You may think that I'm crazy but I visit the zoo more than 3 times a year. I know some locals have not visited in many many years, but I tell you, Singapore Zoo is the best zoo that I've visited compared to other countries. The admission fee is only $20 and the panda viewing ticket costs an extra $5 on top of the zoo ticket. If you are an OCBC credit card holder, you will get 5% discount (which is $1 off). NTUC credit card holder has more discount. Call me auntie if you want, but I will always ask for discounts.
You can take bus 138 at Ang Mo Kio Mrt to reach the Zoo. When we were about to queue for the bus, we saw a board with panda on it, saying that the viewing of panda had been fully booked. I called up the number stated on the board to confirm and the person who picked up my call said it was true, by the time we reached there, we will never make it to see the panda. It is a first come first serve basis, so even if we go to the zoo early in the morning, we may or may not be able to see them.
Being a sturbborn Singaporean, I still went up the bus and head my way to the zoo. Fingercrossed.
We headed straight to the ticket queue (super long!) and we saw that we still have chance to see the pandas! So moral of the story, do not give up.
Can you imagine I reached there at 12pm but the earliest slot to see the pandas was 4.40pm. Oh goodness...how do we spend the rest of the day when I've seen the animals upteen times already?
So we decided to walk around in the zoo like it's our first visit...
Finally! It's 4.20pm! I hurry my way to queue for the panda viewing with my tickets! Woohoo! The weather was so warm but it doesn't spoil our excitment. When it was our turn, we were released to walk through part of the River Safari (opening soon next year), we passed by alot of fish tanks and I can smell the new paint. Some tanks already have water in it, nice and clear...I will definitely visit River Safari once it is opened!
And then...we were brought to another place to queue again.....We were informed not to get too excited and make loud noises in the exhibition because it will make the panda very stressed up. And so we walked in.
The exhibition is built like a dome (something like Gardens by the Bay) and it is air conditioned. It was like we have walked into a cool little garden. We walked passed the lab and food making room where the keepers used to prepare the pandas' food. I thought they only eat bamboo shoots but apparently they are fed with some other food so that they get all the nutrients they need that bamboo shoots do not provide sufficiently. Alot of work right...
And then.....we met Jia Jia, the female panda. She was quite shy, always hid behind and wanted to go back to her room on top of the stairs. I think she knew she's going to knock off soon..
We walked on to see Kai Kai, the male panda. He was pacing around also, very restless but at some point, he poised to let everyone take his pictures. Very professional.
After about 10-15mins, we were asked to leave so that the next batch of visitors can come in. We walked passed the souvenior store (where I bought Kai Kai and Jia Jia glow in the dark keychains at $4.90 each) and then to Mama Panda Kitchen.
While my friend went to the toilet, I check the restaurant out. The place was decorated in china theme, red lanturns, and full of pandas' pictures..
Then something on the menu struck me...... Panda Bao! They are actually made of lotus paste and nicely steamed..so cute! I bought them but can't bear to eat them...each cost about $2.90.
Out of the restaurant, we saw nice scenery, abit kampong style. This will be part of the River Safari..so peaceful. we sat there for a moment to enjoy the breeze.
Finally, we decided to call it a day. It was really nice to see that the pandas are well taken care of. I hope they will bear some Singaporean panda babies so that Singapore can get to keep them forever and send the parents back to China.....for retirement...hehe..
So if you have not seen the pandas in your life, please go and see them, they are so adorable..but do remember to be prepared to stay until late afternoon as the tickets are sold out really fast. The last visiting slot for panda is 5pm, while the zoo closes at 6pm. Night Safari opens at 7pm, you can visit the night safari too after the day zoo.
Really enjoyed my zoo trip, once again. Bye bye for now.....
