Breakin' the law! Breakin' the law!

This morning, we went to Immigration to get our status extended. It was very crowded, but didn't take all that long. We got the forms, filled them out, A went and paid, and then we took off. It takes an hour to process, plus they take an hour off for lunch, so we couldn't get our passports back until 2pm.

So we went to Ocean Park, which was just a kilometer or so away. We had lunch at a little place across from the aquarium. It was an authentically Filipino take on American food. The youngest's hotdog had been dipped in banana ketchup and covered with shredded cheese. K ordered a cheeseburger, thinking she was ordering a cheese sandwich, so she was already determined not to eat it when it arrived, but when it showed up with a thick layer of banana ketchup between the patty and melted cheese, there was no way she was going to try it. A was smart and got skewered meat with rice. Had I know what that was on the menu, I would have ordered it, too, but instead I opted for beef stroganoff, which turned out to be a beef stir-fry over noodles with a drizzle of cream across the top. It was still good; just not what I was expecting.

The youngest announced that she had to use the potty. Fun fact: restaurants here are not required to have restrooms. The nearest was about 100 yards down the road. I grabbed some tissues from my bag and walked her over to them, only to see as we got there that we needed 2 pisos each in order to get into them. Not having brought my money with me, we went back to the restaurant to get some, but as I was pulling out my wallet, the food came, and the youngest was distracted enough that she forgot she needed to "go" in the first place.

When we finished eating, we went over to the Manila Ocean Aquarium. It cost 400 pisos each, if I remember correctly. (About $8 for adults. I think the kids were $7.) When you start through the aquarium, it actually kicks you outside for a bit, where you see some tanks of GIANT fish from the Amazon and some alligators (crocodiles?) from the Philippines. There is a touch-tank for the kids with star fish and sea cucumbers.
Then you head back inside and wander through a large room of smaller tanks spotlighting different species of ocean life.

There are eels that bury the bottom half of themselves in the sand and stick the top half out to feed on plankton. They look like bendy straws poked into the floor. There was a HUGE and beautiful Pacific lobster and all sorts of tropical fish.

(Shark eggs in various stages of development.)
Apparently, I didn't get photos of anything I talked about above, but you got pictures of other things and they are each worth a thousand words, right?

The next area had larger, wall-sized tanks with much bigger fish like grooper. Then you are lead through a tunnel where the fish are on both sides and above you. It was amazing! There were "Dory" fish and rays and all sorts of things.
(YAR! I'm an angry ray!)

After that was a shark tank, a kids play area, and a learning center about protecting the oceans.

Then that was it. It kicked us out there. I was totally bummed! I wanted more!

Well, I got it! You leave by going up stairs to the second floor, and that's where they have the activities. The first one we saw was a "fish spa." These special little fish made headlines a few years ago in the States when a spa owner in Virginia imported some of the special toothless fish that eat dead skin off your body and started selling fish pedicure sessions for $35 for 15 minutes. They were charging about $2.50 for 20 minutes here, so we gave it a go.

I remember reading about these fishies and thinking there was no way I could ever have a fishie pedicure, because I am so ticklish on my feet that it is almost a disability. And sure enough, as soon as I stuck my feet into the large, wading-pool sized tank and they rushed over and got to work, I started laughing. And I couldn't stop. It was almost torture! But I so wanted to try it that I grit my teeth through the laughter and kept my feet in the tank. I laughed for a solid 5 minutes, which was a little embarassing since we were sharing the tank with another family, but after that, I think my brain just stopped processing the tickle sensation (for the most part) and I could deal.

Let me tell you, my feet feel like baby butts right now. I could still go for a little more fishy time, especially on my heels, but man my feet feel cool! The girls were a little skittish about it, so we gave up after about 25 minutes, but the woman at the booth wasn't keeping track of time, and I think if we went back without the kids, we could hang out there for an hour and let those fishies really work!

When I got home, I was curious about how much they charge in the States for this pedicure (Some places are $45 for 15 minutes!), and found out that the practice is actually banned in 14 states so far, because you can't sterilize fish. It's a pity. You all are missing out in those states! Apparently, you can buy your own fishies for about $3 a pop and have your own at-home fish-spa experience if you live somewhere where The Man is keepin' you down. Or you can just come visit me, and I'll hook you up!