EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

Traveling to the zoo..

there was a special promotion for the night safari in the month of june.. 50% off for the night admission.. so my new found pseudo-brother JH excitedly wanted to visit the zoo.. since it was his last week before he officially starts work.. and he has not entered the zoo since his primary school excursion..

as usual.. budget travelers find their way around by bus and on their nifty limbs.. we were also well-equiped with nearly 4.5L of water in our backpacks.. especially with JH recovering viral infection.. all the more water we should drink..

At the zoo..

we reached the entrance of the zoo at about a quarter past eleven.. first thing after buying the tickets was of course to plan the exploration route.. so as to catch all the live animal performances.. we came at a rather good time.. and were able to catch the 1:05pm feeding of Inuka the polar bear.. and the "Wonders of the Wild" at 1:30pm.. "Splash Safari" at 2:30pm.. and the "Elephants At Work & Play" at 3:30pm.. there were several timings for the performances but we chose to watch them in succession.. there was also an "Animal Friends Show".. but i reckoned it was for kids and so decided not to go for that..

Inuka the polar bear..

the first thing we look at the polar bear.. it was lazily lying flat out on the stone floor with its bums towards the crowd.. not very sightly.. anyway.. Inuka is the first polar bear born in Singapore and in the tropics.. heard that polar bears usually live to about 25 years of age in captive.. his mother passed away at 29.. Inuka is already 17 this year.. and i don't see any new mates coming in.. i guess Inuka might be the last polar bear in Singapore as well..

when the feeding time was approaching.. the polar bear was already turning active.. diving into the water and swimming around.. probably anticipating the food that would be descending on him soon.. the bear gave a short performance and dived into the waters to catch a live fish.. before going off to a corner to chew on its prey..

Wonders of the Wild..

we went off immediately to the next show at the Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre.. there was a beautiful display of an albino peacock.. it had perfectly white feathers.. and its tail flipped up to display a beautiful and alluring fan..

then there were birds flying around and monkeys swinging onto the stage.. and some feint search for their missing snakes.. which scared the hell of one of a young lady sitted near where the largest snake was hidden.. she actually jumped out of the seat and ran all the way up the amphitheatre when the constrictor was revealed..

the most interesting segment was a contest of strength between the orangutan and a member of the audience.. orangutans were said to have 5 times the strength of a human being.. which was proven by the way the orangutan skillfully stripped the nut out of a completely unhusked coconut.. our fellow homo sapien only managed to peel away half the coconut husk..

Splash Safari..

this was a new performance in the zoo.. good thing we went over early cuz the seats were completely filled about 20 minutes before the show began.. it was a long and stuffy wait on the stands.. even the staircases were packed..

there were performances by penguins and sealions.. which were only mildly interesting.. the sealions really enjoy splashing water towards the audience.. which i am glad i was sitting on the last row.. i noticed a pelican was perched at the front of the water pool throughout the entire performance.. and was nonchalantly sitting there even as the sealions splashed water out of the pond and onto its feathers.. wonder what is going through the pelican's mind all the while.. ahah..

Elephants At Work & Play..

final show for us for the day.. the obedient elephants were playing with their keepers and pushing logs all around the place.. and of course spraying the water at the audience.. glad was i again that we chose to sit on the back row..

we observed one of the elephants letting loose a pile of dung while it exerted itself pushing a huge log out of the water.. the dung splashed onto the ground juz above the waterline.. and a couple of pieces rolled down and floated ominously in the water.. a messy pile remained on the ground.. at this point i was wondering what the crowd's reaction would be if the elephants started spraying the water at us again.. god bless..

what else..

we explored the rest of the zoo yet to be covered.. nothing really exciting.. the usual tigers.. kangaroos.. and monkeys.. and it started raining.. good thing though it never poured and we remained relatively dry..

summary of the day zoo..

we caught most of the shows.. observed a couple of poopings from the animals.. as well as a few rather explicit sights from the wild animals.. which is inappropriate for elaboration..

my phone camera function was also not working.. so no photographs to show for this visit..

now time to head for dinner.. took the bus 927 to Choa Chu Kang to look for food.. then return again for the night safari visit..