It’s LaQua, Darling

Sunday

After staying up late for the yukata party, I slept in on Sunday. I had decided I was going to check out one of the “superspas” in Tokyo to try to get someone to get the knots out of my neck and back. When I mentioned it to Yuki, she recommended the LaQua spa located in the Tokyo Dome complex. She decided to join me there for a girlie spa day.

On the way to meet her, Doug called me on the mobile. Crystal clear reception! Unfortunately, I was on the subway platform waiting for the train so we only talked for a couple of minutes before I had to board. Now that I think of it, I wonder if I still would have had reception on the train. Next time, I’ll conduct and experiment.

The Tokyo Dome (home of the Giants!) is another of those large Japanese mall complexes that I’ve seen all over Tokyo and Osaka. There is a small amusement park in the center featuring a huge roller coaster and several other attractions that I don’t find attractive. The shopping mall has a few cute shops in it, including LUSH, an import from the UK and one of my faves.

The spa is located inside the mall complex and is really more like a small city than a spa. After Yuki and I stored our shoes in the lockers provided, we went to the main desk and were given wristbands coded with a unique number. LaQua operates on a cashless system, so you don’t have to carry your wallet around with you while you’re in the spa. Of course, this makes it easier to rack up purchases at the juice bar and gift shop! Once inside, we were given relaxation garments in our choice of cellblock H gray or operation desert storm taupe. I chose the taupe in a respectable size medium, which I had to exchange for a large a few minutes later. Truth be told, I could have used an extra-large, but my pride got in they way. So I sausaged myself into the cropped pants and empire wait tunic.

Instead of the typical zen tranquility piped into most NYC spas, LaQua was more like a beehive. Everyone was busily trying to attain ultimate relaxation. There were a few people actually running, naked, through the locker room. It was unnerving. Once we were out of the locker room, people did seem more relaxed and less hunted. That was a good sign.

On the main floor of the spa there were two restaurants, a relaxation section with reclining chairs and individual flat screen TVs, an oxygen room (no TVs, just a lot of gas), a movie theatre (Now Playing: Empire Records, starring Liv Tyler!), and the spa service area. I signed up for a 20-minute shiatsu and Yuki opted for reflexology. After our massages and a light lunch, we headed up to the Ladies’ Only bath area. The men have their own area.

The bathing area was immense with about 6 or 7 baths to choose. We hopscotched from the sulfur baths to the Jacuzzi, the steam room to the cold plunge just to check everything out. There were hundreds of woman there who all had the same idea, but there was always room for one or two more in each bath. The Japanese have an innate sense of fairness when it comes to taking turns. The outdoor baths were lovely, even though we could hear the accasional screams of terror form the roaring jet-tu co-su-ta outside. There was a band on the flat-screen TV in the sauna wearing mariachi costumes and singing “Livin’ La Vida Loca” in Japanese. Sorry, pervs, no photos from the day. But here's one I nicked from their website.

I think that the reason that this place had a totally different vibe from a typical spa is that the people seemed to come, kids and all, for a full day of leisure, almost like going to the beach. They read, watched TV, surfed the internet, snoozed, noshed, bathed, and called it a day. It’s not about the therapeutic massage or pampering spa services. It’s just something to do on a Sunday afternoon. And for the entrance fee of $25 per person, it’s probably one of the least expensive things to do in Tokyo.

After we had sufficiently soaked, Yuki and I went out separate ways. I decided to check out the international supermarket to see if I could solve my ongoing food crisis. I think I may have a plan. I bought a few delicious-looking pre-cooked meals and stuffed them into the shoe-box size freezer in my apartment. I’ll report back on that later. [And, for those of you who continue to suggest that I actually try to cook for real, I must ask: Do you not know me at all? I don’t know what half the stuff in the supermarket is when the labels are in English. Can you imagine the level of puzzlement when I’m looking at a shelf full of containers that are labeled in Kanji? And the stuff in the meat/fish area? Is it meat or fish? And why is it staring at me? Please.]

Price check: five hours at spa, including massage, water, and tea: $57.00; small watermelon at the “international supermarket”: $27.00