Where: The Renewal Day Spa, G/F Printing House, 6 Duddell Street, Central (tel: 2973-6669). It's called 'The Rustic Retreat', which seems a bit strange for a place in Central, but through the frosted glass doors is a different world: terracotta floors, soothing piped tunes and a labyrinth of sweet, small but sumptuous treatment rooms. Because of the multitude of clothes-off spa treatments, it's closed for men during the day. They get to sample the grandeur after 6pm, on Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday.
Why: Thai massage is a robust, fairly physical therapy that is supposed to relax, refresh and revitalise. It is said to improve circulation, increase flexibility and mobility, and boost both immune system and energy levels. A bit of pain, plenty of gain. It originated in India more than 2000 years ago as a way to heal sick monks, and was further developed in Thailand. It combines the principles of yoga and Chinese acupressure (which work on the body's 108 pressure points). In theory, it is performed while the recipient is in a meditative state and induces a feeling of 'metta' (loving kindness). The loved-up part was a bit difficult for this creaking, tight-muscled first-timer, and I spent a lot of time concentrating on not crying out.
Who: The spa's resident Thai masseuse is Nid. She trained at the Thai Traditional Massage School of Wat Po, Bangkok. Using her feet, knuckles, elbows and palms, she quickly works out the problem areas: 'Bad blood circulation, too much alcohol, lymph glands don't work properly, you don't sleep enough, you don't relax enough.' Then - ouch - sets to work.
What: You lie on a mat on the floor as Nid gives you a one- or two-hour head-to-toe workover. She gently rocks and rhythmically kneads, working muscles and joints, stretching your body one way and then the other. She pulls you over her back. It hurts as joints that seem to have been asleep for years are jolted into life. But it's a pleasant sort of pain. 'You frightened of me?' Nid asked playfully as I flinched.
The result: As a first-timer, Nid said I wasn't relaxed enough to get the full effects of the massage: even so, after a one-hour session, I felt as supple and bouncy as a teenager. And, as she predicted, I slept like a baby that night.
The bottom line: A one-hour massage is $780, two hours $1,380.