Doctor Fish Spa

It was one of those mad days where i thought i'd head out to Sunway Pyramid Mall for some look-see considering that the great sale is going on.  Holy Mackerel but i did not expect it to be this crowded.  So I duck into one of the many arteries within the Mall and find myself mossying along Marakkesh Ave.  Boy, did it bring back memories of my trip to Morocco a couple of years back :)

Getting back to my story...I'm walking along window browsing and people watching when i come to a store called Foot Master. Here's me thinking "hey, a good foot massage wouldn't hurt right about now". I pop in only to find lots of small tanks with people sitting around dangling their feet in and lots of fishes surrounding their feet.

Hmm interesting. This must be the much talked about fish spa. I have my reservations about this therapy but since I always live by the motto of doing everything at least once before making a committed judgement, I decided to give it a go.  I thought of my previous two encounters with fish nibbling at me and i have to say i was not super excited.  What were the 2 occasions u ask?

First was when I went for a holiday to the Bahamas.  The waters were crystal clear and i was swimming, just relaxing and enjoying myself when i had the bejezuz shocked outta me.  Little yellow and black striped fishes were nibbling at my toes.  It wasn't painful but it was the scare that i remember. (yea, yea, yea laugh all u want!).  Occasion number two was when I went sea-walking in Borneo.  Now this time it was damn painful.  These creatures had teeth and when I got out I had bite marks all over my legs!

I gingerly make my way over to one of the tanks, picking the one with the tiniest of fishes and sit down.  I'm trying not to make a scene coz i see kids doing this at other tanks too. I stick my feet in and immediately i had about 2 dozen black fishes 'attack' my feet.  My basic and instant reaction was to yank my feet out.  One of the guys who worked there was watching me and with a smile (or more like grin) he said that the fishes did not have teeth and it was more like them sucking on my feet. (Hahaha reminds me of a guy i knew who had a foot fettish).  I stick my feet back in and this time nearly died of laughter, it was so ticklish.  Ever watched that disney animated movie where the whale goes to have himself cleaned by other fishes, like in a carwash?  Hmmm this was my thought.

After about 20mins, I felt braver and decided to venture to one of the other tanks with the bigger fish.  I was expecting about the same thing but boy did i create a small scene.  I let out a yelp and had all heads turn to me....these buggers sucked harder and more ferociously.  My only saving grace was that I knew they were indeed toothless.
So what was the end result. Well it is supposed to promote better blood circulation, cleans and cleanses the pressure points and generate a feeling of wellbeing and freshness. Let's see...i'm still trying to get over the novelty of it :0)