Singapore Zoo

The Zoo turned out to be as amazing as all the literature claims!
We spent about 4 hours there on Sunday and saw approximately 1/3 of the zoo.  We will definitely be back to continue exploring.
The zoo itself is nestled north of the city in one of the only remaining true subtropical rainforest areas that remain on the island.  It is flanked by a giant reservoir that supplies much of Singapore's drinking water.
From the moment you enter the zoo there are natural exhibits of animals very near to you. They refrain from the use of fences or glass enclosures so we often found ourselves eye level with a small tamarin monkey or other creature.  The animals remain protected by their own behaviours and the zoo visitors respect to not touch, tease or feed them.

Halie seemed to enjoy the zoo as well.  Her new skill is pointing at items that she wants or wants you to know that she has seen.  In many areas, we were able to take her out of the stroller and allow her to see the animals up close.  She particularly enjoyed displays like the underwater viewing area for the otters.  This allowed her to stand up against the glass tank herself and track the otters as they swam past her.

The zoo does a terrific job of allowing you to see the animals in their most usual habitat and letting you join in the fun.  Most exhibits listed the animals feeding times so that you could come back to view them up close as they are fed.  We took advantage of this with the probiscus monkeys and enjoyed seeing them eat.  Interestingly, they are served a diet of green leafy plants but they do not eat the leaves! Instead, they tear off the leaves and eat the soft, chewy stems to which they were attached.

The zoo also includes a small kids discovery area that includes up close viewing to your typical farm animals as well as a zero depth water park experience.  Halie will be ready for enjoying that as she begins to walk.  It was different to see the parents that had dressed their kids in swimsuits to come to the zoo, let them run about in the water and then pull out a towel to dry them off all before heading off to see the next portion of the zoo.  This seems to be a trend here due to the heat as we have experienced similar water areas at some of the shopping malls! It certainly makes it far more appealing as a child to tag along on errands with the lure of some water play!

The heat wears some of us down more quickly than others (insert picture of me here) and we wrapped up the day mid afternoon with some lunch, a quick bite of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and headed back in a cab for a much needed rest.  Luckily, Halie has begun to learn to fall asleep anywhere when she is ready for a nap and she was out cold in her stroller and transferred into the cab without waking up. I on the other hand seem to be struggling with being outside for too long.  This is the second time we have gone out for an excursion during the day that I wound up with a tremendously strong headache that also gave way to a fever.  Not sure what is causing this but we are going to start shopping for a hat and some cooler linen type clothing to see if that helps.
No big plans this week on the radar currently.  Hoping to hear progress on our housing.
And a shout out to all those that have gotten or have skype, we would love to chat with you.  Timing is sometimes an issue currently as we can really only talk on your evenings as we cannot speak in our house after 7pm (the place is too small and the talking would wake Halie).  If I do not already have your skype info please email it to me. Talk to you all soon!

I should also mention that I hope you all enjoy the photos that I am enclosing.  John took all of these (and most of the photos since we arrived).  He has renewed an old passion for photography since our arrival and I think is quite talented!