Amaranthus Garden

Avs and I went to Jickong's at Torres yesterday for a much-needed reprieve from stress and from life in general. We decided to forego our usual Generoso and opted to drink Redhorse. We also ordered a plate of their own take on Buffalo Wings, which was admittedly very good. As usual we splurged on their teeny weeny barbecue.

To cap the night off, we went to Amaranthus Garden - Massage and Spa. I tried to research what Amaranthus is and I discovered that it is a herb. Whether they use it extensively in this place, I wasn't able to find out.

Formerly, this was called Refresh and it was, and probably still is, known for the extra services that their handsome masseurs offer. I'd be lying if I say I haven't tried these extra services, although they are but a few and far in between. I won't also say that I didn't like them. However it has always been plain obvious to me that these kind of things are there because one encourages it. Therefore, if one doesn't want these things. then one can right off the bat set the expectations he has for what services he require. I don't think there is a need here to launch into a social dissection of poverty in this third world country and how it had forced people to go into offering these kind of "immoral" services, the term immoral meriting another round of heavy discussion on its own. I'd rather take the middle road and say you pursue what you want and you pay what is due somebody.

There are still a handful of massage/spa parlors in this city even at this ungodly hour but I can definitely say the massage in this place is good. My masseur was a cute (build-wise as well) guy named JP. I was pleasantly surprised he knows how to put pressure on where it feels the best. He did tease me, and I allowed him but if it was based solely on the message, I'd give him a rating of eight out of ten. What this means is I'll be back there again to unwind and relax, even not necessarily have these extra services. A returning female client, while we were paying for our "Dream Massage" at a very affordable P250, told me that Angelo (aka Takao) and Ricky were two of the most requested. I'll definitely keep those names in mind.

Amaranthus Garden is open 24 hours a day and is located at corner Porras and Palma Gil Street, Obrero, Davao City. For reservations and home services, they can be contacted at (082)3044571 and 09173721716. They also have their own blog at amaranthus-garden.blogspot.com.