When I found out I was moving to Singapore, there were two
questions I was repeatedly asked: 1) Do you know how hot it is there? (Answer:
Yes. As hot as hell-fire.) And 2) Do you
know how awesome the zoo is there? The answer was no, but they would all assure
me it was the best in the world. You
know what? They were totally right.
There are three sections of the zoo – the main zoo, the
Night Safari and the River Safari. We
haven’t been to the River Safari yet as they are in the process of building
it. As we have some time here, we’re
waiting until it is completed to do it.
But we have been to the other two.
Now, I tell you this in the perspective of a Singers newbie
mom with two little kids who tend to crash around 8:00 pm or turn into whining,
maddening little beasts. So don’t get
all crazy as I explain my Night Safari experience. Well, actually two experiences, although the
first was kind of a non experience as we went on a Singaporean holiday. There are two things you don’t do in
Singapore… go to markets on Sunday or go to the zoo on a holiday. The crowds are intense as everyone that works
six days a week is out and about and you will find yourself trying not to lose
your wee ones in a throng which threatens to sweep them away from your loving
arms forever. So the first night that we went happened to be
one of these holidays. After waiting
only a half an hour in a line that moved only ten feet in that time, then being
told it would be an hour to buy tickets and the train lines would be over an
hour and a half long, we bailed… and bribed our kids to come with us with ice
cream. It worked.
We returned a few weeks later on a random weeknight to much
better results. Err… of sorts. Here’s the thing. The night safari trains only start moving at
7:30 pm. Remember when I told you about
my wee lovies to beasts at about this same time? I can entertain
them for a spell, but when we pass the witching hour there's simply no holding off the beasts in them. We were in
line by 7:00 thinking we would be one of the first ones on the train. Umm… wrong.
When we did finally get on the train and start rolling out, it was late
enough that getting off the train to meander around and catch the nocturnal
animals doing their thing in the night was just not going to be the wisest of
possibilities. So we sat. We listened to the talks the zoologist was
giving about each animal as we peeked at them from our perch on the train, but
we really were… underwhelmed. We loved
seeing that there are no cages around the animals. Just moats and great divides to keep everyone
safe. But it was the type of animals you
can see from the train. What I recall
fully… deer, deer and more deer. I can
hang in my parent’s backyard and see deer, thank-you-very-much. This was the first time we were inside the
zoo and if these are the animals here, I just wasn’t certain it ranked the
‘best zoo in the world’ comments. This
is why we went back… to see what the fuss was all about.
Oh la la! Like I
said, you folks weren’t fooling! Our third
trip back to the zoo was made even more special by an extra little purchase…
tickets to a special breakfast with orangutans!
Let me tell you… this is so worth the cost, and even that isn’t bad at $29 for adults and $19 for kids ($23 and $15 in US dollars). The food is good
too! Not great, but there is a nice mix
of Western, Malay and Chinese dim sum to please everyone. While you eat, the orangutans swing through
the trees all around you, and then come… somehow??... when they are ‘called’. They all climb down onto this big tree clump
area where they sit quietly while the zoologist talks about them and a few
other furry visitors they bring in to the area for the morning. After you learn about them, you are invited
to stand in front of them, no touching allowed, and get your photograph with
them. They even used my cell phone to
take pictures so I didn’t have to pay for the overpriced photo in a cheap frame
that they sell! That’s service! 
Once mommy and daddy were done ogling the orangutans,
because you know the kids were over it after a few minutes, we moved over to
the other creature that was available for touching and even holding if you were
so bold… a milk snake! Now, I will be
totally honest and say I am not a huge fan of snakes. However, I dislike spiders a whole lot
more. I also make it a priority to never
let fear stop me from doing things. I
once held a tarantula because of this personal room, so I would be damned if I
wasn’t going to hold the snake. Kimono
Hubby on the other hand is only afraid on one thing in this world (well, two if
you count losing his beautiful wife) and that is snakes. He was never going to volunteer to help the boys
with this, so big, bad mommy stepped up to the plate. Thankfully Kimono Peanut with his
no-fear-attitude needed no help at all and was only too happy to have this
squirmy thing draped around his neck, and even laughed when it squeezed his
neck, all the while shouting “take a picture of me, mommy!” Kimono Sweet Pea on the other hand was a bit
more cautious. From the moment that
thing was placed on him, he never took his eyes off of it… even when it snaked
its tail into mommy’s cleavage. I smiled
while this happened, of course, but what I really wanted to do was whip the
thing across the forest. I didn’t. I just waited patiently for the zoo keeper to
untangle it from us, which gratefully she didn’t wait too long to do.
We left the breakfast and moved on through the rest of the
zoo. Like I said, there aren’t really
cages for the animals, beyond the ones that need them as a necessity… like penguins
need to stay cold, so they live in an icy building. There are so many opportunities to get up
close and personal with different animals.
We got to feed the kangaroos, which must be incredibly well fed as few
had any interest in nibbling for the bowl that my boys eagerly held out for
them. In other places, they had feeding
times set up when you could show up and watch the zoo keepers feed the
animals. We missed elephant bath time,
but I think that would be a fun and silly thing to watch the next time we go to
the zoo. And we will most certainly be
going many times again.
Like every great place here in Singapore, the zoo has a
water play area! There really couldn’t
be a smarter idea. You bring a bag with
swim suits and just change the kids in and out of their wet clothes. It’s positioning in the zoo also happens to
be quiet handy as it is just at the
my-kids-are-literally-melting-from-the-heat-and-walking point and you can get
them nicely refreshed to finish the rest of the path through the zoo. My only complaint about the water play area
is the selection of food there. Bring
your own picnic lunch, because there is a KFC with very limited offerings (and
of course, it is totally unhealthy and kind of blech to me) and a Ben and Jerry’s
(which is just as unhealthy, but I am not going to knock on a cone. Evah.)
All in all, the rumors were true. If you are just visiting the country, don’t
miss this gem. Your kids, or the kid
inside of you, will thank you for it.
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