Yang Ming Shan

I just got back from hot pot dinner. I still smell like sulfur from the hot springs (I'm going to go shower soon); the sulfur and other minerals are good for your skin--sulfur has antimicrobial properties. After laying in the tian ran (natural) wen quan (hot springs) my face felt all clean and tight; hard to describe. The water was white and if you looked closely you could see all little white mineral particles and you could definitely smell the sulfur (from the volcanic activity below, which heats the water).

The car ride was really fun weaving around all these tight turns while listening to soothing Okinawan music (Maru couldn't understand it bc Okinawan is a mix of Taiwanese and Japanese). First, we went to this cool restaurant and had amazing food. Some dishes were made with ingredients found on the mountainside like wild veggies and plants that grow on the trees there. It was delicious. We also got some fried di gua (similar to a mix b/n sweet potato and regular potatoes-yellow in color; there was also some that were purple--forgot what those are called) to-go so we could munch on it while hiking the mountain.

The first stop on the hike up Yang Ming Shan was this lake that was protected by the government bc there's a type of plant that exists nowhere else in the world.

Oh yeah I climbed part of the mountain first and it was cool bc all around us was swirling fog which would blanket us and make obscure visibility but then it would suddenly clear...etc., etc. Then we chilled at this park for awhile part way up the park. Then we went to the hot springs. We all decided to go to the individual hot springs. Maru and I checked out the public male one but...uhh too many dongs. Just a bunch of old naked men lying around...Haha Maru nearly walked into the women's one "on accident."

Then in the car we all fell asleep with the calm Okinanwan singer, Xia Chuan Li Mei singing in the background (lying in hot water makes you so sleepy and thirsty!). When I woke up we were back in Taipei. We drove by Maru's aunt's (who is Taiwanese; his mom side is Taiwanese and his dad is Japanese...all i know is that his dad owns a Harley) workplace (Lexus) and then we went to the restaurant bc she was still working. Maru's uncle works for Mercedes and he said he worked on the merger b/n Daimler Benz and Chrysler and went to Detroit too...but now Mercedes no longer owns Chrysler.

We had Beijing style hot pot today--really good. I am so full.

I forgot my camera today but Maru said he would put it on my flash drive...so stayed tuned for photos. I'll probably post them on Picasa Web.

I can't believe it's already Sunday night! The weekend is over already...sad...time is really flying by. I can't believe I've already spent a month here. (felt like a week and a half)..I don't know if I will want to leave when a year rolls by.

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I always liked this song ("Beautiful Love" by The Afters) ever since I saw an episode of "8th & Ocean."

Anyways, I liked the movie "Romeo & Juliet" too. So here's a good combo: