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Published: February 20th 2007
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Old man monkey
This guy was just hanging out waiting for stupid people to feed him. Don't know it's age but it has an old man face. I want to dedicate this blog to my dog, Sydney, who passed away thursday night. She was a crazy ol' gal who surprised us all by living as long as she did, 13 years man! She was bossy and bitch but that was just Syd! We will miss her miss greatly.
Went to the Singapore zoo. My friend, Yu Yang was kind enough to come with me since he figured that in the 2 years he's been living here, he hadn't even been to the zoo yet. He said that I can give him a guided tour with commentary on all the exhibits since I am a wildlife biologist. Ha funny guy. I don't really like zoos because they are depressing. And the Singapore zoo wasn't any different from any other zoo I've been to. Although the zoo does boast of its "open zoo" concept where the animals live in large, spacious enclosures separated from the visitors by dry or wet moats. The more dangerous animals are separated by glass. No matter how much they try to recreate the natural habitat and employ techniques to maintain mental and physical stimulation for the animals, it just is not enough. Many of
Yu Yang being funny
But the truth was when we actually did walk up to this exhibit, he did jump back in fear, thinking it real!! Ha ha. the animals still exuded boredom, pacing back and forth, a common behaviour in zoos. All too sad. Don't get me wrong, zoos are good for education, conservation, and some for breeding programs. Some of the animals were quite entertaining though, like the polar bears. Not that I am biased or anything😉 There were two bears, mother and daughter. The younger one was playing in the water with what looked like a piece of pvc pipe. She would hold it under the water then release it and catch it as it shot out of the water into the air. Funny. I forgot just how big polar bears really are. It's been 2 years since handling these awesome creatures. Standing there watching them I got nostalgic and a twinge of saddness came over me for that feeling of being in the field. Up close and personal with nature and wildlife. What the future holds for me, I have no clue but that is what I'm trying to discover on this little adventure of mine! I can honestly say that I do miss being out in nature. Singapore doesn't have much green space so when I can get it, I cherish it. Yang
Scary Crocs
I truly admire these creatures but they are so scary. was pretty impressed and was asking about polar bear ecology. I could have given a presentation to the small group keenly watching the mother/daughter team except I wasn't getting paid 😊 Hehehe.
We then hit the Night Safari a couple of days later. We bought a 3 park pass, which gets you into the zoo, night safari, and bird park all for $40 so you end up saving like $10 if you paid for each individually. Although you have to pay for an additional $8 if you choose to ride the night safari tram. So just next to the zoo, the night safari consists of 40 hectares of secondary forests and lots of nocturnal animals. We saw the Creatures of the Night show where you can watch hyenas stand around, mongooses run around, binturong walk across a rope, barn owl swope over your head, and otters recycle cans and bottles. Entertaining for kids for sure. Although Yang was pretty fascinated with it all too. It was quite cute to see someone who hasn't experienced anything like that. So innocent, wide-eyed and appreciative. That was until the trainers found an "escaped" python, in a compartment box under the feet of
the people in front of us. He doesn't like snakes so much. Hehehe. Funny. After the show ended we took the tram through the tropical jungle to see what animals do at night. And it's pretty much what they do during the day, eat and sleep. Well that's what they do in the zoo anyway. Out in the wild would be a different story. I would say it was worth it just to say you've been to the night safari but other than that, meh. Next on the list is the Bird Park. I have to go sometime this week since I am leaving next Sunday!!
Did some hiking at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with Kevin and Joanne. This is Singapore's oldest primary rainforest that covers 164ha and also includes Singapore's highest hill (163m). Over 840 species of flowering plants and over 500 species of animals can be found within the forest. We started out on one of several hiking trails you can take but soon we began following the road. Kevin said the trail we were on didn't take us to where we wanted to go, to the Tree Top Walk. This is a 250 m bridge
that is 25 m above ground and gives you a viewpoint from the top of the trees. It felt great to be in the arms of nature again although I wasn't having as much fun as I should have but that probably due to me losing my phone that morning in the cab. We kept calling my phone using Kevin's but not even 10 mins after the cabbie left, the phone was disconnected either by the cabbie or another passenger! Goddamn it! I was freggin' pissed. Joanne and Kevin didn't seemed bothered cause they said it happens all the time. Kevin lost 2 phones in cabs. Still man.....so angry. Anyhu, back to the hiking. We "hiked" I think 7.7 km total (3 hours). I was a little disappointed with the Tree Top Walk😞 I didn't see no damn birds, monkeys, or flying lemurs which they claim can be seen. Maybe I was in a bitter mood, tired and hungry. I was hoping for some old rickety wood plank bridge that would sway back and forth when walked on. But no it was pretty safe and sturdy. Although on our way to the bridge we did see some monkeys along the
On top of the trees
No rickety old wooden bridge:( That would have been more fun:) roadside. I believe they were Long-tailed macaques. I was told they can get a little vicious but these guys we saw were just starring, maybe hoping for some food handouts. No killer monkey action. Which is good I guess.
Joanne asked me what I will miss the most about Singapore after I leave besides her and Kevin of course. Well I had to think about it.....real hard too. Sorry to say but there isn't much in Singapore that I will miss. Unless you are a shopper then there ain't much to do. After a couple of minutes of thinking, my mind drifted towards what we were going to eat for dinner then it hit me.....I will miss the food! There are so many goodies to eat and my favourite being
Ondeh-Ondeh, this green coloured ball of flour with liquid brown sugar inside and sprinkled with coconut. So good, especially when it's eaten fresh out of the steamer and the sugar squirts out and burns your throat as you bite down. Other fav's of mine that I will surely miss are pratas, kaya toast (a local jam made from eggs, sugar and coconut milk), popiah (spring roll filled with turnips,
Ondeh-Ondeh
So simple, yet so good! peanuts, prawns, egg, and greens), shaved ice desserts, teh-o (tea with sugar....but different tasting than the tea with sugar at home! Seriously.), teh-tarik (lit: pulled tea, tea with condensed milk is poured into a mug with out-stretched hands and the higher the pull the thicker the froth.).
So I saw my fav actor on the big screen, Andy Lau in the new release PROTEGE!! Oh man HOT!! Also starring Daniel Wu (HOT), Louis Koo (HOT), and Jingshu Zhang. It was pretty wicked to finally get to see a chinese movie in the theater and not some crappy pirated version watched on my small tv. The movie itself was pretty decent but another undercover cop (Wu) working for the top drug lord (Lau) who is sick and is teaching the ways of the drug trade to his "protege" type movie. There were some gross surprises in the movie which is always a bonus. But I still think Andy Lau in Infernal Affairs kicks arse but maybe that is because that was when I first laid eyes on him and never looked back😉 Hehehehe. Movie tickets are cheaper here and you get to pick your seats! So you can always purchase
I had help with this tasty dessert of shaved ice with mango and condensed milk!
Not lookin' so great with the baggie eyes because of the sad news of Syd passing the night before but food always does the trick of making one feel better. your tickets the day before and show up right before the movie starts knowing you won't get the crappy front row, kill your eyes, make you sick seats!
I can't believe I've been here for so long and that I will be leaving soon. This was a nice cushy place to settle into but now I have to get on with my real travels. Joy!
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