Wow. It's only 4:30 and I'm exhausted.
We woke up early this morning for a tour included with our trip package. The hotel had a fairly good breakfast buffet, and then we got in a minivan with quite a few other people and headed on a tour around town. We got bits and pieces, but the guide was difficult to understand and we were both tired. We did get to go to the temple Gabe wanted to see - Wat Arun - which was very impressive. The view from the top was both amazing and terrifying... each step on the staircases was about a foot and a half tall by six inches deep.
We then took the ferry back across the river and got to go see a gem store! The same one we had been taken to yesterday! It was about as interesting the second time around... But we talked with our tour guide and will be going to the floating market on Wednesday before we leave. It's another tour she organizes.
After the gem store, we went back to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was really pretty. The amount of work that must have gone into constructing the temples is ridiculous. Everything was covered in gold and gemstones and just astounding. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice. (They'll be uploaded when we get back to Singapore.) The whole place was interesting but hot.
We had to rent clothing to be properly covered for most of the buildings... Gabe had long pants and I got a floor-length wrap skirt. It was hot, but it was funny to see everyone in all these strange clothes... Nearly everyone had stuff. The clothing was free, you just had to put down a deposit.
By the time we were done, we were starving. There were some street food stands opposite the Grand Palace, so we headed over and I got some fried rice and Gabe had pad thai. Both were delicious. I also got a giant swirly potato chip. It's a potato spiral cut into a spring shape and then fried. It was amazing, though hard to eat.
Now, we're back at the hotel for a bit. We got a bag of pineapple to share (very tasty) and checked up on the interwebs. Soon, we'll head back to the tailor for fitting, and then we're going to see if our tuk-tuk driver can recommend a club. Hopefully tonight will be equally interesting.
ดีตอนเช้า
Dī txn chêā
(Good morning)
Monday, February 27, 2012
Gabe's Post - Bangkok (supplement)
Good evening. Today we will be discussing particular pieces of artwork. The first, and heaviest, is awesome its purest form, iron. Imagine being in a shop with 10 motorcycles. All of them have been ripped apart and destroyed beyond recognition. They are then remelted together randomly. Somehow, these random parts managed to take recognizable shape. Namely that of dozens of gundams and aliens. One alien was even about 7 feet tall and weighed a few hundred kilos. The gundams were amazing, ranging from original boring ones to the new freedom gundam. They had removable and movable parts, and where made from such things as chains, screws, metal plates, spiky things, and fire. Anyway I paid too much for it, but now I own it and I refuse not to be happy about it. Also he showed us a picture of something he custom made for Honda or Yamaha (I forget), it was an alien motorcycle. It can not be described how awesome it was, so I tried to find a picture but I couldn't (here it is - I think this might be the-guy-who-sold-us-the-gundam's brother).
Another piece of artwork is this guy: picture soon to be uploaded. All he does is spin. And drop tea. But he does it in a way where it falls into a metal liquid holder and sell it to you. This is how Thai tea is supposed be poured (I will bring the picture into tin drum and ask them so serve it properly to me). It was delicious tea and a dollar (expensive because the market was kind of touristy).
Also my favourite thing about Bangkok so far is....Yakult. Not only is it cheap here, but you can 400 ml (equivalent to a pack of Yakults) for 19 Baht, about 60 cents. This was enough (along with another 20 Baht for 1.5 mangos peeled and quartered in a bag) for a dinner for me (both were delicious). Speaking of 20 Baht food bags, we got a peeled and sliced pineapple with strawberry sugar salt for 20 Baht (whole pineapple).
Also if anyone wants to buy jewellery in Bangkok, I can give them a recommendation. We can stop there for free yah.
Tuktuk.
Another piece of artwork is this guy: picture soon to be uploaded. All he does is spin. And drop tea. But he does it in a way where it falls into a metal liquid holder and sell it to you. This is how Thai tea is supposed be poured (I will bring the picture into tin drum and ask them so serve it properly to me). It was delicious tea and a dollar (expensive because the market was kind of touristy).
Also my favourite thing about Bangkok so far is....Yakult. Not only is it cheap here, but you can 400 ml (equivalent to a pack of Yakults) for 19 Baht, about 60 cents. This was enough (along with another 20 Baht for 1.5 mangos peeled and quartered in a bag) for a dinner for me (both were delicious). Speaking of 20 Baht food bags, we got a peeled and sliced pineapple with strawberry sugar salt for 20 Baht (whole pineapple).
Also if anyone wants to buy jewellery in Bangkok, I can give them a recommendation. We can stop there for free yah.
Tuktuk.
Bangkok - Day 1
Wow. So yesterday was super long and I totally fell asleep before I got a chance to blog. So, I'll catch up from yesterday in this post and then let you know what happened today in another. =]
Yesterday, we got up at 4AM Singapore time (it's an hour ahead of Bangkok) and got ready to go. We caught a taxi because the MRT doesn't run that early. It was a quick trip, and the roads were quiet, but it was super annoying that the taxis charge double fares during "late night" - i.e. whenever the metros are closed, the taxis are twice the price.
Anyways, we got to the airport at 5ish for our 8:15 flight. Might I remind you that going through "security" and "customs" is a joke? Literally scan our passports and our thumbs and we're good to go. We went and got breakfast (BK ftw.... "Burger King for the win" meaning that's where we went and it was good). Then we went and got our tickets...
I just want to point out that some Asians have AWFUL manners. To the point that it actually makes me angry. We were standing in line with a few other people before the lines actually opened (we were there REALLY early) and we watched them have their little meeting and then waited for them to open up their lanes. Meanwhile, some little tour group woman with her group of at least 20 barge in as they're sitting down. Every single person from the group cut the group of us that had been standing there before them. The tour group leader actually physically moved me, pushing me back for her group. I nearly started yelling at her. One person I could maybe understand, but the whole freaking group seemed to have this mentality.
Anyways, we got our tickets and then Gabe got breakfast on the inside of security, and then we walked down to the gate. I fell asleep on the floor and then Gabe woke me up at 7 to go through security. It was an interesting way to set up the airport - the security gate (metal detector, etc) is next to the actual gate, and you only go through just before you get on the plane.
So. Slept in the airport, slept on the plane, and then we arrived in Thailand! We got off the plane and walked towards immigration. The airport was cool - lots of plants and statues and an interesting design. We got to immigration and had to wait awhile but we were finally through. We came on a Groupon, so we had a travel agency giving us a ride to our hotel. Finding said travel agency was sortof difficult, but we finally did. They didn't have our names (office mixup) but they brought us to our hotel without too much time lost.
Our hotel is in the fashion district, right next to a big mall and an open market with all sorts of things. It's a good location. Once we dropped off our stuff, we decided that we would go explore the weekend market. We walked up the street outside our hotel (it's more of an alleyway) and found a tuk-tuk. It's a funny little contraption... a motorcycle turned open-air-car. They're surprisingly loud.
The driver was really nice and said he'd take us for 50 Baht (30B=$1) which we thought was great. The catch was that he wanted to show us a gem store. Every book, article, website and person we've gotten information from has cautioned us against these "deals", but we figured we had the time, so we let him take us. It was a nice building, and they gave us free drinks. Then we were herded through the jewelry making room (that was cool) and then to a giant room with a shark tank in the middle, filled with table after table of jewelry. It was a little overwhelming, and very over-priced. They had some really pretty stuff, but too fancy and expensive for me. Gabe said something about my having cheap taste....
Anyways, he got his free gas (oh, yeah, the drivers get free gas, food, clothing, a commission or other stuff for bringing tourists to these shops) and then we went to the Chatachuk Weekend Market, which is only open... on the weekend.
Oh, dear lord... It was MASSIVE.
Row after row, stall after stall of everything you could imagine. Books, shoes, clothing, jewelry, flowers, dishes, fabrics, purses, pets, pet supplies, belts, guns, baskets, furniture, decorations, home decor, toys... You name it, it was there. We spent several hours there, and got some cool stuff. Gabe got an amazing piece of art (haha, he'll call it something else - check out his post to see what he has to say about it, and all of the rest of Bangkok) and we got some other cool stuff. We even saw a Thai Tea Twirling Artist... Gabe will have to add about that as well.
In the market, we found a little stall with food. I had some delicious fried rice and Gabe had some phat thai. How that's different from pad thai, I don't know, but he assures me there is a difference... We shared a bottle of green Fanta, and lunch was all of $3 or so. Green Fanta is, despite our belief that it tastes like apples, a combination of pineapple, banana and orange. I still think it's apple with the label just being silly.
So we finally became exhausted from shopping, so we headed back to the hotel. We relaxed for a few minutes before going out to explore closer to our hotel. Walking around proved interesting, with a lot of strange but good smelling foods and interesting people. No one carries shoes in my size, so that's a shame, and things aren't nearly as cheap as we were led to believe... A dress shirt is 150B, about $5, and rarely does anything else drop below that price. Small things (watches, some cheap flip flops, headbands, leggings) may be less, but never less than 100B. I did find a nice large, purple suitcase for about $60, which we will need to bring all our stuff home. (We only brought carry-ons for the trip here.)
We brought it back to the hotel and then left for the Patphong Night Market, which had been highly recommended. On the way, we agreed to let our tuk-tuk driver stop at a tailor's to look at suits.... Almost two hours later and calls to both sets of parents, Gabe was measured for two suits and four dress shirts and I was measured for two suit jackets. Gabe thinks he paid too much, but they are tailored, custom suits. The tuk-tuk driver was really nice and gave us his number to call for all of our business in the future.
Anyways, when we finally got to the night market, we didn't want to spend any more money... So we walked around, saw some of the bars, got offered some shows (for the sexually mature) and had dinner. I ended up with a schwarma (a cross between a gyro and a kebap) and Gabe had miscellaneous street food for the evening... He'll talk about that as well.
We headed back and I fell asleep promptly. It was a busy but fun day.
Yesterday, we got up at 4AM Singapore time (it's an hour ahead of Bangkok) and got ready to go. We caught a taxi because the MRT doesn't run that early. It was a quick trip, and the roads were quiet, but it was super annoying that the taxis charge double fares during "late night" - i.e. whenever the metros are closed, the taxis are twice the price.
Anyways, we got to the airport at 5ish for our 8:15 flight. Might I remind you that going through "security" and "customs" is a joke? Literally scan our passports and our thumbs and we're good to go. We went and got breakfast (BK ftw.... "Burger King for the win" meaning that's where we went and it was good). Then we went and got our tickets...
I just want to point out that some Asians have AWFUL manners. To the point that it actually makes me angry. We were standing in line with a few other people before the lines actually opened (we were there REALLY early) and we watched them have their little meeting and then waited for them to open up their lanes. Meanwhile, some little tour group woman with her group of at least 20 barge in as they're sitting down. Every single person from the group cut the group of us that had been standing there before them. The tour group leader actually physically moved me, pushing me back for her group. I nearly started yelling at her. One person I could maybe understand, but the whole freaking group seemed to have this mentality.
Anyways, we got our tickets and then Gabe got breakfast on the inside of security, and then we walked down to the gate. I fell asleep on the floor and then Gabe woke me up at 7 to go through security. It was an interesting way to set up the airport - the security gate (metal detector, etc) is next to the actual gate, and you only go through just before you get on the plane.
So. Slept in the airport, slept on the plane, and then we arrived in Thailand! We got off the plane and walked towards immigration. The airport was cool - lots of plants and statues and an interesting design. We got to immigration and had to wait awhile but we were finally through. We came on a Groupon, so we had a travel agency giving us a ride to our hotel. Finding said travel agency was sortof difficult, but we finally did. They didn't have our names (office mixup) but they brought us to our hotel without too much time lost.
Our hotel is in the fashion district, right next to a big mall and an open market with all sorts of things. It's a good location. Once we dropped off our stuff, we decided that we would go explore the weekend market. We walked up the street outside our hotel (it's more of an alleyway) and found a tuk-tuk. It's a funny little contraption... a motorcycle turned open-air-car. They're surprisingly loud.
The driver was really nice and said he'd take us for 50 Baht (30B=$1) which we thought was great. The catch was that he wanted to show us a gem store. Every book, article, website and person we've gotten information from has cautioned us against these "deals", but we figured we had the time, so we let him take us. It was a nice building, and they gave us free drinks. Then we were herded through the jewelry making room (that was cool) and then to a giant room with a shark tank in the middle, filled with table after table of jewelry. It was a little overwhelming, and very over-priced. They had some really pretty stuff, but too fancy and expensive for me. Gabe said something about my having cheap taste....
Anyways, he got his free gas (oh, yeah, the drivers get free gas, food, clothing, a commission or other stuff for bringing tourists to these shops) and then we went to the Chatachuk Weekend Market, which is only open... on the weekend.
Oh, dear lord... It was MASSIVE.
Row after row, stall after stall of everything you could imagine. Books, shoes, clothing, jewelry, flowers, dishes, fabrics, purses, pets, pet supplies, belts, guns, baskets, furniture, decorations, home decor, toys... You name it, it was there. We spent several hours there, and got some cool stuff. Gabe got an amazing piece of art (haha, he'll call it something else - check out his post to see what he has to say about it, and all of the rest of Bangkok) and we got some other cool stuff. We even saw a Thai Tea Twirling Artist... Gabe will have to add about that as well.
In the market, we found a little stall with food. I had some delicious fried rice and Gabe had some phat thai. How that's different from pad thai, I don't know, but he assures me there is a difference... We shared a bottle of green Fanta, and lunch was all of $3 or so. Green Fanta is, despite our belief that it tastes like apples, a combination of pineapple, banana and orange. I still think it's apple with the label just being silly.
So we finally became exhausted from shopping, so we headed back to the hotel. We relaxed for a few minutes before going out to explore closer to our hotel. Walking around proved interesting, with a lot of strange but good smelling foods and interesting people. No one carries shoes in my size, so that's a shame, and things aren't nearly as cheap as we were led to believe... A dress shirt is 150B, about $5, and rarely does anything else drop below that price. Small things (watches, some cheap flip flops, headbands, leggings) may be less, but never less than 100B. I did find a nice large, purple suitcase for about $60, which we will need to bring all our stuff home. (We only brought carry-ons for the trip here.)
We brought it back to the hotel and then left for the Patphong Night Market, which had been highly recommended. On the way, we agreed to let our tuk-tuk driver stop at a tailor's to look at suits.... Almost two hours later and calls to both sets of parents, Gabe was measured for two suits and four dress shirts and I was measured for two suit jackets. Gabe thinks he paid too much, but they are tailored, custom suits. The tuk-tuk driver was really nice and gave us his number to call for all of our business in the future.
Anyways, when we finally got to the night market, we didn't want to spend any more money... So we walked around, saw some of the bars, got offered some shows (for the sexually mature) and had dinner. I ended up with a schwarma (a cross between a gyro and a kebap) and Gabe had miscellaneous street food for the evening... He'll talk about that as well.
We headed back and I fell asleep promptly. It was a busy but fun day.
ราตรีสวัสดิ์ (Rātrī s̄wạs̄di̒)
Thai for: Goodnight
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Surprise, Surprise
This week was uneventful. I already wrote about last weekend and going to Arab street. This week we didn't do much out of the ordinary - classes, eating at our hawker stand, having toast for breakfast...
The fun thing is that we're leaving tomorrow for Bangkok! We'll be there for four days, coming home late on Wednesday. We're super excited for the markets and the temples and just seeing what it's like. We both have shopping lists, so let us know if there's anything anyone wants. =]
Hopefully we'll be going to Malaysia for the rest of the week. We want to see Panang and Malacca. They're both colonial towns that seem like they'd be really cool. Then dinner on Sunday with Uncle Ralph before he leaves to go home for the month.
I can't believe we've been here two months! Only 100 or so days left before we come home.
So those are our plans.
Goodnight-lah.
The fun thing is that we're leaving tomorrow for Bangkok! We'll be there for four days, coming home late on Wednesday. We're super excited for the markets and the temples and just seeing what it's like. We both have shopping lists, so let us know if there's anything anyone wants. =]
Hopefully we'll be going to Malaysia for the rest of the week. We want to see Panang and Malacca. They're both colonial towns that seem like they'd be really cool. Then dinner on Sunday with Uncle Ralph before he leaves to go home for the month.
I can't believe we've been here two months! Only 100 or so days left before we come home.
So those are our plans.
Goodnight-lah.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Valentine's and Arab Street
So... This week was sorta busy, sorta not. I've been incredibly homesick and am certainly ready to travel to Bangkok next week.
We were both busy late on Tuesday, so we went out on Thursday night to an Italian place on the other side of town (well, in the middle of the country). It was an interesting bus ride (about an hour) and we passed some buildings we think were jails, but we don't know and Google maps doesn't even have the buildings showing.
Dinner was delicious. Gabe had squid ink linguine with tomato-based seafood sauce, and I had shell pasta with a tomato-and-cream-based mushroom and sausage sauce. Both were delicious. I even had a glass of wine... And learned I need to go wine-tasting to figure out if there's any I actually like very much. The best part of dinner was actually our appetizer - prosciutto and cantaloupe, which was amazing.
We had arrived too early to eat, so we walked up and down the strip mall before dinner, and found a pet store - mostly catered to cats, hamsters and turtles. After dinner, we stopped at a strudel place and got a small apple strudel to go. We were too full to eat it that night, so we saved it for Friday.
On Friday, we went to Chinatown to pick up our tickets to Bangkok, and then had lunch at the mall on the way back. Gabe got a delicious pepper rice and I got hotstone pepper steak. Both are dishes served on hotplates that continue to cook the food even when it's served. You get raw food, and then it cooks while you mix it up and pour sauces on it, and then it's delicious to eat.
We got back and watched a movie and then had cheesy tomato toast and some Asti Spumante (it was on sale) and our apple strudel with ice cream for our second night of Valentine's. It was all good, but the strudel had collapsed from the humidity in our apartment.
Saturday we got up at a reasonable time and headed over to Arab street. They had tailors galore, Persian rugs by the hundreds and some really good Mediterranean, Turkish and Arab food. We ended up at a little cafe, and Gabe and I shared a falafel sandwich and a schwarma wrap. Both were delicious. I also got some silk fabric to make scarves for my sisters and we generally had a nice time. Before we left, we went to another restaurant and ordered a Turkish coffee and baklava. I got a soda called Laziza Raspberry. Gabe's coffee was good, the soda was literally non-alcoholic raspberry beer, and I've had better baklava at home. It was a nice day, though.
We walked over to Little India to go to Mustafa's for some stuff that we needed, and on the way saw probably the only not-nice part of Singapore. It wasn't bad, just dirtier, and we easily compared it to Jakarta. There was even a street market that Gabe compared to "a real-life eBay." We did make it to Mustafa's, and we spent almost three hours walking around. And we didn't even see everything, still!
We went up to the roof and had a snack (dosais and drinks - I got a DELICIOUS masala (chai) tea and Gabe had a sweet lassi that tasted exactly like yogurt) before coming home. It was a fun adventure.
Today we just studied. We have midterms all week, but then we leave next Sunday for Bangkok! I'm also getting my hair permed on Tuesday, so wish me luck!
Goodnight-lah.
We were both busy late on Tuesday, so we went out on Thursday night to an Italian place on the other side of town (well, in the middle of the country). It was an interesting bus ride (about an hour) and we passed some buildings we think were jails, but we don't know and Google maps doesn't even have the buildings showing.
Dinner was delicious. Gabe had squid ink linguine with tomato-based seafood sauce, and I had shell pasta with a tomato-and-cream-based mushroom and sausage sauce. Both were delicious. I even had a glass of wine... And learned I need to go wine-tasting to figure out if there's any I actually like very much. The best part of dinner was actually our appetizer - prosciutto and cantaloupe, which was amazing.
We had arrived too early to eat, so we walked up and down the strip mall before dinner, and found a pet store - mostly catered to cats, hamsters and turtles. After dinner, we stopped at a strudel place and got a small apple strudel to go. We were too full to eat it that night, so we saved it for Friday.
On Friday, we went to Chinatown to pick up our tickets to Bangkok, and then had lunch at the mall on the way back. Gabe got a delicious pepper rice and I got hotstone pepper steak. Both are dishes served on hotplates that continue to cook the food even when it's served. You get raw food, and then it cooks while you mix it up and pour sauces on it, and then it's delicious to eat.
We got back and watched a movie and then had cheesy tomato toast and some Asti Spumante (it was on sale) and our apple strudel with ice cream for our second night of Valentine's. It was all good, but the strudel had collapsed from the humidity in our apartment.
Saturday we got up at a reasonable time and headed over to Arab street. They had tailors galore, Persian rugs by the hundreds and some really good Mediterranean, Turkish and Arab food. We ended up at a little cafe, and Gabe and I shared a falafel sandwich and a schwarma wrap. Both were delicious. I also got some silk fabric to make scarves for my sisters and we generally had a nice time. Before we left, we went to another restaurant and ordered a Turkish coffee and baklava. I got a soda called Laziza Raspberry. Gabe's coffee was good, the soda was literally non-alcoholic raspberry beer, and I've had better baklava at home. It was a nice day, though.
We walked over to Little India to go to Mustafa's for some stuff that we needed, and on the way saw probably the only not-nice part of Singapore. It wasn't bad, just dirtier, and we easily compared it to Jakarta. There was even a street market that Gabe compared to "a real-life eBay." We did make it to Mustafa's, and we spent almost three hours walking around. And we didn't even see everything, still!
We went up to the roof and had a snack (dosais and drinks - I got a DELICIOUS masala (chai) tea and Gabe had a sweet lassi that tasted exactly like yogurt) before coming home. It was a fun adventure.
Today we just studied. We have midterms all week, but then we leave next Sunday for Bangkok! I'm also getting my hair permed on Tuesday, so wish me luck!
Goodnight-lah.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Still Here
No worries, we're still here, attending classes and eating at hawker stands.
This weekend we had a lovely time at the MacRitchie Reservoir. We went with a group of international students - we were about 10 in all. It was a lot of fun, but not quite what we were expecting. It had been touted as a "jungle", when, in reality, it was a county park made in a section of rainforest. That is, there were a ton of people, a ton of tourists, and a million runners/walkers/exercisers walking on the trail.
It was a really nice trail, though. We saw a whole bunch of monkeys, which were adorable. That was the only wildlife we saw on the 11km walk, except for a little snake I nearly stepped on... Let me just say I screamed and move on.
There was a really cool part of the walk, and that was the canopy walk. It's about 120 feet up on a metal see-through suspension walkway, but we could see all the tops of the trees. Most of us are afraid of heights, and even if you're not, this was a rather tremulous trek. In the picture below, the trees in the background are in fact at eye level, and they're at least 100 feet tall....
This weekend we had a lovely time at the MacRitchie Reservoir. We went with a group of international students - we were about 10 in all. It was a lot of fun, but not quite what we were expecting. It had been touted as a "jungle", when, in reality, it was a county park made in a section of rainforest. That is, there were a ton of people, a ton of tourists, and a million runners/walkers/exercisers walking on the trail.
It was a really nice trail, though. We saw a whole bunch of monkeys, which were adorable. That was the only wildlife we saw on the 11km walk, except for a little snake I nearly stepped on... Let me just say I screamed and move on.
 |
Is that not an adorable monkey? |
I think this one's cuter though...
In other news, I have a bad sinus infection, and Gabe has a mild one... Apparently it's going around school.
Also, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
And Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!
=]
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Changing it up
So, I guess it's sort of apparent that I haven't been doing as well with this blog as I did when I was in Europe... Things just aren't as interesting here, as I have a more normal school schedule and we're not traveling nearly as much.
That being said, I am NOT giving up my blog.
I'm just going to post less frequently, as in, whenever I have something interesting to say or when we're traveling. Otherwise, this will be a daily, "I went to school today. It was boring/interesting/tiring/long/etc" blog, and no one wants to read that.
You can still check out all my pictures on my Facebook, and I will try to check in at least once a week, if not more often. Leave comments and messages - I definitely miss everyone back home!
Goodnight-lah. =]
That being said, I am NOT giving up my blog.
I'm just going to post less frequently, as in, whenever I have something interesting to say or when we're traveling. Otherwise, this will be a daily, "I went to school today. It was boring/interesting/tiring/long/etc" blog, and no one wants to read that.
You can still check out all my pictures on my Facebook, and I will try to check in at least once a week, if not more often. Leave comments and messages - I definitely miss everyone back home!
Goodnight-lah. =]
Orchard Road
Well, despite being sick for most of Friday night and Saturday, Sunday I mustered up enough strength and Gabe and I went down to Orchard Road. When they said it was shopping, they weren't kidding. It was block after block of shopping malls and expensive boutiques. It reminded me of a less-expensive Champs de Elysse in Paris...
We walked around a couple malls, took a whole bunch of ridiculous escalators to the top of another mall, and had "authentic" German food from a street stall. The kebap ("schwarma") was not nearly as good as that in Belgium, but it was still delicious. Gabe had a sausage when we passed the stall on the way home, and it was equally delicious. The impressive part was the true German beer he had with it. It was particularly tasty.
The day was uneventful except for one other thing - we had a fish pedicure, but I'm going to let Gabe talk about that... (See below.)
Gabe's addition:
"We walk into the spa and are immediately directed to the foot washing station. Unknown to us, a man was making his way towards preparing himself for the inevitable. He sprayed down our feet with a red substance, it smelt like a mix of flowers and malt. I have my suspicions that it was that very substance that made our feet so appealing to the fish we were soon to feed. We were then shuffled into a relaxing room. It smelled nice. It also had light music playing in the background. Several people of the same family were already enjoying themselves there. We turn to our left and tank a seat in the flat bamboo mat and gently lower our feet into a long open tank filled with human-eating fish. They were about 1 inch long or so (that's 1/12 a foot-long) and had gills and fins and other things you expect fish to have. Their first reaction was to immediately leave the already cleansed feet of the older man sitting next to us, and attach themselves viciously to my feet. As they consumed my flesh, tickling me to very core, I watched them. They hovered around my ankles taking large bites at a time, the would scrape along the tops and bottoms of my feet like vacuum cleaners, removing layers and layers of dead-dirty skin. Yes I was tickled, and yes they did wiggle in between my toes and try to get that skin too. Michelle had my same reaction at first: being amazed and constantly tickled. Soon however, we relaxed, and came to appreciate the treatment. It was oddly relaxing to just sit there with your feet in the water and have small fish eating small bits of you. We only had fifteen minutes, but it was fun, and my feet came out white, the cleanest they have been for about 20 years or so."
We walked around a couple malls, took a whole bunch of ridiculous escalators to the top of another mall, and had "authentic" German food from a street stall. The kebap ("schwarma") was not nearly as good as that in Belgium, but it was still delicious. Gabe had a sausage when we passed the stall on the way home, and it was equally delicious. The impressive part was the true German beer he had with it. It was particularly tasty.
The day was uneventful except for one other thing - we had a fish pedicure, but I'm going to let Gabe talk about that... (See below.)
Gabe's addition:
"We walk into the spa and are immediately directed to the foot washing station. Unknown to us, a man was making his way towards preparing himself for the inevitable. He sprayed down our feet with a red substance, it smelt like a mix of flowers and malt. I have my suspicions that it was that very substance that made our feet so appealing to the fish we were soon to feed. We were then shuffled into a relaxing room. It smelled nice. It also had light music playing in the background. Several people of the same family were already enjoying themselves there. We turn to our left and tank a seat in the flat bamboo mat and gently lower our feet into a long open tank filled with human-eating fish. They were about 1 inch long or so (that's 1/12 a foot-long) and had gills and fins and other things you expect fish to have. Their first reaction was to immediately leave the already cleansed feet of the older man sitting next to us, and attach themselves viciously to my feet. As they consumed my flesh, tickling me to very core, I watched them. They hovered around my ankles taking large bites at a time, the would scrape along the tops and bottoms of my feet like vacuum cleaners, removing layers and layers of dead-dirty skin. Yes I was tickled, and yes they did wiggle in between my toes and try to get that skin too. Michelle had my same reaction at first: being amazed and constantly tickled. Soon however, we relaxed, and came to appreciate the treatment. It was oddly relaxing to just sit there with your feet in the water and have small fish eating small bits of you. We only had fifteen minutes, but it was fun, and my feet came out white, the cleanest they have been for about 20 years or so."
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