Yesterday I went with some girl friends to a Korean bath house. Not a place I've ever been so I was looking forward to it. I have to tell you, it was fabulous! The Bade pool is like the ultimate jacuzzi. Its this big pool with all these areas of water jets around the edge of it. Each area focuses on a different area of the body and muscle set.
I suppose I should mention one little detail about the Bade pool before anyone rushes out to find their nearest Korean bath house. There are two Bade pool rooms...one for men and one for women. The reason for this is because clothing isn't allowed in the pools. So, if you have any kind of hang ups about being naked around your own gender, this probably isn't for you. It really wasn't a big deal. You don't notice being naked when everyone is naked. No one paid any attention and no one cared about less than perfect bodies. I mean, lets get real, I'm shaped like the Cheshire Cat!
I have to say my favourite area in the pool was the overhead jet. It was wonderous as it pounded down on my neck and shoulders. We spent time in the Bade pool, rotating around through the various jets and then moved over to the hot tub. From there we stood in the cold tub for a few minutes to cool down. After being the hot tub it was way too cold to actually sit in! Then we repeated the whole cycle again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It was fascinating seeing the mothers there with their daughters. Very cool to see girls being raised to not be ashamed or embarrassed by their bodies or finding nude women to be something odd.
From the Bade pool we put on the shorts and t-shirts they provided and made our way to the Poultice Rooms. This is the unisex area of the spa. There's a large open room that had families relaxing on mats on the floor and a snack bar area. Along one wall are the Poultice Rooms. Each room is a sauna made up of different minerals and such which is supposed to help pull the icky stuff from your body. I kept looking for the anti-fat room but I think they keep that hidden in the super secret area. We started in the red clay ball room. Picture a ball pit but filled with tiny hard clay balls instead of plastic play balls! You lay down on the balls, kinda sinking in to them. The heat from the balls feels great I have to admit but I didn't really care for the room because it freaking hurt walking on the little balls to get in and out!!! Next time I think I'll skip that room. Walking on marbles is not a good look for me. We also went into I think it was the salt room. It wasn't bad at all. My favourite room though was the cold room. It was literally like sitting inside a freezer, though, because I was hot from the other rooms it felt fabulous. I could have probably spent hours in there.
There were two rooms that made me seriously wonder about the sanity of people. One was kept at 156 degrees and the other was at 180 degrees. HELLO!!! I'm not trying to end up as a piece of beef jerky!
In the snack bar area they have these most OMG wonderful chairs that just seem to suck your butt right in. I have got to find out where they got these. I need a couple of them in my house. Then all I have to do is train the cat to do all the housework because I'd never leave the chair.
This was definitely an experience to repeat, totally worth the hour drive! Even worth driving in Virginia!
I suppose I should mention one little detail about the Bade pool before anyone rushes out to find their nearest Korean bath house. There are two Bade pool rooms...one for men and one for women. The reason for this is because clothing isn't allowed in the pools. So, if you have any kind of hang ups about being naked around your own gender, this probably isn't for you. It really wasn't a big deal. You don't notice being naked when everyone is naked. No one paid any attention and no one cared about less than perfect bodies. I mean, lets get real, I'm shaped like the Cheshire Cat!
I have to say my favourite area in the pool was the overhead jet. It was wonderous as it pounded down on my neck and shoulders. We spent time in the Bade pool, rotating around through the various jets and then moved over to the hot tub. From there we stood in the cold tub for a few minutes to cool down. After being the hot tub it was way too cold to actually sit in! Then we repeated the whole cycle again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It was fascinating seeing the mothers there with their daughters. Very cool to see girls being raised to not be ashamed or embarrassed by their bodies or finding nude women to be something odd.
From the Bade pool we put on the shorts and t-shirts they provided and made our way to the Poultice Rooms. This is the unisex area of the spa. There's a large open room that had families relaxing on mats on the floor and a snack bar area. Along one wall are the Poultice Rooms. Each room is a sauna made up of different minerals and such which is supposed to help pull the icky stuff from your body. I kept looking for the anti-fat room but I think they keep that hidden in the super secret area. We started in the red clay ball room. Picture a ball pit but filled with tiny hard clay balls instead of plastic play balls! You lay down on the balls, kinda sinking in to them. The heat from the balls feels great I have to admit but I didn't really care for the room because it freaking hurt walking on the little balls to get in and out!!! Next time I think I'll skip that room. Walking on marbles is not a good look for me. We also went into I think it was the salt room. It wasn't bad at all. My favourite room though was the cold room. It was literally like sitting inside a freezer, though, because I was hot from the other rooms it felt fabulous. I could have probably spent hours in there.
There were two rooms that made me seriously wonder about the sanity of people. One was kept at 156 degrees and the other was at 180 degrees. HELLO!!! I'm not trying to end up as a piece of beef jerky!
In the snack bar area they have these most OMG wonderful chairs that just seem to suck your butt right in. I have got to find out where they got these. I need a couple of them in my house. Then all I have to do is train the cat to do all the housework because I'd never leave the chair.
This was definitely an experience to repeat, totally worth the hour drive! Even worth driving in Virginia!
