Nancy and Barb's big adventure - the continuation

After our night of heavy drinking on Tuesday (what were we thinking) we left on a "3 hour tour", drive that is. We drove to the country and saw the Hakka houses or round houses as they are known to many tourists. Imagine a house that is so big it can hold upto a 1000 family members! Imagine no running water! Imagine no indoor toilets! They are quite something to see, let us tell you, but we could not imagine how they did it. Today many of the young people are leaving and going to school and they are not coming back to the Hakka's and many a falling apart. However, there are 20,000 in this province and we won't see the end of them for a very long time. We also walked through a picturesque village that sat on a beautiful river. It was a great day. At the end we got into our van and headed back to Xiamen for another 3 hour drive. Needless to say we all 3 passed out for a while.
Then Mark and Tina took us to "Chili's", not the real name but everything is made with chili's...you can just imagine...oy vay.

Today we went to the "Sisters" for lunch and then to the tailors to pick up all the items we had made...he did a great job. Then we went for a hair wash...a very civilized way to have your hair done...you lie down and they massage your head and then your arms and then your back and then they blow dry, took about an hour. We want this service in Toronto and all for only $5.00 CAD. We love this country. We then had our mani/pedi ($10.00) and now Tina, Mark and their friend
Yih are taking us out for a surprise night, we are afraid, very afraid. We will let you know all about tonight in our next installment.

Talk soon

Barb and Nancy

Hair washing, Chinese style

The other day, my dear friend and now sister, Siew Hong, decided that we needed to go and have our hair washed. Again, with the hair washing I asked? She told me that I needed to experience an eastern style hair wash. Okay, I'm game.

First off, one needs two hours to have, in order to get your hair washed properly according to sis. We schedule the time, and headed to one of the salons where she has a card, which basically prepays the treatments you want.

So upstairs we go to the third level, where it's dark, and people are laying on massage tables. We both take up a table and lie on our back. First they massage your head for about 15 minutes, followed by a quick wash, followed by some more massaging and then another wash. This part takes a total of 30 minutes.
Just so you know, the place was packed, with both men and women.


Then we go downstairs where they take sections of your hair, and with a brush, ply on the conditioner. From there they put saran wrap, yea, that's what I said saran wrap, and put your head under this hair dryer, where hot, very hot steam blows on your poor scalp. After burning your scalp, 30 minutes into this, the gal takes you back upstairs. This is the most expensive part of the wash, costing upwards to 200 or 300 RMB. If you choose not to have this little torture, the wash is only 25 RMB and you still get the massage. Guess what I'm foregoing next time.

Here they do another wash, and massage. Not only do they massage your head, but your shoulders, back and arms. After massaging you, they clean your ears as well. And you wonder why it will be hard to leave China! This continues for another 30 minutes where the last 30 minutes they're blow drying your hair to make you look all nice and pretty.


Definitely an interesting experience, and a first one for me, so now everyone has been warned, when they come and visit us, this will be on the sightseeing tour.