KUALA LUMPUR -- A Malaysian woman was on Tuesday crowned the "Scorpion Queen" after living with 2,700 scorpions for 30 days. "I am really happy that I was successful in my attempt, but I'm going to miss the scorpions," Malena Hassan told AFP after ending her bizarre stunt. Malena started living with the poisonous arachnids on July 1 in the two-by-six meter (six-by-20 foot) glass case in a museum in Kota Baru, northeastern Malaysia. The 24-year-old left the enclosure for just 15 minutes a day to use the bathroom and survived seven stings, two of them serious. The museum's chairman, Takiyuddin Hassan, rewarded Malena's efforts by giving her a certificate acknowledging her as Malaysia's "Scorpion Queen." But for Malena, one of the best rewards was making two new clawed friends. "I'm particularly fond of two scorpions, and I named one of them Bob," she said. "They're (scorpions) like that -- once you are around them long enough and they learn to trust you, you become their friend." Malena said she would keep "bob" as a pet, while other scorpions would be released into their natural environment. For her potentially-fatal adventure, Malena will be listed in the Malaysia book of records as the first woman to stay in an enclosed case with scorpions. Malena and her tutor, "Snake King" Ali Khan, were due to hold a snake performance later Tuesday to commemorate her success. "I will return to my regular performances with snakes after a one week holiday," she said. Malena regularly stages public shows with snakes. Malena had started her record bid with 2,000 scorpions, but asked for another 700 to be added into her cage "as a challenge" after she suffered a serious sting on July 17. Malaysians have a fondness for setting bizarre records, sometimes involving reptiles. Last August an attempt by "Snake Girl" Indera Surianti to spend 41 days in a cubicle full of poisonous cobras slipped up because of a complaint that it endangered the snakes. CAPTION Cars lie submerged on a flooded highway in Taiwan's mountainous country of Nantou as typhoon Toraji slammed into eastern and central Taiwan July 30, 2001.

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