Some Lovely Pictures

When I was little, my favorite part of the Portland Zoo was the peacocks that freely wandered the grounds. At the Singapore Zoo, monkeys and monitor lizards wander the grounds - Best Zoo Ever! The Zoo is located next to a large reservoir, in the largest (the only, really) undeveloped part of Singapore. I was accompanied by Matt and Heikki, a Finnish exchange student who lives down the hall.

Earlier in the day we went to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the only remaining plot of original rainforest that used to cover Singapore. We were there early in the morning, but were were still slick with sweat after just a couple of steps. There was suprisingly little growth directly on the forest floor, but that was made up for by the density of the canopy. Even though the sun was shining full, we were walking in dark shadows. The Bukit Timah reserve is located on the highest point in Singapore (not very high), so there were a lot of steps, but no rewarding view at the top. The best view was this:


To give you an idea of how dark it was, this is the same photo, but without the flash:


Because of its elevation, the Bukit Timah area played an important role in the WWII Battle for Singapore against the Japanese. There are still remains of the old military complex in there area. Here's an example of the seriousness of Singaporean Rules and Regulations:



The most impressive part of the Singapore Zoo was the lack of a lot of bars or cages. The majority of animals had large, landscaped living areas, and were often only separated from the people by a small bit of water, a ditch, or some landscaping. With some monkeys, there was literally nothing preventing them from climbing out of their tree and walking on the sidewalk. As a result, I could get quite close:



Here are some other good photos from the zoo:






And finally, here is a movie that I put together from video clips I took with my camera. There is no sound.


Quiz for the day: which two big cats enjoy the water?