Zoo Day today. Bit of a must-do thing if you are in Singapore for a while so we complied with expectations. Decided to make the trip a bit of an adventure by going by public transport. This is easier said than done as the zoo is well over the other side of Singapore Island. Remember now that Singapore is a country, not just a big city. Anyhow, got the MRT down a few stops then changed lines and got off where we knew there was a bus connection. That all worked out well as we are now experts on the underground. Emerging from the station in a place called Ang Mo Kio we wondered what to do next. Fortunately we espied the bus station over the road. Even better we found the right bus to the zoo. Said it would be three-quarters of an hour. We queued for the bus, got on and there were no seats left. Great. Standing room only so we took it.
Anyhow, we got to the zoo and paid the entrance fee and went in. We paid to use the “tram”. Thought we would walk a bit first of all so we set off on the Tree Tops Trail and on up to the Boat Dock. Vaguely considered a boat ride on the surrounding lake but the heat was getting to me so we had an expensive Magnum ice-cream instead. That improved things for all of five minutes as we strolled on through the Australian Outback but when we came to a tram stop we decided to hitch a ride. Trouble was a load of other folk had the same idea. Anyhow we waited patiently as it was shaded and eventually got on a tram that took us all the way back to the disembarkation point. Hey Ho.
But we stayed on and went round to the start of the circuit and boarded a new tram. By the time we had finished I was baking hot but we had another bit of a walk but decided to call it a day. Eventually got back outside as a taxi drew up so grabbed it quickly before anyone else had a chance. The underground/bus cost was just $6.60 for the two of us. Dead cheap considering the distance travelled. The taxi cost $18.80 but we gave him an extra $1.20 for his most excellent air-conditioner. I was feeling nearly back to normal body heat by the time we got back to the hotel. Had a spot of lunch and crashed out again for another couple of hours.
We then felt up to taking a look at the very adjacent Mustafa Centre. This is a shopping mall with a difference. Entirely ethnic. No concession whatsoever to us pale-faced Europeans. But it did have air-conditioning so that was good. But it was a fabulous experience. Remember, this is Sunday, but the place was packed. Narrow aisles and chock full of stuff on five levels and covering a heck of a lot of floor space. We covered most of it as it really was fascinating. Anyhow, got tired again so back to the hotel for another sprawl on the bed. I had previously bought a can of Kilkenny. This has been in the fridge for 24 hours so now was the time to crack it open while Val had another G&T. Managed not to fall asleep again. Read a lot and Val decided to phone home while I started typing this up.
Tomorrow is our last day in Singapore so we are going to spend the day down on Sentosa Island. Should be a good last day so long as we don’t damage ourselves on a Segway or on the Luge. Staying late to watch the water/laser show. Have to get up early Tuesday morning as we are being picked up at 7:30 to be taken to the airport for a 9:35am departure and a 7 hour 10 minute flight to Dubai. Then we have a stopover for one hour 50 minutes before another 7 hours and 40 minutes flight to Manchester. That’s an elapsed time of 17 hours. Not looking forward to that one little bit. Should arrive at Manchester at around 7:00pm local time so expect to be home between 8:30 and 9:00pm.
Goodnight Vienna!
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