Fish Pedicures

I had read somewhere that having these spa treatments were becoming quite popular.  I’m not sure how you feel about having tiny fish gnaw at your appendages, but I was keen to try it.  I did an online search and found a place that offered this service – at the Underwater World Aquarium on Sentosa Island.  In Singapore.  Sign me up!  Fortunately, we had already booked a trip to Singapore to meet up with my Aussie in-laws.  We would be taking a cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong with them so arrived in “Singers” a few days early to have some extra time to eat. (we’ll  save that story for another time)  As we didn’t have an appointment, we arrived nice and early and were the first ones at the door when they opened.  After a quick foot wash, we were ushered into a room with what looked like wading pools with little benches around the edges.  We were given a choice:  “Turkish Spa Fish” or “African Spa Fish”.  I went straight to the African pool because the fish were bigger and I had a lot of calluses. 

I was not even remotely prepared for the sensation.  Do you have ticklish feet?  Then I wouldn’t recommend having a Fish Pedicure, unless you are trying shock therapy to get over your foot sensitivity.   As we were the first customers of the day, the little buggers were voracious, swarming over our feet and moving up our ankles to the calves.  Visions of piranhas in the Amazon flooded my mind.  My first instinct was to jerk my feet out of the pool, but as the minutes ticked by and my jaw gradually un-clenched, I started to enjoy the feeling.  Plus, it was fun to move your foot around and watch them follow it in a swarm.  By the end of our allotted time I had gotten quite used to the feeling, and was sad to have to remove my feet from the pool.  And that is why I was so excited when we saw this sign in a side street in Shinjuku, Tokyo on a more recent trip.

The man behind the front counter spoke about 3 words of English, and we spoke about 3 of Japanese, but it was enough to book a session with my little flesh-eating friends, followed by a marginally more relaxing massage by ladies who spoke no English at all.  After that experience, getting on the subway at rush hour was a welcome relief.  I think I should stick to regular pedicures for a while...