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NO play
and all work make the mind dull.
I guess
everybody believes that or God doesn’t make rainbows and
rainy days anymore.
It is
amid this backdrop that Ronald de los Reyes, the
handsome hunk from Auto Review, and I made our own
distinct political statement only a while back in a land
far away from home.
The
setting for the soulful upheaval was beauteous Numazu, a
city 20 miles from the famous Mount Fuji and not far
from Nagoya.
Ronald
and I, together with 17 other Filipino motoring
journalists, were on our way to Tokyo for the recent
Tokyo Motor Show via Nagoya as guests of Toyota Motor
Philippines (TMP).
An
unusual aspect of the itinerary was a trip to a spa.
Unusual, because it involved all 19 of us to do naked
bathing in a public spa in Numazu City’s Manyo-no Yu, a
place famous for its pools of hot springs generated by
Mount Fuji nearby.
“Bathing
naked, walking naked in a public spa along with totally
complete strangers is a big thing in Japan,” said Aki
Watanabe, the sprightly tour guide, during the bus ride
from Nagoya’s Chubu International Airport to the Manyo-no
Yu spa. “It is our belief that this custom makes us very
relaxed and frees us from the worries and hardships of a
tiresome day at the office or place of work.”
She said
it was best that everybody availed of this “special
experience.”
Unfortunately, despite repeated pleas from Aki—and even
TMP’s Elijah Sue Marcial—only Ronald and I rose to the
challenge.
Everybody, including TMP’s Danny “Sir John” Isla,
balked.
They
chose the comfort of a hotel bed over the water whip for
the frazzled nerves and weary bones brought on by an
early rise that day and the four-hour jet ride from
Manila.
“Bring a
ruler,” Ray Butch “Elvis” Gamboa admonished Ronald and I
as we disembarked.
Before
that, Aki asked the entourage for the fifth and last
time who’d take the spa plunge. Again, only Ronald and I
raised our right hand.
Somewhat
heartbroken, Aki said: “You’ll miss a lot not visiting
the spa.”
Aki wore
a long face as she accompanied Ronald and I to the front
desk of the spa.
“They
don’t know what they’re missing,” she said to me after
handing me ¥3,000, which was for the taxi fare from the
spa to the hotel. “Get a receipt, please?”
There
were seven pools of different shapes and sizes at the
spa, excluding 10 shower areas each equipped with soaps
of different shapes and sizes and shampoos of different
colors and foams.
You
shower there seated on a wooden stool. I could see a
“spaer” furiously scrubbing himself as clouds of
soapsuds practically covered bodies of all shapes and
sizes.
The
seven pools—all gurgling like a swollen, raging river at
the height of rain-caused floods—were waist-deep, and
were really, really hot (42 degrees, mostly). Two of
them were separated and positioned under open skies, and
you close your eyes face up when submerged in any one of
them. Two wooden, flat beds were beside each pool and
when you lie in any one of them, you again close your
eyes under the dusky sky for at least 10 minutes. You
could fall asleep if you don’t watch it.
Almost,
I fell asleep. And before we knew it, Ronald and I—we
never talked one bit while at the spa as talking was
forbidden—had been there one hour and 45 minutes. Dinner
was at 7 and it was close to
6:30.
We took
a cab in a jiffy for the Numazu Tokyu Hotel in Numazu
City. Paid ¥2,000 and returned the ¥1,000 to Aki before
dinnertime.
“Aha,”
said Aki, smiling at the buffet dinner. “You guys look
fully refreshed!”
Ronald
and I smiled back, shrugging our shoulders by way of
saying, “Of course!”
It was
good that Elvis forgot about the ruler.
There
was no need for it. Mismatch all the way, anyway.
Pee stop
My
classmate from Grade One to Fourth Year high, the
Accord-driving Amante F. Caronongan, will lead a
tournament for college golf scholars on November 23 at
Alabang. For details, call Rio at the Foundation of the
Society of Fellows in Supply Management Inc. at 638-4024
or 634-6632.… My family and I condole with Jake P.
Ayson, who drives an Innova, for the passing of his
father, Apung Fidel. Apung Fidel’s remains lie at Holy
Cross Memorial Chapel in
Angeles
City. |
