Later, in my teenage years, my mother finally coaxed me into a jade igloo-shaped sauna—a hanjungmak.spamystique.juvenexspa., fifth floor; 646/733-1330; www. The therapist's hands, tucked firmly into red-cloth mitts, explore nearly every fold and crevice of the body. After I moved to America, I went in search of a mokyork with a hanjungmak and traditional scrubs (the kind in which Korean technicians rub skin and dirt off in long brown strands one gleefully called spaghetti). of the Stars; 310/551-3251; www. Rejuvenating jade—17 tons, to be exact—has been imported from Korea to create the hanjungmak, the tiles on the walls, and the seaweed-, honey-, and ginseng-infused tubs here.com; scrubs from $50) is an authentic and stylish reinterpretation of the best Seoul mokyork. Afterward, she dumped a bucket of ice water over my head, and suddenly I understood. The quick transition from nearly painful heat to icy relief was refreshing and oddly soothing.com; scrubs from $50), guests receive a vigorous sloughing.

 The funky décor curvy sofas, waterfalls, river-rock beds), Western-style juice bar, and open-all-night hours lure nocturnal types looking to be pampered at any time.—Janice Lee. Across town, the Aroma Spa & Sports (3680 Wilshire Blvd. She was glowing after her vigorous scrub, but admitted that having a bra-and-panties-clad masseuse climb on top of her (the norm in Seoul) took an open mind to enjoy.May 08, 2009 As a child in Seoul, I spent countless hours in neighborhood mokyork (bathhouses) watching my mother move from sauna to tea-infused hot tub to cold plunge from my perch on a small wooden stool. Following a traditional ground-cucumber facial at Los Angeles's Spa Mystique (2025 Ave. Periodically, she'd come over to tell me how wonderful it felt to sweat out her impurities. During the past two years, I have watched (and patiently waited) as the seedy Korean bathhouses in Los Angeles's Koreatown and in the West Thirties of Manhattan have paved the way for three spas with mokyork-inspired treatments.; 213/387-2111; www. I breathed in the hot, dry air until a pool of sweat formed on my burlap mat. 32nd St. When it first opened last fall, I brought an American friend.com; scrubs from $35; access to clay and stone rooms is $10 with a $60 treatment) has a men-only maekbansuk stone room (which purports to turn fat into sweat), and a women-only hwangto mud sauna (Seoul aestheticians claim China Pet Valve Gate Preform Bottle Molds Factory that a session eliminates toxic heavy metals from the blood). In New York, Juvenex (25 W.aromaresort. Mokyork devotees like me, however, are delighted to have discovered a bit of Seoul in the heart of New York