Day 5: Radium Kagaya - Hippos in Hot Spring Bath...

~ 18th March 2014 ~

Reminiscing our sweet moments together. The sensation of looking through holiday photos, is about to awaken my globe-trotting spirit. I'm very tempted to drag my luggage and I don't mind chasing after trains and running towards the closing flight gates. 

Excited to be here...

What's the point of going to Xinbeitou without a proper hot spring bath? I did mention that we were not interested to have a dip at the public bath neither were we willing to take a free dip at the monsoon drain. I wasn't sure how we came about at this place. Pinky suggested this place but we were just walking aimlessly, not sure of which hotel that offers private hot spring baths to walk into. We walked into Radium Kagaya. The interior design was fantastic, completely Japanese. We love it~!

The Japanese concept by the Japanese...

This is what you would see inside the building. This pic was captured inside the elevator. No fingerprints on the glass. Squeaky clean. We dare not touch the glass panel just in case we would leave a print and the cleaning lady need to wipe everything from top to bottom. We were one considerate lot.

Our room....

After making payment for the 90-minute private hot spring bath session, we were walked to our room. It was splendid. I could only imagine hotel rooms with beds and sorts, but there's no beds in this room. Just a round tub with ancient-like bathing area We were exhilarated and excited to the edge of hyperventilating. 90 minutes ain't enough. What should we do? We should move fast as every extra hour, we would be charged accordingly.

Our baby pool....

I came prepared. I brought my swimming costume and brought an extra pair while my travel buddy brought hers as well. The benefit of making an itinerary even though we didn't manage to follow them to the dot is you wouldn't miss out on the important stuff. Carrying extra is worth the effort rather than not having enough. While waiting to fill up the flower-shaped tub with water directly sucked in from the source of hot spring and mixing with some cold water, we went to change up. You need to mix with cold water or your would turn into blanched vegetables. We had our drinks from 7-11 and chips to munch, too. Please don't throw chips into the tub, that would be an uncivilized act.

Going crazy in the tub....

What to do while having a dip in hot water? The weather outside was hot but the dip was altogether different. It was really nice and soothing. We were not planning to stare at each other while taking a dip. We would like to keep this as memories with lots of still shots. The tripod which I deemed a pain in the ass came handy. And with the ability to be connected to the phone, it was all-in-all useful. While I clicked away on my phone, the camera was in-sync with the phone but just a tad slower. If I were to climb up and down to set the timer, I would definitely slide open the window and fling everything to the ground or I would accidentally get my foot stuck and went flying to the end of the room and lose a tooth. You have to give a thumb's up to modern technology which makes life simpler.

Excitement level at the max....

While mi mama were done being blanched, we continue to simmer in the tub. We wanted to make full use of our time there. You see the wall clock right in front of us? That's a real good reminder. They even called us ten minutes before our time was up to make sure that we were all done, dressed up and ready to go leave. If we ever go back to Taiwan, I wouldn't mind staying there but the homestay at Miss Chen's place where we were staying was just as good. Anyway, I doubtfully think that we will be going back to the same country, as we have suddenly made a rough draft for next year. Our draft was really simple now, just the name of the countries have popped out. The rest was still in blank pages.

Ancient way of bathing by the well....

The traditional way of taking a shower. Fill up the bamboo bucket with water. There's hot and cold water, so nothing to worry about. Then splash yourself. It's really refreshing. We had a great time that day. My travel buddy actually washed my hair for me... Hahahaha... Gosh, I miss the time we were together. Why are you staying so far away? Maybe it's good that way. If we're staying in the same place, we will never meet up as we're both so busy until late at night. I miss ya' lots. This is the holiday that brought us together really close. I could know what she has in her mind by just looking at her facial expression or hearing her way of responding. We used to tip-toe around each other, not knowing what we both like. Now, she could fart freely when we're around. Hey, you only fart around your very close friends. You can never do that to strangers. You would be so embarrass and tried to dig a hole and bury yourself if you know you have farted around strangers, and the strangers know you're the culprit. It IS rude to fart when there are others in the same room but don't you agree that you are rudest to those whom you are really close to? Fart away now~ Hahahahahhaa....

The outside world....

There are two other things that can be done while taking turns to shower. One, I slide open the window and tried on my unskilled photography skill. There's not much of a view. Just overlooking that bungalow which I had no idea whose house was it or was it some place that we have missed out completely in our rush. 

Smart phone and smart camera staring at smart toilet...

The second thing that you could do to upgrade yourself culturally is by trying out the smart toilet. There are a few buttons for you to try out. Both of us were just reminiscing about this place and great minds think alike. We both regretted for not trying out any of the function buttons. We were afraid that the toilet water would splash onto our faces and we had no time to clean ourselves up, then be charged with the extra hours spent in the expensive room. We were also worried that we might destroy the expensive toilet as we were three people from the countryside. You won't know, you might press a button then maybe the toilet would crash, boom and bam, all shit come flooding the beautiful room. Next time, we will try it out.

Comfort to the butts...

How I wish we didn't have to rush off. I would love to sink my ass into those comfortable seats. I'm very sure my butt would be stuck to the chair for hours. Give me a good book, I could sit there whole day without going anywhere. I really miss our time together. This job of looking through our holiday photos is doing me no good. It's not that I miss the country. I just miss spending time together, walking around. I guess, hardly anyone will be blessed to have a whole month of holiday together. Now, we're 8 hours of flight time away plus the waiting time for boarding, would be 12 hours with a four-figure flight ticket away. Should I just abandon this work of going through our photos, that wouldn't be fair, too as I 'm the only person having our photos.... *sad*

Mi mama....

So, interview time...

Me: How do you feel about this trip? 

Mama: Very tired but very exciting. Get to see lots of things.

Me: What do you think of this place?

Mama: Very expensive.

Me: Are you happy?

No need to answer la. Mi mama was smiling from ear-to-ear. The hot spring bath has boosted our energy level. We're fully charged. I just Google search this place, yeah, I know, talking about being ignorant. This is a 5-star hotel with exquisite Japanese restaurant which we didn't go to, I don't know why we didn't go. Do you remember that just that morning, we couldn't even afford to buy a basket of fruits by the roadside, but we were blessed. We could actually afford NT$3300 for 3 persons and for 90 minutes. Talk about feeling rich. We are wealthy and prosperous. 

Leaving the luxurious hotel...

Goodbye, Radium Kagaya! Memang kayalah kita orang duduk berendam di dalam kolam kecil dengan bayaran beribu wang Taiwan selama 90 minit. Kaya sungguh kita~! Puji Tuhan atas segala yang diberikan. Amen~!