Singapore Zoo & Night Safari

Normally, we wouldn't bother with a zoo, it's much better seeing animals in their natural environment, but this zoo is a little different, it's more like a safari park and they do so much work on protecting endangered species it seemed only right to give them a bit support. Christopher Sorrell, we know you love animals so here's lots for you to look at. You might be looking at the first picture thinking the camera is bust again! No this is a rare white Bengal tiger (not to be mistaken for an albino!) This one has white fur and piercing blue eyes, we know this because on the night safari we were lucky enough to be sitting right next to the glass at the side of the enclosure when they were getting fed. He picked up his half of chicken and brought it right over to the glass and sat and ate it in front of us, we were literally the thickness of the glass away from him - we just sat awestruck for 20 minutes looking at him.

Here are the elephants getting fed fruit from the kids. They do a little show of how the elephants are put to work in the forests, moving trees and logs etc.

This is the polar bear looking for fish. They do a 'token feed' at certain times through the day so the crowds can see the animals doing their stuff.

This was a little on the cruel side! They throw live fish in and people watch while the bear tracks them down and chows them down - usually head first!

We were 'lucky' enough to be standing just in the right place when he pinned the fish against the glass with his massive paw - the following picture was too gruesome for the blog!!

A rare white rhino and a pair of Giraffes 'necking on' - quite easy with necks that long!

A female lion awakening from a 20 hour nap for a 'token feed'. I've sometimes wondered if Elvis has some lion blood in her!

Pink flamingos filtering out their food from the pond.

This is a South American wolf, a rather 'namby pamby' looking wolf if you ask me! Much longer legs than the wolves I'm used to seeing. If you zoom in you'll see this one has just caught a rat and is busy chowing down -urghhhhh!

Look at the length of the arms on this 'minkey'.

One of my friends reckoned I (Keith) might get in to see the Orangutans, but with the length of my arms, they might not let me out - cheek! These have so may human traits it's unnerving to see them with each other. They reckon that our genes match 98% of theirs.

A giant tortoise (I know, there's nothing next to it to give it scale I hear you all say) , it's about 18 inches high and about 3 feet long.

Be grateful that I got a picture of this gibbon from the front, the 'reverse' picture is enough to put a couple off their chicken fried rice and noodle soup. You'd never eat a vindaloo again if you saw it!

This is a cheetah, the worlds fastest animal - well not quite, because if it was chasing me I would be 1 mile an hour faster!

This one is for my Father-in-law Ron Elves, he loves his little furry animals - especially the mere cat!

This was a little 'jungle show' before the night safari. The night safari is one of the best things we've done, because through the day most animals are resting, but when you go around on a night all the animals are out fighting, foraging and feeding. Unfortunately there aren't any pictures - it was dark and you're not allowed to use a flash!!

Two sea otters, sitting together enjoying their daily snack!

Back to two very odd looking animals. This is Clarke Quay on the river, we were on the hunt for food!

And we found some.... but not here. The people in the shop seem confused as to why there aren't long lines of hungry people waiting in line for some 'Pig's Organ Soup'. I did go over to look, there wasn't any organs I could recognise. My brother would love it though - anything with offal!

The is the last image of Singapore - This is a typical busy street in Singapore, the ultra clean, 24 hour, mega shopping , 'nothing closing' kinda city. Tomorrow we're off to Kuala Lumpur - but that's for another blog. (We've had only few days in KL now and are off for pastures new. These 'new pastures' are a bit far flung so internet access may be difficult so.. there may not be much blogging done for a while!)

Two cups of tea for sister Ginny, who correctly identified Singapore as the name of the City and the Country. Another cup of tea for answering the question of after whom was the Cameron Highlands named after - quite amazing since we hadn't actually asked the question yet!! CS.

Singapore Slingers!!

Let's start with a cup of tea question. What exactly is Singapore? Is it a city, is it country, is it part of Malaysia? It does have it's own airline if that helps.

There was a big Chinese New Year Celebration going on whilst we were in Singapore. 

2o08 is the year of the Rat! Elvis is a monkey (and a cheeky one at that) and I am a tiger (only right I know!)

Rusty I know you'd LIKE to be a tiger too but I think you're a Pig (a right one at that)- sorry!

There was a boatload of floats, dancers and the whole thing finished off with a bunch of fireworks!

Yes, a familiar theme on this trip - Elvis and her love of all things sweet! Got to admit this place was something special, the donuts were divine!

What does Lord Vader have to to with the Chinese New Year Celebrations? Mind you we could hear him, "Luke, I am your grandmother!"

Don't worry we haven't 'turned', we were just inappropriately dressed! This is us checking out the local Mosque, seen also below.

By the way, Elvis looks like the size of a bus here as she has her dress on underneath her robes! She reminded me of an apprentice down the engine works - they had to wear brown overalls too!

The Chinese markets are just enthralling -this guy is currently being treated for an ingrowing toenail! For those who know Elvis well, will know about her 'aversion' to things 'stuck on things' and let me tell you she wasn't best pleased when she saw this!!

When in Singapore it is obligatory to visit Raffles and partake in a little cocktail.

So here we are slurping a 'Singapore Sling' in the Long Bar. The strange thing here is that all the tables have big boxes of peanuts in their shells, so where do all the guests put the shells? Well.... they just fling them all over the floor and your feet just 'crunch' their way around the bar!

Free cup of tea to the funniest comment for this picture keep 'em clean if you can!

Let me tell you this travelling business is exhausting! It's only the few relaxing moments we have like this that save me from complete fatigue!

Answers to 'cup of tea' questions. The bird was a frigate, well done Jenny and Andy but some good answers from the rest of you. The nationality of the woman 'bottomless' in the spa was... German of course! And although the locals call the Komodo Dragon the 'land crocodile' it is in fact a lizard - NOT a reptile!

For an extra earner (a scone I think), where do all the frigates in the world return to nest?

Indonesia - Last Days

The best way to see the island is to hire a driver. Note this may all sound very grand and that but it costs only... 15 pounds per day all in - we always wanted our own chauffeur!! So when in Rome and all that... Our driver was called Made and had been recommended to us by friends. We spent three great days touring the island. The first picture is the night before we started our trip, all the Balinese families gather at the beach and spend hours together just messing in the water. A bit like the 'cat and dogs' in the old days.




We stopped on route to a arts and crafts 'factory'. This place was packed with stone carvings, this is one of the guys at work. What happens is all this stuff is produced on the island, then buyers from around the globe (but mainly the USA) come and buy the stuff up and send it home. Elvis was trying to work out how she could get a stone table and three Buddha statues in the backpacks! It's deceiving, although the stuff is really cheap, it's quite expensive to send it home.






Now I could pretend that these pictures were in the wild and normally that's where I prefer to see them - but there's some animals that are best seen with some solid fence work between you and them and here are a few examples! Our God son Christopher Sorrell likes to see the animals so these are especially for him. You've got your 'twisty faced' crocodile.







This is a green tree frog. What do you mean it's not dangerous? It'll have you - it's got big 'orrible sharp teeth, it'll take a mans head clean off......(Copyright Monty Python).











This is the amazing Komodo Dragon, found mainly on the Indonesian island of Komodo. This is an adult male and is about 2.5 metres from nose to tail. It can smell blood (using its forked tongue) from miles away, if it bites you, you've had it! If the bite doesn't kill you it has so many foul bacteria living in its mouth that you'll be dead from the saliva infection within a matter of days. While I was taking this picture it started to hiss and although I was a safe distance it still scares the hell out of you! Another cup of tea if you can tell me what kind of animal a Komodo Dragon is, a clue would be its other name, 'land crocodile'.

David Attenborough - eat your heart out. These are iguanas of various types, they quite heavy you know! I think these two had been sniffing glue because they didn't move a muscle!














This is construction of a bridge - Balinese style! A free cup of tea if you can spot the safety harnesses, hard hats and safety boots. In fact I saw one guy welding, he was holding the metal with his bare feet and protecting his eyes with a pair of 'Elvis Presley' sun glasses! Stewart Sorrell, you would have a field day here. I have recommended you to the Balinese Embassy as their Health and Safety Advisor.






If David Beckham can get away with it - so can we! This is us on the way to a temple - no legs on show please!











This is the lake Batur with with the mountain in the background.










I love this picture! This is the paddy fields around the mountains with an old guy tending the fields, the irrigation system is phenomenal, all the water
coming down the mountain is channelled along the rows so that all the rows are water logged before it pours into the next fields and the same again, eventually it pours into a stream and away to the river.















This was a little unnerving! We drove into a village just as a cock fight was finishing and everyone was pouring onto the street. We couldn't move for 5 minutes while the crowd passed, some of them holding bloody fighting cocks under their arms.

This is the fruit and veg isle of Asda! This is how you buy fresh fruit in the villages. Whatever is in season or ripe is for sale, no doubt the odd Englishman will ask them if they can have a punnet of strawberries!










This is Banjar Hotsprings. There's lots of volcanic activity on Bali so hot springs is a given! It was very nice but it would have been better if the temperature out of the water wasn't the same as in the water! The setting was spectacular though, it was like one of those sets from an Indiana Jones film.












Us posing in the grounds! There was a big sign saying No Naked Bathing. So a free cup of tea if anyone can guess the nationality of the woman walking around the pools in the buff (although she still had her top on)?















This is the amazing rainforest - can you just smell it? It's a pity that in a few years time there'll be none of this left because every year they cut and burn(in Sumatra) so much of it down it causes most of South East Asia to be choked with smoke.













This is a local village on the way to their Hindu Temple. They are carrying offerings to their ancestors on their heads (mainly food etc). It's only offered though to be blessed! At the end of the worship they take it home with them.















Elvis and I at a roadside food stall. We had Pig! Pork meat, cracknel and skin with a pork soup. It was truly gorgeous, which is lucky because there was nowt else on the menu!
















This is Tanah Lot Temple - the temple in the ocean.

Even the roundabouts have lavish adornments!



















And for a bonus cup of tea - what kind of bird is this? Zoom in and look at those angular wings (no its not the latest American stealth bomber) - it looks like some angel of death stalking the sky and the seagulls aren't too fond of them either.

Cup of tea answers! Ginny when I send pictures of me wearing a seaweed thong, smoking a a seaweed pipe you're not supposed to go off telling everybody. Anyway, I heard it's only used in cosmetics but then again I'm not a reet CS.