80 Mandai Lake Road Singapore 729826
November 1, 2016
I went to Singapore for medical check up. However, I left for Singapore two days earlier than my medical appointment so that I had time for shopping, meeting my childhood friend, and visiting Singapore awesome theme parks. I stayed at Jen Orchardgateway Hotel, Singapore. As a solo traveler, I had many options of most suitable and convenient mode of transportation such as MRT, bus, taxi meter, and even online taxi such as Uber and Grab can be ordered from the hotel lobby. They provide the devices to make us easier to order.
So, the agenda was exploring River Safari and Garden by the Bay, both are very iconic theme park to visit.
River Safari is the Asia's First and Only River-themed Wildlife Park. You can visit the website of River Safari for more detail. As you might know, River Safari is one of the four Wildlife Reserves in Singapore. The other 3 are Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park. Believe me, these 4 theme parks are worth to explore.
I got there before the ticketing counter open, yes I came too early. They open 10.00 am - 7.00 pm every day of the year. I took some photos outside - the entrance, some flowers ... etc
The River Safari Combo Tourist Admission Ticket was SGD 30.00 for adult. With a directory map, I could explore The River of The World such as Mekong River, Mary River, Mississippi River, Yangtze River with over 6000 land and aquatic animals, and Giant Panda Forest. Here are some photos taken during my journey.
Mekong Giant Catfish at Mekong River Exhibit
Giant Panda Forest is the ace of this park. It's a bio-dome with a temperature of 16-24 degree Celcius, simulating the natural climate as the home for Giant Panda - Kai Kai (male Panda), Jia Jia (female Panda) and Red Panda. They were very cute, but please refrain from making any noise, not to scream no matter how cute they were.
I spent most my time here, taking photos and video of Pandas, reading the facts about Panda and amazed to learn that :
- An adult Panda eats 20 kg of bamboo which is equal to 100 bowls of rice in weight. wowwww !
- Other daily diet for Panda are 1 kg of high fiber biscuits, 400 g carrots, 200 g apples. Oww man... they have good appetite !
- Giant Panda and Red Panda have extra digits that function as thumbs to hold bamboo
- Panda is solitary animal. The female mate only once a year during breeding season, between March and May. That's why Kai Kai and Jia Jia live in separate sections.
- Adult Pandas weigh 100 kg and live up to 30 years in zoos, but live only 14-20 years in wild
- There is a Black and White Story - a Tibetan Folklore, you can read it when you are here. It's very funny :)
Panda's activities are eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep, play, .... eat, sleep, play ... what a nice life :)
Red Panda at Giant Panda Forest
Kai Kai the Male Panda, born on 14 September 2007 in China, he has a small pointy tuft of fur on his head ("Onion Head"). He is obedient and stable. His favorite treat are apples.
Jia Jia the female Panda, born on 4 September 2008 in China, she has a narrower black shoulder band. She is playful and affectionate. Her favorite treat are carrots.
After having my camera played with pandas, I went to Mama Panda Kitchen - a must try Panda Pao with the red beans filling and hot coffee or chocolate with a panda drawing.
Others animal I captured was a cute porcupine.
and bird ...
I took a 15 minute River Safari Cruise along Upper Seletar Reservoir (included in admisson ticket). The guide told us that if we're lucky we might spot herons or storks, but unfortunately we're not that lucky. All we saw just green trees along the river.
Then, I drop in on Wild Amazonia and walked through this forest to see some monkeys, e.g. Squirrel Monkey, Brown tufted Capuchin, and Red Howler Monkey, and many more
My last section was Amazon Flooded Forest, the world's largest freshwater aquarium for 18 majestic animal species e.g. manatee, catfish, arapaima, river otters, and piranhas.
House of Kai Kai and Jia Jia is the souveniers shop where you can buy cute toys, key chains, luggage tags, pins, hair pins, and many more cute panda souveniers. I bought some key chains and other cute souveniers of Kai Kai and Jia Jia.
That's the end of my journey in River Safari. It truly satisfied my belly (Panda Pau and hot coffee), my eyes, my soul, as well as my camera. This Theme Park is so worth to visit, you won't regret it. Highly recommended !
More photos : Singapore Album 2016
Next Posting : Garden By The Bay
rgds,
Lucy
