The first time I heard about the fish spa, I knew I had to try it. There’s just something about using nature to solve your problems. But even though fish spa had been available in Jakarta for a few months, it’s only a few weeks ago that I managed to find the time to try one,
I tried the fish spa at Senayan City in Jakarta, the half hour fish spa for IDR 120,000. It was about seven in the evening on a Saturday and the place was quiet, there were only 6 other people in the fish spa area (from a capacity of about 30, I think). First I was asked to take off my shoes, and was given a set of sandals. Next, an attendant washed my feet with water and soap, and dried them with a clean towel. I was then asked to choose where to sit, choosing from among four shallow pools. Each pool had 7-8 seating stations around them.
I picked up a few magazines and settled myself on one of the stations, sharing my pool with only one other person, a little kid. Slowly I place both of feet in the pool, and right away fish started to swarm over. They started to pick on my skin, and it became so ticklish that I had to take my feet out of the water a couple of time. The fish really started to work on my feet, leaving the little kid with only a few fish nipping at the little kid. When an attendant came around to check on me, I asked her why the fish are not evenly distributed, and she said they really like feet with a lot of dead skin.
After the first 5 minutes or so I got tired of watching the fish pick on my feet, so I started to read. I could still feel my feet being nibbled on, however, including down on the soles and around the ankles. The bottom of the pool had smooth stones on its bottom, so you could place your feet all the way down at the bottom, and lightly step and message your feet on the stones.
After exactly half an hour, an attendant came around to warn me that my time is up. I took both feet out of the pool, rinsed and dried them myself (rinsing after the soak is apparently optional), and put on my shoes. My feet felt somewhat light and ‘airy’, but to be honest, I wasn’t able to detect any changes in the softness of my feet. I wish, though, that I had brought some body lotion to right away moisturize my feet.
I’m not sure whether I would try the fish spa again. I think I’ll get better results from an hour of soak and scrub in a regular salon, and that usually already includes some nail work too (at least nail cleaning and shaping).
So, anybody tried the fish spa yet? Do you see any results? Do you go regularly?
