Fish Tales and Towers
Trip Start
Oct 12, 2010
1
38
84
Trip End
Mar 24, 2011
Where I stayed
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I've done a survey of the city on the hop on/hop off bus tour which gave me a chance to see bustling Chinatown, colourful Little India, the historic and beautiful mosques and buildings around Merdeka Square, the gorgeous city park that houses the KL Botanical Gardens, Butterfly Park, Bird Park and Orchid garden and of course the Golden Triangle shopping mecca.
Over and above these things though are the amazing KL Tower and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. Yesterday I took a tour of the KL Tower which has an amazing view of the city and the twin towers. It was a bit of a hike up to the base of tower from street level but being the intrepid mountain-climber than I am (I'm in training to be a Sherpa guide), I huffed and puffed my way up more stairs and inclines in the heat and humidity. As I left the tower later, I spied the free shuttle bus that transports people up and down the hill to the base (duh, Albertine) and I pushed my way through the elderly and the toddlers to get on board (no, not really, but I would have had there been such people in my way - that's probably not very Sherpa-ish)!
I bought a ticket yesteday to go up the Petronas Towers today (there are only a certain allotment of tickets available each day and are given out on a first come, first serve basis). The wait was worth it though - you go as a group to the skybridge first which connects the two towers on the 41st floor I believe. Nice views from here but then you get to go to the 88th floor for even more spectacular panoramic views. Very cool!
One of the best parts of the Petronas Towers tour was meeting a couple of fellow travellers from Australia - it was great to have a coffee, travel chat and a laugh with David and Hudson - hope to see you both 'Down Under' in a couple of months :)
I have done my level best to pay homage over the past couple of days to the flourishing consumer culture apparent in the incredible malls surrounding me. I am still trying to get my head around the choirs singing 'Frosty the Snowman' and the over-the-top festive decorations in these malls as I slosh through the monsoon-like rains and wilt from the humidity here in such a warm climate! I feel some snow is in order here to really get into the Christmas mood!
The malls have some heavy-hitting luxury designer shops as well as your typical clothes, shoes and accessory stores. I inched my way through a massive mall called "Times Square" yesterday where apparently it was a national holiday and every teenager in Malaysia was in this one place texting, giggling and laying down some cold hard Ringgits. Luckily I took refuge on the 8th floor at (get ready for it Susan......) the Foot Master Fish Spa. This was one of the strangest and tickliest things I've ever done and I did it all for you, my devoted readers - so that I could share what this Aqua-Spa experience was all about. This "painless and toothless" spa treatment involves submerging your feet in a fish tank full of Turkish minnows for at least a half hour. As soon as you dunk your toes in, a hundred little fish glom onto your feet and lower legs and nibble away at your skin, apparently abrading the dead skin and releasing some sort of heatlhy chemical which has healing properties. I gotta tell ya, the first 5 minutes were EXCRUCIATING!!! Have you seen the movie "Piranha"???? It was like that - a veritable foot feeding frenzy that felt like having your feet and legs bitten, licked and sucked on at the same time - it makes you laugh hysterically (um, well, maybe it was just me being hysterical). After a few minutes, the fish get down to business and take turns chewing on you and after about 20 minutes, my fish seemed lethargic and incredibly bored, then all of a sudden, out of the blue, they went 'piranha' on me again. You are supposed to feel relaxed and massaged and more energetic after this treatment, but I kind of felt a bit weirded out. Maybe I should start up a similar service in Canada - we have lots of fish in the Maritimes - maybe I could catch a few smelts or trout fry and give it a go - hmmmmm.
KL has been a blast - the people I've met in stores, spas and restaurants have been incredibly friendly and love to talk about Canada, which apparently is best known over here for Vancouver, grizzly bears and Celine Dion (and not necessarily in that order). I look forward to coming back some day and doing it all over again (without seafood eating me alive).
Comments
This entry made me laugh . . . especially all the business about the feet-eating fishies!! LMAO! :) Sounds like you're still having a time!!
Dear Albertine once again your blog made wonderful reading 7it was lovely to talk to you through skype continue to enjoy your fabulous trip & in closing i would just like to say from all of us that we wish you a very merry xmas & a happy new year take care L.O.L. jean & john xxx.