Singapore Pt 3
Wednesday 13-1-2010
I went to the zoo.
Thur...
wait, that's not really enough info is it?
But yes, it was a Zoo Trip. I had a quick peruse of the internet and a light breakfast and found my way to a taxi. It was at this point that I realised every taxi driver in Singapore believes they're Han Solo - looking to beat 12 parsecs and a "Never Tell Me The Odds" attitude to merging into traffic.
Fleeing my taxi, I walked into the zoo, flashing my park hopper ticket and admiring the pretty elephant fountain. Popped into the ridiculously stylish rainforest bathrooms and headed out. The zoo is a fantastically well designed slice of faux rainforest and packed with animals.
Unfortunately I was about five minutes later than the "Jungle Breakfast", have to do that next time.
Worked my way pretty much clockwise around the Zoo, passing warthogs, hippos, otters, White Tigers, mongeese and baboons, and ducking quickly through the "Australian Outback" section for my personal amusement. All the classics. Had a quick stroll through the Primate setion, yay Monkeys!
Realised I was just in time for the "Elephants at Work and Play" show. Got there just in time to not be sprayed in the face by the elephants. It was a good show, demonstrating elephant's strengths and skills, and with a bit of fun added in with the elephants stealing food off the keepers. At the end of the show they opened up the chance to feed the elephants for a fiver. Had to do that, didn't I? I have photos to prove it (which naturally cost even more money).
Had another wander through the Primates, spotting the other ones I hadn't seen yet, and found my way up to the mid-park food hall, grabbing a light snack. I then had a quick wander through the Polar Bear exhibit - that's right, polar bears. They are doing quite well - the whole exhibit goes to great lengths to explain why they're alright so close to the equator. I found my way back to the Elephant ride - only a very short ride, but not like I can do it back home, can I?
Then I watched the public appearance of the Orangutans, who clamber down from their "Free Ranging Boardwalk" for a feed and a photo op. Hadn't quite made my mind up on whether to get a photo when they went baack up to their treetops. It really is a great exhibit, no cage as such, they just go to the tree tops, which are blocked off by some wire to keep them separate.
I wandered through the rest of the exhibits, a nice rainforest display, the white rhino, the zebras, the big cats and wild african dogs...
Then I got to the snake house. Rather oddly, there is an old "walkthrough aviary" exhibit which clearly used to be for walking through among snakes and lizards. The gates are all locked off and it's full of squirrel monkeys. One of the last animals I reached was the Sun Bear, a beautiful little fellow running around making a scene. It's horrifying to think they may be the most endangered bears because they are so little known.
I found my way back to the "Kidzworld" exhibit, which proved to be another KFC, another Ben & Jerry's, an oddly non-zoo toy shop and a large play ground/petting zoo. I found my way to the boat station as the rain began once more, so I decided I should catch a boat back to the other dock, a nice peaceful trip. Fortunately the weather cleared, so I went back to the new showing of the Orangutans and got my photo taken.
Found my way back down to the entrance, picked up some souvenirs and my photos, and went to get a taxi.
Drove back to Josh's place, discovering that (a) if you're a white guy catching a taxi alone from a tourist trap in Singapore they may take you a slightly odd route; (b) after 5 o'clock they have a 35% surcharge; (c) when you get into an airconditioned taxi after walking around a humid zoo all day, you will start to notice how itchy your under clothes money belt is.
I wandered in, sat down to relax for a while, posted the first of these summaries, had some leftover pizza, and was just about ready to head out and get a drink for myself when Josh returned from drinks and schmoozing with the boss.
So he joined me for a drink, down by the river. Which was nice.
I went to the zoo.
Thur...
wait, that's not really enough info is it?
But yes, it was a Zoo Trip. I had a quick peruse of the internet and a light breakfast and found my way to a taxi. It was at this point that I realised every taxi driver in Singapore believes they're Han Solo - looking to beat 12 parsecs and a "Never Tell Me The Odds" attitude to merging into traffic.
Fleeing my taxi, I walked into the zoo, flashing my park hopper ticket and admiring the pretty elephant fountain. Popped into the ridiculously stylish rainforest bathrooms and headed out. The zoo is a fantastically well designed slice of faux rainforest and packed with animals.
Unfortunately I was about five minutes later than the "Jungle Breakfast", have to do that next time.
Worked my way pretty much clockwise around the Zoo, passing warthogs, hippos, otters, White Tigers, mongeese and baboons, and ducking quickly through the "Australian Outback" section for my personal amusement. All the classics. Had a quick stroll through the Primate setion, yay Monkeys!
Realised I was just in time for the "Elephants at Work and Play" show. Got there just in time to not be sprayed in the face by the elephants. It was a good show, demonstrating elephant's strengths and skills, and with a bit of fun added in with the elephants stealing food off the keepers. At the end of the show they opened up the chance to feed the elephants for a fiver. Had to do that, didn't I? I have photos to prove it (which naturally cost even more money).
Had another wander through the Primates, spotting the other ones I hadn't seen yet, and found my way up to the mid-park food hall, grabbing a light snack. I then had a quick wander through the Polar Bear exhibit - that's right, polar bears. They are doing quite well - the whole exhibit goes to great lengths to explain why they're alright so close to the equator. I found my way back to the Elephant ride - only a very short ride, but not like I can do it back home, can I?
Then I watched the public appearance of the Orangutans, who clamber down from their "Free Ranging Boardwalk" for a feed and a photo op. Hadn't quite made my mind up on whether to get a photo when they went baack up to their treetops. It really is a great exhibit, no cage as such, they just go to the tree tops, which are blocked off by some wire to keep them separate.
I wandered through the rest of the exhibits, a nice rainforest display, the white rhino, the zebras, the big cats and wild african dogs...
Then I got to the snake house. Rather oddly, there is an old "walkthrough aviary" exhibit which clearly used to be for walking through among snakes and lizards. The gates are all locked off and it's full of squirrel monkeys. One of the last animals I reached was the Sun Bear, a beautiful little fellow running around making a scene. It's horrifying to think they may be the most endangered bears because they are so little known.
I found my way back to the "Kidzworld" exhibit, which proved to be another KFC, another Ben & Jerry's, an oddly non-zoo toy shop and a large play ground/petting zoo. I found my way to the boat station as the rain began once more, so I decided I should catch a boat back to the other dock, a nice peaceful trip. Fortunately the weather cleared, so I went back to the new showing of the Orangutans and got my photo taken.
Found my way back down to the entrance, picked up some souvenirs and my photos, and went to get a taxi.
Drove back to Josh's place, discovering that (a) if you're a white guy catching a taxi alone from a tourist trap in Singapore they may take you a slightly odd route; (b) after 5 o'clock they have a 35% surcharge; (c) when you get into an airconditioned taxi after walking around a humid zoo all day, you will start to notice how itchy your under clothes money belt is.
I wandered in, sat down to relax for a while, posted the first of these summaries, had some leftover pizza, and was just about ready to head out and get a drink for myself when Josh returned from drinks and schmoozing with the boss.
So he joined me for a drink, down by the river. Which was nice.