Elpheal aka Kaika : animal

I went to the newly opened River Safari last week for my Birthday. It was a last minute decision actually, initially we wanted to just catch a movie but while searching for movie timings, Vivian randomly found out there is a Birthday promotion for River Safari so of course the decision was to go to River Safari instead of the movies!

There is a birthday promotion for all Singaporeans and PRs at the River Safari, Singapore Zoo, Birdpark and Night Safari! The Birthday girl/guy gets FREE ENTRANCE and complimentary Ice creams!!

FREE admission

10% off retail and F&B
Complimentary ice-cream
To enjoy these perks, simply flash your Wild Birthday badge, issued at the ticketing counter.

Terms and Conditions:

Valid on date of birthday for all Singaporeans and permanent residents only.
Proof of birthday required.
10% discount applies to regular priced items and house brands only at participating retail and F&B outlets. Not valid with any other discounts.
The complimentary birthday admission does not include tram rides.

Just go to the ticketing counter and show them your NRIC/ passport and you can redeem a "Wild Birthday" badge along with a ticket. The ticket is so pretty, you can literally use it as a bookmark.

So next year I think I will go to the zoo at 9am then marathon the 3 wildlife reserves one after another xD parking is a flat fee of $4.90 ! Cheap !!

I wasn't afraid to tell the world it was my birthday so I pinned the badge on asap. And when I went through the park entrance, the staff all started singing "Happy Birthday" to me! How awesome >w<! And Vivian aiai sang along with them ~ so sweet <3

This is a very bad angle for me=_= I look weird….

The haze was SO BAD that day but thankfully it wasn't too humid and I didn't sweat much throughout the day. Also probably because much of the exhibits were indoor xD

Big dinosaur age fishes!! I still find it amazing how big they can get @_@

Small alligator. This thing seriously looks like a fossil when it's not moving. Vivian was saying it must be fake but we both jolly well knows the Zoo can't possible place a statue in a display box! Anyway the dude shifted up to breath shortly after thus proving his living presence xD

Silly looking fishes xD

The scenery was very pretty and I have mixed feelings.... but the haze actually made it look picturesque xD like the fog in the high mountainous areas.

Super big alligators! Have no idea why the water in their tank is neon green @_@; Wish I had brought my camera along, the animals are too fast for my iPhone!

Their eyes and scales were both fascinating and scary=_= Machiam looks like fossils…

Then we entered the aquarium area! Big tank of Catfishes. I love aquariums like this with a sitting area, its therapeutic to watch. Especially lovely is the aircon away from the heat and seats to rest my aching feet.

I wore the oxford-esque heels I bought from Navy last weekend. It has a big and solid heel which makes for more comfortable wearing but prolong walking in it still makes my feet hurt x. X

Random monkey looking out at the kids xD Cute but at the same time, slightly sad that it is behind a cage…

These Chinese sturgeons really look like cats o. o! Turned the corners and it's finally time for Pandas!!!

The red pandas and pandas are placed in an air conditioned greenhouse specially created for them. The moment you stepped in you are greeted with a gush of cool and fresh air with very soft instrumental music.

Red pandas are so cute T. T They didn't do much except laze on the tree and be cute xD really feel like squishing their tails >w<!!! Once again so regret not bringing my camera ><!

The food consumption/ menu display for Kaikai and JiaJia the pandas. Apparently they take in 20 kgs of bamboos per day .... These animals are really big eaters sia @-@;;

Finally, the pandas! Here is Kaikai. Dude was busy eating bamboos when we saw him and didn't bother much with us. But I'm just glad at least he wasn't motionlessly sleeping, that would have been so boring to watch.

Here's Jiajia! The girl seemed really restless when we were there and she kept going in circles around her pen xD she walked a minimum of 4 rounds before she finally plopped down in a corner as slept. Managed to capture these before she stopped her performance >D

Then it was finally time for lunch! We saved our tummies so we could dine at the Panda Kitchen.

Check out their super cute panda buns! We also got the special panda tumble that sold for $3.90. We wanted to order the cappuccino with Panda deco on top but alas, the machine was down that day :(

Sneaked a pic of vivian xD The entire restaurant is set in the bamboo theme.

Anyway the bun has Red Bean fillings and the black deco is chocolate flavoured dough. Was nice ;D

Saw another panda statue ! Check out the scenery behind us. It's so foggy it looks like we're in china or something. And no it's not fog, it's haze. Our Indonesian neighbour has decided to burn their agricultures again this year and the wind has brought the smoke across the ocean to us. I'm surprised with all that exposure to the haze, both of are still well xD

Super cute monkeys! They are so tiny xD If anyone of you know the name of their breed, please comment and remind me !

And then the best part of the trip for me, the Manatees!!!! They are in an aquarium tank by themselves with some fishes and there is a tunnel with displays of different fishes before we reached the Manatees. It's almost as if they were building up the climax xD

Otters ! The pair of them could be seen from the overhead cylinder like aquarium. The female otter kept chasing the male xD

Red bellied Piranhas. They look comedic to me =x

Vivian and I were like "Woahhhh" when the full scale of the area came in sight. Coupled with the soft bgm and cooling air it was an instant hit 8D

Manatees are so cutttteeee they are like stuffed socks! Like I told Vivian , they look like extremely stuffed and cute grey socks >D I really wish I has brought my digital camera T. T

I want to squeeze them so bad and I can so imagine myself riding on them in the waters cowboy style xD Makes me depress to know that that will never happen –.-;

Seriously? Then why are Manatees so fat??! Are all those just skin @_@?

Saw this Dugong lingering around one side of the aquarium and tried to take a photo with him/her. I have no idea why neither of us thought of using flash xD On a side note, really don’t like my new hair cut, overdid the fringe and the layering…now it looks weird.

This ~~little~~ big thing is so cute, look at him/her clinging onto the bamboo structure xD

Another Dugong then came to touch base with it xD

It came towards me for a brief moment and this was all I could capture T_T I really wish I could see his face upclose oTL

check out these video i found online…

I stayed around the area for quite a while and I even requested Vivian to go back to the aquarium area with me where we just sat there and stared at the manatees. Then a very boring live performance started where the divers came to feed the manatees. It wasn't as spectacular as I hoped because the divers were feeding on top of the waters and audience seated at the 'stage' area cannot see anything. In fact I felt a little angry because the manatees actually went away to eat and I couldn't see themmmm D;

Anyway after the staff ended his explanation we walked up to the top of the aquarium and finally saw something better. Saw the big potatoes crowding around the divers and the divers continuously directing the Manatees to move away before feeding each of them. And when the diver is out of feed, she even signalled to them that she has no more food by overturning the pail.

HAIYAH SO CUTE LAHHHHHHHHHH

I only wish the divers could feed them closer to us so we can have a closer look of these magnificent creatures. It would be really cool to see them in another perspective.

Vivian and I went to the souvenirs shops after the Aquarium since the Manatees were the last stop and we really wanted to get some Manatee toys but alas there were none =( There were dolphins plushies but NO MANATEES! WHY??!?!?! River Safari doesn’t even have dolphins! Argh!

Obligatory Poser photo to prove that I was here. Should have taken it with Vivian ><!

Heheh, spotted this in the car park and made Vivian take it for me. I thought she would pose with me but apparently she's more matured than that LOL. To me, now ‘M’ stands for MANATEE <3 !!!!!!!!

dd

Jun 25, 2013

River Safari, Singapore!