Well after doing the Fishing Cat walking tour we went off to the Leopard walking tour. This was a really cool site that had some nice exhibits! The first thing that was nice was that they had given the leopards a ice treat. Now inside the ice block was a chink of meat so the leopards were very content to lick this until they got to the meaty center. Kind of nasty for me but they seemed very into it. Now tow exhibits of note were the walk in ones the first was the Fruit bat walk in enclosure. In this enclosure they had two types of fruit bats a smaller one I am not sure the name of but it was the size of the insectivore bats that you normally see. The real stars of the show were the flying foxes that were about 2 feet in height. They hung the fruit very close to the walkway so it was very easy to get an up close look at all the bats. It was a real up close and personal view of the bats.
The next enclosure was of the flying squirrel. Now you were not as close to the animal but it was a very impressive animal when you did catch a glimpse of it. We saw it when we first came into the enclosure and I swear it was at least 4 feet long. It was much larger than I had expected. Finally we ended the Leopard Trail with a view of the Clouded Leopard, a truly distinctively market creature with beautiful markings on its fur.
After the Leopard Trail we did a quick walk up to see the Giraffes, Zebras and Scimitar Horned Oryx, then we hoped onto the tram for a ride around the park. The ride around the park was nice as some of the animals were free roaming and were quite close to the road. Well it was getting late and we had been out since about 11 am ( it was about 9:30 pm), so after the tram ride we headed home. We ended up getting home at about 11:30 pm. It was a long fun day in Singapore.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Singapore Zoo and Night Safari part 1
Yesterday started out with a faithful trip down to the Santosa Island interchange, It had been raining here every day since we had arrived and the forecast for yesterday was for some sun so we had wanted to go to Universal Studios. Also we figured since it was a Monday we had figured there would be more room to play at the park as well. Unfortunately as we arrived to buy our tickets for the mono-rail to the island; we saw the sign telling us that tickets to Universal studios had been sold out already. I found this frustrating as the park had been opened for only an hour by the time we had gotten to the interchange.
That is not really where our story began; our story began on the MRT (subway system). You see the subway system is very exact here and you need to pay attention to where you hit as your destinations each one has an exact fare. I had figured since I was off by only one stop it would be no big deal but I was wrong. As we alighted the train- side note they actually do use the correct verb (alight – not get off) here – at the wrong station our cards would not let us get out. We had to go to the counter and pay for an additional 20 cents a person. Another annoyance about the subway system is that you cannot buy week passes you have to buy either day passes our multi-year passes. It is not a difference in price for the ticket it is just that each trip requires that you pay S$1 for a card and then you have to return that card to the machine. Of course when you get a new card you are paying that S$1 deposit. Since we get the S$1 back with each card I am pretty sure this is one of the cheapest subway systems I have ridden. It is hard to compare it to New York City as we have not lived there for 10 years.
Well there we were at the Sentosa Island interchange not able to go to Universal Studios and with subway tickets already purchased for our trip back to our departing station. Well thinking on our feet we saw it was going to be a clear day so we decided to do the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. The first challenge was actually figuring out where to go on the subway system. It turns out to get to the Singapore Zoo you need to take the subway part of the way and then you take a buss the rest of the way. It is always interesting taking public transportation in new countries as you can compare them to those of yours at home. Also I have to say that the comparison between the subway (very clean and modern) and the bus system (pretty old and worn out- not dirty but not clean by any stretch) is worth noting as well. The bus ride was nice winding through neighborhoods and through a national reserve / reservoir. The landscape was very lush and somewhat mountainous. Of note on the trip were two things first were the signs warning of illegal access to the national reserve / reservoir- it was a picture of a guy in green (looked like a plant monster with a M16) holding up a white guy. Also of note was that we did see some wild monkeys on the sidewalk, this was nice as we got to see some wildlife before we actually got into the park.
Speaking of the park the first animal exhibit was just past the gate a group of small monkeys with white faces. It was a good exhibit as there were no walls on it; it was just a couple of trees strung together with a walkway between the two tree groves. The monkeys would just flit back and forth between the trees. They had a couple of babies that were very small and very cute.
On to the otters!!! These are simply the cuties but slinkiest critters I ever did see. They seemed to play to your presence and act up for the camera getting into groups and even looking straight into the camera. We continued to walk past the primate exhibits but they were mostly asleep.
The coolest thing about the Singapore zoo was the token and paid feeding of the animals. For the animals that are a bit dangerous they have token feedings during the day. I assume they are token feedings because they do not really give the animals enough for a day’s meal but mostly they are a kind of a way to keep the animals active and entertain them as well. Heck it was pretty entraining for me as well. They even have suggested walks so that you can see the feedings as they occur but we focused on only a few of them of interest to us. Well the first animal feeding we stumbled on quite by accident. We were walking past the Splash Safari and noticed a lie up at the Manatee area. It turned out that for $5 you could hand feed the Manatees. I went in with Andrew and Ashley and took some shots of them feeding the Manatees. After taking some pictures I fed them myself. It was interesting as the Manatees would put their snouts out of the water on the ledge waiting for you to feed them. Another interesting thing was that the Manatees’ whiskers were quite short and think around the month, kind of scary if you did not know that they were vegetarians. It was a lot of fun feeding them and they were very fun to pet and play with.
The next feeding was the White Tigers. The Tigers knew what time feedings were as they stared to pace around the enclosure in anticipation of the food to come. The keepers did a good job of trying to make it more active for the animals by not just throwing in the food but trying to get them to do a bit of chasing of the food and making them do a bit of exercise for the food. It was good to see the animals getting into the game of it all and you could see them lunging for the chicken that was thrown in. I think it would have been better if they would have used live chickens for the tigers to chase down but I know it is a family zoo. Still I think it would be cool to have a “18 and above” event where once in a while the animals got to actually act like they did in the wild and hunt down some food – even if it were a token kill like a chicken or in the case of the San Francisco Zoo an annoying tourist or two.
The next feeding we saw was the Jaguar feeding. I have to say that as beautiful as the animals were they seemed less into the feeding than the tigers. They seemed a bit too cooped up too. I was surprised to hear that the Leopards, Jaguars, Cougars and Pumas have all to be in enclosed exhibits as they are such good climbers and jumpers that they could get out otherwise. BUT that being said it seemed a bit sad that their exhibit was so small in comparison to the tigers given that they are not that much smaller than the tiger. The feeding itself was not too much to talk about except for the amount of time the Jaguars spent in the water looking for the food thrown by the keeper. It was nice to see them diving and looking for the food underwater.
Finally we went toe the see the Polar Bear Feeding. This feeding was much like the rest except that they did feed the Polar Bears watermelon. The two bears were mother and son bears, which I thought was strange, as in the wild I doubt that a male cub would spend 20 years with its mother. And what if the mother went into heat??? I guess they give her the pill?? The mother bear was not as interested in the token meal as the son bear. He was having a blast playing in the water and playing it up for the food that was thrown in diving and splashing to get the food as it hit the water.
Well after a long day we decided to go back home as all of us were very tired. We loaded ourselves on the public bus and headed back into town. When we got into town we decided to stop at the local mall to get some dinner. Well after dinner we all felt refreshed and decided to go back to do the Night Safari. Also we were worried about the timing of everything and the end of our vacation here coming up so we did not want to miss the Night Safari, so off we went back onto the buss to take us back to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. As you can see the Night Safari is located right next to the Singapore Zoo.
We were waiting in line for the Tram and as it was a long wait and it was still a bit light out we decided to do the walking trails before we took the tram. Off to the Fishing Cat walking tour! The walking tour turned out to be a great start to the night we got to see the mouse deer ( very small and cute) Fishing Cats ( I want to take one home it is not much bigger than a house cat) and Asian Otter ( I have said it before these animals really take to getting their photos taken they ham it up for the camera getting in cute poses with their family so you can get a photo.
Well I will have to finish this off later as we just got tickets to Singapore’s Universal Studio- It turns out you have to make reservations as there are only a limited number of tickets available on any given day!! So we are off yet again on a voyage.
That is not really where our story began; our story began on the MRT (subway system). You see the subway system is very exact here and you need to pay attention to where you hit as your destinations each one has an exact fare. I had figured since I was off by only one stop it would be no big deal but I was wrong. As we alighted the train- side note they actually do use the correct verb (alight – not get off) here – at the wrong station our cards would not let us get out. We had to go to the counter and pay for an additional 20 cents a person. Another annoyance about the subway system is that you cannot buy week passes you have to buy either day passes our multi-year passes. It is not a difference in price for the ticket it is just that each trip requires that you pay S$1 for a card and then you have to return that card to the machine. Of course when you get a new card you are paying that S$1 deposit. Since we get the S$1 back with each card I am pretty sure this is one of the cheapest subway systems I have ridden. It is hard to compare it to New York City as we have not lived there for 10 years.
Well there we were at the Sentosa Island interchange not able to go to Universal Studios and with subway tickets already purchased for our trip back to our departing station. Well thinking on our feet we saw it was going to be a clear day so we decided to do the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. The first challenge was actually figuring out where to go on the subway system. It turns out to get to the Singapore Zoo you need to take the subway part of the way and then you take a buss the rest of the way. It is always interesting taking public transportation in new countries as you can compare them to those of yours at home. Also I have to say that the comparison between the subway (very clean and modern) and the bus system (pretty old and worn out- not dirty but not clean by any stretch) is worth noting as well. The bus ride was nice winding through neighborhoods and through a national reserve / reservoir. The landscape was very lush and somewhat mountainous. Of note on the trip were two things first were the signs warning of illegal access to the national reserve / reservoir- it was a picture of a guy in green (looked like a plant monster with a M16) holding up a white guy. Also of note was that we did see some wild monkeys on the sidewalk, this was nice as we got to see some wildlife before we actually got into the park.
Speaking of the park the first animal exhibit was just past the gate a group of small monkeys with white faces. It was a good exhibit as there were no walls on it; it was just a couple of trees strung together with a walkway between the two tree groves. The monkeys would just flit back and forth between the trees. They had a couple of babies that were very small and very cute.
On to the otters!!! These are simply the cuties but slinkiest critters I ever did see. They seemed to play to your presence and act up for the camera getting into groups and even looking straight into the camera. We continued to walk past the primate exhibits but they were mostly asleep.
The coolest thing about the Singapore zoo was the token and paid feeding of the animals. For the animals that are a bit dangerous they have token feedings during the day. I assume they are token feedings because they do not really give the animals enough for a day’s meal but mostly they are a kind of a way to keep the animals active and entertain them as well. Heck it was pretty entraining for me as well. They even have suggested walks so that you can see the feedings as they occur but we focused on only a few of them of interest to us. Well the first animal feeding we stumbled on quite by accident. We were walking past the Splash Safari and noticed a lie up at the Manatee area. It turned out that for $5 you could hand feed the Manatees. I went in with Andrew and Ashley and took some shots of them feeding the Manatees. After taking some pictures I fed them myself. It was interesting as the Manatees would put their snouts out of the water on the ledge waiting for you to feed them. Another interesting thing was that the Manatees’ whiskers were quite short and think around the month, kind of scary if you did not know that they were vegetarians. It was a lot of fun feeding them and they were very fun to pet and play with.
The next feeding was the White Tigers. The Tigers knew what time feedings were as they stared to pace around the enclosure in anticipation of the food to come. The keepers did a good job of trying to make it more active for the animals by not just throwing in the food but trying to get them to do a bit of chasing of the food and making them do a bit of exercise for the food. It was good to see the animals getting into the game of it all and you could see them lunging for the chicken that was thrown in. I think it would have been better if they would have used live chickens for the tigers to chase down but I know it is a family zoo. Still I think it would be cool to have a “18 and above” event where once in a while the animals got to actually act like they did in the wild and hunt down some food – even if it were a token kill like a chicken or in the case of the San Francisco Zoo an annoying tourist or two.
The next feeding we saw was the Jaguar feeding. I have to say that as beautiful as the animals were they seemed less into the feeding than the tigers. They seemed a bit too cooped up too. I was surprised to hear that the Leopards, Jaguars, Cougars and Pumas have all to be in enclosed exhibits as they are such good climbers and jumpers that they could get out otherwise. BUT that being said it seemed a bit sad that their exhibit was so small in comparison to the tigers given that they are not that much smaller than the tiger. The feeding itself was not too much to talk about except for the amount of time the Jaguars spent in the water looking for the food thrown by the keeper. It was nice to see them diving and looking for the food underwater.
Finally we went toe the see the Polar Bear Feeding. This feeding was much like the rest except that they did feed the Polar Bears watermelon. The two bears were mother and son bears, which I thought was strange, as in the wild I doubt that a male cub would spend 20 years with its mother. And what if the mother went into heat??? I guess they give her the pill?? The mother bear was not as interested in the token meal as the son bear. He was having a blast playing in the water and playing it up for the food that was thrown in diving and splashing to get the food as it hit the water.
Well after a long day we decided to go back home as all of us were very tired. We loaded ourselves on the public bus and headed back into town. When we got into town we decided to stop at the local mall to get some dinner. Well after dinner we all felt refreshed and decided to go back to do the Night Safari. Also we were worried about the timing of everything and the end of our vacation here coming up so we did not want to miss the Night Safari, so off we went back onto the buss to take us back to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. As you can see the Night Safari is located right next to the Singapore Zoo.
We were waiting in line for the Tram and as it was a long wait and it was still a bit light out we decided to do the walking trails before we took the tram. Off to the Fishing Cat walking tour! The walking tour turned out to be a great start to the night we got to see the mouse deer ( very small and cute) Fishing Cats ( I want to take one home it is not much bigger than a house cat) and Asian Otter ( I have said it before these animals really take to getting their photos taken they ham it up for the camera getting in cute poses with their family so you can get a photo.
Well I will have to finish this off later as we just got tickets to Singapore’s Universal Studio- It turns out you have to make reservations as there are only a limited number of tickets available on any given day!! So we are off yet again on a voyage.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Another Rainy Day in Singapore
Rainy Day did not go to the Zoo, went to the Science Museum instead. Kids still had a blast.
I am worried that it is going to be rainy all week long which would be a drag but not make the worst vacation. I really want to take the kids to the zoo and the night safari but the problem is that it tends to rain at night here and I do not want to be walking around the night safari in the middle of a rain storm. I am hoping for a break in the rain for a day so we can do the two parks. I am also worried that the animal will be less active in the rain. I know I am less active in the rain as well.
Well the first thing that we did at the science museum was to go to the IMAX Theater to watch Forces of Nature. It was cool production and the first time for the kids and Tita to do an IMAX film. After the film we headed off for the rest of the museum. There were some really good exhibits and we played around all day long there. Well we got there at 2 pm and did not leave the museum until 6 pm. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to see all of the exhibits and play with all the items. Again I was surprised how many exhibits there were and how interactive they were. Granted some of the exhibits were not working and some did not have the intended outcome, but all in all we had a good time.
Trying to think of something to do tomorrow if the rain persists. I was thinking of taking the kids to Wild Wild Wet if it is raining as they will be wet anyway. Also they love water parks. Only problem is that I do not have a swim suit. No worries I can buy one tomorrow.
I will keep you posted of our new adventures.
David
I am worried that it is going to be rainy all week long which would be a drag but not make the worst vacation. I really want to take the kids to the zoo and the night safari but the problem is that it tends to rain at night here and I do not want to be walking around the night safari in the middle of a rain storm. I am hoping for a break in the rain for a day so we can do the two parks. I am also worried that the animal will be less active in the rain. I know I am less active in the rain as well.
Well the first thing that we did at the science museum was to go to the IMAX Theater to watch Forces of Nature. It was cool production and the first time for the kids and Tita to do an IMAX film. After the film we headed off for the rest of the museum. There were some really good exhibits and we played around all day long there. Well we got there at 2 pm and did not leave the museum until 6 pm. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to see all of the exhibits and play with all the items. Again I was surprised how many exhibits there were and how interactive they were. Granted some of the exhibits were not working and some did not have the intended outcome, but all in all we had a good time.
Trying to think of something to do tomorrow if the rain persists. I was thinking of taking the kids to Wild Wild Wet if it is raining as they will be wet anyway. Also they love water parks. Only problem is that I do not have a swim suit. No worries I can buy one tomorrow.
I will keep you posted of our new adventures.
David
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Underwater World and Butterfly Park
Landing in Singapore was a very cool experience. First off the airport is very modern and the immigration staff was very nice. Also we did not ah veto pay for a visa into the country so that is a bonus! The airport is very spacious with glass walls and ceilings making it feel even more spacious. One thing I like was that there was a 4 storey wall covered with hanging vines by the luggage carousels that was a nice touch.
After exiting the airport I almost got into the driver’s seat of the taxi as they drive on the left hand side in Singapore. That was a bit strange at first as I kept expecting the steering wheel on my side of the car. The thing that surprised me the most about the trip to our hotel was the greenery. After living in the UAE for more than 2 years you forget that there is a green world out there. Sure the streets are lined with some trees and bushes but you know it is just for show and if you look past the initial row of green you see the desert. But here in Singapore is is just full on green as far as the eye can see. I was expecting a modern city with all the traces of greenery stamped out kind of like Dubai or New York but what I saw was flame tree lined streets with green poking out of every possible space. It is nice to see the green and I was surprised how much I liked seeing it. Even in the cities of the Philippines they tend to cement over most spaces with only a little bit of green showing. But in Singapore they seem to really embrace there green spaces with parks all over the place. It is nice to see.
As far as our hotel you know we are budget travelers, so the place we have is not a high fashion place. It is just a place for us to rest and then take off from for our days travels. We are staying at the Hotel 81 and I can say it is a budget hotel. It is a bit older but it has a nice pool that the kids were hanging out in this morning. The room is actually pretty large but there is not much furniture is it. Still it has space for our beds and it does provide free internet service.
We have decided to stay at our hotel for the week but they are fully booked for Wednesday night so we will need to find a new place to stay. There are several places int eh area we are staying in so it should be no problem.
Today we started out slow as there was a bit of a storm last night that was continuing in the morning when Tita and I work up. I say Tita and I as the kids had gotten up at 2:30 and stayed up until about 5 am – they said. Well the kids took a swim in the pool while the last bit of the rain was falling once it had finished then we took off. We took the subway into town- it turns out we are quite a bit out of the center of town close to the airport. No worries the subway was fast and cheap.
Another thing that surprised me, and Tita for that matter. is the dress of women over here. Again after living in the UAE for a year it is kind of eye popping to see women walking around in clothing that is very reveling. It reminds me in some ways of Taiwan where it was rather fashionable as well. I do not remember women in the states wearing clothes so reveling.
We had to do one train change in a mall in town so we ate lunch at the mall. All I can say is I am surprised how expensive it is here in Singapore. We had a sandwich at a coffee place (Coffee Been & Tea Leaf - chain) and it was something like $35. I thought that was a bit much. I know I am too cheap, what can I say.
Anyway after lunch we took the monorail over to Sentosa Island where all of the amusement parks are. We ended up getting there after 2 pm so decided to go to The underwater World and the Butterfly & Insect Park. The first part of underwater world is a petting pool where the sting rays swim. Then you go to a walkthrough aquarium. It is a glass tunnel with the fish swimming all about you. Then it is off to the Dolphin show. The kids loved both places and we even got a picture of Ashley petting a dolphin at the underwater world and a picture of here feeding birds at Butterfly world. I know it does seem kind of silly to have a bird park included in a Butterfly park but whatever. The Butterfly Park starts off in a atrium with butterflies then the next one is birds, then you go into a building with insects and then you get a museum kind of thing with mounted butterflies and insects.
After a day of walking around and seeing the sights we were off to McDonald’s for dinner. Ashley has already fallen asleep at 7 pm and Andrew is up reading his book.
Sadly I cannot send any pictures as I forgot to bring the connection to download photos from my camera. There were some great pictures of the kid at the Underwater world and Butterfly park.
Tita, Andrew, Ashley and David
After exiting the airport I almost got into the driver’s seat of the taxi as they drive on the left hand side in Singapore. That was a bit strange at first as I kept expecting the steering wheel on my side of the car. The thing that surprised me the most about the trip to our hotel was the greenery. After living in the UAE for more than 2 years you forget that there is a green world out there. Sure the streets are lined with some trees and bushes but you know it is just for show and if you look past the initial row of green you see the desert. But here in Singapore is is just full on green as far as the eye can see. I was expecting a modern city with all the traces of greenery stamped out kind of like Dubai or New York but what I saw was flame tree lined streets with green poking out of every possible space. It is nice to see the green and I was surprised how much I liked seeing it. Even in the cities of the Philippines they tend to cement over most spaces with only a little bit of green showing. But in Singapore they seem to really embrace there green spaces with parks all over the place. It is nice to see.
As far as our hotel you know we are budget travelers, so the place we have is not a high fashion place. It is just a place for us to rest and then take off from for our days travels. We are staying at the Hotel 81 and I can say it is a budget hotel. It is a bit older but it has a nice pool that the kids were hanging out in this morning. The room is actually pretty large but there is not much furniture is it. Still it has space for our beds and it does provide free internet service.
We have decided to stay at our hotel for the week but they are fully booked for Wednesday night so we will need to find a new place to stay. There are several places int eh area we are staying in so it should be no problem.
Today we started out slow as there was a bit of a storm last night that was continuing in the morning when Tita and I work up. I say Tita and I as the kids had gotten up at 2:30 and stayed up until about 5 am – they said. Well the kids took a swim in the pool while the last bit of the rain was falling once it had finished then we took off. We took the subway into town- it turns out we are quite a bit out of the center of town close to the airport. No worries the subway was fast and cheap.
Another thing that surprised me, and Tita for that matter. is the dress of women over here. Again after living in the UAE for a year it is kind of eye popping to see women walking around in clothing that is very reveling. It reminds me in some ways of Taiwan where it was rather fashionable as well. I do not remember women in the states wearing clothes so reveling.
We had to do one train change in a mall in town so we ate lunch at the mall. All I can say is I am surprised how expensive it is here in Singapore. We had a sandwich at a coffee place (Coffee Been & Tea Leaf - chain) and it was something like $35. I thought that was a bit much. I know I am too cheap, what can I say.
Anyway after lunch we took the monorail over to Sentosa Island where all of the amusement parks are. We ended up getting there after 2 pm so decided to go to The underwater World and the Butterfly & Insect Park. The first part of underwater world is a petting pool where the sting rays swim. Then you go to a walkthrough aquarium. It is a glass tunnel with the fish swimming all about you. Then it is off to the Dolphin show. The kids loved both places and we even got a picture of Ashley petting a dolphin at the underwater world and a picture of here feeding birds at Butterfly world. I know it does seem kind of silly to have a bird park included in a Butterfly park but whatever. The Butterfly Park starts off in a atrium with butterflies then the next one is birds, then you go into a building with insects and then you get a museum kind of thing with mounted butterflies and insects.
After a day of walking around and seeing the sights we were off to McDonald’s for dinner. Ashley has already fallen asleep at 7 pm and Andrew is up reading his book.
Sadly I cannot send any pictures as I forgot to bring the connection to download photos from my camera. There were some great pictures of the kid at the Underwater world and Butterfly park.
Tita, Andrew, Ashley and David
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Summer Vacation
Well we are off to Singapore tonight and then the Philippines
We will be in Singapore for a week. It is our first time to visit so we are excited.
After that we are going to the Philippines for about 2 months DEPENDING. Tita has finally been offered a job. She will be working in a local school as a Kindergarten teacher. But this might mean that we have to come back to the UAE as early as August 15th. It will be drag for the kids and I to be stuck here during Ramadan and Eid al Ftir BUT Tita does ahve a job and there are things the kids and I can do for fun here.
We will keep you posted about the details of the trip.
We will be in Singapore for a week. It is our first time to visit so we are excited.
After that we are going to the Philippines for about 2 months DEPENDING. Tita has finally been offered a job. She will be working in a local school as a Kindergarten teacher. But this might mean that we have to come back to the UAE as early as August 15th. It will be drag for the kids and I to be stuck here during Ramadan and Eid al Ftir BUT Tita does ahve a job and there are things the kids and I can do for fun here.
We will keep you posted about the details of the trip.
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