THE WHITE TIGER OF SINGAPORE ZOO

One of the main attractions of the Singapore Zoo is its white tigers. There are three of them and the one word that I can describe these creatures is: MAJESTIC. These animals originated from Indonesia. Watching them was a bit scary as if they were about to jump and get you. What separated the spectators and the tigers was a small river that acted as a moat and the tigers would be looking at you with hungry eyes.








By the way, do you know that there was an incident a few years back when the tigers killed a zoo worker? Actually it was a suicide case, the man was surrendering himself to the beast as when he was in the animal's sanctuary, he was only armed with a pail and broom. I was thinking of putting the video of the incident here but that would not do justice to the beasts, so you google for it yourself if you want to see it. But I still have a video of one of the tigers for you to admire its beauty.

Thank God I managed to get this video uploaded. Pray that I can upload at least one more.

THE ANIMALS IN SINGAPORE ZOO - PART 1

Actually I was trying to upload a video recorded in Singapore Zoo during my visit there but after waiting for more than 4 hours, I had to admit that it failed. So for the time being, let's have a look at the big animals that we saw at the Zoo. Please don't ask me what they were, I only know some. I was too busy watching and no time to jot down the information found on the information boards.









There will be more animal pictures coming your way and I will try and upload the video again but pray it will work next time.

A VISIT TO SINGAPORE ZOO

Finally, the plan to visit the Singapore Zoo was executed. There were only 9 people in the group including me as a few pulled out last minute. The moral of the story: always take the deposit from the tour member before going. We started as early as 7:00 a.m. driven by a rented van and we were lucky enough there was no traffic jam both at the Causeway and Immigration counters.

As I had been e-mailing the Zoo staff for information, so we managed to get the special school students price for the tickets which cost us S$16.50 (originally S$27).












So we started to roam around the Zoo on foot, observing the animals there such as the lions, giraffes, rhinoceros, variety of monkeys and zebras, just to name a few.

We managed to watch one animal show which involved a seal. We almost missed it while waiting for the orangutan feeding session and luckily we heard the sounds of the person emceeing from the loud speakers and loud clapping that filled the air. The show was brilliant and we were deeply engrossed with the seal's brilliant acts.

We stopped for a short bites of the food (or rather snacks) brought from home. One reason, food was much more expensive here (because of the currency exchange rate) and the other reason, we were not that confident of the status of the food, whether it was halal or not.

Another session where you could get to see the animal real close was the feeding orangutan session. You had to pay S$5 if you want to have yourself being photographed with the apes. Too bad, no holding or cuddling was allowed.







There were many stations designed for different species of animals (and plants). Eventually, you would not be able to categorize them, there were just too many to look at.

One of the animals that roamed freely in a sanctuary was the black and white furry creature. It looked tame like a cat but we had doubt whether we could pet and touch it, just in case it would bite and someone would end up in the hospital.

With the S$16.50 ticket, we had also the chance to take the unlimited tram rides around the zoo (if you do not choose walking) and a ride on the boat on the lake/reservoir.

There was one spot called Kidz World, especially for kids. There were a small swimming pool, a carousel, pony ride and grooming, and other activities for small children.

And at 3:00 p.m. there was a heavy downpour. I did remind the kids to bring their umbrellas along so it was worth the effort. And because of that, we could not continue our walk in the zoo. Nevertheless, we had covered most of the zoo area and we definitely needed more time just to do that. It was such a large place.

With not much time remaining, we spent the time in the souvenir shop, trying to get some affordable souvenirs to bring home.

So we went out of the zoo just a few minutes before 4:00 p.m. before the van arrived to pick us up. We were there for almost 7 hours but we had so much fun and there were still places left not visited. I will not hesitate to organize another trip to the Singapore Zoo with other batch of students in the future.

Puan Arba'iyah Ahmad, Mohd. Faiz, Mohd. Afiq, Mohd. Syafig, Ng Ching Kai, Dineshwar Ganesh, Lim Xue Ting and Soo Ming Huey, hope that you will all remember the good time we had at the zoo.

By the way, do expect a series of postings related to the zoo which consist of animal pictures and videos coming soon.I would love to show what I have seen with you.

BRINGING MIDVALLEY MEGAMALL DOWN

There was another gathering for the TESL UPM class of 1993 group and this time we planned to meet in Midvalley Megamall. The procedure was quite simple - someone posted a message on the Facebook wall, the thread grew longer and people responded whether they could come or not.

Puan Rozida chose "Delicious Restaurant" and the food was delicious indeed. I thought it only served western cuisines until Mr. Muzli ordered "nasi dagang". We managed to get into the reserved area after telling the waitress there would be many people coming and we would be staying there for quite some time. By the way, the food was served in such a large portion and because of that we could share and sample different food on the dining table.

while waiting to be ushered to our seats

We were there from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. It was fun to meet old friends again. For a few, the last time we met could be during our convocation back in 1993. The session was filled with never ending gossips, laughter and food sharing.

So thanks to all the people who had come for the get together: (1) Rozida Mohd. Ramli - the moderator (2) Sakinah Ismail - all the way from Seremban, accompanied by her daughter (3) Iffahtul Aulia Mohd. Khairuddin, accompanied by her husband (4) Maslinda Mohd. Dahalan (5) Norhasni Yaakob (6) Muzli Mohd. Zin (7) Hazlina Aziz (8) Salmiah Mohd. Ghazali, accompanied by her son and daughter, and (9) Zanariah Abd. Shukor. So altogether, including me, there were 10 of us but why did I think there were like 20 people attending. Guess it must be the noise.

There is one more reunion gathering which will be held by Puan Siti Khadijah at her house in Cheras on the 25th of December. I wish I could be attending but I am not so sure about that. Let's just wait and see.

LET'S PING PONG

I need a new pair of sports shoes

One my favourite pastimes, playing ping pong. I could not remember when was the last time I played the game. I stopped because of certain reasons: unable to find people to play with and to get a good place with a good ping pong table. So today, I took out my ping pong bat and sports shoes which were covered with cobweb and made a comeback. Suhaizie, Syahir and I played at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's Sports Centre which definitely is a good venue.

So we played from 2:00 - 5:oo p.m. and after three hours, I now feel healthier and slimmer. We are going to play again tomorrow so just hope there will be not so much of aching muscles when I wake up tomorrow morning.

"Majulah Sukan untuk Negara"
[translate: Developing Sports for the Country]