Suds and Mud at Sense of Self in Melbourne Bathhouse

I finally went to the bathhouse. Sense of Self in Collingwood, the one I have wanted to go to for years and postponed roughly one hundred times, always for the most forgettable reasons. A busy Sunday. Maybe next month.

Today I actually went to the bathhouse on very little sleep and a hazelnut liqueur hangover.

The hangover needs explaining. Jik is here.

She arrived yesterday, which makes today day two if we are going by the journal date. So far, we have chit-chatted about, in no particular order: the new neighbour Charlotte, their wedding plans, her study plans, house-buying, Australian citizenship, and therapy. Mine, hers and Vegan Chef.

We also drank a whole bottle of Frangelico. A whole one. Between two people. Then we ordered Uber Eats, dosa for her and upma for me, and snacked on cheese, fruit and chocolate in between, which I have decided to count as a balanced meal.

She also got me an eye pillow. A wheat bag one, lavender infused. The kind of gift that says I know you, and I know you are not sleeping.

Which is how we ended up awake at 6 am, waiting for a man named Usman to drive us to Collingwood.

At the last minute, I decided to splurge on the Suds and Mud kit and Jik’s treat.

Best decision.

Box number one: the black soap. You sit inside the hammam (or, as white people call it, the steam room) and you put it all over your body. All over. It smelled like something old and slightly bitter, and I was into it immediately.

Then you rinse. With cold water.

I struggled. I have never been a cold-water person, and standing there, gasping in a very beautiful tiled room, did not convert me.

Still, I love love love bathhouse.

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