When I was living in NYC my sister came to visit from California and insisted on getting a massage in Chinatown. We went to this “spa” that the person who sold us knock offs told us about. It was through an almost alley, had no sign but a bright red door.

It seemed sketchy as hell and since the sun was setting I was telling my Sis that we should probably not be in that area. She’s full Asian and I’m half so she’s like stop tripping these are OUR people. When we finally got buzzed in and went down the stairs there was a wall sized fish tank that looked super expensive. We could hear a bunch of women scrambling around. My sister seemed oblivious to all of this and was telling the “receptionist” an older Chinese woman that she wanted a deep tissue massage. Lmfao they seemed so confused but finally a big and tall Chinese guy came to the front and took her back for a massage. I sat in the lobby and watched a bunch of men coming and going.

When we left my sister said it was the best massage she ever got. The guy was formerly a massager for the Chinese Olympic team. She still talks about it to this day. I’m always like “ You know that was a brothel right?!”