Spoiling myself

A few girls in the office told me that their favorite things to do in Guangzhou on the weekends are to get a manicure/pedicure and a Thai-style massage. They insisted I should do this over the weekend and stopped by my office at 5pm on Friday to make sure I had made an appointment. Of course I had - I'm not one to refuse spa treatments. So, today (Sunday), I woke up at 10am and had my nails done at this cute little nail place: cost of a 2 hour manicure/pedicure, about $25. 

Tonight, I ended my day with a Thai-style massage which was incredibly relaxing. I got my own private room with a shower and dinner (!!) and a 90 minute massage for 288 RMB, so $40. Overall, a very positive experience - I will definitely be getting another (or 3) more massages before I leave here. 

After my nail appointment, I met up with my friend Jodi's dad's colleague and his wife for coffee. Jodi's dad does a lot of business in China, so when she told him I was coming, he asked his friends from Guangzhou, Ken & Betty, to meet me to show me a bit of the city. 

Betty, Ken, and I met up at Starbucks in one of the GIANT shopping centers here and chatted for about two hours. It was very cool to hear their experiences living in China, especially since Ken had spent most of his life in Toronto and had also previously worked in advertising. He is currently involved with a factory that produces component parts for machinery in the Guangdong Province (where Guangzhou is), and interestingly, he said they've recently had to lay off 2/3 of their workers. The pace of business has really slowed. He said he is planning to move up to Shanghai after the Chinese New Year to open a restaurant... one that exclusively serves french fries. I could go for that. 

Here are a few pics from our few hours in the mall. One picture is of me trying this "head massage" device that is said to alleviate headaches. Ken & Betty insisted I should try it - they own one and love it. I COULD NOT keep a strait face long enough to enjoy it. 

After that, JC (my co-worker, the head of the Olay group here) and I went to a summer palace/residence on the outskirts of the city. It was a beautiful day, and this was a peaceful way to spend a few hours. I feel like I got to see quite a few different sides of the city this weekend thanks to Ken/Betty, Sarah Yana (yesterday's trip to the markets), and JC. It is so nice to have familiar, friendly faces in a big city like this!