1 - Bali（八里）and Tamsui (淡水)
The first time I went to Tamsui was in August, just over one year ago. It was for the teacher's conference. They put us up in a fancy hotel located on fisherman's wharf. I would pass the days in stately ballrooms, sipping tea and watching keynotes. I would pass the evenings on the pier, admiring the sailboats at sunset. One morning, on the final day, I woke up very early and walked up the road to a beach where the river empties into the sea. I remember being filled with the excitement of a new beginning in a new place that I'd quickly come to love.
The second time I went to Tamsui was quite a bit later, in April of the next year. I had come to Taipei for the weekend to meet some friends. We had a nice chat over some drinks at the Greenworld Hotel. Then we shuttled over to a nightclub next to the expo park where we danced to some hits from our middle school days. At some point the crowds began to suffocate me, and I stepped out to sit in the chilly night air until my companions were ready to go home. The next morning, the idea to go to Tamsui popped into my head. I felt terribly drowsy the entire time I was there, probably from all the sorghum I'd drunk the night before. I eventually decided to cut my losses and caught the first express train back to Hualien.
The third and last time I went to Tamsui was three months later, at the end of July. I had gone up to Taipei for the weekend to see my family friend Aunt Ming. At her suggestion, I went to Tamsui on Sunday afternoon to catch the sunset. The scene was much the same as I'd remembered from April. Elderly couples tangoed in the station square, children ran alongside pigeons on the grass, and enterprising vendors cooked up their delicious confections, all under the watchful eye of Guanyin Mountain.
I paid 80 dollars and bought a round-trip ticket to Bali. After disembarking, I bought some shuangbaotai and ice cream and took a short walk. Bali had a more relaxed atmosphere compared to its sister on the other side of the water. There were many waterfront parks and small beaches where children played. Looking to the right, I could see Tamsui, perched atop a hill and spread along the riverbank. I rode back there about thirty minutes before sunset and began walking upriver. Not too far away -- no more than a few miles -- lay the point where river meets ocean. High above, in the vast blue sky, clouds were arrayed in long strands and seemed to be on fire. It was one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. If I'd kept walking, I could have reached the grand hotel at fisherman's wharf, the very location where my journey had begun eleven months earlier. But by then it would have been pitch dark. So I turned around and headed back to the station.