Nice Massage with My Son

A relaxing weekend sports massage, an honest local experience, and a little time to let our tired bodies breathe.

1. Weekend Rituals and Korean Bathhouse Memories

Before showers became common in Korean homes, people would visit a public bathhouse once a week, soak in the hot water, soften their skin, and scrub it clean.

Escaping everyday life, traveling, and enjoying hobbies have not been ordinary parts of daily life in Korea for very long.

Dining out, meeting people, and visiting the bathhouse are moments that remain in my memory like old stories.

I think about going to a bathhouse when my body feels heavy and stiff and I find myself thinking, “I need to go loosen up my body.”

A Korean body scrub and massage at a bathhouse are very effective for relaxing tight muscles and relieving fatigue.

It is Yuni’s number-one recommendation because it is what I enjoy most and find most effective.

At the bathhouse, I tell the body-scrub attendant my locker-key number so she can write it on her board. When my turn comes, I first get a body scrub and then receive a massage to loosen up my body. At this stage, I can choose between a regular massage and an aroma massage.

Every attendant has a different massage style and uses different products, but after leaving my body in their hands for about 30 to 40 minutes, I feel incredibly refreshed.

2. My First Nice Massage Visit in Yangju

I also occasionally visit a massage shop to relieve fatigue and loosen tight muscles.

I had injections in my shoulders and neck at the hospital and thought I was feeling a little better, but then the signs did not seem good.

When I told my older son, he said he had booked a nearby sports massage shop for the weekend.

It happened just after I had introduced gyeongrak massage, one of Korea’s best-known beauty treatments, so that was my immediate reaction.

Yuni’s K-Beauty Guide What Is Korean Gyeongrak Massage? Discover how Korean facial contour care works and what travelers should know. Read more →

This was my first visit to a sports massage shop since moving to Yangju.

The shop’s name was Nice Massage.

My son said he booked it because the reviews were good.

While we waited, I had an enjoyable conversation with the owner.

We talked about things I was curious about, including sports massage.

Some customers happened to be leaving after their massages. According to the owner, one customer had traveled from Pocheon and visited two days in a row. Another was a woman who worked at the Prime Minister’s Office and had brought her mother.

Watching friends receive massages together, make their next appointments, and leave made the shop feel trustworthy. It felt like we were about to receive a truly “nice” massage. Ha-ha.

My son and I had reserved a couple room. The weekend sale price was 50,000 won per person for 60 minutes.

I also liked that the price was genuinely affordable.

The shop operates a prepaid system that allows customers to receive bonus credit. I had often seen weekday specials, but I had never seen a weekend special, so I was surprised. For people who only have free time on weekends, however, Nice Massage could not be more convenient!

Nice Massage is a small shop, but I was told that it has around six sports massage therapists.

Some are Korean and some are Chinese. Traditional Chinese massage can be excellent, so I often have a positive impression when I hear that a therapist is Chinese.

While waiting, I looked around the small shop.

The shower room and private room for customers were both neatly prepared and waiting for guests.

Because I was with my son, we entered the couple room.

Our Full-Body Sports Massage Experience

Before the massage began, the therapists asked whether there were any areas that were particularly uncomfortable.

Most of my son’s work and mine is done on computers, so we have neck-disc problems and forward-head posture. Sigh….

We explained that this caused shoulder pain, neck pain, lower-back pain, and headaches.

Among all the painful areas, we received focused care on the neck, shoulders, and back, where the discomfort was most severe.

I thought the therapist would work only on the areas I had requested, but she divided the time and also applied pressure to my arms, legs, and feet.

My shoulders made little cracking sounds. As she applied pressure, the therapist told Yuni, who already knew the condition was bad, “This is serious.” I could feel how much care she was putting into the massage.

Whenever the therapist asked, “Does it hurt?” it did hurt, but I did not say so because the refreshing feeling was so satisfying.

4. Why We Want to Return

My son occasionally goes for massages, and he also liked this one because he felt it was clearly different from other massages.

There have been several times when a poorly performed massage left my neck and shoulders hurting even more afterward, but this made me think, “I should receive this regularly!”

Yuni was also very satisfied with Nice Massage, so when I returned home, I began preaching about it to my partner.

I had been receiving manual therapy once in the first half and once in the second half of every year. Even with private medical-expense insurance, however, the cost can sometimes feel burdensome.

(I will explain Korea’s government-supported medical services in more detail later.)

Manual therapy is short and professional, so it focuses only on the areas that need treatment.

Of course it is effective. Even Yuni’s bowed, O-shaped legs became somewhat straighter through manual therapy.

Considering the cost, value, and everyday maintenance, I thought it might be good to relax pressure points and tight muscles like this about twice a month.

Six years ago, Yuni also worked hard on a Naver blog, but it has been paused because everyday life became too busy.

I was so satisfied that I felt I had to post information about Nice Massage on that blog, even though I no longer know whether anyone still visits it.

The owner also gave us a generous three hours of parking, so we were able to have lunch nearby afterward.

We talked about the massage throughout the entire meal. There are so many massage shops in Korea, but most of them feel much the same!

My son was proud that his mother was satisfied, and I was equally pleased that my son had enjoyed it. It was a satisfying time for both of us.

A Weekend in Yangju

Meet Yuni Discover Korea through Yuni’s local stories and everyday experiences. Read more →

There are so many places to visit, see, and eat near Yangju.

Campgrounds, cafés, historic sites, and good restaurants.

If you are planning a trip to Yangju, let your body visit heaven for a little while with a 60-minute weekend session at Nice Massage.

I should also work hard on preparing more posts about Yangju.