Spa Stuff

The past week was tough.

It was a hectic Monday and Tuesday at the office.  On Wednesday I was in Bulacan for a guest speaker stint. Fly in and out of Cebu on Thursday.  A frantic and sick Friday the moment I was back in Manila. To top it all off, I was off to Laguna with my office mates come Friday night, and we all knew that we would have to let a good night's sleep pass (albeit a fun, wakeful evening ;)).

What better way to end the week than an exceptionally relaxing full body massage? ;)

On Saturday morning, I was dropped off by office pals in Alabang where I was to be picked up by Rolly.  Originally, I wanted to go The Spa, the ultimate massage haven in my POV, for my long overdue Aromatherapy massage.  However, Rolly said there's a less expensive alternative in the area but the services are as good.  The Balinese Spa.

The Balinese Spa located at Festival Mall, Alabang

Like in all other spas I've been to, The Balinese Spa would give you that relaxing ambience and mood the moment you enter the place.  I checked out the list of services and chose their signature massage.  What Rolly said was true, it's really inexpensive at the Balinese.  My massage was only P550, whereas if I went to The Spa, the same service would already cost me a thousand bucks!

Of course there's always a downside to choosing something which costs less.  Let's review the amenities.

At the Balinese, there are only two couple's rooms and one single room.  If you got in after these three nooks are already occupied, you have to get your massage at the common area.

At The Spa, the number of rooms varies from branch to branch.  I never really bothered to count, but from the looks of the branches I've been to, The Spa has spacious and elegant rooms enough for you to get lost in the maze once you're inside.

The Spa, Greenbelt

 In every spa, my favorite spot is the sauna.  At the Balinese, it was a dry sauna. :(  Though putting water on the heating rocks was fun, I didn't get to enjoy my 15-minute stay as much as I would had the sauna been the other type.

Dry Sauna

 At The Spa, the sauna's the wet type.  (But I think some of their branches have dry saunas, too.) Wet saunas are more often called steam rooms.  These rooms have high temperature steam inside, which would make you sweat like crazy.  And that's just very soothing. :)  Wish I have my own steam room like this at home!

Steam Room

 Lastly, the one thing at The Spa which keeps me coming back aside from the massage, the Balinese doesn't have.  Guess what this is.

Ginger Tea!!!

The Spa's ginger tea is to die for!!!  That's why when the Balinese offered me their tea, I was excited and sorta expecting it would taste something like The Spa's.  Much to my dismay, it tasted so plain and bland. =/ But yeah.  I know I shouldn't have expected much from a P550 service. Hehe.  Just like what Rolly always says... if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

After all is said and done, still it all boils down to the service you really paid for - the massage.  In this aspect, The Balinese is at par with, if not better than, The Spa.  The full body massage was terrific, I even fell asleep in the midst of it.  That has never happened to me in all my massage treatments at The Spa!   Uhm, okay, I admit I'm not certain if I was just too tired yesterday to appreciate the Balinese massage this much, but still, I am convinced that it's one of the best rubdowns I got. :)

So the next time you're in the South, thinking of something invigorating to do but you do not have so much in your pocket, you might as well visit The Balinese Spa located at Festival Mall, Alabang. :) It would be worth your while, not to mention it wouldn't put a dent on your wallet.

PS.  I heard there's a really cheap spa place here in QC.  Wensha Spa? Massage + buffet + stay-as-long-as-you-want!  I haven't been there, but I might try one of these days.