Went to the zoo after a long time! And came back with lots of pictures of course!
And here's a snapshot of some of the animals we actually saw. Spent quite a fair bit of time there and watched 2 shows (the elephant show and a sea lion show).
The iconic Ah Meng Restaurant at the entrance of the zoo. Ah Meng (1960 to 2008) was a long-time ambassador of the zoo, and was really approachable towards humans. She had 5 children and 6 grandchildren, and has been commemorated by a bronze statue and a durian tree planted at her grave (she loved durians). She even starred in a "Breakfast with Ah Meng" show.
Parrot standing at the front of the welcome sign. Definitely ready to take pictures with tourists.
One of the primates hanging around the entrance. Some of these were free-roaming and didn't really have a fixed enclosure. In fact, the animals in the zoo were allowed to roam around in their specific areas, and weren't caged up.
Malaysian tapirs. Interesting animals, but they're really shy.
The white Bengal tigers - one of the most popular animals in the zoo. Simply because of their gorgeous white fur and their intense blue eyes. It was feeding time when we went there, and they ate A LOT!! After that they spent time licking themselves clean, and even licking each other clean! A really affectionate bunch. There were 3 of them in the area and they got along really well.
Reptile pretending to sleep, in the Australian Outback enclosure.
And not too far away, in the African Safari area - baboons with brightly-coloured bottoms. One of them actually shook his bottom at me... :P They too, were an affectionate bunch, and seemed to have pretty interesting poses and personalities.
Another small mammal (can't remember what it's called) sitting in his enclosure, near the African Safari area.
We next enter the primate kingdom, where the elephant show was also held.
One of the primates - reflecting on life under his favourite tree. I wonder what he was thinking about though, but he looked deep in thought.
And others were sleeping in pretty creative positions...
Elephant show. 4 elephants were featured, and each of them had their own unique personalities. They were even asked to perform different tasks each, and one of them had a great sense of humour! Best part - they even knew how to ask for food by pointing their trunks to their mouths!
And of course, after the show, people could feed the elephants - by delivering food through their trunks. And the elephants happily had their hunger satisfactions - without having to point their trunks to their mouths.
Small deer, not too far away from the elephant show.
Another popular favourite, the orang utans! Orang utan = "men of the forest", and these gorgeous apes spend lots of their time in forests, and even in captivity, they spend lots of time on top of trees and swinging from branches. They typically eat fruits, and young orang utans have strong bonds with their mothers (their mothers are good primary caregivers).
"Ahhh...I've got an itchy spot...I dunno where it is...scratch it for me please?"
"Ah yes! That's it!! This feels good...."
It was also feeding time for the orang utans, and I think the baby orang utan was more interested in his own food, instead of the food that the keepers were giving. And the big one on the left actually gave us a big smile (with his mouth full of food)...
The other orang utans, who were waiting in line for their hunger satisfactions.
A family of orang utans sitting together - and the mother's even holding her baby tightly...
And this is what I mean by "man of the forest". They swing happily from branch to branch, and there're even lots of makeshift tendrils and stuff specially made for them to swing on.
Penguins and pelicans, near the "cat kingdom", where jaguars, lions and leopards stayed.
Fungi growing on one of the trees, in the giant tortoise enclosure. And of course (picture below the fungi picture) - one of the giant tortoises, who was just sitting around and relaxing.
Snake enclosure - where we saw a 10m long python and some others, including this bright green snake.
Our last area - the cat kingdom, where the big cats, such as jaguars and lions lived.
We saw only 2 lionesses and 1 lion, but there were more of them, hiding amongst the greenery. The ones we saw were pretty photogenic though, and the lionesses seemed to follow the lion obediently.
And here he is! The handsome lion who was willing to pose for us. :)
Zebras just opposite the lion's area.
And rhinos, who were just lazing around.
Headed to the main souvenir shop soon after, but before that, I had already bought an adorable seal plush toy at a really good price. This main souvenir shop was often packed to the rafters.
And subsequently we took the bus back home, and Steph left the next day. I definitely had lots of fun catching up with her!
And guess what? A week after Steph left, one of my other buddies - Damien (Damo), came to Singapore! And I brought him around too! Will be posting pictures of his epic Singapore visit soon too!