"Dr. Fish"

My friend and I went out for a girls day out as a reward for "allowing" our husbands to go snorkeling all day. She's new to the island, so I showed her around some of the places that we've been shopping. We ate soba and yaki soba at one of my favorite little restaurants in American Village and then perused the mini mall. We came upon this little makeshift pool where some women were relaxing with their feet in the water, allowing these little fish to nibble at their feet! It's just a weird thought to have a fish nibble at your feet and it be therapeutic?! My friend and I were up for anything, so.... we gave it a whirl!

At first, I had to block out the fact that I was actually going to allow these fish to bite me! Yes it was a little weird. As soon as we put our feet in, the fish "whooshed" over to us and began their nibbling! We 'stole' the fish from the people who had been sitting there! Guess we had more goodies on our feet! It tickled at first, but then it felt like a buzzing or vibrating on my feet. It felt like those feet vibrators that we'd use at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, only I didn't get the lightheaded feeling that I got from the ones at the zoo. It actually felt good! We came home and told the guys about it, so they had to try it too. Jason, who is much more ticklish than me, was having a hard time keeping his feet in the water and not squashing the little fishies! Cameron also gave it a whirl.....it was cute watching him giggle!

According to Wikepedia:

"Doctor fish is the name given to two species of fish: Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus. Other nicknames include nibble fish, kangal fish, little dermatologists and doctorfishen; in non-medical contexts, Garra rufa is called the reddish log sucker. They live and breed in the outdoor pools of some Turkish spas, where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. The fish are like combfishes in that they only consume the affected and dead areas of the skin, leaving the healthy skin to grow, with the outdoor location of the treatment bringing beneficial effects."