At 11:30 a.m. on a Monday, Susan, Danny, Adriana, Jack and I all met at the Xindian MRT to take a bus to the Wulai District. The old street in Wulai is a popular place to see the cherry blossoms in Taiwan, especially at the end of February and beginning of March. The Wulai District is also famous for its hot springs, which flow directly from the scorching water of the Wulai River. Wulai literally means “steaming water” in the language of the aboriginal Atayal people, many of whom still live there.

We all had the day off because of the long weekend. A quick aside about the national holiday: Peace Memorial Day (2/28) commemorates a terrible massacre that happened in 1947 when Taiwan’s people rebelled against the government. It was met with violent suppression by China’s Kuomintang party, and it’s estimated that between 10,000 and 50,000 people were killed.

Despite the grim reason for the national holiday, it was a day off from work so we made the most of it! Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea, and the line for the bus was very long. We decided to just split a cab. It didn’t take long for Susan to fall asleep, warranting many selfies with “Sleepy Susan,” the first of many nicknames to come throughout the day.

We got out of the cab, and walked down a night market street for lunch. We split a meal with several courses, including tiny, seasoned shrimp that you eat with the shell, and small, fried fish that you eat with the bones. There was also a mountain pig dish, chicken, soup, veggies, all kinds of things. I really enjoyed eating the raw garlic out of the shrimp dish.

As we were leaving the restaurant, we met up with some of our other friends who were also in Wulai, but just for a few minutes. We were on our way to the waterfall (cherry blossoms were rumored to be there), and they wanted to get food, so we split up again after the brief hello. We walked uphill on the way to the Wulai Waterfall, with sparse, partially filled-out cherry blossoms lining the path. It was starting to rain and we wondered if the trees closer to the waterfall would be more full. On the way up, Danny walked on some under construction train tracks on the side of the road, the perfect scene for a music video. With my imaginary camera in hand, I shot Danny’s rap music video, which, naturally, was about cherry blossoms and being in Wulai.

Finally we arrived at the 80-meter waterfall, which had beautiful cherry blossom trees in the foreground, making for some scenic photos. I think if we came in early March the trees would have been in fuller bloom, but the pink flowers dotting the thin branches were still a sight to see, especially in front of the rushing waterfall. As we walked down the old street, we saw people posing for photos with the pink trees. We did too.

Then we headed up some stairs toward the gondola, but decided not to ride it because we were running out of time to make it to the hot spring. And it was hazy outside, not the greatest weather for clear, sweeping aerial views of the area. However, the long gondola cars suspended in midair against the fog covered mountains were pretty cool looking.

Since it was already late afternoon, we decided to scope out a place that had a 5-person hot spring. Of course, you can just go to the natural ones on the Wulai River, but we wanted to get a private one so we could keep our things out of the rain and feel more comfortable. The hot springs were apparently a popular activity for late afternoon, and we had to wait about 40 minutes to get in. During that time, we walked along the bank of the Wulai River, with steam coming off of it, and put our feet in. Well, everyone put their feet in except me. I wasn’t trying to get my only socks and shoes wet. But I stood nearby, and they used me for balance as they attempted to cross the slippery rocks. Certain areas of the water were burning hot, while others were cool, and the temperature changed in an instant. I looked at their red feet and felt content with my decision.

Waiting for the hot spring

We changed into our swimsuits, and turned on all of the faucets, hot and cold. We had our own private room with a shower, a tub, and shelves for our things. The room began to fill with steam as we filled the tub. The water was scorching, and no one could keep their hand in for more than a second. Then Susan took a small bowl of it and threw it on my leg, and my skin instantly felt a searing pain. Then we started calling her “Evil Sleepy Hot Water Susan” for the rest of the trip, rightfully so. Jack was quick to swoop in with the cold shower head, and it numbed the pain. We turned off the hot water faucets and just let the cold water run for a while before it was even bearable to step into. Finally, Susan went in and sat in the water. We all followed, slowly easing into the hot bath. The water was clear and odorless, and is supposedly rich with alkaline sodium bicarbonate, which is very beneficial for your skin. In the hot spring, we talked, lazed, and even sang a few snippets of songs, such as “Love Story” and “All Star.” We were sad when we got the knock on the door an hour later to tell us our time was up.

We changed, blew dry our hair, and when we got outside it was nighttime already. We headed back toward the night market street, and Danny saw a long line for a grilled sausage stand. He bought sausages for all of us, and we took a condiment brush and coated them with a delicious spicy sauce. We munched on our grilled sausages on a stick as we walked back through the night market street. A couple of us got ice cream (they had mint!) and we got a cab back to Taipei.

On the cab ride back, we came up with nicknames for everyone else in the car to accompany “Evil Sleepy Hot Water Susan.” Jack was in the back row of the cab by himself, and had some unflattering names for the front and middle rows, earning him the name “Bitter Back Row Jack.” I called Danny “Deadly Danny,” but he liked “Dying Danny” better. Adriana became “Austere Adriana” just because of alliteration, and I became “Still Learning Mandarin Allison” due to my subpar capability to ask for things in Mandarin on this trip, and, of course, a play on my blog title.

It still wasn’t very late, so we continued our hunt for cherry blossoms. Danny saw a picture of a cherry blossom tree near Taipei 101 on Facebook, so we decided to look for that tree. Jack had to go home and work, but the rest of us continued the chase for the elusive cherry blossom trees.

Sleepy Susan at it again

We walked around Taipei 101, holding up the photo on Danny’s phone occasionally to try to figure out if we were headed in the right direction. I had low expectations about actually finding the trees in the dark, but finally we found a group of cherry blossoms. The branches framing and overlaying the iconic Taipei 101 building made for some neat photos. We tested our artistic photography skills, attempting to contrast the natural flowers with the manmade building, all the while shooting in the handheld twilight setting. I think they came out fairly well.

Nearby the cherry blossoms was an outdoor market with trees decorated in Christmas lights, seating areas, space heaters, flat screen TVs, and tons of western-style food trucks. We all split a pizza from Alleycats, and walked around the trendy marketplace before calling it a night.

I went to bed with cherry blossoms on my mind and pizza in my stomach.