Christmas Shopping!

So most of you have probably been heading to Washington Square, Target, Wal-Mart...etc for all of you Christmas finds! You probably stopped at Starbucks for a peppermint mocha and turned up Bing Cosby's famous Christmas album to get you in the mood to face the crazy Holiday shoppers. You most likely slipped on your fuzzy boots, jackets maybe a hat or scarf or some mittens (for all my East Coasters friends who need snow stuff!) and got ready to do some serious Christmas gift hunting!

Well...Christmas shopping in Penang, Malaysia is a bit different. Donovan and I headed out this past week to get our gifts for my family and it was indeed different Christmas shopping then I've ever done. First of all, our attire was typical for the local resident of Penang, some shorts, tank-top and of course flip-flops. Next we got in the car and searched for any local radio station in English, Christmas music is out of the question here but we found one station in perfect English! So Lady Gaga filled our speakers as we drove along the curvy roads to Batu Ferringhi! Starbucks here is of course not only rare, but expensive and at 88 degrees, hot coffee doesn't sound to appealing. So we stopped for some local Indian cuisine, and some fresh squeezed carrot juice! yummmy!!!

Then came the actual shopping. Rows and rows of tents fill the streets as vendors try to sell you anything from knockoff Prada bags, to local Malaysian hand-crafts. You got to barter for the best price of course! And I must say, Donovan was extremely good at it, for being a first time world traveler! We got deals beyond deals, and had an awesome time! It was fun just laughing with my husband as we perused the goods. The locals were all excited to sell their stuff to some eager Americans! Yet, apparently everyone thought we were from Australia instead of the US. Hmmm....thats was odd!

Donovan and I then stopped for a little break and decided to try out the famous Fish Spa of Malaysia. Oh my goodness gracious!!! We will never forget that! The "Fish Spa" was definitely not a spa in my opinion. What it is is the customer sticks their feet in a inside fish pond and then allow hundreds of fish to EAT at your feet. These little sucker fish nibble at the callouses and dead skin on your feet. I lasted 20 seconds before I gagged and squealed. It was way to weird having these fish swarm at my feet, fighting each other to eat me. Yuck!!! But of course, my husband loved it, and kept insisting I try it again. I let him enjoy that one! I'll take a regular foot scrub any day rather then letting some squirmy fish eat my feet! But Im glad he enjoyed it!

Well friends, Donovan and I are 11 days away from being home. We are getting really excited to see my family and our friends! Hope the Holiday Season is treating you all well!