2007-04-28 Visit to Singapore Night Safari
We visited the Singapore Night Safari for the first time recently as an impromptu activity for a Saturday evening (Actually Yh has been there twice already as part of school and work in the past). We had gotten there a little earlier and managed to catch a quick show next to Bongo Burgers about how tribesman used their weapons to catch food and some tribal games. The crowd there caught us a little by surprise as the place was filled with tourists and locals alike. Guess everyone loves a little “wild” adventure at night.
Luckily, Eunice & Sean were both free so they joined us at Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant for some dinner before we started our night trekking.
There was a variety of local signature dishes to try out and we decided in the end to order BBQ Sambal Stingray, chicken wings as well as a plate of Fried mee goreng and Seafood fried rice.
Well, this being a tourist spot, the prices were definitely on the high side but we all agreed that the food was better than average without having too much of a waiting time.
After enjoying our dinner at the very nicely decorated restaurant, we got ourselves admission tickets (4 adults @ $20/each) without the tram ride since we wanted to have a nice walk. Luckily, our timing was perfect as the first “Creatures of the Night Show” at the Amphitheater was about to start at 2030. We soon found ourselves seated at the Amphitheater and got seats right at the back (it seems our timing was just nice as we were the last batch granted entry!). The place was packed and everyone waited eagerly for the show to start. The host came out soon after and reminded everyone to NOT use flash photography and to keep food safely away so as not to distract the animals.
The show started with some Fishing Cat’s coming out to play at the water and then later two Hyena’s came out atop the rock outcropping as part of the stage. There was a funny moment when the host mentioned that they had misplaced something and later found it (a HUGE python) right underneath a few audience’s bench. We also had a brief segment on the important of recycling taught by a racoon and a family of otters (which was quite funny as one of the otters kept throwing away a can and then having it appear magically in the paws again).
After the show ended, we got started on our trek for the night as we headed towards the “Fishing Cat Trail”. Our first glimpse of the night wildlife was a very cute mousedeer and it foraged for food.
We also caught sight of the fishing cats that had made an appearance in the show earlier and also a pond filled with Indian Gharials. The girls were amusingly frightened of any tiny movements the gharials made 
. There was one point along the trail when we first came upon a huge “DO NOT CROSS” painted on the ground and a very misty area. We were quite puzzled as to what it was and stood around taking photos of the misty effect (Sean & Eunice hamming it up like ghosts). To our amusement, a tram suddenly drove up through the mist and headed towards us as we quickly stepped out of its way! That taught us a good lesson in reading what the warning signs says
The rest of the trail was pretty interesting also as we strained our eyes to catch glimpses of the creatures mentioned on the trail’s map. Unfortunately, my trust camera decided to give up on the batteries that I replaced the old ones with and so didn’t have any more photos after the leopard enclosure. We also caught sight of giraffe’s just past the East Lodge (Yh’s favorite) and some lions later on. After passing the “Bridge of Suspense” some 2 hours later, we found ourselves back at the entrance of the night safari as we took a group photo to remember the night by. Definitely an interesting place to visit if you haven’t done so but think our next trip there shall be when we have kids
Singapore Night Safari
80 Mandai Lake Rd
Singapore 729826
More Joost?
As a little thank-you gift, we’ve given you 5 more invitations in your “My Joost” invitation widget for you to share with them.
My last round of sending invites went quite well and now have received another 5 more invites to send. Drop me a comment if you’re interested. Cheers!
*Edit* 30/04/2007 1640
All 5 invites went out within 30 minutes of the post… so i guess will have to wait till next round for those who are reading this now.
10 Rubbish Bags
Finally established that my last working day will be 2 May, leaving me 2.5 weeks to enjoy a long vacation before i rejoin the workforce as a Senior Associate at a construction consultancy firm.
Five years in an office and i have happily accumulated more than 10 big red/black rubbish bags of well… rubbish!
Was on duty for Sat and took the chance to clear my cubicle for my new successor and also pack my personal belongings to bring home. From Friday evening to Saturday, I think I have filled more than 10 big red/black rubbish bags of files, papers, useless publications, paper bags and other assorted rubbish to discard, and only about 2 paper bags of personal stuff home.
Also took the laptop home to transfer 5 years of photos, favourite websites and other accumulated digital property into the Public laptop at home (a gift from Hubby for me but more like free access for anyone). Now with the gallons of information just loaded now, it has finally seemed more like my computer, hahaha.
Now still have 3 stacks of papers to file in office and also some housekeeping work to be done on the office laptop. Hope i can clear EVERYTHING by Wed.
My colleagues have very nicely offered to bring their specialities for lunch on Mon and Wed (Tue being May Day) for a nice treat for the office in my honour even though I already have 2 farewell lunches (sort of) with them. And I’m also going to buy them tea on Wed for the help and friendship that they have extended to me all these years.
Think I will miss my dear colleagues. They have really become ‘family’ as my boss likes to put it. Hope my new boss and colleagues are nice…
Night Safari – World’s First in Singapore
The world’s first wildlife park built for visits at night, the Night Safari is not like any ordinary zoo illuminated by the night or a modern version of nocturnal houses found in many zoos around the globe.
Source: Night Safari – World’s First in Singapore
Just got back from my very first visit to the Night Safari with Yh, E and S Was quite fun to open up the eyes to look for the nortunal creatures roaming around (more like sitting around for some). Shall organise photos and post soon. (Too bad camera ran out of juice at the end so missed out a beautiful shot of the Seletar Reservoir at night).
Which Should You Choose: Joint or Separate Finances? ∞ Get Rich Slowly
Any system in which the partners are open about their money habits is a good one. Ultimately, it comes down to this: Do what works for you.
Source: Which Should You Choose: Joint or Separate Finances? ∞ Get Rich Slowly
Pretty interesting read over at “Get Rich Slowly” on joint or separate finances for couples. In our case, Yh and myself started out having a joint account that we both agreed to contribute a fixed amount each month that could be used to finance various purchases (especially for our wedding and home last year).
We actually had the account open when we were dating (around Jan 2005) as I had learnt a very good tip from an ex-colleague at NEC. That having a joint a/c makes it easier to spend on stuff when we do things together since we will both have to think about the purchase and not have one person feel like they are constantly paying for things.
Its been 2 years since and I’m glad we had such a system when we didn’t have to dig too deep into our own pockets to finance the furniture and wedding stuff. Now that we’ve finally completed our last installment, it’s time to channel some of the savings towards a higher interest account. (Maybank’s iSAVvy Savings Account is a good choice).
Planet Earth (TV series)
Planet Earth is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 5 March 2006.
Source: Planet Earth (TV series) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Just caught the 4th episode from the documentary “Planet Earth” on Central (Wednesdays, 10pm). If you are a nature documentary fan, this is definitely worth watching. Both yh and myself were amazed by the sights displayed in this episode and will be keeping tabs on the future episodes.
Sean & Eunice are getting married!
Its finally the big day for Sean & Eunice. Been a busy week for both of them so glad they can enjoy a little today Think its going to start soon! 8.15am
Break-in but nothing got stolen?!
My office at 267 New Bridge Road had a break-in on 18th April between 2330 and 19th April 0900. Colleague arrived just slightly before 9am and discovered that the door to our office had been pried open. I arrived shortly after and quickly called the police to report the break-in. Also noticed that our neighbour and downstairs tenants also had similar forced entry marks on their doors. Informed our landlord and she quickly informed the rest of the tenants to come down to check.
Two police constables arrived shortly after to check out the crime scene and take statements on who was around, who opened the door, etc. We did a quick inventory check and found that nothing was missing (drawers and bags were tampered with though). Our neighbour was not so lucky because he found that his coin box had been taken.
The weird thing is that the main door than leads to our office appeared to have suffered no forced entry as the wooden door seem untouched. Only the doors leading to each company had been forced into. Only other way was to have either scaled the back wall and climb through the windows?
First time I’ve ever experienced this so was kinda weird giving statements to the police and watching them do their investigation. Must say Singapore police sure responds super fast! Hope the thief gets caught!
instructables : Paper Gift Box
Useful tips on how to fold a paper gift box. Have encountered a few times where I had to wrap a gift and didn’t quite know how to deal with odd shapes and sizes. This site has a nice idea since can just use paper and also print on it to create custom designs.
Changing job finally!
After having been at current workplace for 5 years, I am finally moving forward. Haha.
Tentatively starting at new workplace on 21 May. Quite a coincidence, I started on current job on 20 May 2002 and will start on new job on 21 May 2007, hahaha. I will have to forgo my 5 years long service award in Oct though.
New job is something like Corporate Communications and I hope i will like my new workplace and colleagues.
My office just knew about my resignation today. Felt a bit bad towards Evelyn who had just handed over her portfolio to me, now perhaps she need to teach another again. Think my resignation had affected morale a bit and i received a few requests to look out for any other openings for them, dunno how serious they are. But definitely workload for everyone has increased.
I think when the time comes for me to leave this office, I would be a bit sad also, after all, I spent the last 5 years of my life in this office and i have great colleagues who are more like family and friends.  Now, only the question of when my last day would be remains. I hope I can have a couple of weeks free to have a shot at being HDB Taitai. Heehee…