I tugged the bunch of keys out of my pocket as I walked towards the lift lobby underneath my block, fiddling with it until I got the correct one for my letterbox. I opened it up, secretly hoping to see letters written to me by my admirers.

Oh, bills again.

Slammed the door shut and made my way to the staircase at the other end of the void deck. Did I lock the letterbox? Did I lock the letterbox? The question kept replaying in my mind, probing for an answer which I wasn’t able to give confidently. Climbed the stairs up to the second storey, where my unit was.

Did I lock the letterbox? It kept flashing loudly in my mind, demanding an answer after I stepped into my house. Heck, I decided to make my way down again only to find my letterbox securely bolted.

---

Ever had this experience of doing something and then forgetting about it just moments later? That was something that I had to struggle with for the past few years, especially when it comes to locking something - like my door to my house and the letterbox.

I would always have to walk back just to clear that doubt off the back of my mind after moving away. I knew I did lock the door, but was it properly locked? And this is getting to be a pain in the ass for me. Until one day, I came across this article on the net which offered a helpful solution for my issues.

The trick was simple, in order to force your mind to remember things, you just have to say it out loud after you’ve completed the task. So, after locking the letterbox, I would just say out loud to myself - “locked”.

Once again, the question would start flashing brightly in my head, and I would then be able to confidently answer myself that I’ve locked it because the memory of me saying “locked” is still glowing in my head.

This post is continued from Hello Taipei #8.

I wasn't really fascinated by the sea view of Tamsui back then since I was still serving my National Service in the Navy and the sea view reminded me of work.

A video of the view around Tamsui.

There were many variety of games over here and we were playing quite a lot of games.

Wasn't really interested with the games though since I'm a grown man - all I want interested in was the food and a stall caught my eye.

Roasts the bird's egg. The stall owner probably translated it directly with Google Translate or something. What a wrong name.

But name doesn't matter, it's the food that matters most. I mentioned about the Iron Eggs in the previous post but I still like the original best. Look at this, I bought many sticks from the stall owner because it was too good.

Took the train back after that and was very impressed with their public transport system. The public queued up in an orderly manner, no one was fighting for seats and people offered their seats to my elderly grandmother.

If you're feeling unwell, you can also request for such a sticker at the station so that people can offer their seats to you. I wonder if anyone has abused this system though.

Beautiful scenery on the train journey back to Ximending.

It rained on our last night in Taipei, the weather was rather erratic that night. The rain came in intervals. It was okay for 30 minutes before it started pouring again for the next 30 minutes and the whole cycle repeats.

Overall, it's a good place and I've enjoyed the stay there. I don't mind coming back here again for another holiday.

The band score for my IELTS was released today. I was given a grading of 7.5, meeting the minimum criteria of 6 which I needed for the course I'm applying for.

If everything goes to plan, I will be starting school on May 21. A new season in life has just begun.

This post is continued from Hello Taipei #7.

The next morning, we made our way down to 淡水區 (Tamsui District) on the metro. The one thing I love about the subways are the way people actually queue up to board the train.

Look at the "lanes marking" on the floor. Unlike here in Singapore, so messy during peak hours. They even have a staff placed there to signal when the train is arriving (which Singapore recently implemented).

After the pretty long train journey, we finally arrived at Tamsui.

If you're not blind or/and stupid, you should be able to tell Tamsui is located at the costal region of Taipei.

We were there early in the morning and the shops were just beginning to start their business for the day. Weather was pretty hot but it wasn't enough to stop me from exploring a new place.

Being in Tamsui is like going back in time to your childhood. Lots of toys and games to be played. I will go more and that later but in the meantime, check out what I've found.

I used to have one of this when I was very much younger and this was one of the designs I remembered. Old times. Since it was made of styrofoam, it wasn't very durable but at least it lasted a decent amount of throws.

One of the famous food in Tamsui is their 鐵蛋 (Iron Egg).

Lots of flavour to suit your taste. These are actually quail eggs and the reason why they're called Iron Eggs because it's quite hard. I didn't like it though.

In Tamsui, there are also a lot of game booths with prizes to be won.

That is why I said, it's a time machine back to your childhood. Don't expect prizes like your Playstations or iPods here, childhood games have childhood prizes like these.

My grandmother had a lot of fun playing this game and she was pretty good at it too.

More of Tamsui to be continued in the next post.

Update: Up next, Hello Taipei #9.

The rain fell heavily as I left the office today. I took small steps because I didn't want my shoes to be wet from the rain puddles. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this fine young lady taking quick but steady strides in the heavy rain.

She was so vulnerable out there alone and she looked like she could need the help of an equivalently fine young gentlemen like me. I quickly advanced towards her, ignoring the puddles of rain I was previously trying to avoid on the floor.

Me: Hey, want to share the umbrella?
Her: No, sorry!

Her answer took me by surprise. How could she reject me like that? Though her umbrella might be small, it was definitely enough to include me in it. I walked away carrying the pain of this world, all drenched from head to toe because someone is not willing to share her umbrella with me.

This is a fictional story and under no circumstances I would walk up to a lady and get her to share her umbrella with me. I'm just bored.

Little Talk: I wasn't able to post about my Taipei trip last year because my PC motherboard was fried and all my Taipei photos are in it. Well, it's back now.

This post is continued from Hello Taipei #6.

So, after Taipei 101, we made our way back to the hotel which is around the area of Ximending.

I continued walking around Ximending while the rest of my family headed back to the hotel for a short break. I don't really like Ximending as most of the shops there sells pretty much the same stuffs and there's so many "lanes" to explore.

Went back to the hotel after that and the night stars soon filled the sky. It's time for night market again. This time, Raohe Street Night Market.

It was drizzling slightly but it didn't dampen our mood for it. What I love about Night Markets in Taipei are the wide variety of food.

This is known as 魯味 (Lu Wei). It's like the Taiwan version of Lok Lok in Malaysia.

So you just take whatever you want and put them in this metal bowl and the stall owner will prepare the food for you.

Sorry for the lack of text in this post, here's a photo of a very nice bakery in Taipei to make up for it.

Until next time!

Update: Up next, Hello Taipei #8.

Little Talk: This was supposed to be up on April's Fool Day but I was too tired to post it.

This is a video of Amos Ang sleeping. The video might take awhile to load so hang on...

The reason why he's still not moving in this video is because he's sleeping.