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bunnypretzels · 2 months ago

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Ubud Massages: 3 Days, 3 Kinds, 3 Different Price Ranges

Fu’s first massages! Lo didn’t come along but not for the reason we originally thought:

🐔 Is it because you’re ticklish? 🐍 No, it hurts. I’m all bones! So when they massage me it’s just rubbing on bones. 🐔 🤣

Fu and I knew we wanted to get massages during this trip but don’t know why we waited until the last three days to do them. Nonetheless, we got to experience three different types of massages. Fu took a nap during two of them. I would probably not do one of them again.

Day 1 at Beji Ayu 😌

Traditional Balinese Massage

I went into this not know what a Balinese massage is supposed to feel like. I was just looking to relax. I’m doing some research now about what a “real” Balinese massage is supposed to consists of. I think we got a good couple of traditional techniques during our massage. From what I’m reading, a Balinese massage consists of:

Scented oils

Rolling of the skin

Cupping the hands together and clapping them up and down the back

Acupressure (applying pressure to acupoints)

Long gentle strokes

Deep tissue

At Beji Ayu, I think we got all of that except the deep tissue. I am not complaining because I learned from my very first deep tissue massage that it is not for me.

Ayu is a Balinese word for deep beauty – both inner and outer – that can be perceived by others from one’s behavior: a relaxed glow, good – will towards others, and a warm -hearted presence.

I really like that.

Anyway! Look pass the old floor, walls, and ceiling design and enjoy the massage. This place is tucked away in a little alley right off the busy streets near the Ubud Market. It wasn’t hard to find with Google Maps.

It was quiet and empty when we first arrived. The interior reminded me of a simple house. We didn’t know where all the workers were but we needed to use the bathroom. 😅 Someone eventually heard us and came out to greet us and point us to the bathroom.

We didn’t have a reservation when we first arrived. They were busy with other guests but had any availability for two Balinese massages in an hour. We made our reservation and went to wander.

When we got back, they provided us robes and showed us to the locker rooms. There is separate male vs female locker rooms. Each locker room had a shower. They told us we could take a quick rinse before we got our massages. This noob that Fu was, he wore his pants and his belt into the massage room. The lady was like take it off. 🤣

The one wall of the room we were in had a big opening. Being in an alleyway with less foot traffic was good because it was more peaceful that way.

There was a bowl of flower petal for you to look at when you laid down on the massage bed. After a minute you will have your eyes closed anyway but this was a thoughtful touch.

The massage was so good Fu fell asleep twice! 😂 It was gentle and very relaxing. I probably could have feel asleep if I wasn’t trying to follow the movements.

The oil that they used smelled really good. We asked them about it afterward and was told it was lemongrass. That was surprising cause I normally don’t like lemongrass. We ended up buying a lemongrass and harmony one.

Lemongrass oil ingredients: coconut oil, lemongrass oil, ginger oil, and lemon oil

Harmony oil ingredients: coconut oil, cananga oil, cubeb oil, ginger oil, nutmeg oil, patchouli oil and styrax benzoin extract

They told us we could shower afterward. I thought this was odd. Was never told to shower after a massage before. Maybe they were worried we would feel uncomfortable walking around with all the oil on our skin. I just did a quick rinse.

I would definitely come back here again for another massage. We even got complimentary hot banana fritters and tea!

🕐 1 hour

💰 298000 IDR + tip

Day 2 at StarChild 2 ♨️

Deep Tissue + HOT Stone Massage

Another alley location. Closer to the main road. Not too close to Ubud Market though. This one was a bit more modern looking. The room we were in had a big stone bathtub and a shower.

We wanted to try something different this time. Hot stones! I was going back and forth about trying this. I don’t like the feeling when I get too hot. But their list of selections said “warm” stones so I was like what the heck! Let’s do it!

It was … nice and painful. 😅 My masseuse could definitely kill people with her thumbs if she wanted to. Fu asked me when we were done if I was also in pain. 🤣 We didn’t realize a deep tissue massage went along with the stone massage until we read the description afterward.

Warm stones and traditional Balinese-style massage techniques are combined in this deep tissue massage, which is especially effective in relieving muscular tension, problems and pains in the hips, neck and shoulders.

I was too focused on how painful this massage was to worry about anything else LOL There were a few moments of relaxation though. I noticed there were a few techniques similar to our previous massage. There was definitely the cupping the hands together and clapping them on the back.

The “warm” stones were HOT. 🔥 How do their hands deal with it!? It felt almost burning when the stone first touched my skin. It felt better as they started to run the stones along my body. Then it got HOT again when they placed it in its spot. She got done placing the stones on one side of my leg before I asked that we don’t place the stones on anymore. I was okay with the rubbing but placing them was too hot for me.

The one thing I didn’t like about this place was that we could hear people outside and in the other rooms. The walls don’t go all the way up so we could hear people talking in the room next door at times.

I did like the drinks and fresh fruit they gave us after though.

🕜 1.5 hours

💰 $35.76 USD + tip

📍 Sayan, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia

Day 3 at Jaens Spa Shanti 🙆

Four Hour Massage Package

There are two locations for Jaens Spa. One called “Jaens Spa Ubud” near the monkey forest and this one, “Jaens Spa Shanti”. We chose this one because it was closer to our villa. I would recommend making a reservation a day or two before. Especially if you are doing a longer massage or package.

We wanted to try something different again. We looked at their online massage options and noticed a picture of someone getting a massage from two people at the same time. This was their Radja Synchronicity message. I’ve never seen it before. I also wanted to try a scrub. We ended up deciding on the Radja Nenda Spa Package. This came with:

Radja Synchronicity massage

Scrub or mask (we picked scrub)

Flower bath (always wanted to do this! 🌺)

Facial treatment (we did the Biokos Natural Facial because we didn’t want to do the cucumber one)

Hair creme bath (omg this was heavenly! 🤩)

Food and drinks

We started off with a drink and a survey. The survey asks things like how would we like the temperature of the room, how more pressure we liked for our massage, and whether we have any physical pain or medical conditions they should be aware of. After that is done, a lady confirmed which package we wanted to do. She showed us a list of the different types of scrub and mask with the ingredients and explanation of the benefits of each. She also let us smell the different scents. We ended up picking the Green Tea Scrub and Franginfani for our facials. Then she showed us a menu for our food options. We chose the babi guling. I wanted to have babi guling one more time before we left so this was perfect. She let us pick whether we wanted to eat halfway through our treatments or after we were done. We picked to wait until we were done.

Before entering the massage room, someone washed our feet and gave us slippers. I always feel weird about people washing my feet. Not cause I’m ticklish or anything.

The massage room was dark, completely closed off with a stone bathtub and a shower in one corner. They provided us with a robe and underwear. We were kind of confused about the underwear so we just kept ours on and left the ones they gave us on the table. It made sense later why we should have changed.

The radja synchronize massage is a game changer! It was a full body massage at one time. They massaged my legs and arms/back all at once instead of focusing on one area. Fu fell asleep again. 😆 The ladies and I were just giggling about it. 😛 I was focused on feeling the movement and being impressed at how synchronized they were. I wonder what kind of training they have to go through for this.

The scrub was a bit chilly. It felt like a facial scrub with all the little pebbles but all over your body instead. The lady rubbed the scrub all over then put the cove back over me. I laid there for a bit before she comes back to check if the scrub is dried. When it is, she’ll gently brush everything off.

Next is why you want to change into the underwear they gave you. After the scrub was brushed off, she asked me to stand and covered me with a quick yogurt layer. I think this was to get all the stuff from the scrub off. She asked me to stand then began to rub the yogurt all over. It was very cooling. I liked it. It was a milkier texture than a thick cream so it drips down all over you soo .. change your underwear.

Right after, she told me I could get in the flower bath. Another reason to change into the other underwear because everyone is still in the room when you get in so there is no time to change into the one they gave us before.

I could hear them preparing the bath during the massage. That was a bit distracting. It might not have stayed so warm if they prepared it beforehand though. Fu didn’t really want to do the flower bath so they gave him an extra 15 minutes for his massage before doing the scrub and yogurt. He still had to get in to shower off all the yogurt. I always wanted to do a flower bath because it looks so pretty online. Which I guess would only be worth it if I were planning to take pictures. I didn’t take any pictures. I was more playing with all the flowers, lime slices, and lemongrass sticks. It was nice for the first couple minutes but then felt like a hot tub, too hot. And the tub was a bit uncomfortable. When I didn’t have my hands at the bottom of the tub, I would slide into where the water almost went over my chin.

I learned here that facials are not for me. First, they did a facial massage. Then some kind of thin mask. While the mask was drying, they brought over a steamer that was steaming my face. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. A couple more minutes and I would have had a nervous breakdown.

We ended our experience with a hair creme treatment and a head massage. Omg I would do this once a week if I could. First, they washing our hair. Then they put some kind of creme in it and massages our heads while the creme was in there. Felt similar to the cooling yogurt. They left the creme in there for a bit while they massaged our arms and hands. It was a really nice way to end the trip. The creme is washed out before they spray something to finish it all up. I wasn’t a fan of the smell of the spray. I ended up going home and washing my hair because of the smell. But some people might like it.

Dinner was served by the entrance of the spa. There was a small single table set up. One of the better babi guling skins I’ve had this trip!

Oh yeah! They also offer car service. We had trouble calling a Grab to get back to our villa. It was dark out and there were no taxis nearby. We remembered when we were called to book yesterday that they asked if we needed a pickup. They told us the price but we opted not to. I don’t know if they only charge for pickups but they offered to drop us off at our villa for free.

Although we enjoyed this four-hour experience. It felt too much for one session. We agreed that two hours would probably be ideal. Two hours one day then coming back for more two hours of something else. DO THE HAIR CREME BATH!!

🕓 4 hours

💰 1858950 IDR + tip

This whole experience left us feeling like a #brandnewbabyduck 🐣🤣 We enjoyed each massage with its unique, sometimes painful, techniques and would do more massages in the future. I liked doing the massages in the late afternoon so we could feel nice and calm, go to dinner or go home and relax.

Now I need to find somewhere back home that has a hair creme head massage.

#asia #indonesia #bali #ubud #massages #experiences #tips

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melswifeasf · 2 days ago

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The Cost of Wanting.

(Chapter one)

Pairing: Jackie Taylor x fem!oc

Synopsis: ten years. a decade of silence. a decade of pretending, of not knowing, of repressing. a decade of bitterness. until an email, Mari Ibarra was getting married and she was inviting the yellowjackets to a bachelorette reunion to Cabo.

Warnings: alcohol, mild language. angst.

word count: 1.9k

The warm scent of eucalyptus hung in the air, the low hum of ambient music lulling Samantha Valdez into a rare state of stillness. She was lying face-down on the massage table, her thoughts finally quiet for the first time in what felt like days. The masseuse's hands moved with slow, practiced rhythm, kneading tension from muscles that were always clenched, always bracing.

Sunday afternoons were always spent like this - relaxing, winding down after a week long of meetings and yelling at imbecile interns who spend too much time kissing her ass and not enough time doing their work. She understood it, the need for them to get on her good side so they could land a long term position but she preferred hard work over fake smiles.

The brunette hummed at the feeling of a tight knot being kneaded with force, a wave of relief following.

Until a knock interrupted that bubble of deep relaxation. The masseuse's hands didn't flinch even for a second but Samantha tensed slightly.

"Miss Valdez," her assistant's voice cut through the calm. Soft, but insistent.

Samantha didn't move. "Tell me someone's dead or Dior's on fire."

Her assistants voice was hesitant before it cut through the ambient music. "It's an email. From Mari Ibarra."

That made one eye open. "Read it." Mari and her weren't that close, not like before but they spent weekends in Aspen or a week in Bali every six months. they spoke occasionally to catch up when they were in each others cities but an email? That was too formal.

Anna, the assistant who had been working for Samantha for the past three years cleared her throat. "Subject line says: Bachelorette chaos incoming.""

Samantha closed her eyes. "Ignore it."

"But—"

"I said leave it."

Annas heels clocked away but the calm was gone. Samantha's mind, always sharp and restless, began to wander—to a voice she hadn't heard in over a decade, to a laugh she could still remember more clearly than she liked.

Hot water cascaded down her body leaving a red hue behind. Her muscles that had been relaxed after the massage tensed immediately after. Not surprising, really. It never lasted long. Not when she had so much going through her mind that the only moments of silence she had were in her sleep.

Samantha's forehead rested against the cool green tile. She took a deep breath, pushing her hair back with both hands. fog was beginning to conceal her in the glass shower, a sign that she had been in there longer than necessary. Sighing, she turned the water off, taking another deep breath and opening the glass door. A gush of cold air hit her making a shiver run down her spine.

When she stood in front of her mirror wrapped in a black robe, her eyes were drawer to herself in the reflection of the mirror. A decade. Ten years of silence. of fading memories, of nothing but small reminders of the person Samantha once knew. A decade of leaving the person she loved most behind.

Music vibrated against the three story home so loudly, it was a surprise the cops hadn't been called yet. The Yellowjackets had won nationals, much to the surprise of absolutely no one. The party was thrown at Jackie Taylor's house, she was the team captain and the girl with the biggest house so it made sense to have it there. Best of all? Her parents were out of town. The smell of weed and cigarettes was strong, smoke filling the already crowded home make the space feel all the more suffocating. Teens were scattered around the house, some of them crowding the kitchen where the drinks were, some were in the living room, staring at the television as if it were the most interesting form of entertainment, they were high, of course. Most of the high schoolers were in the basement though.

Everyone including Samantha.

Samantha watched as Taylor Jackie and Jeff were playing beer pong. They were playing against Shauna Shipman and Tasissa. Beside her was Lottie and Van. The ginger was there to cheer on her girlfriend while Lottie was keeping the brunette company. She could see the longing look in her eyes, the way she'd squeeze her red cup a little every time Jackie and Jeff would kiss. Lottie was tempted to pull her best friend away from the obvious show but she knew Samantha wouldn't budge.

Jackie and Samantha, best friends since kindergarten. they were inseparable, one simple day on the playground and a crying Jackie holding her bloody knee turned into the beginning of a new friendship when Samantha shoved the guy who pushed Jackie. It left both girls with blood on them, Jackie from the fall and Samantha gushing blood from her nose when the boy hit her back. Did it hurt? Like a bitch but it was worth it when Jackie looked at her like she was her hero.

Nothing changed, not until Shauna came into the picture. Jackie found someone new to obsess over and sure, she never left Samantha out but she wasn't a fan of Shauna so she just kept a distance. Jackie noticed but she never mentioned it, afraid if she did, the cracks in their friendship would split them completely.

Samantha rolled her eyes when she saw Jackie when he scored yet again. She brought the red cup up to her lips and drank the remaining liquid, she didn't grimace when it hit her throat, she was at the point in which any alcohol tasted like water. The game lasted another couple of minutes. Jackie and Jeff were declared winners. the long kiss that followed made Samantha pull the red cup to her lips, blocking the horrible sight before her.

Lottie finally took action, she gently grabbed the girls arm and led her away from the scene. Samantha didn't protest, she was too drunk to do so.

The buzzing traffic was drowned out below her. The floor to ceiling windows gave her clear sight of the city skyline. light illuminated the brunettes features as she sat on a black leather desk chair. The email forwarded by her assistant was staring back at her. There was a glass of wine in one hand while the other held her chin up while her elbow rested on the desk.

Her phone perched on the mahogany desk was lit, a contact picture of Lottie and Samantha. It was from Lottie's birthday three years ago, the two were very obviously drunk, each holding a glass of wine while they held onto each other. Lottie was shoving her glass toward the camera while Samantha was winking. A simple picture that said everything about their friendship.

"Let me guess," Lottie's voice came through, smooth and amused. "You're calling because you definitely didn't read the email."

Samantha scoffed. "I skimmed. Cabo. Mari's getting married. God help that man."

"She always said she'd marry rich or die trying."

Samantha leaned back into the cushions. "It's not Mari I'm worried about."

There was a pause. Lottie knew. Of course she knew.

"She's not going to bite you, Sam."

"I'm not worried about her biting," Samantha murmured. "I'm worried I won't be able to keep pretending I don't care."

"Do you?"

Samantha didn't answer. She stared out the window of her Manhattan apartment, at the skyline illuminated by the lights that were programmed to turn on at sunset.

Lottie sighed. "Come on. It's been ten years. You're not the same people anymore. You run a damn empire. You've survived worse than a sunny getaway with the girl you were in love with."

That didn't help.

Samantha stared at the email. two weeks. Natalie, Lottie, Taissa, Van, Shauna and Jackie. The names stared at her uncomfortably. A trip to Cabo? It sounded like an amazing weekend but a trip to Cabo with Jackie Taylor? That was like hell.

"She hates me Lot." She said with a small sigh. She leaned back against the chair, staring at the chandelier that illuminated my room a soft yellow. Samantha hated white lights, hated anything that was too bright. everything in my office was soothing, dark green walls, black shelves, black furniture. Even the paintings were simple, nothing too distracting.

"She doesn't hate you, Sam." Lottie said. There was a noise from the other line followed by a small scolding from Lottie. Samantha chuckled as she heard a kid-like voice from the other side.

"Hi aunt Sam!" Iris's excited voice came from the other line. She could hear giggling and Lottie's voice in the background and she knew the five year old had definitely stolen her mother's phone.

"Hey princess," she said with an amused smile. "Did you steal your mommy's phone?"

"Yes!" said the girl with a loud giggle. "No! She's coming!" She said before a small struggle was heard and soon Lottie's voice was back on.

"Sorry, Natalie gave Iris ice cream - again, and now she won't calm down." Lottie said, slightly out of breath.

"Babe it wasn't me!" Samantha could hear Natalie's distant voice. She chuckled.

"Ask Natalie what she thinks." The brunette said, desperately needing a different opinion. Even just one 'no' would be enough for her to make her assistant send Mari an apology email. She'd make some excuse - maybe an emergency work trip, maybe something with her company, anything to get out of it. She'd feel bad for a while, she loved Mari deeply but she'd be there for the wedding and that was all that mattered, right?

"She agrees with me." Lottie said. Right, she had been on speaker.

"I do!" Natalie said from afar. The next time she spoke, her voice came off clearer. “Just rip off the bandaid. Don't be dramatic. You guys will barely have to talk. Have you seen the itinerary? Maris barely giving us a chance to breathe."

The brunette hummed. she hadn't seen any of the exclusives because she had yet to accept the invite. "You’re actually going? Figured you'd say no."

Natalie chuckled, "like my wife gave me a choice." She heard the blonde groan, "ouch." She said before speaking again. "Plus Lottie and I haven't been on a trip since we had Iris. Figured we'd take advantage since Lot's parents are going to take care of her."

Still not helping.

"Don't be such a chicken. What is she gonna do? Bite you?" Natalie joked making the brunette roll her eyes.

"I hate both of you. I'm hanging up now." She said before she heard Lottie's voice making her thumb hover over the red button.

"Come on, Sam. We're all going! Everyone said yes! even Shauna and you know she barely shows up to any reunions. I promise Natalie and I will be there for whatever you need." Lottie said in a gentle tone. One she probably used when she would try to soothe her kid to sleep. It made Samantha's skin crawl but she didn't voice her annoyance.

"Yeah okay. Whatever." She said. Brief words were exchanged before she hung up. The phone went black leaving nothing but the computer screen to stare back at her.

After a long silence, Samantha exhaled and clicked confirmation on the email. Immediately after, a notification echoed throughout the room. She glanced at her phone. A groupchat.

Fun.

She opened the chat she'd been added to. #MARI'SLASTFLING.

Samantha typed: I'm in.

#jackie taylor x fem!reader #jackie taylor x reader #jackie taylor #lottie matthews #natalie scatorccio #yellowjackets x reader #yellow jackets #shauna shipman

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