The night before, I went for a half-body massage. The lady also COMPLETELY massaged my buttocks. She was too brutal. Ended up with two one foot long dark red bruises running down my back. So it was perfect (for recuperating) that today we decided to head to Er Yi's apartment in Beitou, the northernmost district of Taipei, noted for its mountainous terrain and hot springs.
This is Grace and me relaxing on the floor of the bedroom before our hot spring baths. There are two square, fairly deep pebbled tubs each outfitted with a bench and separated by a partial wall. There are faucets for hot spring water, normal hot water, and normal cold water. The water has a slight, distinctive sulfuric scent that is not unpleasant. We spent a couple cleansing hours scrubbing, washing and chatting. I worked particularly hard to rid my skin of any city grime, dead skin or dirt. I felt soooo clean afterwards.
The view outside the window from the tubs.While we bathed, Da Yi and Er Yi spent some quality sisterly bonding time dying each other's hair with henna (their organic, chemical-free choice of hair coloring product).
Da Yi
Er Yi
Later that night, we ventured out to find a place to eat. Da Yi had heard about some popular noodle shops so we stumbled across one in the direction a stranger pointed us to. The food was good, but what was truly awesome was the great vat of black tea (just a tiny bit sweetened with liquid sugar syrup) that was free and thoughtfully provided to the patrons. I was sorry when we all finished our meals and had to leave the glorious drink behind.
As if we weren't stuffed enough, Da Yi had a craving for an oyster omelette (oua-jien), a Taiwanese snack made of oysters, eggs, flour and veggies. I liked watching the man make a bunch at once.
Full and content, we made our way back.
And there you have it: a pretty darn good day.
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