Spa and Wellness Industry

  A stay at the Shangrila Mactan (Cebu) will not be complete without a treatment at the famed Chi Spa. It is a village within a resort.  I would have taken a half day or whole day treat but since I was attending a whole day conference, I did not have the luxury of time.  Right in the middle of the cocktails I left for my much sought after appointment at the spa.

It was raining then so the hotel receptionist offered to bring me via their golf cart.  Unfortunately, some of the staff were finger pointing at each other since some claimed the road to the Chi Spa was being constructed so the cart would not be able to pass.  I no longer wanted to argue so I just borrowed an umbrella so I can reach the place dry.

It was unfortunate that I had to take an evening appointment since I was not able to see the beauty of the whole village.  When I arrived, it seems they were all busy so there was hardly anyone at the reception. Not a good start though thinking for the price I paid,  I expected a more hospitable greeting.

I was led to a waiting room and asked to fill up some forms.  My appointment was around 7pm but it was already 8pm more or less and I was still waiting. I kept pacing around then decided to go out and find anyone to tell me when I can have my treatment.  Since I already sounded upset, they finally assigned me a therapist.  She did the usual diagnosis of whether I was fire, earth, water and I came out obviously Fire :) but almost at par with Earth, which just brings out the Gemini in me.

I was led to a private villa which is a privilege if one gets a package.  The Travellers Retreat is described as:

“ The perfect treatment to overcome jet lag and relieve stiffness, aches and pains. Combining uplifting Himalayan Bath Rituakl, the detoxifying Biodroga Algae Wrap and Aroma Vitality Signature Massage”

The villa was very spacious with its own changing area, toilet, shower and steam room.  A foot and tea ritual was done after I changed to my comfortable robe.  I then chose to do the steam bath first, showered under the stars, then got ready for the algae wrap. 

When the wrap was removed, I proceeded outside in the villa’s private garden and dipped in my own himalayan bath, a mixture  of  warm water, coconut milk and rose petals.

The much awaited relaxing aroma vitality massage ended the treatment.  It was a good thing I asked what the lighted place was next to the villa. Only then did I know that it was the so called juice bar that clients can go to after treatment. Hmm receptionists were not so thorough explaining the facilities. Good thing I was nosy.

I then proceeded to this juice bar and was given some fresh mixed fruits to cap my visit.  My Chi spa experience (except for the receptionist and waiting time) was far the best then till I tried the Hongkong Peninsula SPA by ESPA. This will be the subject of a different post.

Dale, the holistic nutritionist of the Wellness Institute (and son of the owner) kept convincing me to avail their  Gall Bladder Flush. He actually gave me some discount before but I didnt have much time to go overnight in their clinic and besides I was deciding whether to follow the diagnosis of Dr. Kristine (after my live blood analysis) on doing the colon cleanse first, then gall bladder then kidney flush.

However, he and Jeannie came up with an interesting weekend package to be held at Discovery Suites which included a couple of speakers to talk on both mind and body wellness as well as proper nutrition.  Besides, the comfort of doing detox in a hotel sounded too good to miss.

Off I went to check in the night before D day as we were told that we have to start 8am sharp. After registration we were given some fruits and juices for breakfast while listening to several talks from the organizers, Dr. Kristine Gonzales, a priest who shared some interesting thoughts on religion and wellness, and I specially enjoyed the breathing excercises taught by Dr. Nim Gonzales.  Lunch was a light organic vegetable and fruit meal and we were told to drink as much of the apple and carrot juice as we can for by 2pm, all solid and liquid intake stops including water.

We were all weighed and blood pressure reading was taken.

At the strike of 2pm, we were all given the first conconction to take, an epsom salt mixture of sorts so a bit on the bitter side.  We all made a toast before drinking it all at the same time bottoms up!

We all then retreated to our respective rooms and instructed to just rest in bed and wait for the next drink to be delivered in our place at 6pm.  I then went online, checked my mails and napped a bit.  After four  hours, I heard a knock and another similar epsom salt drink was brought to the room and this time with a tiny apple chaser just to remove the bitter after taste.

I tried so hard to focus on the tv or internet so I wont be tempted to drink water. I love drinking water at times you see. By 10pm or so, the last drink for the day arrived. This time it was better tasting as it contained some grapefruit juice and I tasted a bit of olive oil.  I was told to drink it while standing since it helps to bring out the stones from the gall bladder.

At the start of the morning session, we were all given a plastic strainer  and ‘tabo’. We were instructed to put the strainer on the toilet bowl sunday morning after the morning drink.  By that time, our bowels would have been cleansed and only the stones from the bladder and liver will come out. 

I did as told sunday morning. I checked the shapes and colors of whatever came out and by close to 11am we all gathered in Dale’s room to finally drink the much awaited carrot and apple juice drink.  Everyone compared notes on the shape, size and colors of the stones.  Some had large ones, tiny ones, black, yellowish, greenish. Most of mine were tiny greenish mongo like seeds.  Maybe it helped that a week before I did a colon cleanse by taking some fiber drink prior to each meal.

One of the participants cancelled her gall bladder operation that weekend since she heard about this session. They were supposed to take out her gall bladder but lucky for her the big stone just came out after the flush without any invasive surgery involved.  Another no longer had her gall bladder but so much bile came out from her liver. It means without that detox her liver who have suffered more.

 Everyone lost an average of 6-8 lbs during that overnight flush. By noontime we were all gathered in the hotel restaurant once again to partake of specially prepared healthy gourmet meal and have our ‘graduation’.

 Hmm if only food would be this good yet healthy at home I would never eat out Of course the chef would never share his recipe.

All our faces were surely glowing after removing so much toxins in our system.  The following day I went straight to asian hospital for my long delayed tests. I thanked the Lord that after four years of refusing any surgery or synthetic theraphy, my new OB said I no longer have any cyst in my ovaries!