Today we decided to have a boys day and a girls day. Paul and Vincent opted for beer and movies and sent us girls, me and Kelly, away to do something girly. Well Kelly and I had been researching Spas for a couple of days as this was our plan. We had found one in the Suzhou Industrial Park, SIP, which isn't as it sounds full of factories it's more like a retail and housing park. There was a fabulous man made lake on the way that was so big I asked Kelly if it was the sea. Actually we're not anywhere near the sea for that we'd have to drive a couple of hours!Well we got to the Spa and it was clear that this was the most expensive area of Suzhou. On entering the building we were given slippers and asked to remove our shoes. We went in and the ladies gave us an automatic locker key where we had to type in a number on the key pad and swipe the wristband key. It was looking fancy right from the start.We undressed and were guided to the showers where there was as much hot water as we liked and 3 types of shampoo and shower gel. In Pauls house there is precisely 3 minutes of hot water then it goes cold so these showers were a luxury. Not quite knowing what to do and not seeing anyone around we just washed slowly with each of the three shower gels and shampoos. We must have been in the shower for about 20 minutes when a lady came to scrub us. She did Kelly first and scrubbed us from head to toe with a rough flannel then what I assume was a sea salt exfoliating scrub. Then we went to the sauna. We were brought cold flannels for our faces and cups of cold water at regular intervals which was very nice and we were able to chat for ages too. Kelly told me about her job teaching English in China and I told her about teaching in England, oh of course we talked about the boys! After about 15 minutes we decided we were cooked so we had another shower and were lead to a dressing table where there was creams and lotions and conditioners for our hair. We tried out most of these between us and dried our hair. We thought that might be it as we were guided back to our lockers, but this was only the beginning. We were given little shorts and t-shirt type pyjamas then guided through the luxurious building past little bubbling ponds and up some stairs. The whole place was well heated so we didn't get cold and apart form one lady in a dressing gown we didn't see any other customers. The top floor seemed to consist of an area like a restaurant and several rooms like in a hotel. We were guided to a room and inside were two double beds and a huge flat screen TV. Kelly translated that we could rest here and that the room was ours for 12 hours. Well we were told by the boys to be at least 4 hours so we settled onto the plush beds and relaxed. After a minute there was a discrete tap at the door and a man came in to ask if we were hungry, apparently all the things on the menu were included in the price. The menu was a bit odd boasting instant noodles as its main dish, but we got some as we forgot to have lunh and we also ordered a plate of fruit each. No sooner than the waiter had gone another lady came in to give massages. She gave me the best massage I have had in years. It was rough as anything and she certainly knew what she was doing stretching out muscles and kneading away all my knots whilst saying about a hundred times how long my eyelashes were. The food arrived and we started to pick at it when another lady arrived to give Kelly a foot massage. She was a sweet Chinese girl who chatted loads to Kelly. Then another girl arrived, it was luxury indeed. She made me lie on the bed and turned my head to one side then, rather randomly, cleaned my ears! It felt very strange especially as I had no idea what was going on, were my ears particularly dirty? Was this standard practice in a Chinese Spa? I still have no idea!She then gave me a foot rub too and we lay back and enjoyed the random Chinese game show on TV.After a while the waiter came back and offered us cake! Well who can refuse cake. Feeling totally relaxed and decadent we decided to check the time and phone the boys - we had been nearly 4 and a half hours! What I didn't know was that Kelly had spoken to Paul when we first though we were done and told him we'd be home soon. We finally came back to the flat after over 5 hours very relaxed and smelling like, as my granddad would say, ladies night in a Turkish bath J They were very glad to have us back after so long and only a bit cross Kelly had told them we'd be home 3 hours before!The whole experience cost us all the money Paul had given us but it was totally worth it and we hope to go again when I get a job and can afford it.