'Nita's taking us to the zoo tomorrow (or today)

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We had discussed last night where we were going to go today. I really wanted to take them to Jurong Bird Park, which is a fabulous place to spend the day. F wanted to visit the Zoo; I have only been to the Night Safari Zoo, which is also a fun thing to do, so it was Singapore Zoo that we ended up going to. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go there but knowing that we were going to be spending the next 5 or 6 weeks looking at wildlife I wanted them to do something a little different. However, neither HB nor F knew where we were going. They never do, it is left to the day before we leave for the next country or, in some cases, until we are boarding the plane. It did turn out to be a really great day, I have probably said it before, but I really like days when it is just the children and myself, I am totally in control - no questions asked. Plus HB is always much better behaved when she is just with me, and today was no exception; she was a little angel.

We had a lovely breakfast in the room; we didn’t get out as early as I had hoped as I had a very painful stomach, which had been hurting every time I ate since my 1st day off on Moyo Island (this becomes important in about a week or so), so we had to wait for it to pass before we could get out. We eventually ended up leaving just before 10. I had completely forgotten how far out the zoo was from the centre, I was a little worried that it would be expensive to get to, but no, it only cost 18 Singapore Dollars for about a 30 min drive! I wish the taxi fares were like that in England. It costs me almost £20 to go 3 miles from the station to my house! Total rip off. Never mind.

Singapore Zoo is a really very lovely place to spend a day, except for the heat but there isn’t much that you can do about that. It had the usual things to see, but in some areas there was a distinct lack of fences. Mainly for the birds and monkeys. Although for some of the other animals there were very minimal barriers between us and them. I am sure that they are just very well hidden. F was a little upset about the size of some of the enclosures especially the White Tiger area. My argument was that we could only see so much, and that I was sure that behind the scenes they had a lot more space. It is touching to see his devotion to the animal’s welfare. He is absolutely crazy about animals; I have no doubt that he will end up working with them in some fashion when he is older.

We made our way around part of the zoo on our way to a show about the water animals - so a Sea Lion Show. We were a little late in getting to it so we missed the first part of it but we got to see the part about the Sea Lions. F was more than happy to be picked to take part in the show - I can’t remember the first thing that he had to do, but in the end he got to shake the Sea Lion's flipper and even get a kiss. I gave him some sanitizer for his face when he got back to his seat. It was a cute show with the usual tricks of catching things and such, and as usual it had a message about the environment and how we have to take care of everything. At the end they invited anyone that wanted to up to have a kiss with the Sea Lion - HB really wanted to do it although when it came to her turn she wouldn’t let go of me. My photo is very funny, I am laughing too much.

From there we went up into the monkey section which was an area with a lack of fences. We saw at one point a couple of staff members on their walkie talkies looking up into a tree. A monkey had escaped! Well it wasn’t hard for him. Hope they got him back. The best part of the monkey section had to be the Baboons from Ethiopia. They were hilarious. They were just like a bunch of teenage boys running around and jumping off their cliff into the water while doing summersaults! It was great to watch. You could tell who the females were - they were the ones who were sitting in the shade watching the shenanigans that were going on with a look of total disgust on their faces. The best part was this one Baboon sitting at the edge of the cliff with his hands on his hips peeing into the water. F and HB found it very funny. Who am I kidding, I found it very funny. This Baboon looked so pleased with himself.

We headed into the Australian area just across from the Baboons. This was another place with no real fences. The kangaroos could go anywhere and onto the path that we walked on. Some people are really stupid. As we were walking through the area a large-ish kangaroo jumped right in front of us. HB, L and I all froze and admired the beautiful creature before it jumped over the low fence separating the grass area from the path. This man and his wife thought it would be a good idea to see if they could get the kangaroo to come over to them. Clever. So what did the man start to do? He started waving his newspaper right in front of his nose. I really wanted the kangaroo to turn round and hit him. Would that be mean? No. Not really, would have served him right.

F really wanted to go over to the African section to see the Lions so off we trundled in that direction. He was very happy with his find when we got there. Again human stupidity got in the way of a really good close up. Don’t worry nobody tried to wave a newspaper in front of a lion’s face. F was inside a little air conditioned room from which you could observe the lions if they came down to the watering hole. HB and I where outside watching them from the front. F came out all angry saying that one of the lioness was walking towards the window, and it looked like it was going to come right up to the window, but these children started knocking on the window and being very loud! Apparently the parents did nothing. Ugh. If that had been my kid I would have told him/her to quit it.

We had a little time to kill before a show so we slowly made our way through the African section, stopping off at the rhino area to feed them. That’s right for a small amount of money one is given the pleasure of feeding the animals. You have to pay for each animal. HB really wanted to feed them, so did F and, well, so did I. Not many people can say that they have feed a rhino. Not unless they have been to Singapore Zoo. As we were the first ones there at the beginning of feeding time we had the place to ourselves. Rhinos have surprisingly soft mouths. Rather slobbery though. They are just gentle giants. We were all given a basket of fruit each, you almost had to stick your hand in their mouths for them to grab the slice of melon. They really do have huge lips. HB was a little reluctant to feed them so most of her fruit ended up on the floor. Oh well. At least she tried.

The final thing we did was watch the Rainforest show. You know the story line, someone wants to cut the rainforest down but someone else with the animals stops him. The evil man kept asking the audience if anyone wanted to be his partner, F said yes. The man looked a little bemused at that and asked F how old he was. Then was told to come back in about 20 years. Lol. The show was a little less than inspiring. It was in fact rather dull. Thankfully it didn’t last long, so we high-tailed it out of there. Though not before getting our photo taken with cast and a snake that F wanted to hold.

Time was ticking steadily onwards so it was time to mend our way back to the hotel. First of all we had something to eat including Ben and Jerry Ice Cream. Most of HB’s went down her top. Oh well. We also had a stop at the gift shop (of course we did) before jumping in a taxi to take us back.

We had about 2 hrs to sort ourselves out and get out of the room. I put HB to bed for an afternoon nap. We had a very late flight so a little sleep would do her good, plus it kept her out of my way while I tried to pack. I don’t think she actually slept; she spent most of the time worming her way through the bed. We eventually left the room at 6:30, but still had almost 3hrs before we had to leave the hotel. After dinner I sat with HB on one of the lobby sofas trying to persuade her that it was not the time to be running around seeing as it was almost 9pm by this point. Our flight was at 11:30, so once at the airport HB and I settled into the lounge. Again she wanted to play and run around! Wow I wish I had batteries like that, I was exhausted. After a talking too and then some tears I got her to sit on my lap. She lasted all of 5 minutes more before she was asleep. When everyone else got back from their trip around the shops they found both of us asleep in the chair. Sweet. We carried HB onto the plane (Singapore Airlines), got her changed into pjs and settled her down into her seat. She was back asleep before the plane had pulled back from the gate. All that was left to do was put her seat back once we had taken off. Once she was dealt with I could finally get some shut eye. Next stop Australia!

To be continued...

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Photos

A we kiss
doesnt he look happy

Not a Zoo animal
but worthy of a photo anyway.

Well that's one way to send him there.
Not sure his parents would approce.