Zhengzhou, China

After our little two-and-a-half hour jaunt turned into a five-hour ordeal, we finally arrived at the JAPANESE HOT SPRINGS RESORT in ZHENGZHOU (approximately prounounced "chen-zoh"), thoroughly exhausted. But we had to have dinner with the vendors in one of the hotel restaurants before we could retire up to our dimly lit rooms. The entire hotel is done up in "traditional" Japanese architecture, complete with sliding screen doors and paper-thin walls. They even make you sleep on FUTONS, on the hard wood floors...











We didn't partake in the hot spring's HOT TUB amenities in the vast grounds behind the hotel, but we did help ourselves to the resort's fine selection of "special pillows", each designed to perform some sort of quackpot health benefit...









Every time I stay here I always get a kick out of the EMERGENCY GAS MASKS, which look like something you'd wear in case of GODZILLA ATTACK...also, I like that it makes your head look like a baked potato:



The bath is supposed to be a "traditional" Japanese bath as well, complete with a little bench for you to sit on so you can soap and lather those hard to reach places south of your waist line. When you're standing in the shower, the mirror lines up exactly where your crotch is, which is a bit disconcerting...



Missy has a discussion with TOFU BABY before demonstrating how the table COLLAPSES into floor, thus creating more floorspace in the cramped hotel room...



















We got up early in the morning so that we could explore the grounds a little before heading off to breakfast...we didn't explore the hot springs because you're not allowed in that area unless you are wearing bathing suits and robes. Since we were in a bit of a time crunch, we ended up just exploring the front end of the hotel instead...































Before we knew it, we were in yet another minivan, being chauffeured to our next appointment. We watched the early morning traffic speed by and the shop-lined streets come alive...