Sunday in the City: Japantown

Today, while it seemed everyone I follow on twitter was anxiously watching the USA v. Canada hockey game, I went to a spa. Or rather, I went to the Kabuki Springs and Spa, which is a Japanese style communal bath. I live only a block from the edge of Japantown, though I don't spend much time there unless there is a festival going on with Taiko drumming. But on Friday when I was feeling particularly done with the week and fed up with the rain and the hard uncomfortable chairs in my office I took a few minutes to browse for spas on yelp. Not that I can really afford to go to a spa, but I thought it would be a nice distraction.

Which is when I discovered that, only a few blocks from me, there is a cheapish different kind of spa option.

I was a little apprehensive at first. I didn't entirely know what to expect, except that it being a Japanese communal bath it would include other naked women walking around and, well, bathing. And like any normal American woman, I don't actually spend much (any) time around other naked women. But I went anyway and discovered: not everyone is naked. Also, it's really not a big deal.

What is kind of a big deal is how great you feel when you walk out of the sauna. And how nice it is to do nothing for an hour or so other than just sit in a sauna or a hot pool. I ended up thinking a lot about the story that will be workshopped on Tuesday, because water turned out to be sort of a theme in it. But I also spent a lot of time not thinking. Sometimes I watch bad TV when I want to turn my brain off, but this was much, much better.

If I made one mistake, it was not eating soon enough before I left. I had a bagel a few hours before I went, but by the end my stomach was rumbling and the heat and steam was actually making me feel a little dizzy. On the way home I picked up a bowl of ramen, just to complete my little Sunday afternoon in Japantown.

Kabuki Spa, originally uploaded by margosita.