Do Not Tumble

I don't quite understand facials. Why pay the equivalent of several tubes of face wash, for a stranger to scrub and knead your face? Don't you trust yourself to give it a decent clean?

Ah, today I went for one, after a break of nearly a year. And it dawned on me that facials are not about face washing at all. They are about princessdom. To lie there without moving a muscle, listen to soft music and have your tired body slowly and tenderly tended back to its glowing state.

God knows I needed the break. After all, it's been a real rough week. I've been working from a.m. to a.m. trying to finish a hellishly long feature. It started out as kind of fun, but after a while, it got lonely and depressing.

Feels like I been stretched and tumbled and wringed through the washing cycle. Thank goodness, it's almost the finish line. (Joy!) After the said facial and a huge sashimi meal, things are looking better.

We found - OK, we read about in the Business Times - a Japanese restaurant of astonishing quality in the old Meridien at Changi Village. It's housed in an ultra mod space (think Hotel W), is strangely named Ryan's but serves excellent Japanese menu stalwarts. Who would imagine that sleepy Changi Village can yield such a gem?

Hey, I wouldn't mind doing a long feature on Japanese restaurants in way-out locations...