
Fish Sucked on Our Toes in Malaysia (Adventure Day in Kuala Lumpur)
my goal for this post is less of my rambling and more photos because it’s pushing midnight here and we travel to thailand tomorrow!
the toastmasters convention wrapped up (so wonderful to see our friends and meet new ones) so we finally ventured out and about. we opted to walk around all day since all we’ve been doing is sitting and walking short distances as i complain about wearing high (okay…really mid-height) heels.
one tradition we do when we travel to a new country is bring our italian “pace” flag (meaning ‘peace’) and get a picture frame to hang! my sweet hubs bought this for me when he studied abroad during the first 7 months of our relationship and took a picture in more than 6 countries while we were apart. he’s good.
we forgot it when we went to batu caves (write up still coming) so we thought second best was were the patronas towers! i cannot say this without some sort of harry potter reference.
at night…they are truly incredibly (taken our first night here)
the patronas towers are 88 stories high with a sky bridge on the 41st floor. an obvious must-see because they are huge.
after this we ventured around the mall that is less than a 30 second walk and of course we found donuts. my husband insisted on trying the CHEESE one and then said i should try it. don’t worry, it’s about 91 degrees with 98% humidity so that’s just a lot of sweat in my hair.
after a long time protesting, i took a nibble and it wasn’t as horrible as i thought it would be. they did a good job with the cheese because it was pretty mild (and from new zealand) and balanced savory sweet. totally chased it with a chocolate, peanuty one. still weird and i probably won’t eat another one but i tried it! brave me.
next we took an even more incredibly hot walk from here to chinatown and it was craaaazy.
so many people and the vendors reaaaally want you to see their “very close to real prada/michael kors/etc” and get a little intense sometimes. cars definitely are not supposed to be a part of this scene.
i’ve often wondered who ever buys suitcases at these things and then we became those people. we were 10lbs overweight with our initial luggage on our trip here and i need a new wheeled carry on so please let me introduce my new gray beauty, coming in at $34. not too shabby!
the excellent thing about buying a suitcase is that you can put your purse and water bottles and little souvenirs in it and stroll around. the best.
central market is a great place to find malaysian souvenirs, affordable gifts and a ton of clothes and things you don’t really need but feel like you do! so…go there.
we ate this meal for $4.50. it’s satay which is chicken, a delicious peanuty sauce and those white cubes are made of mashed together rice!
this was followed up with “ice floss” which i sort of thought was a bad translation but alas…it’s like thin layers of ice cream strewn together. delicious. this cost about $2.50. it could have fed 4 people.
here is one of the more exciting points of the day…FISH EATING OUR FEET!!
this was the best photo taken of us because oh my goodness…it tickled like crazy and was so weird! too weird. like the cheese donut, i don’t think i’ll be doing this again but certainly glad we did! it cost about 10RM, or about $3 each for 15 minutes. here’s a video for your entertainment.
it was honestly such a strange feeling, it felt like little nibbles and light pinches on our feet. it took at a minimum of 3 minutes to get used to the feeling enough to stop laughing from the tickling. i sort of got used to it and then i’d look down and see these fish sucking on my flesh and get freaked out.
we chatted with fun ladies traveling for 3 weeks around asia and they live in new york! alana held a massive tiger’s head in her lap in thailand but wouldn’t put her feet in here. i couldn’t blame her.
after i panicked for a hot minute that our dramatic vaccines didn’t cover disease from fish feasting on your feet, we headed back towards our hotel but not before trying the famous durian fruit! of course my husband picked the butt-shaped one.
here’s what it looks like after you take out some of the flesh from the fruit.
this fruit is famous because it smells have been described as “rotting onion, sewage and trash.” i thought it sort of had a bleu-cheesy smell and while people say if you can get through the smell, the taste is worth it…not for me. i took a half of a nibble and never need it again. it tasted like rotting garlic and onions and bad dreams to me. no thank you.
these are so pungent that many hotels ban them…like ours. now to find a mangosteen.
so much for not rambling. i hope i will sleep soundly since i expelled many emotions eating cheesy donuts, letting fish suck on my toes and trying horrible smelling fruit. bold and somewhat adventurous day for the win in kuala lumpur, malaysia.
i plan to wake up and eat peanut butter and jelly. and wash my feet again.
questions:
1) strangest or smelliest thing you’ve eaten?
2) do you have traditions or things you collect when you travel?
3) would you put your feet in a pool full of fish?
Amanda
August 24, 2014 at 3:27 pm
I would totally try a cheese donut, haha. And I’ve always thought the fish thing would be really neat to try. Although I’m sure I’d be grossed out too. Did your feet feel good afterward?
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chelsea
August 29, 2014 at 9:08 pm
my husband said his feet felt all soft and good but mine pretty much felt the same? it was totally weird but i’m glad i experienced it and if you get the chance you totally should too amanda!
Melinda
August 24, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Weirdest thing (I didn’t eat it) was in Indonesia where they serve bananas with cheese and chocolate on it. My teenager tasted it and said it was ok. I don’t like bananas so I was never going to go there.
I’ve smelt durian and there’s no way I could taste it. I can’t get past the smell. Mangosteens are sold here in Australia in the supermarkets when they’re in season, although I haven’t tasted them either. As you can probably tell, I’m not the most adventurous eater…. LOL
Fish eating my feet, yes done that. It tickles like crazy and I’m really ticklish. It was fun.
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chelsea
August 29, 2014 at 9:10 pm
ewww cheese and chocolate totally grosses me out! bananas are new to my list of liking so i feel ya melinda. they are such bossy fruits that overwhelm.
i can say that i am ready to be in a place that doesn’t sell durian…the smell is getting worse!!!
oh i bet you were cracking up with those fish on your feet because wooweee that tickles like crazy 🙂
Vivien
August 26, 2014 at 11:27 am
I heard Durian also described as cat urine! It seems to be a love hate relationship; people either love it or hate it. No in-between.
And yes I would put my feet there, just to try it. I may just make myself die laughing because I am usually quite ticklish!
chelsea
August 29, 2014 at 9:11 pm
ohhh cat urine, haven’t heard that one vivien! agreed…no in between with this strange fruit and the person who ate it first had to have been SO brave. if you are ticklish than you would certainly laugh uncontrollably!!
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Rachel G
September 11, 2014 at 2:41 pm
When you mentioned your trip to Malaysia, I had to stalk it down, I’m sorry. 🙂 Glad to see you being so adventurous! My family moved to Malaysia when I was 13 and they’ve never left so it holds a very special place in my heart. The Petronas towers were definitely a good place for your photo tradition! I’ve tried durian more than once….I’ve also tried durian flavored ice cream which is probably the worst invention in the history of food. It tastes exactly like it smells, to me. Mangosteen, on the other hand, are delicious and not smelly and I’ve never before seen a sign banning them! I wonder if there was some tragic mangosteen incident that the hotel isn’t telling us about…
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chelsea
September 11, 2014 at 6:03 pm
wow! i can’t wait to stalk you more and read more about your story, rachel! that would be quite interesting to move to such a different country like malaysia at the ripe age of 13 so i bet it does hold a special place for you.
uuuugh i kept seeing signs for durian ice cream and just couldn’t bring myself to try it and that sounds like the right move! i was trying to figure out mangosteen banning too! maybe stickiness or actually i like your idea that there was some sort of tragic incident that banned them. glad we connected!
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