Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Date: 27th September 2010

We only had from morning to evening in Singapore today, so we decided to skip Sentosa as the journey all the way to the theme park wouldn’t be worth it unless we could spend time at Universal Studios as well… for which we didn’t have “sufficient funds”. So, Singapore Zoo it was.

This being our last day in Singapore, I decided to take a few photographs of ABC Hostels, in case you were curious as to what its like from the inside.

ABC Backpacker hostel reception Singapore — The reception

ABC Backpacker hostel reception free internet Singapore — The hostel provides free internet; we found it quite slow

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen Singapore — This is the kitchen

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen restroom Singapore — …where you’d come to make your own breakfast or anything else

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast table Singapore — Once made, you have to sit outside. Once done, wash the dishes yourself. (Photo taken by my friend Loi)

ABC Backpacker hostel rooms Singapore — Our room was at the end to the right

I didn’t take a photo of the room we got because it was in a mess, but picture this: not a big room, big enough bed for 3 mid-sized adults, functional split A/C, well-lit, with a mirror and table. That’s it. If you want more than a room for just sleeping, its best you book yourself into a regular hotel.

After finding out how to get to Singapore Zoo, we set off for Bugis MRT station.

To get Singapore Zoo, we first needed to get to Ang Mo Kio MRT station, and then take a bus from there.

Ang Mo Kio bus station Singapore — Ang Mo Kio bus interchange

But as soon as we got down, there was a van waiting with a woman approaching tourists with a deal. Buy the entry ticket with 4 tram rides and a drop to the zoo in a van (one way) for SGD23 (SGD18 + 5 for the tram rides). We knew the entry fee is SGD18 (Rs. 620/$14/€10) for adults so it seemed like a good deal (but what do we know). Plus we didn’t have to take the bus.

Singapore Zoo entry ticket special — The entry ticket costs SGD18 even if you were to buy it at the zoo entrance

When the van quickly filled up with other tourists, we set off.

Ang Mo Kio branch office Singapore — This part of Singapore was noticeably different

Ang Mo Kio metro road traffic Singapore — It’s still well connected by the metro

Driving to Singapore Zoo lush greenery — There was lush greenery around these parts

After a 15 minute ride, we arrived at Singapore Zoo. The weren’t a whole lot of people in queue — but we just walked straight in as we already had our entry tickets.

Singapore zoo elephant statues — They have real ones too

First up, monkeys…

… then parrots.

From this point on, the zoo truly begins.

Singapore Zoo greater mousedeers — Greater mousedeers they are called

Singapore Zoo asian small clawed otter — These otters were ‘busy’

Singapore Zoo siamang hidden in tree — There was a siamang (a type of ape) hiding in the trees

Singapore Zoo Tiger Trek gate — Next up, my favourite animal

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger den — There they are!

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tigers staring — Hello beautiful

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger yawning roaring — Its roar was sooo… (oh who am I kidding), it was only yawning

Singapore zoo babirusa wild boar — Babirusa, native to Indonesia

The zoo has a few sections for smaller creatures, like reptiles which are on display in enclosed exhibits.

Singapore zoo pygmy hippo water — The pygmy hippo… or at least half of it

Singapore Zoo desert warthog — Desert warthog a.k.a Pumba

Singapore zoo Australian lizard — This was at the Australian Outback section

Singapore zoo carpet python — Carpet python

Singapore zoo Australian kangaroo — If you don’t know by now, they’re called kangaroos

Singapore zoo Australia kangaroo meaning — This I didn’t know

Singapore zoo Australia Steve Irwin tribute — Remembering the late Steve Irwin

Singapore zoo big bird small head — Funny looking thing, this bird

Singapore Zoo Hamadryas baboons entrance — Next up, baboons!

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons ibex — They have to share their space though

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons acting human — It’s fun watching monkeys behave human

Singapore zoo banded mongoose sand — Banded mongoose

Singapore zoo saddle billed stork bird — Saddle billed stork

Singapore zoo black backed jackal — Black backed jackal

Singapore zoo elephant fountain statue — Next up were Asian elephants

Singapore zoo elephant show panorama — This is where they have the shows

Singapore zoo Asian elephant SBI adopted — Good on SBI for doing so

Singapore zoo African penguins — African penguins

Singapore zoo African penguins info — Didn’t know there were penguins in Africa

Singapore zoo crocodile eyes above water — Guess what this creature was

Singapore zoo crocodile under water — Yup. I didn’t bother knocking on the glass or anything. I was too chicken.

Singapore zoo lake boat ride — Boat rides on the lake are also available

Singapore zoo chimpanzee trees — This is where the chimpanzees play

Singapore zoo chimpanzee — Couldn’t get a clear shot of its face

Singapore zoo pony rides — They have a few ponies at the kids area

Singapore zoo model house old chinese — This was some model of an old farm house

Singapore zoo KFC restaurant — Oh the irony of seeing a KFC at a zoo

Singapore zoo mandrill baboon — Mandrill baboon

Singapore zoo proboscis monkeys sign — More monkeys

Singapore zoo Malaysian horned frog — Malaysian horned frog. Waited for the guy to turn around. He didn’t.

Singapore zoo American bullfrog — American bullfrog

Singapore zoo pigeon hair small head — This is one of the most intriguing-looking pigeon-type bird I’ve seen

After this, we entered a fairly large netted section which enclosed a few bats, birds and some more interesting animals of this world.

Singapore zoo huge bat flying wing span — Took this on the same settings as the last shot, which is why it came out this way. Still, kinda cool.

Singapore zoo long tail animal closeup — You can get pretty close to these animals but you are asked not to touch them or feed them

Singapore zoo sloth hanging eating — Sloth. How these animals eat upside down is amazing.

Singapore zoo fragile forest — Went in here next

Shooting the above leopard proved to be quite difficult, and in this video you’ll see why:

Singapore zoo leopards — They did stay still eventually

Singapore zoo puma — Puma, the real thing

Singapore zoo lion — Finally, his highness truly

Singapore zoo lion tongue — 😛 to you too

Singapore zoo lion den ground panorama — The king gets a pretty big ground for himself

Singapore zoo feeding giraffes — You can pay to feed the giraffes and get your photo taken

Singapore zoo wind blowing trees — It was very windy and looked like it was going to rain fairly soon

Singapore zoo cheetah — The fastest animal on the planet, the awesome cheetah

Singapore zoo birds cleaning rhinos back — The rhino and its cleaning birds

Singapore zoo orangutan island — ‘Orangutan island’

Singapore zoo old big orangutan — I know you can’t make out much of what this is

The one above was a very big ape (I believe an orangutan), quite old in age who was kept in this glass enclosure and it was quite dark… so you really couldn’t see it. It was moving around very slowly but unfortunately, due to the darkness inside its “cage” and the reflection on the glass, I couldn’t really get a good shot.

Singapore zoo polar bear exhibit — Aww shucks, I really wanted to see the polar bear

Singapore zoo tram ride — Despite having paid for 4 rides, I never availed the tram rides

With that, we were finally done. Well, sort of. We could have stayed back longer and waited for some of the animal shows. But it was 2:30pm, we had to have our lunch and the skies were quite cloudy.

I still wanted to go to Marina Bay Sands and since Ramesh and Loi were against it, I wasted no time and decided to go on my own.

Singapore Zoo Night Safari entrance — Something for next time

I waited at the bus station just outside and in under 5 minutes, got one that goes to Ang Mo Kio MRT station.

Singapore Tagore Drive road — They have a street named Tagore Drive; not sure if it’s after our Rabindranath Tagore

It was nice to drive through the residential side of Singapore. Compared to all the commercial glitz and glamour of the central business district, Ang Mo Kio seemed so quaint and… nice.

Anyway, I arrived at Ang Mo Kio bus terminal in around 15 minutes and got down to take the underpass to the MRT station. Ang Mo Kio is located on the red line, so the train goes straight to Marina Bay — the last stop. The ride took another 15 minutes.

Once I was out of the station/construction site (it looked like they were upgrading the station) it was still drizzling.

Getting to Marina Bay Sands Casino Singapore — That’s where I was headed

Singapore marina bay rainy day — It was tough holding a camera on one hand and an umbrella on the other

Singapore marina bay financial district offices rainy day — When I saw this, I smiled 🙂

Why did I smile? Because seeing the above instantly reminded me of another ‘marina’ I was at in April. I could help but go: “Ahh, so that’s where Dubai got the idea from!”

Singapore Marina Bay City Gallery rainy day — Marina Bay City Gallery

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Singapore — The mall at Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel

Marina Bay Sands mall shoppes Singapore — More stores are set to open

Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall Ferrari store Singapore — Felt like going in just to see the car

Singapore Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall canals sampan rides — They offer boat (sampan) rides on these canals

Singapore shoppes mall to Marina Bay Sands Casino hotel — To get to the hotel and Sky Park counter, you need to go down this

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Casino way to Helix Bridge — Go up, come out the left side of the lobby, which leads out to the Helix Bridge

Singapore Marina Bay Sands observation deck sky park ticket counter — Then take a left and go down this escalator. Down here is the ticket counter for the Sky Park.

And when I got there they asked me to wait because the sky park was wet.

$@#%!

Turns out they have a “wet policy” which essentially closes the observation deck to visitors if the observation deck is wet. I asked them if I could go up as I was leaving Singapore in a few hours but they said sorry, they couldn’t make an exception.

I told them I couldn’t wait as I had a flight to catch in a few hours time, so I didn’t.

I made way back up disappointed and decided to check out the hotel instead.

You could tell by looking at the guests coming down to the lobby they were high rollers; in town to gamble a lot of money away.

Since I couldn’t check out the Sky Park, I thought I’d at least check out the casino.

Buuuuut… the casino has a strict dress code… and a “No Photography” rule — both of which I didn’t qualify for. I didn’t even bother using the “but I’m leaving Singapore in a few hours” excuse as one sight of the huge security men at the casino entrance will make you think otherwise.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Shoppes escalators — So I made my way back to the mall

Singapore Marina Bay Sands office buildings rainy day — Damn you rain god! Ruining everything!

Singapore Marina Bay Sands wishing well rain oculus panorama — Saw this “wishing well” of sorts outside the mall. I had to take a closer look.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands casino hotel rain oculus wishing well coins — If you are wondering what those are… they’re coins!

I went to the other side of the mall to where the buses to the Marina Bay MRT station are.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands convention center — Besides having a 2500-room hotel, casino and a shopping mall, they also have Singapore’s largest convention center

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Sky Park rainy day — Sigh. So close, yet nowhere near.

It sucks I couldn’t check out Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel the way I had planned. Oh well, another thing for next time.

It was past 4:30pm when I boarded the bus back to the MRT station. The drizzling hadn’t stopped, and I had to take the metro back to our hostel. I got to the hostel before my friends did and I used the time to get out of my wet clothes and re-pack. When the other two arrived, we took all our bags and walked towards Victoria MRT.

We took the MRT all the way to Terminal 2 at Changi. As soon as we got out, right in front of us was a board showing the layout of Changi Airport. Three big terminals… and then one tiny red square. That was our budget terminal 🙂

It was so funny, I regret not taking a photo of it. It was like the big guys just wanted to keep rubbing it in on how cheap people who avail budget carriers are, just so they would quit and use the regular airlines instead.

Anyway, we were at the budget terminal by around 6:30pm for our 8:15pm Tiger Airways flight. And then the flight got delayed by 30 minutes. While we could pass time by availing the free internet and having snacks at the airport, it was still annoying as it only meant our arrival at Penang would also be late.

Waiting at Singapore Budget terminal airport — A minute before announcing it was time to board, most of them were sitting on the floor

Singapore Tiger Airways Penang flight delay — Departing 20:15; current time – 20:38. Oh Tiger… 🙂

Once the plane did finally take off, we all three agreed on one thing: we were definitely coming back to Singapore!

Even though it was only 3 days, we loved every bit of it. Except the rain bit, we all hated that. We also decided we would come back during F1 week but stay much longer.

Singapore Port container ships at night from plane — Thats just some of the many container ships at Singapore Port

We landed at Penang, got through immigration quick and soon took a pre-paid taxi to head to Georgetown, where our guesthouse was.

Penang tree lights airport Malaysia — Hello Malaysia

Penang taxi at night Malaysia — It was raining here as well

It took more than half an hour to reach our hotel in Georgetown, that’s how far the airport was. We were going to be staying at Old Penang Guesthouse during our time on Penang island.

Old Penang Guesthouse triple room interiors — We booked a triple/family room

Since it was nearing 12am, we quickly went out in search of dinner.

We were told there were 24 hour restaurants, mostly serving Indian cuisine, not too far from our guesthouse. We walked under our umbrellas and got into one.