Lions and Tigers and Bears (well, not bears so much)

Welcome to the Singapore Zoo. We've taken pictures of the whole thing so don't feel like you need to see it... it's all pretty much here.

See the zoo...

Here is a high and mighty pelican. All he really seemed to do was sit and look at you (secretly I think he was trying to will us into giving him fish.)

No idea. But he looks cool doesn't he? I kept expecting his legsto just break in two because they were so thin.

So one of the many interesting parts of the zoo were their manitees. I've seen some in zoos before but normally just one or two, they had five plus a new addition to the family (seen above). The picture is a little hard to see because of the glare off the glass. but if you get really close to the screen you can see the smaller ugly creature (be honest they are) moving behind to grey masses that are the large ugly sea creatures.

Otters. Who doesn't like otters? There are many varieties of otters in the Singapore/Malayasian region and the zoo had every variety... and in the case of the small clawed otter they had about 4 different places for all of them.

This poor 'ol boy is a variety of pig (or warthog?) in which he grows four tusks, two of which grow right through the middle of his upper jaw! A tour guide we heard refered to this pig and how he uses "his sexy tusks to pick up the ladies." Man I'm glad I'm not that kind of pig.

No idea what this fish is called but we liked the way his mouth becomes all barrel-nosed. We also think it looks like one of those fish that has somehow survived from the time of Littlefoot.

Alright so this photo shows what is easily the most impressive part of the zoo. Unlike almost every other zoo I've been to there is little to no sperationg between the animals and the people. For example, the zoo had several "free range orang-utans" spots where they just do whatever they want above you. Or as you can see in this picture Megan is about 7 feet from the kangaroo, with the only barrier being a fence that doesn't reach her knee.

Here is another picture of the same thing. It was simply amazing to be so close and to not be hidden behind 4 inches of plexi.

Zebras. Note the jackle waiting to pounce, good thing its a zoo and therefor not possible.

Here are the white rhinos, which are immense and would be incredibly scarry creatures when charging. What was more interesting was the symobitic realationship they have with a small black bird that lives on their back. Rhinos cannot see worth a darn and so the bird starts squaking when anything threatening comes around. They have such a tight relationship that the rhino lets the bird build a mud nest on his back!

Their sign markers.

One of the above mentioned "free range orang-utans."

Never quite to sure what to with this guy but another great example of "free range orang-u-tangs" despite him not being an orang-utan.

Tigers. But not just any tigers, these are white tigers! Apparently all white tigers in captivity are the descendents of one caught by an India raja (king). Also they all have the same basic coloring pattern with blue eyes and a pink nose.

This picture is a little tricky to make out but its a fruit bat picking through a durian. Now this is nor ordinary bat, it was HUGE. I didn't know that bats could get this big.

This is from one of the shows during the night safari. Here they are pulling out a massive snake big enough that it needed four people to lift it up.

A gong... Josh liked hitting it.

This post was written mostly by Josh, so don't blame any typos or mistakes on Megan. Josh is simply tired and has to get up quite early tomorrow and needs to finish.

Singapore: Living at 2 Degrees (Lattitude)

Singapore: A city of clean side walks, hawker stalls and tons of durian fruit. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this city. Like Kuala Lumpur I knew a lot of people that didn't really like it (backpacker-circuit) and found it expensive (at least for our budget). But the more time we spent in Singapore, the more I enjoyed myself, and I found something incredibly familiar in this city in which I'd never been.

Singapore has a model of the entire country (well city... it's one of the few remaining city states). If I could have had a matchbox car from my childhood...

read and see the rest...

I'm still not exactly sure what it was but once we entered the city and started walking around, there was a strong sense of familiarity. I knew nothing about it aside from its obsession with Durian (a rather pungent fruit that people love or hate... and westerners tend more towards the latter), its fame for hawker stalls, and that you can't chew gum there. Before we arrived I thought of it as a watered-down totalaritian state (if such a thing can exist). There was such a sense of conformity, of following the rules, and obeying the many signs that I thought I'd find the place rather stuffy and boring, something that happened to be surprisingly not true. I had a lot more fun than I thought I was going to have.
They like Durian so much in Singapore they built a theatre to look like it (well, not really, but there's certainly a similarity. Here is a picture of the real thing.)Singapore was a weird city from the moment we landed. First of all, it was clean, something most cities are not, and second, it just felt comfortable. After having spent the last chunk of my life in NYC I had grown used to city life, the anonymity of a crowd, walking through traffic, and paying more than you think you should for everything. And I think when we entered Singapore I felt those emotions and thoughts return in ways that they haven't since we left New York. It felt like trying on someone else's old pair of shoes to find that they fit... almost. It felt incredibly comfortable, despite the minor differences of what you're used to.

Megan liked that most of the building has just a touch of color, unlike most cities in the US, so we have a number of pictures showing it (that's what happens when you marry an architect I guess). This one is chosen from amongst the 20 others we have.

We also had some great encounters with people during our time in Singapore. First, we were able to meet up with Jon Kher Kaw, an old classmate of Megan's from Columbia. It was just so nice to see a familiar face (at least familiar to her) and to not feel quite as alone in a city. In addition to being able to spend time with Jon, we also met some great people through random encounters. One of the best, though, was during our first night in Singapore, we decided to go for a walk after dinner (if there is a clean safe city to do that on during this trip, this would be it) and during our stroll we had a man randomly approach us. He asked us where we were from, what we did, and then as we were talking began telling us a little bit about the history and geography of Singapore. Normally, this is an obvious cue that you've picked up a defacto tour guide who will ask for money at the end of the tour. However while he was walking around with us he kept telling us how Singapore lacked the touts and scams of other places, how so many things were free and how much he liked it. He walked with us for about an hour and a half in the end and when we finally parted we shook hands, and he wished us well on the rest of our trip. No asking for a tip, no hassle, just a sincere thanks from us and a handshake, and we were off.China town.
I think I also enjoyed Singapore because it served as a final moment of rest before we were "back on the road." We didn't have a real agenda in Singapore, so we did lots of reading, wandered around the city and just felt quite lazy during our stay. On the flight out we both commented on how it felt almost like going back to work, just in the sense that you left something peaceful and relaxed and were entering something that takes more... well, work. Which is true after being in a convenient modern city, it does take more work to get around, say, Bangkok, with dirty buses and crowded streets. I never felt I was being treated as a foreigner, charged a higher price, tried to be scammed... I was just another face in the crowd and that mental state was relieving.The "Merlion". Still not sure what the thing is, kind of a lion's head on a fishes body but for some reason this is the mascot of Singapore.

Oh and the food, how can I not mention the food? Singapore is full of what are called "Hawker stalls" places where a bunch of vendors set up shop under the same roof, giving any individual location anywhere from 15-50 choices for a meal. And because Singapore was a massive trade port its food reflects that and draws from all the individual communities that make up its population (Chinese, Indian, and Malaysia). It also allows for some great food combinations... Chinese rice with an Indian curry, with a side of satay... all for about $2.50. The food has been amazing throughout most of this trip but Singapore managed to put most of the things I like under one roof and then allowed me to afford it. I still miss those Hawker Stalls.

Mmm..... here is the scene at a Hawker Center. I get hungry just thinking about it.

P.S. Remember how I said I thought of Singapore as a mildly totalitarian state, well that's partially true. However, most of its more interesting policies are enforced by a rigorous advertising campaign. And to their own credit the people of Singapore do support their rather quirky officials.