Night Safari Trip to Wee

Went with Wee and family to the Night Safari because 3rd Aunt had free admission tickets for four. However, much to our dismay, it had been raining the whole day and traffic was slow along the way. It did not seem like a good start.

We were also entitled to some free Ben & Jerry's ice-cream, yoohoo! Their 'sugar cones' tasted more like plastic cones though.

We were then taken on a ride on the tram which took us around the whole compound, letting us witness the animals get busy with their nocturnal activities. First we passed by some animals whose names do not really tell you what they exactly are, like the Bharal, Markhor and Mouflon (they fall somewhere under the 'goat' family). Then we were plunged into darkness as our tram ventured further along a narrow and water-logged path flanked by tall and dense weeds on both sides. We kept our eyes peeled for any signs of animal movement around us, with the help of the oral walkthrough given by the guide on our tram.

We then passed by the otters' habitat but it stank. We came to the rhinos but we could not really see them as they were partially submerged in their pool. We then came to the Axis Deer (or rather, Bambi) which were allowed to roam freely and even onto the tram track.

After a couple of other animal enclosures, the tram came to a stop at a pavilion where passengers can alight and embark on this Leopard Trail to look at small creatures like the badgers, leopards, porcupines, civets and bats, just to name a few. Much to my disappointment, it was still drizzling and the trail was not sheltered, so in the end, we stayed put in the tram.

The tram then trudged on to the enclosures of the giraffes, zebras, bears (CUTE! but they were nowhere to be seen), foxes and the hyenas. At that point, a little girl beside us cooed "Ooooh, I love hyenas!". Eek! Where have all the girls who like flowers, rabbits and squirrels gone to?

What followed were the hippos, bearded pigs, tigers, tapirs and elephants (which I do not think look happy with their artificial environment). Then came my favourites: the capybaras and the anteaters (which sniff around and suck the ants and termites through their dangly snouts and ingest them)!

We missed out many animals like the mousedeers, fishing cats, owls, flying foxes, slow loris et cetera, as well as the animal show which was cancelled due to bad weather. Spoiler.

We braved the drizzle to cross the suspension bridge while hearing Wee wax lyrical about the surrealistic feel that she derived from the rain because rainforests generally receive frequent showers and high rainfall. Wee, I think you can gladly call this place your home.

I was cold and my slippers were soaked and it was plain miserable. We hurriedly left the Night Safari and headed to Blk 85 for a delicious tze char dinner.

Wee and I in front of the aquarium

Primary School Girls' Gathering

Went to Amelia's house for a long-waited lass (from primary school) gathering. It was nice seeing everyone! Upon reaching, Amelia whipped out a huge stash of letters and other keepsakes to refresh with us our kiddie memories (most of them embarrassing). Among those were my letters to her, written during Secondary 1, which have faded and reeked of dust.

To be honest, I have no faint recollection of any correspondence with this joker buddy after graduating from primary school. Unfortunately, these letters are undeniable proof. And so, as I read through them and tried to come to grips with the nonsense that I have written, I felt embarrassed and amused at the same time.

Because Amelia and I were always joking with each other and guffawing like loonies

I could not believe I even enclosed a cheque in one of my letters, and that was because I betted with her 999.9999 cents that Home Alone 2 is hilarious, but I think she was not amused so I refunded her that amount with a cheque. OMG!

They dug out her autograph books, and I began to see more trash from me. Yuzhen delightfully read out a corny poem from me that goes 'Two in a taxi / Two in a car / Fight fight fight / Lots of scars'. Good rhyming, but I was grossed out with myself. They even remembered I used to draw tiny comic books that featured our classmates in crazy situations. Good God, what have I been doing in primary school?!

For the rest of the night, we watched TV and played mahjong. Amelia's parents were sweet folks who bought us dinner, and also baked homemade garlic bread (with cheese!) and chicken wings. They were so delicious that when we were all about to go home, Jingna and I were still stuffing ourselves with the drumlets.

Hope to meet up again (to Cheesecake Cafe (to peep at Mr. Yap) next time, as mentioned!).

Trip to Chinatown

Had delicious mudpies at Changing Attitudes with Slug, yum!

Oreo mudpie with a chockful of cookie crumbs and drizzled in choco fudge

Then had a walk along Chinatown and soaked in the festive atmosphere. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to complete our little tour, so ... will give a detailed account of the bazaar there the next time.

A whole street of da pai dang

A stall selling waxed meats

Stalls selling New Year decorations

Opening of the FCT

Attended the opening ceremony of the FCT with Boss. It was somewhat a chi-chi affair. First there was a performance by a jazz quartet, followed by a long speech from the Minister of Transport. Together with key LTA figures, he then went on to officiate the opening of the 350 metre-long tunnel. I could not believe that there were even fireworks.

All of us then entered the tunnel for a walk, which I guess is like, once in a lifetime. Starting from 6am the next day, the tunnel will be opened to traffic and no pedestrians will be allowed to walk through it.

Today marked the opening of the tunnel after three years of construction

The minister looking at the exhibits

Point Two of the second exhibit is so cheeky: 'The fattest boulder was discovered by the skinniest engineer'. The exhibits talked about how the new drilling method adopted by LTA during the construction managed to preserve many long-lived trees in the area, which I think is really commendable.

You still have to pay to enter Orchard

Finger food and cocktail jellies served

If you think the metallic 'Fort Canning Tunnel' blocks (a la Hollywood) are ugly, you are not alone.