oh, what a day

There's nothing like a cherry on top of a sundae...sweeping up poo and mopping 20 dogs' pee in their sleeping area. That was the first thing I did this morning at the animal shelter. I was given a SARS mask to block out the stink, but I was still gagging. It was a good workout, though, I suppose since I was sweating so much. Afterwards, I took a quick break in an, thankfully, air-conditioned room. A fluffy white dog came up to me. I think dogs certainly have a sixth sense of people who are dog lovers. And you'd think that most dogs at animal shelters are shy and scared of humans because of their abusive past (majority of the dogs at Animal Taiwan). She jumped onto the sofa and pushed my hand onto her head. I have to admit that I get attached to dogs too easily. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful white terrier mix. It was time to feed the dogs, so I had to go back outside to the sauna weather. The dogs were crazily barking. I was told that they're fed only once a day at noontime. They are fed some kind of raw meat. Looked like ribs. Then they are dressed with some kind of orange sauce made from a yummy Taiwanese green veggie, carrots, and taro I think? I kinda felt like I was about to faint while dressing the meat. The meat looked so disgusting and bloody. Yuck. But I did it anyway and tried not to look at the bones. I was at the shelter for about 3 hours, but it felt like forever because it was so hot and I worked in the smelliest area for an hour.

I'd really love to go back to volunteer at this shelter, but unfortunately it's so far away from Banciao. I had to take the subway to Taipei Main Station, from there transfer to Jiantan, wait an hour for the bus because the schedule on the weekends is only every hour, and then walk from the stop to the shelter--which is conveniently right behind the stop. But still, that's a lot. It truly felt rewarding, though. Plus, I met a few fellow animal lovers. Maybe next time I'll just take a taxt from the subway station.

Xiao Mei A-yi came to pick me up in a taxi, and she treated me to huoguo (hotpot). I ate to my heart's content because this week I barely ate anything. It's so hot that I've lost my appetite. And, I have to buy lunch everyday so that adds up/I'm almost out of NT. Then, I went to SOGO at Zhongxiao Fuxing. It is sooooo crowded. Like Black Friday shopping at Best Buy. SOGO was having a summer sale, but I noticed that they actually mark up the prices and then say that there is a 50% sale. Ugh. I specially went to SOGO to buy a SIGG bottle. All this time I've been filling water in a plastic water bottle. That can get nasty with bacteria and such. So, SIGG is the way to go, considering it's easier to clean than my camelback bottle. Here I am at SOGO, going up and down the elevator looking for these bottles, fighting my way through the crazy crowds. Finally, I find them on the 8th floor. There was a 10-20% sale. I thought the bottles would then be around $10-20. No, I was so wrong. Even on sale, my 0.6L bottle was 840NT. I wanted to refuse to buy it...that's a damn $26. I know, expensive. But I was desperate. I came all this way to SOGO, in my dirty clothes and tired feet. So, yes I caved in. Sorry, mom don't be mad at me! It will last a lifetime!! And, I HAD to change my traveler's cheque anyway.

Anyhow, I am about to pass out right now. It's only 9pm...today felt so long...busily running all around Taipei. Sigh.