Dr. Fish

So, you may remember those tiny fish we have mentioned that eat your dead skin cells. We have been able to put our fingers in tanks of them once or twice but never our feet! There is a CAFE that has them set up specifically as a "pedicure". While playing Bunco with our friends on New Year's Eve, we decided to go out together to visit Dr. Fish, the cafe. We set the day, met up, and took the subway, to which stop...? GANGNAM! And I tell ya it was PACKED. We had to wait in line just to go up the stairs to get out of the subway area. Crazy! We walked a little ways and found the place. It is a clever money making plot they have set up. The only way you can get your feet with the fish is if you buy something from the menu. So we all got yummy snacks or beverages and chatted it up. I got a blueberry yogurt blend, some got the giant toast. My favorite is that they had a bread bar. They give you butter and jam with your order and you could toast 3 different kinds of breads to your hearts content. Which this outing was the down fall to my attempt at healthy eating. Oh well. :)

Once we were all done we went over to the little fishies. There were two tanks, one with teeny tiny fish and one with slightly bigger fish. I am used to the tiny fish. We all rinsed off our feet and reluctantly made our way to the tanks. Hunny had barely sat down and had his feet hovering over the water and the fish were jumping up to grab him. One friend was the funniest of all of the reactions. I thought I was ticklish! She was cutting up and squealing. The cafe was fairly quiet till we went up, and then all polite hush went away. We were loud and laughing and taking pictures. I was constantly having to pull my feet out. The fish would swarm and nibble all over. The bigger ones felt like someone was scrapping your foot with their nail. Oh it was crazy! I could hardly stand it. Another friend wasn't being loud for being tickled so much as she thought it was disgusting. At first I thought she was being ridiculous. But then after a while you could see poop floating around. The fish never let up. They just let it out and made room for more.

When I couldn't handle the big fish anymore I went over to the little ones. They felt like tiny volts buzzing around. Much more manageable but still ticklish. At the big one we did a competition. Everyone, all 10 of us had to put one foot in the tank and who ever kept his or her foot in the longest won. Well with 10 people the fish were well spread out so some didn't have any. But as people left it got harder and harder. Some of us sat there for a while and chatted to get our minds off of the tickling sensation. While my back was turned to 2 husbands they pulled their feet out so that I was the only one, sicking all the fish on my lone foot. O.O Well... I won. :)

We had a pleasant time. We got up, rinsed our feet, dried them and put our shoes back on. While doing so I realized the set up the cafe had. Yes, I would love to drink my drink or eat my snack next to someone getting their bare feet sucked on by fish. It makes everything more appealing. Weird. And we were the only ones doing it. No one did it before, during, or after us. I can't imagine people actually going for the snacks, as good as they are. I bet it is for the bread bar. ;)

Getting home was more tricky then getting there. It had gotten later and we were taking the most popular subway line. We had to take the second subway train because the first one was so full. While we waited we took some embarrassing pictures next to the Gangnam sign for your viewing pleasure. I was not excited to take it but I did. If anyone doubts my love for him, here is proof. Finally, the saving grace second car came and we got shoved in and packed like sardines. And it only got more tight as we went along. Got to love Korea! Such an adventure. I love our friends and the grand times we have. I love living in Korea and the wonderful opportunities we get. It will be a bitter sweet move when we have to leave.