Life is about choices

Another weekend in Shanghai. This time we came to see another property which had been in contact for a while. An invitation to spend the weekend experiencing the hotel is not a bad idea at all. After all we both need a break anyway from the routines. It was surprisingly quiet on the road that we reached downtown in 90 minutes.

The rest of the day was spent leisurely within the hotel. The western restaurant outlet seems a bit run down, a lot of unused space, musty, limited old-fashion selection of European menu and a bunch of rude staff chatting away amongst themselves. Last option was the Japanese Teppanyaki which was unfortunately also not as we expected. Way overpriced! Gotta do some thinking about this babe! Sure that this will be a good chance to measure yourself.

The next day we were informed about the new clothing & souvenir market , Ya Tai Xin Yang, near the Science Museum. And it was only 10 mnts walk from our hotel, with shortcut through a park. I wish that we knew about this place long ago - mom would've went absolutely crazy with the stuff they have here. Amazing selection of bits and pieces..... Found branded shirts and a couple of neckties for Mike - which we're sure are the real thing, the whole plastic wrappings with every details, linings, tags are all with the same brand and no spelling mistakes. Either it's the real thing or it's a really good copy...... which I doubt because the material feels soft to the touch. I think it's real. Unbelievable, I don't think I could find anything with the same quality anywhere in Jakarta.

Antara Gua Sha ( 刮痧) dan "Kerokan"

Kebiasaan bawaan dari Indonesia emang susah hilang. Salah satunya tradisi pijat dan kerokan. Tempat pijat & spa masih bisa dicari disini, menurut gw sih lebih bagus tekniknya karena mereka kombinasi dengan tuina, pijat ala chinese, yang lebih ke deep tissue massage and lomi-lomi. Kalau therapistnya agak kurang pengalaman emang agak kasar jadinya, tapi banyak independent spa spt Dragonfly (*tempat favorit kalo lagi mampir ke Shanghai) biasanya tekniknya sdh dikombinasi dgn Thai massage, agak lebih halus lah.

Masalahnya, kalau masuk angin ini yang parah. Mau kerokan dimana? Sementara gw nggak terlalu sreg sama cupping. Aneh ajalah, nggak biasa! Konsep "masuk angin" buat Michael kedengeran absurd banget. Mana mungkinlah, dia protes abis-abisan dengan logikanya. Ternyata logika bubar dengan artikel dari TCM bahwa orang china percaya dengan konsep masuk angin..... Huahahahhaha.

Chi yang terganggu alirannya, bisa jadi penyebab salah satunya ya masuk angin itu, yang nggak jelas sebenernya flu, migren, mual, panas dingin, atau apalah.... pokoknya nggak enak badanlah. Berhubung badan udah bener-bener nggak karuan rasanya, gw panggil salah satu therapist ke apartment.

Agak kaget juga waktu ngeliat dia bawa perlengkapan 'kerokan' ala china. Kok tau-taunya sih kerokan tanpa penjelasan penuh sebelumnya? Bentuknya mirip sendok sepatu, atau semacam sisir serit - tanpa seritnya dong, dari tanduk. Kalau kerokan ala Indonesia biasanya berakhir dengan design 'tulang ikan' di punggung, sementara "gua sha" nggak pake design khusus, dimana aja yang kira2 masuk angin. Bisa merah sepunggung-punggung, fokusnya sih di sepanjang tulang belakang.





Sangking gak peduli, hampir gak inget kalau gw sekarang tinggal di China, dengan kebudayaan & teknik pengobatan tertua di dunia. "Gua sha" ternyata sudah dikenal hampir 2000 tahun yang lalu ternyata. Hmmm, orang Indonesia lagi pada sibuk ngapain ya jaman itu?

Oh ya, buat para Newbies Kerokan, bisa lihat Teknik Kerokan Untuk Pemula dari Hericz. Ancur banget ...... :D

Fast-forward that please.....

A brief online chat with an old time friend from Jakarta has been a real inspiration. I may do something about taking up this hobby thing into something serious. She has, as always, been a busy girl doing a lot of travelling for her work, even busier now writing her own book, contributing to a couple of lifestyle magazines in Jakarta, co-authoring for a curator, part time teaching in university, developing website concept and online class on web designing. Wooo-hooo!!! You go, gurl!!! Life is speeding fast. Hang on and enjoy the ride....

As she asked me how I was doing, lemme tell ya, life moves on a much slower pace in this part of the world. Life is just impacting you in a different way, sort of naggingly slooooow and you have that sensation as if you're trapped in a box. But then she said the wisest thing "Sometimes life is meant to be enjoyed in a slo-mo"

Sometimes I miss that crazy hours of work in Jakarta, endless meetings & sales calls, and promo planning - with a little help of 'inside info' from the media friends, hehehe, thanks guys, for whatever I was involved in at that time. Waaaaah, I really miss this frantic pace. And the coffee talk with Nyoman, Indah, Sil.... just connecting with REAL people. Well, will be back in Jakarta by early Feb, hope will be able to catch up with them.

This evening we happened to watch a dvd, Adam Sandler about him having enough of putting up with loads of ridiculous things in his life and found a magic answer to end it all - a 'universal' remote control. He thought he's in full control of his life by skipping parts of his life, until finally he realized that there was nothing at the end of the rainbow.... I just noticed the title afterwards, it's called "Click"