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By Perry Gil S. Mallari, Reporter
With Father’s Day looming, my editor thought
of a feature on pampering dads. I considered it a good idea—except
that I would be the one to pull it off.
I am a spa-virgin as well as a single-dad.
But though alternative healing methods are a
major interest, being pampered by strange hands has never been on
the mind of a no-nonsense guy. My idea of relaxation is holing up in
my room with a good book or an evening of practice with my martial
arts buddies. But in the name of good journalism I grudgingly
obliged to do the assignment.
On a Monday, while my mind was spinning on how I
will write two articles for Wednesday and pull off a last-minute
school supply shopping in the evening for my kid, I went to the
Institut Santre, in Jupiter Street in Makati.
Stepping into the interiors of Institut Santre
is in itself relaxing. The place is spick-and-span and its Oriental
aesthetics soothing to the eyes. The beautiful and serene Leia
Regala-Teodoro, the institute’s marketing director, warmly
received me. Teodoro explains that Institut Santre in the strictest
term is not a spa but rather a private sanctuary for men and women
that offer high-tech methods of reducing fat and weight both on the
face and body. The patented techniques she explains, collectively
known as Omnivital Therapy System, does not involve exercise, fad
diets, diet pills and surgery. And most of all they are guaranteed
safe and non-invasive. Teodoro also stresses that Institut Santre is
inculcating healthy living to its clients. In the roster of the
company’s satisfied clientele are Sen. Francis Escudero and
columnist Cito Beltran. “I was in good company,” I said to
myself.
With my interest whetted and my anxiety waning,
I was ushered to the treatment room where the therapist named Mitch
Alcantara was waiting. Noticing my anxiety, she assured me that I
would definitely find the experience relaxing and rejuvenating.
Indeed it was. For the next one and half hour, Alcantatra subjected
my face and upper body to a very meticulous pampering. In between
movements of her deft hands, she explained that the facial treatment
would reduce signs of aging and result to smoother skin. In addition
to the various coats of creams and serums (all soothingly cool) she
applied to my face, she also used a machine that uses
radio-frequency energy to induce new collagen production in my skin
to make it more elastic and youthful looking. But the good thing
about it is it doesn’t feel like a machine treatment at all but
rather two cold slice of cucumber gliding on your face. The massage
came in last and it was a blast. For a writer hunched over a
computer most of his waking hours, I have a constant tension on my
neck and shoulder muscles. The deep massage seemed to have untied my
knotted flesh in those areas. Needless to say I was deeply relaxed
and nearly dozed by the end of the treatment.
I emerged from Institut Santre refreshed and
with a clear head. That was still a helter-skelter day but I feel I
still have surplus energy in the evening. My editor asked the next
day how did my assignment turned out. “Well, I won’t mind doing
it again,” I replied with a smile.
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