Creatures of Habit

Some say we are creatures of habit, some more than others. Some of seem to have developed a certain rhythm or ritual on the weekends when everyone is in town (no market research trips across China or folks travelling back to the US).

It begins with Friday evenings going to a Belgian restaurant which seems to have the best steaks in the city. Often we actually opt for the Beef Stew with french fries and and endive salad. They know us well enough that we seem to get complimentary after dinner drinks out of nowhere. We then will either proceed to a bar, shopping at a market for DVDs or better yet the Foot Massage.
The foot massage is another great social experience. It is a good place to talk and drink (tea or beer) . The actual foot massage is not as I thought it would be. It begins with dipping your feet into a scalding concoction of who knows what type of herbs. Some of us require more cold water to be added to the bucket. Regardless our feet come out more tender and a nice shade of pink. Next the young rural migrant girls begin to "massage" your feet. Part of the massage entails "knuckling" the bottom arches of your feet with great pain. The girls like to see the expression on your face to determine if they are doing it hard enough. The 110 minute experience also includes a massage of each of your legs up to your hip (which is highly ticklish to some) and then a shoulder massage.
On Saturday's it seems that there are two activities to choose from. One is shopping and the other for now is snow skiing. Take your pick.......................

Then on Sundays for lunch we go to an all you can eat Japanese restaurant for $13. We gorge on sashimi, sushi, California rolls, a special fried rice dish, etc. Then it is off to wherever to complete the weekend.