optimize obsessions, take more baths outdoors. . . resolutions 2016

The word "obsession" generally has a negative connotation, but. . .

I think that being obsessed with an idea or a hobby is where the creative impulse is born. 

Perhaps one of the healthiest things you can do to figure out what your "good" obsessions are and then immerse yourself . . . 

see where the wind takes you.

 In other words, maybe

 "we are what we do"

I dunno, discover a new YOU in 2016?

I have a more than a few of my own (what I think of as) positive -and granted, a bit dorky- obsessions... such as:

jazz, swimming, writing, coffee culture, cooking, 
foreign languages, exploring islands in Malaysia and Thailand, Seinfeld, books, 
gardens and parks, snorkeling, 
Beat culture, 
and more recently kayaking, photography 

and one I haven't been able to indulge in for a few years:

ONSEN! 
(hot springs)

When I lived in Southern Japan for several years, it was only a hop skip and jump to get to the nearest onsen...

So, when I heard that there was an onsen town only thirty minutes away from central Taipei, 

it became a definite to-do on my list.

I arrived in Taipei at 5:50 AM 

after a 13+ hour flight from Seattle--- 

and since check-in at my hotel wasn't until 3 PM, 

I lackadaisically got a coffee, sat down and made a plan. 

Strangely enough, I'd slept for most of the flight 

- extremely unusual for me, but somehow, I'd forgotten to ask for an aisle seat as I normally do, 

and ended up sandwiched between two tall men

-- the result of which I felt like I couldn't move around, and the immobility put me to sleep. 

Unoptimal, at first, 
sometimes situations can work in your favor.

Upon landing, I felt energetic, but terribly in need of a shower--- how refreshing would a hot spring bath be right about now, I thought to myself, and set off to drop off my luggage at the hotel and make my way to Beitou Hot Springs. The bus from the airport as well as the MRT system in Taipei proved to be super convenient and I found myself 

at the base of the mountains in no time.

Upon arrival at Beitou station, I had a flashback.

I was back in Japan going to Beppu, in Kyushu, for the first time. I had been to onsen in Japan many times before this particular trip, but it was my first trip 

going to an onsen town by myself. 

I felt a little out of my element at first, but I ended up having an amazing, relaxing time. 

Beitou's landscape brought back memories of Beppu, hilly, 

at the base of a mountain range, 

steam rising in the distance...

There is something very mysterious and freeing about hot springs. I mean, really, you are bathing in the middle of a volcano. That's obvious, I guess, but the implications are interesting, if you think about it. . .

Volcanic action under the Earth's crust is the origin of places to stand on in the world. It is the place islands are born, die. In a sense, 

volcanoes are the Earth's creative elite.

Seeing smoke rise from water in shades of lapis lazuli you hadn't known existed previously is really something else. The life force is strong---- it's like finding the body of water where light sabers are made and then submersing your body in it.

In Taiwan, it felt like something out of a technicolor/hello kitty dream. . .

At Beitou station, changing trains for Xin-Beitou (New Beitou station),
I checked out the map.

I know what the sign is supposed to say, but. . . 

Don't tick off the onsen gods.

How cool is this tree?

waiting out the rain with the camera crowd

Breaking all the rules on holiday. . . as you should

I was very curious about this (shabu shabu is "hot pot" popular in Japan. . but sugar cane?). . .
maybe will try the next time in Taipei..

A little bit like Plymouth Rock

Happy New Year*!!!

*I said this to one of my students after coming back from term break, and she said, "What? It's not New Year's yet!" 

Chinese New Year is yet to come. 
Nice to know there's plenty of time.