Lifestyle, Spas and Salons

A New Reflexology Alternative at Ruyifang

I’ve been meaning to try some different home service massage providers for some time now—the idea being that on rainy days, you’d much rather stay at home and relax than brave the rain-drenched streets to get your massage fix (not relaxing at all). But seeing as how the weather has been rather cooperative recently—this weekend was totally hot and steamy—I still haven’t gotten around to it (plus I admit, I’ve never had a home service massage before, so I’m feeling a bit chicken… you’ll have to wait for me to work up some nerve).

In the meantime, the new day spas and massage places that have exploded along Aguirre Avenue in BF are a good place to start. Somehow there’s always that lingering suspicion as to how legit most of these places are (though not as suspect, perhaps, as the home service ones), and some establishments take great pains to clarify that they are wholesome—one old place used to declare it was good for “family service,” while another flat out states they “don’t tolerate additional services.” It’s a veritable minefield of spa services to navigate—who knew it could get this complicated? Obviously I’m not equipped to unmask any suspicious activity—the best I can do is try a place out to see if it’s got good service and a wholesome vibe.

Our most recent outing yielded a winner, both in terms of service and ambiance. Ruyifang, located just across the Phase 3 Church in BF, is clean, classy, and very professional-looking—it has none of that cottage industry feel that sometimes results from repurposing a house into a commercial establishment. Ruyifang provides Chinese traditional massage and reflexology, dry body massages, and oil massages.

We’d known of this place since its opening a few months back—at the time they offered a one hour free massage, and we tried to book an appointment, but apparently the whole world had beaten us to it. When we tried again just last weekend, there was one car parked outside, and we were able to get in without having to wait too long. They offered us tea while they prepared a room for the three of us; from what I saw, they had three main sections, two of which were partitioned into smaller sections for two or three clients; one was a larger room, perhaps for individuals, which had a large window overlooking an enclosed landscaped area (Sawasdee Siam, the place this used to be, had birds; I didn’t notice if the birds were still there).

The Foot & Shoulder Chinese Traditional Massage (P460 for 70 minutes) was similar to the treatment at Mandarine (read the Mandarine post to get a full and rather amusing description). It started with a foot soak in a wooden bucket of hot water and a neck, shoulder, and arm massage (the bucket had raised wooden bumps in the bottom, which was a nice touch). Then we moved on to the foot reflexology proper, where we sat in the larger chairs with a heated back / neck pillow, another very nice touch (and an extra towel / blanket for me, since the foot soak always ends up giving me chills halfway through the massage). While the massage was shorter than Mandarine’s, the strokes used by the therapists here were more detailed, and they seemed to linger over the different reflexology points longer. It also seemed like they weren’t as coordinated, that the therapists focused on different areas as needed, since the clapping and pounding sounds didn’t occur at the same time.

All in all, I was very impressed with this place. But for the occasional tricycle roaring down along Aguirre Avenue outside, you could forget you were in BF. The shared bathroom was very nice, though it would’ve been better if there had been separate male / female bathrooms. Their signage and flyers were well-designed and classy, though the led-light “Open” sign out front reminded me of a Japanese restaurant. I’m definitely coming back to try the other services: a 120 minute Foot & Body Chinese Traditional Massage (P880), Body Dry Chinese Traditional Massages (P580 for 60 minutes, P800 for 90 minutes), and Oil Massages (P350 for a 60 minute body massage; P500 for 90 minutes; and P780 for a 120 minute foot and body massage). Two hours of poking and prodding, kneading and squeezing… I can’t wait!

Ruyifang Massage & Reflexology
294 Aguirre Avenue, Phase 3, BF Homes Parañaque
(0916) 294-2580, (0917) 505-4816
enquiries@ruyifang.net
www.ruyifang.net (their website’s still under construction, by the way)
Operating hours: 10:30AM – 1AM daily

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