Doro’s Day Off: Recovery (Massage, Cruffin, & Shabu Shabu)
Last week, I poured 150% of myself into showing up for others and I forgot to show up for myself. Between my dad’s birthday dinner, sitting on a virtual panel, dinner with a friend, a day-long branding workshop, and having contractors at my apartment for 3 days straight, I was completely spent. Even my backup tank was empty. I realized that I needed some self-love and quality solo-time this weekend, so I booked a body oil massage, treated myself to a cruffin, and indulged in some shabu shabu as a tried and true comfort food for a rainy Vancouver day.
During our last counselling session, my therapist pointed out that when I’m not at my best, my patience is one of the first things to go. I’m annoyed at the fact that I have to shower and I can’t believe that my apartment won’t clean itself. I was so frustrated and on auto-pilot last week week that I didn’t notice these unhealthy behaviours until I stopped doing them.
Recovery comes in many forms and this week, it looked like a massage, a cruffin, and shabu shabu.
stop #1: body oil massage at enhance arts aesthetics & spa
Enhance Arts Aesthetics & Spa is a beauty bar and spa where your aesthetic and wellness needs can be met under one roof. Located in Olympic Village, Enhance Arts offers lash extensions, dermaplaning facials, oil massages, reflexology, and much more. I was particularly impressed by their hours: 10am-10pm, 7 days a week. Gone are the days where you have to block off a chunk of your weekend for self-care or call in sick so you can get your lashes lifted. Imagine being able to sneak out for a massage once your kids are in bed or in between work calls!
If I lived in Olympic Village (#manifest), I would be a regular. Even though I live in Burnaby, I still feel the regular vibes tingling…
According to my timesheet, I worked 50+ hours last week and have been really bad at stretching/ moving during the workday due to the sheer volume of work. I opted for a body oil message because I needed the stillness. I needed to stop. And we all know that when I’m left to my own devices, my idea of stopping is a 5 minute meditation on the Skytrain from Lagree West to Chambar. An 85 minute massage forced me to stop.
Merle, my massage therapist, called me a textbook case of an office worker and I laughed, because that is ultimately what led me here in the first place.
The massage and space was wonderful, but their tea was divine. Made with goji berries and snow fungus, Enhance’s housemade elixir tea is the perfect combination of sweetness, fruitiness, and serenity! I drank some before and after my massage and it was the perfect way to end my treatment.
What I ordered: 85 min body oil massage ($129)
Housemade elixir tea made with goji berries and snow fungus at Enhance Arts Aesthetics & Spa
The beautiful front desk space at Enhance Arts Aesthetics & Spa
stop #2: cruffin & hot cocoa at nemesis
It was pouring rain but as I rarely find myself in Olympic Village/ Mount Pleasant, I decided that the next logical thing to do was to amble for 15 minutes in the rain to Nemesis Great Northern Way (GNW) for a cruffin. A cruffin is the delightful child of a croissant and a muffin. Perfectly baked with flaky layers, a filling whipped from the heavens, and topped with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, a cruffin is undoubtedly my favourite treat. (Un)fortunately, I don’t live within walking distance of a Nemesis and they are usually sold out by the time I can make it to the coffee shop, so they are a true treat.
I treated myself to a pistachio white chocolate cruffin and an oat milk hot cocoa. I originally ordered a decaf duet (cortado and Americano) but they ran out of decaf, so I settled for the next best non-caffeinated drink.
I enjoyed my delicious treats with a side of people watching as I dug into a new book, 1924: The Year that Made Hitler, by Peter Ross Range. Believe it or not, I was a bit of a history buff during high school and actually took AP US History. Objectively, European and Asian history are more fascinating, but my high school didn’t offer AP European History, so here we are.
What I ordered:
Pistachio white chocolate cruffin: pistachio cremeux, topped with white chocolate chip, ground pistachios ($6)
Oat milk hot cocoa ($6: $5 + $1 for oat milk)
Oat milk hot cocoa and pistachio white chocolate cruffin at Nemesis Coffee/ Dope Bakehouse
Pistachio white chocolate cruffin (pistachio cremeux, topped with white chocolate chip, ground pistachios) at Nemesis Coffee/ Dope Bakehouse
Short rib combo with udon and wintermelon juice at Gokudo Shabu Shabu
stop #3: shabu shabu at gokudo shabu shabu
After two major letdowns at two very highly Italian rated restaurants (more to come another day, but even my non-foodie friends were disappointed, and that says a lot) over the last week, your girl needed something solid and reliable. Gokudo Shabu Shabu is about as reliable as it gets, with great service, fresh food, and the ultimate countertop seating situation for solo diners.
Shabu shabu is a Japanese individual hot pot dish consisting of thinly sliced meat, seafood, and vegetables boiled in water, which are served with various dipping sauces. The food is cooked piece by piece by the diner at the table, so your meal arrives uncooked.
Hot pot is one of my favourite meals as I love being able to control the doneness of my beef and the order in which I eat. With that said, having to cook your meal yourself isn’t for everyone, especially the extra hungry folks who just want to eat right away. Despite demolishing a cruffin and hot chocolate prior to dinner, I finished 99% of my food (I’m not a fan of baby corn so I didn’t eat that) and left as happy as a clam!
What I ordered:
Short rib slice (7oz) combo with chicken broth, udon, and wintermelon juice ($17.95 base + $5.99 to make it a combo) - check out the menu below!
All in all, this was exactly what I needed to recover before tackling another week. I need to build rest, recovery, and maintenance into my schedule so that I don’t crash and end up in situations like this again. I feel like I have mini-burnout episodes every 3 months and it’s just not a sustainable way to live.
Guess I know what I’m discussing with my therapist at our next session…
Brb, off to process my feels.
