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FARFRUMWURKEN
Today was the day to visit the Singapore Zoo. Our original plan was that we'd head out to the infamous Singapore Night Zoo, but it doesn't really get going until 9:30 p.m. While our sleep patterns have stabilized somewhat, we're usually sawing wood by 10:00 p.m.
On the Night Zoo side, they project this moon-like light into the animal enclosures so you can see these night-time predators in their fake, nocturnal habitat. Doing a little research, we've heard that there can be up to one (1) hour lineup time waiting for the tram so we opted to go during the day, even more so because it was Friday and not the weekend, plus the kids are on school break so there are little kids everywhere.
This was our first big MRT, subway test. We went to the City Hall MRT station and bought our three-day pass - good for all subways and buses here in Singapore. The price was $20.00S each plus a $10.00S refundable charge for the card. This way it eliminates all the BS with working the ticket machines, figuring out your route and cost - it's a pain. The transit system here is slick, there's about six MRT routes and a few above-ground LRT routes that cover pretty much all of Singapore. I'd guess that we traveled one-way to the zoo about thirty or forty miles - first by MRT and then combined this with a half-hour bus ride. We did it like pros.
The cost into the zoo $36.00S or $72.00S for both of us - this is the Senior's rate. Funny how they let the local Singaporian's into the zoo for $14.00 - me thinks racial profiling. Anyway, the zoo's ok, I wouldn't say fantastic - I'd match the Toronto Zoo against this anytime. The big issue for the day was the heat and the humidity - I'm pretty sure that this has been the hottest day we've experienced during our stay here. We've traveled to some pretty hot spots in South America, but it really doesn't hold a candle to the conditions here. We made a future travel pact between ourselves - no more equator visits for the next while. Traveling on the subway/bus it gave us the opportunity to see how the "average" Singaporean lives their lives. The whole country is green, you'd think in this heat that it would be like a desert, but no - everywhere you look there's huge trees and foliage. Even outside the main city center, everything on the outskirts was clean and orderly with a definite reduction to the amounts of vehicle traffic on the roads.
Most of the animals here are the run of the mill - zoo animals. The only real difference here was to see penguins and the only Polar bear born in Asia. I'm mean, how can you keep a polar bear in 100 degree heat? He/She has their own "refrigerated" enclosure with a fairly substantial swimming area but I'm mean, come on, ship the animal to the northern hemisphere.
We spent two or three hours sweating bullets as we walked and took the motorized tram around the complex and then headed back the same we came. For those who follow behind us, it's best to take the Red Line to stop NS4, Choa Chu Kang station and then grab the 297 bus directly to the zoo, easy-peasy.
Our dinner stop was made before we headed back to the hotel - I was able to convince Deborah to try the local Teppanyaki joint where you basically cook your own dinner (meats and vegetables) right at the counter and it's served with rice and soup. Surprise, surprise Deborah ate it all up. Slowly but surely I'm turning her into an Asian LOL. It only goes to show that you get a person hungry enough, they'll eat just about anything.
Tomorrow is likely Chinatown, Indiatown and maybe the Orchard area for shopping but we'll see, it's supposed be another scorcher. Again and again, thanks for reading my blogs, the numbers continue to rise with each passing day. Stay tuned as we have just two days left before our flight.
On the Night Zoo side, they project this moon-like light into the animal enclosures so you can see these night-time predators in their fake, nocturnal habitat. Doing a little research, we've heard that there can be up to one (1) hour lineup time waiting for the tram so we opted to go during the day, even more so because it was Friday and not the weekend, plus the kids are on school break so there are little kids everywhere.
This was our first big MRT, subway test. We went to the City Hall MRT station and bought our three-day pass - good for all subways and buses here in Singapore. The price was $20.00S each plus a $10.00S refundable charge for the card. This way it eliminates all the BS with working the ticket machines, figuring out your route and cost - it's a pain. The transit system here is slick, there's about six MRT routes and a few above-ground LRT routes that cover pretty much all of Singapore. I'd guess that we traveled one-way to the zoo about thirty or forty miles - first by MRT and then combined this with a half-hour bus ride. We did it like pros.
The cost into the zoo $36.00S or $72.00S for both of us - this is the Senior's rate. Funny how they let the local Singaporian's into the zoo for $14.00 - me thinks racial profiling. Anyway, the zoo's ok, I wouldn't say fantastic - I'd match the Toronto Zoo against this anytime. The big issue for the day was the heat and the humidity - I'm pretty sure that this has been the hottest day we've experienced during our stay here. We've traveled to some pretty hot spots in South America, but it really doesn't hold a candle to the conditions here. We made a future travel pact between ourselves - no more equator visits for the next while. Traveling on the subway/bus it gave us the opportunity to see how the "average" Singaporean lives their lives. The whole country is green, you'd think in this heat that it would be like a desert, but no - everywhere you look there's huge trees and foliage. Even outside the main city center, everything on the outskirts was clean and orderly with a definite reduction to the amounts of vehicle traffic on the roads.
Most of the animals here are the run of the mill - zoo animals. The only real difference here was to see penguins and the only Polar bear born in Asia. I'm mean, how can you keep a polar bear in 100 degree heat? He/She has their own "refrigerated" enclosure with a fairly substantial swimming area but I'm mean, come on, ship the animal to the northern hemisphere.
We spent two or three hours sweating bullets as we walked and took the motorized tram around the complex and then headed back the same we came. For those who follow behind us, it's best to take the Red Line to stop NS4, Choa Chu Kang station and then grab the 297 bus directly to the zoo, easy-peasy.
Our dinner stop was made before we headed back to the hotel - I was able to convince Deborah to try the local Teppanyaki joint where you basically cook your own dinner (meats and vegetables) right at the counter and it's served with rice and soup. Surprise, surprise Deborah ate it all up. Slowly but surely I'm turning her into an Asian LOL. It only goes to show that you get a person hungry enough, they'll eat just about anything.
Tomorrow is likely Chinatown, Indiatown and maybe the Orchard area for shopping but we'll see, it's supposed be another scorcher. Again and again, thanks for reading my blogs, the numbers continue to rise with each passing day. Stay tuned as we have just two days left before our flight.
- comments
lharnarine I have been reading your everyday blogs and find them so interesting. I do not know how you two can stand the heat and humidity. I feel sorry for the animals at the Zoo. The weather is okay here, sunny, but cold still. I see Robins so Spring is almost here.