed. The smell of the cucumber were so refreshing. The facial ended with a cold mask and facial massage.

When my treatments were completed, the masseur led me to the reception area to relax and enjoy their complimentary floral tea. Overall, I must say this place is value for money, environment is neat and clean and most importantly, the staff were friendly and not pushy.

However, my husband who is an addict of hard massage was not impressed with their Thai massage and reflexology skills. He claim that the Thai and foot massage here were “too soft” and obviously toned down to cater to the many farangs(Thai for Caucasian foreigners) tourists in Phuket. He feels that shabby run-down massage shops run by old ladies offer the most true and authentic ancient Thai massage with the accompanying body-distorting poses, back standing and bone cracking twists. He feels that this is the ultimate form of massage! Funny guy!

Location of Kim Spa
Phuket Town, Phuket, Thailand
Size: 3 storey shop units with massage chairs on the ground floor and individual rooms on 2nd and 3rd level
Facilities: Toilet, shower and rest area
Friendliness: Polite staff and good massage therapists.
Pricing: Starts from US$20 for a facial, wrap, bath or body massage. Various spa and massage packages available and starts from US$60.

Last weekend, my hubby and I made a quick, overnight trip to Kuala Lumpur(KL), Malaysia. The trip was via a coach from Singapore and we started at 8am and was in KL by 2pm. We checked into the Bukit Bintang Hotel along the busy Bukit Bintang Road. Bukit Bintang Road is a touristy area with lots of shopping malls, eateries, open air markets, cafes, no-frill spa boutique etc.

Our main purpose of this trip was to eat cheap, shop cheap and of course enjoy the massage at half the price as compared back home.

After our breakfast the next day, we decided to check out the spa boutique within the hotel. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any massage slot available and more importantly, the price was quite steep and not much different from home. As Bukit Bintang is one of the busiest street in Kuala Lumpur, we were quite certain that we would be able to find something cheaper and even better.

We noticed a few spa boutique signboards just across the road from our hotel. We walked into the 1st spa and they were not opened for business yet as it was only about 10.30am. We inquired about their service and price. The prices were reasonable. Since they were not ready for business, we walked further down to explore the rest of the spas. The second spa was located on the 2nd floor and they were open and ready to accept customers despite the early hour.

The place was nicely decorated with Oriental Chinese decor and Chinese soft music completed the ambiance. We decided to try their foot reflexology. We were then lead into the massage hall by our therapists. Wow, the place is like an ancient Chinese Palace Chamber with more than 100 massage beds and each bed was individually separated by soft, flowing curtains thus ensuring some degree of privacy.

Both our therapists were from China. Their reflexology strokes were so good that our 60 mins sessions passed so quickly. During the treatment, we found that they worked from 10am to the next following day 2am. This is so tiring work!

After the treatment, I went back to the 1st spa to try out their Aroma massage & body scrub. My hubby went shopping and we agreed to meet 2 hours later at the hotel lobby.

The therapist led me to the upper level. The 1st level was for foot reflexology, 2nd and 3rd level were for body and facial treatments. I was led to the 3rd level as it was meant for ladies only.

The therapist applied the sea salt scrub on my whole body and followed by a 90mins aroma massage. Her skills were good and she ensured every part of your body were being massaged with the right pressure. Both the body scrub and massage cost me MYR182 (US$55) which would have certainly cost me twice back home.

After my massage session, I walked back to the hotel to meet my hubby. We went for a quick lunch and it was time to end our short trip with another ride back on the coach.

Location of Spas: Row of shophouses opposite Bukit Bintang Hotel, Bukit Bintang Road, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Size of Spa:
1. First spa was three levels with individual small rooms on the 2nd & 3rd level
2. Second spa was one level with more than 100 beds in a large common hall
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and masseurs
Facilities:
1. Shower rooms only
2. None
Pricing: MYR60 to MYR80 for one hour session (US$20 - US$25)

Foot reflexology aims to prevent or treat health conditions through the application of pressure to specific points reflexes on the feet. The underlying idea of reflexology is that areas of the feet correspond to other parts of the body, and by stimulating those areas; you can heal and detoxify any part of the body. Becoming more common these days is to also apply pressure to the hands, ears and even the face.Reflexology and many similar treatments have been used for thousands of years in places like China, Thailand, India and Egypt. It wasn’t until the early 20th century, when an American physician named William Fitzgerald suggested that the foot be “mapped” to other areas of the body to diagnose and treat medical conditions. This process was originally called zone therapy. He strategically divided the body into 10 zones, each zone representing a different organ or body system. He then proposed that gentle pressure on a particular area of the foot could relieve pain, tension and promote healing in the targeted zone.

In the 1930s, a nurse and physiotherapist named Eunice Ingham, further developed these maps to include specific reflex points. It was at that time that zone therapy was renamed reflexology and the name has stuck ever since. Modern reflexology charts include pictures of the feet with diagrams of corresponding internal organs or parts of the body. The right side of the body is represented in the right foot, and the left side, in the left foot. Reflexology is used by a vast array of health care providers today, such as massage therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, physical therapists and even nurse practitioners.

The Theory
The theories behind reflexology have not been proven. However case studies do produce convincing evidence that the therapy is effective. One proposal, begun by the ancient Chinese, is that the body contains an invisible life force(chi), or energy field, represented by meridians, that when blocked result in sickness. The Chinese believe that stimulation of the foot and nerves can unblock and increase the flow of vital energy to various parts of the body, which promotes healing.

Modern doctors, who have studied the Chinese body meridian principles, put forward scientific theories that reflexology, massage and acupuncture causes the release of endorphins, which are natural pain killers produced by the body, stimulation of nerve circuits in the body, and the promotion of lymphatic flow or the dissolving of uric acid crystals leads to pain relief and curing of certain pain and illnesses.

What do you think?