S'pore- Bird Park

While Penang do have a bird park. It is nothing compared to this one. Jurong Bird Park is huge and at the same time organized . Situated in the industrial area of Jurong, it is a standout from the factories.

The illustration tour here:





















Stork





















It is hard to take snap shots of the owl, as they live in the world of darkness (that is their exhibit room's name anyway). And no flashlights rule just make it harder.





















Just to remind us that chickens are birds too.





















As fierce and elegant as they are, eagles can be quite dumb-looking in certain angles if you look at them long enough.





















Not a good pose. Those birds are rather shy.





















One of the seven species of Pelicans





















Peacocks. The one outside is qualified to roam around in a dome-like aviary, while the other is a newbie in training.





















The waterfall that is located at the African Waterfalls Aviary
















Feeding session
















Flamingos at the Flamingo Lake
















Penguins having their "expeditions"

And that ends my tour in Singapore. Hope you guys enjoy the virtual tour too. XD

S'pore- Shopping Destinations & Sentosa

So I am going to continue the tedious journey. My enthusiasm about all-Singapore is fast fading out. Before it does, I shall complete the commitment first.



















Ah yes, the acclaimed shopping heaven of Singapore.





















Takashimaya Shopping Complex
















Ngee Ann City. Where my sis is working.




















In fact, this is going to be the scene that you are going to look at over and over and over again if you are walking along Orchard Road. If shopping is not in your list of to-dos (speaks for me), it is definitely not a place of interest. If it is, there is a chance that you needed 2 days and above to complete the malls there and scream and gasp and bulging your eyes out at the varieties they are providing there. Considering you are really financially well-armed.

Next up: Sentosa Island

Practically, its the money generating entertainment island for Singaporean government. Everything there requires paying-up for entrance. And that includes the up-coming casinos currently under construction at godspeed.
















The cable-car scenery view of Vivo City and the Singapore Port at the back. This is one of the transport means to Sentosa.





















The soon-to-be Sin City site.
















The luge ride is the only entertainment I endorsed in while on the island.





















Ready-set-go mode.





















While technically impossible to take photos, due to the fact that we are going downhill and not suppose to stop, the sakai-ness kicks in, so me and my cousin bro just take turns to snap a shot of each other. XD
















Glimpse of the Underwater World.
















Octopus: Spot me?

After Sentosa, we had a brief stop at Vivo City, known as S'pore's largest retail and lifestyle destination, according to their website. Well, not quite yet but very soon, according to me.















As yet another shopping central, so another place of not-so-interest for me. Heh.

That's it for this post. Last post about the Spore journey next up.

S'pore-Zoo

The Singapore Zoo is a renowned zoo famous for its open-zoo concept and boy, it is huge. Wiki says it is 28 hectares.















We are pretty lucky to reach just in time for the animal shows, although it sort of a let down for me, because the animals shown and their tricks are limited. Or maybe its just me not so amused with them anymore as when I was a thrilled kid.















They seemed amazingly obedient and capable. No doubt they are. One lady who sat beside me kept exclaiming: "Oh my gosh! How did they do that?" . Repeatedly and sorta irritating in a way. The fact is that they are well-trained through a process known as conditioning. They are rewarded for their behaviors, most commonly by food.

Apart from that, we got around and saw some intriguing animals. Here are some of them:
















Orang Utans while in feeding session.





















A stunned (or isit poser-happy, not sure) ostrich




















Baboons in show-who-has-the-reddest-ass-off competition.




















A really shy exotic cheetah avoiding all the paparazzi cameras and coaxing
















A slumber snake. In fact, all of them are just like that. Just different in postures.
















Now a slumber and lazy lion. Unfortunately, alot of the animalposes like that. Probably the hot weather and irritating "demands" for nice postures.
















This is the White Tiger. According to their description, they are not albinos, just some gene defects. Apparently, they look pretty much better than normal ones. Gene defect huh? By the way, they are also now infamous for the suicidal guy jump into the enclosure incident.





















Polar bears are my favourite. Too bad no upclose pics...blame it on my cam-phone. XD


















The pin-sized vulnerable-looking Kancils. No wonder a certain type of car is named after them.

The famous Ah Meng the Orang Utan sadly passed away around this time last year. So, no chance to post with it anymore. I remembered the last time I had pics with him.

So ended the tour for Zoo of Singapore.

Sidetrack: Singapore

Personal observation of Singapore:

1. Singapore escalators compliments with the kiasuism culture. They are way faster than the slumber ones in Malaysia

2. Motorcycles are luxuries. There is no such thing as Honda EX5 types or even scooters. Almost all are superbikes and its like everywhere.

















3. Singaporeans take this real seriously. Like way too seriously.

4. Pedestrian crossings are 250% safer to use in Singapore than in Malaysia. No matter what, they will definitely stop for manusia to cross.















5. The usage of the word "hub" is an overkill





















6. There is this boxes at traffic lights junctions which I don't quite understand the logic of it. Anybody care to explain?






























7. Instead of graffiti, they have art galleries along a tunnel. Very got "culture".

8. Sometimes, you might wonder whether you are in China or Singapore. They really have tons of Orang Teong Kok there with their tongue-wriggling and throat-suffocating accent.


















9. Tress are everywhere. Sometimes they just block off my photo view. A lil' bit irritating there.

10. General knowledge that is much appreciated by Malaysians when in Singapore: Public transports are systematic and way on time.

S'pore- Prologue and Downtown Core

The last visit to Singapore was like 10 years ago. I had vague memories about it. Nevertheless, here I am again.

The bus trip was tedious from Penang, 11 hours to be exact. I tried to maximize all the entertainment utilities abroad, from books to laptops, TVs and the comfy-enough-to-sleep chair. Unfortunately the latter two broke down, of all things. Gah. Otherwise the trip was pretty smooth.

Arrived at the Golden Mile Complex around 7.30pm after going through the kastam checkpoints of both sides. Although definitely not expecting a "Sir, can you step aside please? We have some question for you" treatment, it's kinda cool to go through inspections like a potential terrorist.

Picked up by my aunt, we eventually headed to Ang Mo Kio apartments, where my uncle cum tour-guide-for-the-next-days was waiting. After settling in, we had our supper at a nearby food court. There is a big day ahead of us tomorrow.



































The oh-so-clean corridor of our flats.





















Planning ahead

We, or rather, my uncle, decided to bring us to tour the Singapore City itself on the first day. Illustration speaks for the journey.
















Breakfast. Food is ok if you are not comparing.





















Ang Mo Kio residence sky-line. You won't believe that these flats are around 20-30 years old if you are a Malaysian. At least I don't initially.





















Approaching Bugis Street, supposingly the S'pore version of Lorong Kulit.
















Some dork

















The upcoming casinos building in full speed




















The obvious symbol of Singapore- the Merlion
















The Humongous Durian: Esplanade- Theaters on the Bay
















Art in the Boat Quay area





















Passageway on one of the streets facing Downtown Core





















The Victoria Theater
















Downtown Core city skyline
















Views along the river





















Sir Raffles overlooking
















The Durian upclose
















The various shows that would be performed in the theater.
















The magnificant Fullerton Hotel

















Singapore from above...er...on a lift.
















Entrance to the imposing Buddha Tooth Temple. The temple is air-conditioned by the way




















Inside the ground floor of the temple. Yes, it is multi-leveled and even consist a garden on the rooftop.

Besides, we also had a quick tour to Raffles Hotel (now a national monument), Chinatown (for food and cheap stuff) and various hotspots in Raffles Place like the Supreme Court, the Parliament House and the City Halls. However, due to my short-life battery of my phone, I was unable to capture those pictures.

Downtown Singapore is an exalted place to explore itself, with its tall imposing commercial buildings and various superb key districts that holds some of the identity of Singapore.

Up next, the zoo.