The Perfect Day

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manicure_pedicure.jpg

The Perfect Day

by

Julie D Cole

‘Oh what a Perfect Day…… The song was echoing around my apartment loudly from my new Bose unit. The old songs take some beating and I looked at the choice in front of me on the hundreds of CD’s I’d purchased for remarkable prices.

But this is China and CD and DVD’s are a fraction of the prices I pay in UK. Who cares about carrying them home to risk large fines. Just enjoy here in Shanghai and have a Perfect Day.

I looked out over my balcony and it was nice to see ex-pat families around the swimming pool. Often an ex pat with a beautiful young Asian wife and they seemed just as happy as there overweight balding husbands who must have felt they’d won the lottery.

Such beautiful Asian girls with figures and soft skin to die for. Such silky hair and natural tans.

I looked at my legs poking through my shorts and my arms and chest. Yes they looked better for the Saturday morning treatment I’d spared myself. I rubbed in some skin cream hoping it was a magic cream that would create the Asian effect. Blast didn’t work again. Still I felt good and if this was as good as it gets I couldn’t complain. At least I could be myself at weekends and no need to cover up and be a man.

The song finished so I picked up the remote and pressed the back button to play it again. Yes play it again Sam it is a perfect day for a walk in the sunshine and to walk out and take a coffee and read the weekend edition of Shanghai Daily whilst watching the world go by and admiring the cute young butts in the tiniest shorts and the flowing long black locks of hair. Even the European girls in this area of Shanghai called the French Quarter are like models. Maybe it’s the competition from the young local girls and their attempts to keep their men.

So off I went in shorts and top and sandals with a shoulder bag over my shoulder feeling more like one of the girls rather than a hairy masculine brute. Just walking and feeling feminine was nice and I felt different. Nobody knows me much so I could take feminine steps and be one of the girls. Now that could be a story when I get back and I might even post it. I was sure I could write a few chapters and write another story about my experiences.

I bought my copy of Shanghai Daily. Not that it was like buying The Times or the Telegraph in UK with lots of sections and weekend supplements but enough of a paper to look at and peer over whilst drinking my Americano at Costa Coffee. It was compact and only a few pages. I didn’t need to cut holes to see passers by like I would have needed with the Observer. It is just an excuse to sit and look down Anfu Lu at the wonderful sights and dream on. Lu means Street in Chinese and this street is an oaisis in the middle of Shanghai with small shops and several small restaurants, bread sops, two small International supermarkets and hair salons, wine shops, a French style coffee shop with ‘real’ French bread baked from imported flour. It had ‘Dragonfly’ that was a nice salon for massages or pedicures with regular Yoga classes attracting young ladies and some mature ones too.

Yes as I took the first sip this was like being in paradise. I crossed my legs and put my change in my purse and looked around me to see several women chatting and taking advantage of this paradise.

Once I’d read the headlines and looked at what was on the TV channels this weekend I was pretty much finished with the newspaper although to be fair I’ve read quite a few good articles and features about areas of Shanghai and the surrounding area. Still it was a good excuse to soak up some sunshine and tan the arms and legs a bit I had to take care since it was easy to get sunburn and sunstroke with the intensity of the sun. I needed a had from the street vendor passing by with a converted tricycle that hardly looked strong enough for the load. Hats and baseball caps of every shape and size. I looked in his cracked mirror. Yes this was perfect. OK it was a womens cap that was almost the same as a mens baseball cap but lots of women wear mens caps so why not?

Back to my small table and my coffee. I’d just spent $1 on the hat so I could afford another coffee and even a nice croissant. This was indeed like being in Europe and who could blame me for wanting to stay on and work out here. Lot’s thought I was looking for a Chinese girlfriend but really I just liked the chance to be far away and to be me. Who cares if I sit like a lady or behave in a feminine way when I’m surrounded by 25 million people in Shanghai. Who would even know me here.

Where to next? I felt like walking and looking in shop windows and even brousing. I can look around the ladies wear as well as the mens wear and visit my favourite mens shop to pick out something for him. I could visit the watch shop and have a new battery fitted in the ladies Rolex I’d bought that had stopped. You’d think a battery would last at lease 12 months when you’ve spent $15 on a new Rolex.

I looked in the fresh vegetable shop and decided to call on my way back from wherever this stroll was taking me. Lots of wonderful tfruit and vegetables so no wonder I could keep my slim figure. No wonder Chinese girls are so slim. Nothing here to worry about. Pure goodness and high quality.

I was feeling really girly today so I crossed the road and headed to a shop that sold mainly sleepwear and under garments. I’d had my eye on some bombshell highwaist briefs in black lace material and some body shapers. There were two Chinese ladies who owned the shop and one spoke English. Broken English of course but enough for us to communicate. I selected sizes that I thought were equivalent to UK 16 classed as LL or double large. I was sure she suspected that these were for me but who cares. Who dares wins at the end of the day and this was supposed to be my perfect day.

My courage increased. I spent at least an hour looking at a variety of items as well as the briefs and body shapers. It cost me the equivalent of $30 for something approaching 20 individual underwear items that would occupy most of this evening once I’d showered and removed the last traces of body hair.

So with a nice large plastic carrier bag so obviously from a ladies underwear shop.

I crossed the road again with the bag hanging from my arm almost broadcasting what was inside. I ran with small steps to avoid a crazy motor cyclist with 3 passengers and a large box on the back out of which a dogs head appeared to bark at me. Maybe this was his horn.

Into the shoe shop but not to the mens shoes on the left side but the right side. Yes the right side for what I wanted today. Some heels and some nice comfy ballet shoes that were very much in vogue and I was desperate to wear around the apartment instead of my furry slippers. I had no fear today after spending an hour buying underwear. This was a breeze. She knew these were for me and kept trying to persuade me to buy more pairs. ‘Look I only have two arms and no car.’
She didn’t understand or didn’t care to hear.

So that was another $20 but money well spent.

So now for the last port of call before I headed back to buy vegetables and milk. I’d promised myself a foot massage.

This was a flower shop from first view but easily visible were several seats for manicures and pedicures and 2 armchairs that were vacant and where the feet massages were carried out. They took my bags and sat me down offering me green tea that I gladly accepted.

I tried to communicate but beyond saying hello in Chinese it soon became difficult and I reverted to broken English.

I looked at the price list and what appeared to be the ‘Special Offers’ and with a bit of finger pointing and thumbs up I settled on what I assumed to be a foot massage with oil in the water and a pedicure.

I settled back in the armchair and soon a tub appeared that was filled with warm water from a giant electric kettle that had been plugged in at the other side of the shop. In went some oils and then some petals. Two young Chinese girls were watching whilst their mother was sitting having a manicure. A second lady arrived for her manicure and soon the other armchair was occupied by an Italian lady who smiled and appeared a little surprised to see me. I guess I’d entered womans territory and maybe I had no right to be there. But as far as the owners were concerned I had two feet the same as them so I was a sale.

I wasn’t sure what the petals did but the oil certainly softened the skin. The beautiful Chinese girl who was assigned to me then started to massage each of my feet in turn. She found some pressure points and seemed to release a lot of stress before pulling on each of my toes and it felt as if some tiny charges of electricity were jumping from my toes to her fingers. I wiggled each toe in appreciation.

Next she cut my toenails and removed the hard skin from different parts of my feet. I felt like I’d dropped a shoe size by the time she finished and the underside of my feet were very sensitive to her touch that tickled. I was enjoying the experience very much and liked this environment. I was served more green tea and I closed my eyes and day dreamed about doing this more regularly and even daring to have a leg and arm wax rather than shaving. I’d love to even tan my legs so they looked as good in shorts as some of the young Asian girls parading about in ultra short shorts.

Little Iris who was working on my feet then attended to my toenails to remove hard skin and cuticles and gradually I felt that my feet changed sex from male to female. She gently lowered each one back into the water and massaged them topping up the basin with some warm water. She then massaged my head that was quite a surprise and I realised it was part of the special deal.

That just made me fall into a nice sleep where I knew what was going on around me but I didn’t want it to stop so I refused to open my eyes. She dried my left foot and started work on it again. I opened my eyes to see that she was applying a clear protective varnish. By placing cotton wool pads between my toes the varnish was allowed to dry whilst she worked on my other foot.

When she finished my feet looked quite spectacular. I stood up and put on my sandals. They felt quite different and it was like walking on air. I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment to try the new shoes and see how they felt with two new feet.

Rather than pay and leave I was then escorted to one of the manicure stations and persuaded to sit down. I realised that the other part of the ‘special’ was a manicure. ‘No no I can’t. No manicure needed.’

It was in the price so all I got back was a blank quizzical look. So I looked around. Who is going to say anything or poke fun at me? So I sat back and accepted. It was a different experience to the pedicure and involved applying two coats of varnish and the nails were dried under small heaters. I had a choice of colour for the second coat and amused myself looking at the wide variation available. I’d be removing it anyway tomorrow so I went for salmon pink. Wow even though my nails weren’t really long they’d been shaped and now they looked positively feminine like my feet. I felt like I’d been in a wonderland and entered male but was leaving female.

I tried to offer a tip but it was refused. They wanted me to visit again so I was given a card and a discount card.

I gathered my belongings and headed to the vegetable shop where I selected a variety of fruits and green vegetables that would help my 5 a day plan. Avacado Lady who owned the shop that was so popular with ex pats was her usual helpful self. She immediately noticed my hands and made a point of fussing over my fingernails that was a bit embarrassing. Still it was nice to be complemented. I could get used to this.

Even though I had bags a plenty I decided to walk the longer route back to my apartment. It felt like I was walking on air and my feet were so soft.

I dropped the bags and since it was so warm I decided to change to a pair of swimming trunks, added a pair of my briefest shorts and a shirt and headed to the pool.

After two or three lengths I managed 30 minutes sun bathing before the sun disappeared behind the next apartment block.

I didn’t hide my nails and put on a dressing gown whilst I brushed my hair. I felt as good as some of the beautiful girls around the pool. I was so happy.

I headed back to my apartment and laid out my new underwear on the bed before switching on my Bose unit again.

Back to ‘A perfect Day’ and off to shower before I would return refreshed to spend the perfect evening as I did most Saturdays starting with selecting an outfit to match my new nails.

Jules

PS : Inspired by Drea today and just to show what some of us do to stop us biting our nails.

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Comments

Perfect!

Andrea Lena's picture

...if only in my dreams! Thank you!

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Thanks Drea

For giving me the inspiration and chance to reflect on the delights of a pedicure.
Hugs

Jules

Thank you Julie,

You have made this 'old ducks' Sunday so much better,
you have a rare gift,making me feel good about myself.
Thank you soooo much!

ALISON

Ninety percent true story

So I'm very happy you liked it. All the places are real. Only the flowers are imitation. I do like to make you feel good because it makes writing stories so enjoyable.
Jules

Jules

What a nice story :D

I liked seeing hte happiness of this person but.. one thing that confused me. Why was the currency in dollars? Did this person transfer pounds into dollars or is that the only currency that works in china?

I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D

It's a Wonderful Place

It is a place where we can be whoever we like and maybe the climate and large number of ex pats helps. We pay in local currency that is rmb. $ is common and $10 is 60 rmb. Roughly divide rmb by 10 to get pounds. In the story I used $ because it gives some idea of value. It's becoming a great venue for younger ex pats to settle.
It's easy to get rmb these days and most credit cards are accepted. Lots of ATM machines and banks in abundance.
It's a paradise.
Jules

Jules

Nicely done Jules!

Love the nails, if only .................. ahh some day (sigh). Hugs, Taarpa

A place to find some peace if not paradise...

As a pastor of 30+, I have pastored of befriended enough x-pats, even know one or two in Thailand. Don't know if you are one of them. The the attitude when one finds their paradise and knowing to go for it fits your story. That softer side like scars that don't show, finding a place to express itself, if for nothing more than one's own pleasure. Congratulations on a perfect day.

JessieC

Jessica E. Connors

Jessica Connors