Massage

Stop reading this and go out and get yourself a massage. Really. They are the best thing since back-muscles. In Manila, masseuses are everywhere. They drive around in cars labeled mobile tension relief units or something like that, looking for sore shoulders. They live in basements, massaging old pipes for practice. Street corners. Trees. Everywhere. Masseurs are harder to find.

Now I am not talking about the "happy ending" sort of massage you hear about. (Truth is I have never even been offered one. A function of my hygiene?) I am talking a good old fashion rub down, about a woman, generally one quarter your size, trying to push her thumbs through the back of your skull. Last ight I swear my tongue moved. The massage is all about thumbs; you want someone who could punch a hole in a concrete wall with theirs.