SOMETHING FISHY

This one just caught my eye. How couldn't it?

Just when you thought fish were meant for eating, a Japanese spa has come up with an unusual beauty treatment. One that has rare fish nibbling at your dead skin cells. And here I am thinking, the secret to eternal youth, lies in that expensive little bottle.

The Japanese, of course, taking us right back to nature.

Women who have been swarming to the "Doctor Fish" experience, as it's being hailed, are already swearing by it. Some even call this rather strange bathing experience a 'unique beauty treatment'.

The fish trace their antecedents to the hot springs of Turkey, where they are thought to have healing properties for skin complaints.

No such claims in Japan though, where they are being promoted only for their beauty skills.

Certainly, not a treatment for the faint-hearted, not one for me at least.

But if your idea of a hot bath includes being nibbled by fish, unroll your map, get your Lonely Planet ready. Your next holiday should take you to Kowakien Yunessun hot springs in the mountain resort of Hakone. It's some 100 kilometres west of Tokyo.

And don't say you weren't warned!