Friday in Singapore

After yesterday's blog we've had quite the adventure in Singapore.

Thursday evening we went to Night Safari at the Singapore zoo. We first went down to the lobby and spoke to who we thought was the concierge for the hotel. He told us the last bus had already left for the night safari and we would have to wait until the following night. He then started telling us about the different activities we could do - and their start times. That's when I knew he was a tour operator, not a concierge. We thanked him for his time, grabbed a cab, and went to the Night Safari.
Not having been to the zoo during the day, I don't know how different the two experiences are. We're discussing go to the daytime zoo on Saturday, so I may get that opportunity. The zoo at night starts as a little village of small shops and restaurants. At the end of the street is the queue to hop the tram to tour the zoo at night. The line moves quickly as a new tram replaces a departing tram shortly after it pulls away.

In order to see the animals, the zoo has setup lighting to simulate a full moon. The focus of the tour is on animals that are seldom active during the day because they are nocturnal. As is typical at most zoos, we saw plenty of deer, wild cattle and buffalo. We also saw tapirs, hyena, elephant, rhino, lions, giraffe, hippo and zebra. They were all fairly active, roaming about their cages. The only animal that wasn't active was the tigers. The guide informed us that the tigers are sedentary 20 hours a day - sort of like me on a typical vacation.


What makes the experience unique is the cages are prepared so that you cannot tell they are cages. You truly feel as if you are driving through the jungle (albeit on a paved road surrounded by strangers with cameras) at night. In addition to the tram ride, you can take dimly lit trails through specific sections of the zoo and walk by foot. We opted not to do this as we were still tired from all the walking we had done earlier in the day and the day before.

After the tram ride we watched two shows. The first show was a fire dance. Flame swallowing, flame spitting. Spectacular the first time you see something like that. Typical when you're seeing it for the twentieth time. Always entertaining. The highlight for me was the audience participation. They brought a young guy up on stage who was a little more brazen than I think the performers had planned. He was supposed to "feed" the fire stick to one of the performers. Instead, he extended his arm and began rubbing it along the length of his arm! I'm sure that was not in the script.

The second shows was an animal show featuring nocturnal animals. It featured a hyena, servil (a wild housecat), otters and a boa constrictor they wrapped around a petrified audience member. Both shows were entertaining.

For my money, Taman Safari Park in Puncak, Indonesia is still the best wildlife experience I've had.

We finally arrived back at the hotel after 11 PM. We were all tired and my daughter was still awake. It did not take long for all of us to prepare for bed and fall asleep. When we finally awoke it was after 9 AM. Our plan was to visit Sentosa Island and spend a day at the beach. By the time we got out of bed, dressed, ate breakfast, bought new sandals for momma and sunscreen, it was afternoon. We hailed a cab from the hotel and arrived at the beach shortly before 1 PM.

There are multiple beaches on Sentosa Island. We visited Siloso, a small cove near one of the hotels. The beach was clean, with many facilities and hardly any people. Being Friday afternoon, I wasn't expecting a crowd. I heard weekends it gets quite busy. When we first arrived, there was a storm just clearing and the surf was choppy, even in the protected cove. The red, do not swim flag was flying. We took a short walk to one end of the cove and the water was calm and the flag was gone when we returned. Everyone spent sometime in the water. No one did any real swimming.

After the beach my daughter and I did, for me, the highlight of the trip: a luge ride down Imbiah Mountain - the tallest point in Singapore. My wife was not allowed to even take the ski lift to the top because of her pregnancy. My daughter and I took the lift - a long ride high above the trees. She was so small in the seat I was worried she might fall, so I was glad when we finally made it to the top. At the top, we donned our helmets, received a 60 second explanation of how to use the luge (how to stop being the most important lesson) and away we went. My daughter sat in my lap as we sped down the hill at speeds so fast the cameras setup to take pictures of us didn't capture us (no lie!). I would say we reached at least 30 km/h. on the little sled. At the highest velocity, my daughter turned to look back at me and flashed a wicked smile. She was having fun.

When we finished, she said she wanted to go again. I had purchased two rides, so this wasn't a problem. She took a quick bathroom break. Apparently she had liquid courage because when she returned from using the facilities, she no longer wanted to take a second ride and instead wanted to eat. So, I sold the second trip to someone for half the price it would have cost him.

We ate a quick (late) lunch and took a bus back to the top of the hill. We planned on seeing a 4D movie (3D movie where the add a fourth dimension of touch by spraying you with water or bursts of air). Unfortunately, they did not allow pregnant women to partake, so we passed the time by eating ice cream and letting my daughter plan in the dancing fountains.

We finished our day at Sentosa by watching the Songs of the Sea show. This is a cheesy laser light, pyrotechnics and water fountain show with a plot line resembling a video game or a Dora the Explorer episode. The special effects were cool. I could have done without the lip syncing, mouseketeer quality dancing, and the constant urging to sing along. For my money, not worth the S$10 per person. My daughter really seemed to enjoy it, however.



It is now 10 PM and my daughter has finally crashed. Unlike yesterday, she didn't get a nap. I'm betting she sleeps in past 9 AM tomorrow. We haven't had dinner yet, either, so we're waiting for room service to bring us a pizza and salad.

The more time I spend in Singapore, the more I realize how small this place really is. For such a small city/state/nation, though, it does have a lot to offer. We're taking a lot of cabs, but that's only because the nearest subway station is too far for my pregnant wife to walk. Sunday, I'll post my thoughts on the people, the city, and my overall experience.