Burping masseuse anyone? As experienced at Mitra Sehat

As gross as it may sounds, I quite believe in the health benefits they confer. It's not a new form of massage, but more of the masseuse's personal belief of absorbing 'angin' or 'wind' from your body and getting rid of it through her body by means of belching, and I only see this being practised by Malay or Indonesian masseuse.

Initially I was quite skeptical when I heard of this. Like how does the 'angin' pass from one person to the other? Osmosis? Passive diffusion? Sounds pretty bizarre. Until my personal encounter at Mitra Sehat Wijaya. On that occasion, I asked for a strong masseuse (usually I go for medium but that day my backache was particularly bad) and boy was she good or what!

The long strokes that she used for deep tissue massage was applied with firm pressure (I like!) and she really worked those knots that i had at my shoulders and upper back. And of course, the belching that came along with the therapy. I never hear so much *burps* in my life! Every where her fingers touched, there was the proverbial *burp* until the foreign customer at the next stall was politely asking her masseuse "What's that sound?" Her masseuse, with a little giggle, explained "It's the 'angin.'" Thank God I did not bump into that customer after my session ended, because for sure I would die from embarrassment, by the amount of 'angin' my masseuse "released" from my body.

And how do I know whether it worked? Because I was backache free for a few good months, that's why.

Mitra Sehat Wijaya
Jl. Wijaya II
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta
Tel: +62-21 720 2121

These days, I tend to go to their newest branch at Gandaria City because it's nearer to home and I can amuse myself with the various retailers and grocery shopping after the massage. Just that, I haven't found my burping masseuse yet. ;)


p/s: Back in PJ, at where I normally go to for traditional Javanese massage at Lezen Healthcare in Damansara Perdana, the massage therapists here occasionally belch. There's a couple of pretty good therapists at this place and they are Indonesians. PM me if you are interested. :)