Taiwan Animal Welfare Internship

It was my first time watching sunrise and it was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning. The sunlight was so bright that it woke me up from my sleep at 5am, actually I set my alarm at 6am, didn’t intend to wake up so early in the morning. Sun usually rises at 7am in Malaysia, 5am is supposed to be still dark.

This is my first morning in Taiwan, and I’m so lucky to have Taiwanese home breakfast. We had porridge, steamed egg, bean curd, bamboo shoot and broccoli. Sorry, I forgot to take some pictures.

I left home at about 8am to the office to meet up with Madam Liu before going to the Donghu MRT Station to pick Martina from Czech.


Madam Liu has a little puppy in her room at the office, it’s really tiny, her name is Wawa(娃娃).

Martina and I went to the Bank SinoPac (永丰银行) to exchange currency, but the bank told us that we need to go to Taiwan Bank at 康宁医院 by Bus 287 or 红 2.

International roaming cost me RM2.50/min and RM2/sms using DiGi telecommunication service from Malaysia. Therefore I need a Taiwan SIM card which can help me to save back a lot. We went to Carrefour to get a SIM card, NT300.

This is the big Ferris Wheel in front of Carrefour.


Martina was very sleepy, she really needs a rest. She got a cup of coffee from 7-11 and we sat at a bakery. I had a butter puff for lunch, yummy~

Then we went back to Donghu station, but while we’re on our way back, Madam Liu called and told us she’s going to pick us up at Wende station by taxi.

We picked Jovian up at the Taipei Main Station. He was wearing his sunglasses, couldn’t see us although we kept on waving our hands in the taxi, just right in front of him, haha. Then I called him.

We went to Taipei City Animal Protection Office with Madam Liu for a meeting.





We had our late lunch at 7-11, Taiwan City Hall. This is my Mediterranean Chicken Rice.

Martina went back home to sleep and I followed Jovian back to his hotel for a rest and checked mail before going to Shihlin Night Market.

Before we going to the MRT station, we hang around a shopping mall near Taipei Main Station. Transformer will be showing in cinema next thursday, let's see the price.

I met a new friend, Henry from Singapore. Jovian, Henry and I took MRT to Jiantan Station, one station before Shihlin Station. It was during the peak hours, the station was very crowded. I applied for the Yourth Travel Card as Henry said that we can get special discounts with the card, awesome =) But I have not read the handbook yet, I have no idea how to use the card and what benefits will I get.

Jovian and I had a heavy lunch, and still full, so we didn’t try any Taiwan specialties, but only Taiwanese Mee Sua before we left the night market.
Taiwanese style of Roti Canai? The way they toss the dough is almost like Malaysian Roti Canai. But it’s certainly not Roti Canai. It’s a type of bread.


Back to Donghu Station by MRT safely, but I lost my way back from the station to the TN’s office. Luckily I eventually managed to get to the office after asking the locals for directions. Taiwanese are quite friendly, and ready to lend a helping hand, they will tell you the directions and make sure you understand.

Madam Liu told me the history of her animal shelter while waiting for Cindy to pick me home. I’ll write a full story next time after Madam Liu has told me the next part of the history, and she said she’ll show me the proposal she did to make a change to the society for animal welfare. Hope I can bring back the knowledge I learnt here to my country, and hopefully it will be applicable in Malaysia.

Scooter is common in Taiwan, I never ride scooter before in my life! This is my first time! Very nervous, haha~ and the helmet is too big for me, it kept fell off my head. Great experience anyway.

I had waited for about a month for the internship after my final exam. The internship was supposed to start on 6 June, but due to some circumstances, my Taiwan internship had been postponed to 27 June. I had no choice but to change my flight, paid the extra fees, RM380, it's really not a small amount to me, but I'm pretty sure that the internship will worth every single cent I spent.

This is my first time going abroad ALONE, I was a little bit worried actually.

We took Kuo-Kuang Bus (国光客运) to Taipei Songshan Airport. The bus is amazing, every seat has its own television.

Then we took MRT from Songshan Airport Station to Donghu Station. I bought my Easy Card, can be used for MRT and shutter bus.

Sylvie helped me to take my luggage all the way from the airport to the TN’s office. Really appreciate it. My luggage is heavy, total 18kg.

Madame Liu called her son, Mr Liu Chi Ming to take me for dinner and send me home. We had our dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. And I had Apple Curry Noodle, still I prefer Malaysian curry.

I’ll stay at Mr Liu’s home for several days before the Mexican girl arrive.