Singapore's Night Safari

I guess I will start this blog off by saying that the weather lately has been FANTASTIC!! I feel like it's spring break and I'm hanging out on Pensacola Beach. The temp has been perfect, high 80's, with a breeze that makes you feel like you're walking along the shore. As I lay by the pool I sometimes forget that I actually live here and that I'm not on some tropical vacation! It's really the most at home I've felt since we've been here!

Saturday Jamie and I decided to take advantage of the great weather and head out to the night safari. It is the only one in the world and we have been told that it is a "must see" while in Singapore. We arrived around 7pm, just in time to see the Bornean Tribal Performers do their set. Below is the amazing shot we got of them using my new camera!

From there we went to dinner at the Ulu Ulu restaurant. After looking online I expected it to be a really nice restaurant with lots of "international dishes" to choose from. When we got there we found that they were correct in stating that the selection was "international", but only on the Asian side! We ended up ordering the chili crab and some mee goreng with seafood (which is now my favorite "local" dish). The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was pretty cool as well. All of the seating was outside, so you could dine under the stars. So far the evening had started off great!

From there we took a 45 minute tram ride and then went to the Creatures of the Night show. Before the show even started we got to see a random man get walked all over by a wild, flying squirrel! It flew over the crowd and landed beside him! It then decided to crawl up his back and all over his head before trying to fly away again. Everyone, including us, thought this was part of the show until some trainers came running out telling everyone to back away so the animal could escape on it's own. It was at that point when they let it go into the rain forest that I figured if it had been part of the show they would not have let it go on it's own.

Overall the show was a little "cheesy", but for the young kids it was pretty cool. Below is a photo of the stage area. It was lit up so bright that the colors made everything else around look grey. Jamie thought it made the sky look really cool and took a few photos of it (the second photo). Once the show started all of the audience lights went off, so it made it really hard to take photos.

After that was over we walked the three trails and looked at all the exhibits. We were surprised at how close they let you get to the animals considering it was night and not very well lit. At times on the tram there were no enclosures, so the animals could walk right up to you. For the bats and flying squirrels exhibit they had you walk into this fenced in, tent like thing and they were just out, flying freely all around you! After seeing what we did at the show, I walked as fast as I could through it..... so one didn't have time to land on me too!

We had a really good time! Unfortunately, because they were trying to keep it as close to the "real habitat" as possible they did not provide much lighting. Even the animal exhibits themselves have very dim spotlights, just enough for you to see them running around. For this reason we were not able to take as many photos as we would have liked. Actually, out of all the animal shots only 2 of them came out! I've posted one of them below.

For this weekend coming up we've got lots of plans! It's Chinese New Year so Jamie's got a 4 day weekend. Whoo Hoo! At first we decided to go on a trip for the long weekend. However, since I was unable to find anywhere suitable to put the girls we decided to hold off. Instead, we are going to Chinatown to hang out with some friends on Friday night, the Bird Park on Saturday, and up to Malaysia with some friends on Sunday for a day trip.

Although I am excited about all of the events we have planned I have to say that I am most excited about Malaysia! While making the plans, I found out they have a TGI Fridays!! Oh it will be like a little piece of heaven, right here in the Asian pacific! Lucky for me they have my favorite, the Sesame Jack Chicken Strips, and I can't wait!!! Jamie keeps telling me not to get my hopes up, and I should be prepared for it to be different than back home........But I have faith, and sad to say that I am really, really excited!

I can't wait for the weekend to come so I can get back on and tell you all about it!

As the Chinese say

(In Cantonese) Gung Hay Fat Choy! (May prosperity be with you)

and
(In Mandarin) Xin Nian Kuai Le! (Happy New Year)