Entree Kibbles: Spa Salon Galaxy Sài Gòn @ Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam]

Sunday, January 08, 2023

Spa Salon Galaxy Sài Gòn @ Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam]

A frequent traveler to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC); the Great Kon had been telling us about the spa treatment he always goes for whenever he is back at the economic capital of Vietnam. The first question on our mind? Is it a "dirty" kind of spa?

His response has always been "no lah"! And with that assurance, let's check out Spa Salon Galaxy Sài Gòn in District 1 on day one of our HCMC trip. While it was about 1.3 kilometers from Vien Dong Hotel, we opted to GRAB over as it was still drizzling.

Stepping in to the spa. If I recall correctly, Kon had already made reservations beforehand as there were four of us and it would not be time efficient if we were unable to secure enough slots.

Small waiting area! To be honest, it appeared to be quite a neighborhood entrance, without any grandeur, and both Alex and I did wonder if there would be any 'shady' business being conducted. Before you start your imagination running, there was none!

And from the numerous notices, it did seem that the spa had quite a sizeable clientele from Korea and Japan. One key takeaway from one of the notices; service price included tips! Maybe Thailand can learn something from it as it's an unwritten rule to give tips!

As part of the service, free drinks for your taking via the fridge! Aside from plain water, there were canned drinks like coca cola, sprite, coffee and bottled ones including lemon tea, oolong tea, apple tea, peach tea, minute maid etc.

Time to check out the menu. You may choose from six combos and the timing ranged from 90 minutes to 140 minutes. Basic services in each combo comprised of wash foot, shave, nail, body massage, shampoo and dry. I shall share the details of the combos at the end of this post.

We went with the basic Combo A and were brought to a dressing room where we changed into their in-house attire. See that rattan bags on the right? We would put all our belongings in it and carry it like an auntie!

The ultra comfortable, AIRism-like attire!

Next stop; the room with sofa chairs that can be folded back and turned into a bed. I did realize such chairs are getting popular in Thai massage parlors given the flexibility; can do foot massage and then also head, shoulder and back massages too.

Waiting for the services to begin. That's my auntie bag there. Instead of individual rooms, we were all clustered within the same room. Hence, confirmed no hanky-panky.

After a basic foot wash, it's manicure and pedicure time! The masseur assigned to me was very pretty; in fact, the rest said mine was the prettiest compared to theirs.

The massage from head to neck, with hot compress, and then followed by back, to hands and then legs. To be frank, her strength was a tad weak and while still alright for me; people like my mom who desire a harder massage, wouldn't be happy.

Face mask! Now, I usually don't enjoy spa because I have sensitive skin. Thank god, I didn't encounter any redness or sensitivity after this facial mask.

For me, this service would be the one reason why I would go for a Vietnamese spa. I was wondering why the lady was wearing a headgear with light, and then peering into my ears.

Ear cleaning was something I thoroughly enjoyed; and it's not as simple as using the metal ear pick. They have a set of ear-cleaning tools and to have to hear the scrapping so intimately was just out of the world! As this concerns safety, it's best to just stay still and enjoy the moment.

Never had my ears been this squeaky clean!

A queasy yet utterly satisfying experience.

Last massage that involved me lying face down and for the masseur to massage my back using her knees! And then for me to sit up and for her to use the feet to further massage my back! Pictures for the second part as I was done earlier.

Last part of the spa treatment; hair washing!

Close friends would know I don't shave my facial hair as I prefer to use a tweezer. Therefore, this would be one of the rare occasions for which I am entirely shaved with no stray hairs.

Alex was enjoying his shaving session since he has a lot more facial hair. So much that he had to shave on a daily basis whereas mine can be left untouched for a few days.

Don't the above give you the impression that we were in a mortuary with morticians working on us?! Quite a funny sight when I stepped out.

Taking the lift down. Directory for your reference; if you know how to read Vietnamese or Korean. For people who don't know, you can always rely on Google Translate!

Hair drying before we changed back into our clothes.

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Grabbing a bottle of oolong tea before leaving! In summary, it was an eye opener and there's absolutely no hanky, panky business. Only thing is that aside from the ear cleaning, I am not keen with the other aspects of the spa. For massage, I prefer Thai. Nevertheless, this only cost 500,000 Vietnamese dong, which was only about S$30. So, no complaint at all!

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