Thursday, June 10, 2010

Wildlife Experience in Singapore Zoo

I guess most of us at least have once experience visiting zoo. The very first time I been to the zoo was during my primary school , one day trip to the National Zoo. When I was young, my impression to the zoo was boring, a bit smelly and nothing to see (possibly I was too short). During the school trip, what impressed me was not the animals, but the KFC fast food restaurant inside the zoo. Hastily random walk a while, I went inside the restaurant to enjoy the delicious fried chicken meal, and after then walked back to the entrance to wait for time to go back.

After a interval of twenty years, I visited a zoo again, but this time I had went for Singapore national Zoo. Well, at first I was not quite interested to go, but since had token long  hours of train from Malaysia to Singapore, no harm to have a look on it.

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 The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens and commonly known locally as the Mandai Zoo, occupies 28 hectares (69 acres) on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. The zoo was built at a cost of S$9m granted by the government of Singapore and opened on 27 June 1973.  (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Zoo)
Singapore zoo is among the most famous and excellent zoo in the world, which make it received a lots of accreditation and accolades.

Coincidentally the day we visited the Singapore Zoo was school holiday, so we saw lots of students wearing school uniforms everywhere and some family who taking their children to visit the Zoo. From the first step I step into the zoo, it really started changing my impression on how a zoo look like.
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Before we reach the ticket counter, there were some “animals” waiting for us.:
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Rights into the zoo now. The first step into the zoo, it give a feeling of comfortable, feel like really came into a forest, because there are plants everywhere.
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It is large inside, with different types and themes: Australian Outback, Wild Africa, Cat Country, Primate Kingdom and etc. What was great was there will be some of the zoo’s staff using broadcasters to introduce and explain some animals and their hobbits to the visitors from the time to time.  In specified period of time, there will be some special shows and feeding animals performances. Let us have a look on some selected special photos :
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A scary False Gharial
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If not mistaken, I think this is Siamang, with white face coarse tail.
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Babirusa , one kind of pig species.
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Famous White Tiger
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Pygmy Hippo that yawning and open its mouth widely.I feel wanted to yawn like this hippo when I saw this picture ^O^
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Australia Grey Kangaroo,they are cute!
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Cute, what a lovely couple.
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I guess this elephant should be quite old, see its skin and hairs!
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A group of penguins that had just finished a show.
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Komodo Dragon eat a lot, a Komodo Dragon with weight of 46kg can eat up to 41kg of wild boar, which equal to 90% of its weight. We as human normally daily’s eating volume is only 3% of our body weight, so I guess we should call this Komodo dragons as a “Big Eaters” . Well, I think this Komodo Dragon was quite thoughtful to the visitors, as its pose was not much changes although I went and pass by few times, it still not moving. Maybe it wanted visitors to take a better photograph of it?
In this Fragile Forest,we can have closer contacts with these animals, is kind of fun:DSC02653
What a little “ride roughshod”, please take note this is the pavement for human!!
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The Flying Foxes hanging on the trees.
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Another gang who love to “ride roughshod” --- Ring-tailed Lemur. The male ring-tailed lemurs would use their unique tails to attract females attentions. This kind of ring-tailed lemurs can only be found in Madagascar.
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Hei brother, don’t you think the way you sit is a little bit rude here?
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Squirrel Monkey – do not underestimate this little thing, its action can be very agile, is really difficult to catch a photo of this little squirrel monkey.
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Lions are resting leisurely
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Most looking forward was the Polar Bear show. Polar bear has strong sense of smell which is the most sensitive among all other type of bears, where it can sniff out traces of seal from 64km away. Besides that, polar bear’s height can up to 3m high, which is twice of my height!!
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Time for feeding.
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A group of zebra looking for foods.

We had spend 4 hours in the zoo, although tired but I really learned a lot from this trip, and was my right decision to visit the Zoo Singapore. Too bad we didn’t have time to go for the Night Safari, maybe next time if there is any opportunity, surely I will try on this fun night adventure.

Singapore Zoo
80 Mandai Lake Road Singapore 729826
Tel: (65) 6269 3411

www.zoo.com.sg

Opening Hour: 8:30am - 06:00pm

Getting Here: Take MRT to Ang Mo Kio station - walk to Ang Mo Kio bus interchange - take Bus No: 138

Friday, May 21, 2010

Christmas Trip in Prague (2)

After having breakfast in hotel, my friends and I had joined the local Orange Umbrella one day Prague Walking Tours.

We got to know this tour from the hotel lobby, and it’s Explorer tour cost 1000 CZK for an adult and 950 CZK for student. This price includes: the walk, the heated boat trip, a snack, lunch, drinks, entrance fees, coloured map of Prague and of course super guide. To join this walking tour, we just need to wait and look for the tour guide with orange umbrella sign at the Astronomical clock in Old Town Square.
IMG_0089  Breakfast at Hotel’s restaurant
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The Astronomical clock in Old Town Square 
IMG_0099  Closer look on the Astronomical Clock. This clock is quite meticulous and complicated, as it composed of three main components: The astronomical dial, position of the sun and moon and some other astronomical details like zodiacal ring, and also the time scale, calendar and some moving figures coming out when time reached.
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The Church of Our Lady Before Týn, is an obvious and dominant feature in the Old Town. It has been the main church in Prague since 14th century.
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Another view on the Church of Our Lady Before Týn.
IMG_0108  The Powder Gate or Powder Tower located right next to the Municipal House and it is one of the Prague’s medieval monuments. It called as Powder Gate as it was used as a storehouse for gunpowder in 18th century. To reach to the Prague Royal place, The Powder Gate act as the starting point which lead through the Old Town over the Charles Bridge, through the Lesser Town and finally go up to the hill to reach to the Prague Castle.
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The Old Town Bridge Tower, located at the east end of the Charles Bridge, as the entrance to the Old Town. While on the other end of the Charles Bridge, is a tower called as The Lesser Town Bridge Tower which guide as entrance to the Lesser Town. 
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  Under the Old Town Bridge Tower, entrance to the Charles Bridge
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On the Charles Bridge, there are about 30 statues mounted on the two side of the Charles Bridge, which had established for more than four century. The local people believe that if a person can touch on the bronze carve on the statues, it can bring him or her some good luck. Unfortunately, I was unable to put my both hand on the carve at the same time --- well, my hand not enough long. We had a boat ride with some hot refreshments that served on boat. Below are some of the view from the boat:
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Church of St Salvator, Clementinum
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Statue of Charles IV or also known as the Monument to Emperor Charles IV located near the Old Town Bridge Tower.
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Guide at the entrance of the Prague Castle
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Saint Vitus Cathedral is the biggest church in the country and located within the Prague Castle. It is huge and magnificent both inside and outside of the building.
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The back part of the Saint Vitus Cathedral.
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  The inner part of Saint Vitus Cathedral Christmas market in Old Town Square
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Night scene in Prague
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