Monday, February 4, 2013

Singapore Zoo @ Singapore

I've been to Singapore many times, but had never visited the zoo. This time, I went there because of the pandas. This is my chance to see a real life panda!

I know, animal activists might say that it's cruel to go to the zoo because it means you're supporting the "imprisonment" of the animals, when they have their rights to roam free in their natural habitat. Well, that's true, but on the other hand.... I also cannot resist seeing a real panda with my own eyes.

What if they face extinction one day? Of course I hope that they don't.. ever. But IF they disappear from the earth forever, I could at least say that I've seen real ones before, not just those on TV or images on the Internet. Just like the Dodo.... and so many other animals which I will never ever see in my life T.T

Okay, emo-ness aside...


Right in front of the entrance is this cotton-top tamarin. YES it's real and it's so close to me! The place is not enclosed so it's free to jump and hop around the trees. So cool.


The Giant Panda forest is just a short distance across the tamarin. Woooots so excites!


What a loooong way in @.@



Apparently there's another entrance lol. We had to wait a while for enough people to enter before we could go in. Then, the staff listed down what are the rules, the dos and don'ts and all that. I'm impressed with the way they present, not serious but in a fun and interactive way.

By the way, we were only allowed to be inside for 10 minutes. TEN FREAKING MINUTES! Booo D:


Heard that the zoo is going to have a River Safari... Is it gonna be here?


I hate these kinds of queueing.


I was expecting to see the pandas when we first stepped into the air-conditioned area, but saw this cute-sy animal instead! It's a red panda ;D




Interesting bamboo shoots...


This is so cute! Pandas eat snacks too! :P


Their daily meal displayed in the food preparation room ;)



I see him I see him! Or... her. Hmm.


My sister said she wants to be a panda, lazying around in an air-conditioned room the whole day without stress and worries -__-




Eating 100 bowls of rice a day?! That's freaking scary :x



The second panda is on the other side of the room. Wonder why they had to separate the pandas? :/ Is it because to prevent the mating? Lol.

It says that the number of giant pandas out in the wild is less than 1,600 :(



I can't differentiate which is Jia Jia and which is Kai Kai, but both of their characters are on opposite ends! This one is really active, or maybe it's just restless.


It couldn't stop walking around in circles...



Well, 10 minutes passed by really fast. I regretted that we lingered longer in the earlier section. So a word of advice to all of you who wants to go, do plan what you want to do before you go in. Take pictures, videos, whatever. Because we were too excited (and nervous), we totally forgot to take a video! Urgh!

Also, go during the non-peak period because it's not easy to take a decent picture or video with so many people walking around and posing for pictures. Of course, you won't get a nice view of the pandas too if you're squeezing among the crowd.

The souvenir shop was selling panda plushies which are extremely adorableeeeee and I wanted one so badly, but it's really expensive! T.T Maybe I would get it next time when I'm working. Maybe. Got a panda bun with red bean filling from the Panda Cafe, hehe.





After the pandas, we walked around the zoo though I wasn't that keen on it. Haha but anyway, since we already paid for the entrance fees, it will be a waste if we didn't explore other places eh?


The proboscis monkey and hornbill were at the same area. Can you spot both?



False Gavial. Before you think that it's a false false Gavial - which I initially thought, and felt cheated coz I was excited to see a live crocodile but then finding it false in the end - I had the intelligence to search for False Gavial on Wikipedia.

And it turns out that it's not false! Whew so I didn't get cheated after all :') Quoted from Wikipedia: The false gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial or false gavial, is a freshwater crocodile with a very thin and elongated snout.

Interesting information.

Looks false though. Haha.


Parrots! Real ones btw ;) And they don't fly off...


Malayan Tapirs.. I think it's one of the ugliest mammal in the world :/


Wild boar, heh.


White tigers! Was entranced for a moment.


The Pygmy Hippo.


Kangaroos at the Australian Outback! I don't have to go to Australia to see kangaroos now, how awesome is that :D


A Cassowary - a flightless bird.


At the free ranging orang utan area.


Can you spot the baby orang utan pulling the adult orang utan's hair?! SO CUTE LOL.


Yes they're real :D


African penguins! One of my favourite marine mammals.


A manatee. Oh my goodness, it's so ugly :x


Flamingos.


The zoo is indeed very huge, and I think a couple of hours is needed to cover the entire zoo. Unfortunately, when we were halfway through, the sky started to drizzle so we didn't get to see all the other exotic animals :(

At night, we had dinner at this Chinese restaurant in some shopping mall. Was super hungry, so the food tasted delicious :P




Uncle then drove us around Orchard Road...


...and Chinatown.


And that concludes my Singapore trip! :)

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