Thursday, January 24, 2008

A Man and His Best Friend

On one of my walks at the Da-an Forest Park, I chanced upon a visually impaired man and his guide dog. He is Mr Li Zheng Zhong (李政忠) and his Guide dog, a 7 year old yellow lab by the name of Turk sits patiently by his side while he performs beautiful melodies on a round flute made of clay (陶笛). They belong to the Taiwan Guide Dog Association and with the help of Turk, they move around the city to give performances to the public.



Taiwan currently has about 50,000 visually impaired people, but there are only about 20 qualified guide dogs.

Guide dogs work in very demanding situations, they are the eyes of their owners and their owner’s safety depends on the dog’s concentration.

If you see a guide dog working, please do not pet him, talk to him or distract him with food.




Mr Li has a blog where he details his music and his adventures with Turk, click on the following link: http://blog.yam.com/turk1123

It was a joy to watch both of them at work and experience their mutual love and trust. The music is awesome too! Watch the following clip to enjoy his music.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A Tour of the National Taiwan University



The National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) is considered the best and most prestigious university in Taiwan. The locals usually refer it as TáiDà (臺大).

The main campus has an area of 108.6167 hectares and visitors are welcomed to join their free guided tour, but bookings must be made 2 weeks in advance.



Address: No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Ta-An District 106, Taipei, Taiwan (臺北市羅斯福路四段一號)
Telephone: + 886 (02) 33663366

I have spent many afternoons with Mommy walking down the lovely avenue of royal palms that leads to the library and around the Drunken Moon Lake.

Now, let me take you on a tour of this beautiful campus with this video clip, it is definitely worth a visit!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Dad and Mom's visit to Animals Taiwan

Animals Taiwan is a volunteer group dedicated to improving the livelihood and treatment of animals in Taiwan. They have about 60 dogs and more than 10 cats in their facility which is located in Shilin.

Here is a video of Dad and Mom's visit:



It is great to know that there are people out there who put in their time and energy to help our furry friends. Supporting them can come in many ways, you can make a donation, sponsor an animal or donate items to their Sunday Flea Market at Grandma's Nitti. You can also sign up as a volunteer at the facility or help out at the Flea Market or Charity Bazaar. You can also take the dogs out for a walk at a nearby park, or better still, adopt one of them! Find out more at their website which also has a lot of information on pet ownership.

Make a difference today, help our furry friends in need.

Boarding at Liza's

Dad and Mom had to travel for a week and so I went to stay with Liza who lives in a big house in the mountains with her 5 dogs and 2 cats, all of them were former rescues. Liza has a front and back garden where I can have free roam which is a lot better than having to be caged up in a kennel. Best of all, I got to play with her 5 dogs all day long. I also go for walks together with Liza and her dogs every morning. Thank you Liza so much for taking such good care of me during my stay. Here is a short clip of Liza's wonderful home.