I've made my Blackberry Bold SIM-unlocked, because the Blackberry I bought in Japan was locked to NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile phone carrier, so when I was abroad I had to fear the phone bill charging highly expensive roaming prices.

Unlocking was easy: I got an unlock code for my device at http://expressunlockcode.com/bbexpress.aspx by paying $19.99 and giving the IMEI for my device, phone model, carrier name locked to and my country to the unlock code provider. Several hours later from paying I got an unlock code for the IMEI I gave. Then I unlocked it by following the instructions at http://www.mobileslate.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-unlock-rim-blackberry-9000-bold/. Once unlocked, you can use not only NTT DoCoMo's SIM card but Softbank's, as shown in the above picture.
(Blackberry services aren't available with Softbank's SIM card, though)

On the last day, I gave up sightseeing in the downtown because I had not so much time, then I went straight to the airport from the hotel.

What I ate at the airport until the flight to Japan:

Luroufan, xiaolongbao and roasted duck.

See you again, Taiwan!

I stayed at Novotel Hotel near Taipei International Airport for this trip. I took this hotel online on Expedia.co.jp. It was super gorgeous, with a clean and modern room and a wide bed with two pillows.

You can see an airplane taking off from the guest room window because this hotel is located right beside a runway.

One problem: as it's very close to an airport, when a plane takes off at midnight its roaring sound will wake you up :-( It's recommended to avoid staying near an airport.

This is TAIPEI 101, which HAD BEEN world's tallest building until Burj Khalifa was built in Dubai. It was closed to general people but employees of its tenants.

It's Shilin Night Market, one of Taipei's famous night markets crowded for thousands of people from around. At stores of both sides of the main street clothes and wallets were sold for cheaper prices than at department stores. If you get on a branch road you have stinking stalls selling foods.

I got chicken rice at one of the stall. It tasted nice, although stalls around there stank.

The Shizilin building in Ximending is a complex of cell phone shops, arcade game shops and a movie theater. The first floor of it has plenty of shops selling cell phones, cell phone accessories, cameras, electric devices etc., like Sincere Podium in Hong Kong. The staff doesn't understand English, though.

I got Nokia 6120 classic at a shop in the building, just for NT$5000. When I looked into my wallet I found enough money I can afford to buy it. It supports HSDPA.

When it comes to cell phones in Taiwan of these days, I found that Nokia wasn't dominant. I saw not so many people used Nokia handsets. Instead, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung seem to be popular among Taiwan's people. Among them, Samsung's Anycall brand handsets were seen in many places.

It's the Wanhua district. There are old Chinese buildings and stores in the area. I like it.

Taipei International Airport looked as if it had been a major airport in Japan. Signs looked almost as same as those in a Japanese airport, except that they were written in traditional Chinese characters.

If you go to the bus stop on the first floor of the airport you can catch a route 705 bus to HSR Taoyuan Station, costing just NT$30 (almost 1USD). It's too cheap!

There were no other passengers but me in the big double-decked bus.

I'll be in Taipei until next Monday to see my brother working there now. The airplane will depart in an hour. I'm typing this entry in front of the gate. Flight attendants are chatting very loudly.... Anyway I'll enjoy being abroad because it's been almost three years since my last trip to a foreign country.

Today is the memorial day of the earthquake I was suffered from with my family 15 years ago. I was at my parents' house in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, when the great earthquake struck the Kobe area. I can't forget what went on, what I saw, what I did, and what I was helped at that time.

At the same time, I can't help feeling deep sympathy with people in Haiti who are just now struggling against the natural disaster. Although what I can do for them is very limited, I sent a little amount of donations to American Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, and some of similar organizations in charge of rescuing and supporting the survivors.

While I was in my parents' house at Nishinomiya the battery of my Blackberry Bold I carried with me was too low to turn on the phone. Then after returning home at Tokyo I plugged the charger in it to recharge it, but it didn't turn on even if I pressed the end (red) button of it.

Solution: (1) Pull out the battery of the BB; (2) Plug the charger into the BB with its battery out; (3) If the LED turns red then put the battery into the BB again; (4) Wait until it restarts.

Thanks the URL for solution: http://forums.crackberry.com/f83/help-bold-won-t-turn-78430/