I spent the past two days checking out the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park.  Also, eating.  Lots of eating, lots of delicious things.  I started my food and fauna fest with a hearty breakfast of prata roti, chicken masala, and milk with rose syrup at one of Irene’s (the mother of the family I’m staying with) favorite food places.  Prata roti is a crispy, flaky, pancake-like food one dips in a curry sauce and it proved to be fantastic fuel for the walking that followed.

Much like the rest of Singapore, the zoo is covered in thick greenery and no animals, apart from a few reptiles and insects, are kept in actual cages.  There are also no indoor exhibits, which sounds pretty neat until you’re actually there in the Singapore heat and humidity.  But sweating is a constant here and damp clothes are the the norm for any outdoor activities.  The whole zoo reminded me of a ginormous real-life version of the Lied Jungle at the Henry Doorly Zoo, but with few active animals given the heat.  Fortunately, Singapore’s realized this and the later opening, cooler Night Safari is just next door.

Pretty much the entire zoo looks like this

I took a break between the Zoo and the Night Safari with a bowl of mee siam, noodles in a chili-lime broth, and a kinder bueno.  It was the first kinder bueno I’ve bought since being in Europe two years ago and it was glorious.  I can’t believe these delicious candy bars are not available more widely in the US, or at least the midwest.

The Night Safari had a lot more visible animals than the zoo, though I suspect the staff goes to great lengths in conditioning the animals to feed and hang around areas close to the tram path.  Between the tram (I’ve been walking ridiculous amounts since I’ve been here) and the highly visible animals, the Night Safari hands down won the best zoo component contest. Though the Bird Park I went to on the following day came in a close second.

No pictures from Night Safari because they didn't allow flash, so extra birds.

This is an overachieving pheasant.  Its plumage puts US pheasants to shame

Day two of food and fauna started with a trip to the wet market with Irene.  In Singapore, they have what are called dry and wet markets, dry being the clean supermarkets and wet being the crowded open air vendors frequented more by the locals.  In addition to the regular groceries, Irene also bought me some bao (steamed filled buns) to take to the Bird Park for lunch, and durian for later.  Durian is known for being a very pungent fruit that is actually banned in some public places because of the stench.  The smell didn’t bother me, although Irene mentioned that durians from Thailand tend to smell worse, and I actually found it to be quite tasty.  

Me about to nom on some durian

Tomorrow I depart for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  While I’m sad to leave the wonderful family I’ve been staying with I’m also excited to discover new places.