Day 3 - The news and the Zoo

I don't know if it was the jetlag, or the anticipation. But I ended up waking up around 5:30am and tossed and turned for about 15mins before I got up and turned my laptop on. I immediately logged into my work email to find out what is going on. You see, today is the day that they're going to start having the one-on-one talks to let you know if you stay or if you go. First email I saw was that there is a team meeting for an "announcement". Then I saw the emails from my workmates telling me they're cutting 75% of the people. When I saw this, I immediately accepted the fact that I would not be staying.

I got up and went about making breakfast and coffee etc when the phone rings. I dash into my room to take the call and it was my manager. She immediately told me that she wanted me to stay on. Since I was overseas, I wasn't exactly in any state to negotiate. So I basically said "OK. Sounds good", the whole conversation lasted less than 2mins. I guess that gives me a lot to think about and a lot to talk about whilst I was on holidays. But right now, I'm busy helping my sister get the kids ready for a day out at the zoo.

We eventually get ready and carry out 6 bags for 5 people to the car. Yeh that's right. 2 bags for food. 1 bag for spare clothes for the kids. 1 bag for raincoats (as its threatening to rain today). 1 bag of swimming gear (Incase it DOESN'T rain). That doesn't include the bag I am carrying with all my camera gear.



We get to the zoo and its just like I remembered it about 10 years ago. Certain animals are free to roam through the zoo. Unlike the zoos in Australia, not all animals are behind bars and separated from you by a moat. If you dare, you can actually reach out and touch some of the animals. Like this one:

Tamarin

The kids haven't been to the zoo for awhile as well, so we were all having a fantastic time. The kids and the animals, whilst I was happily snapping away with my camera.

Monkey swinging through the trees

One of my fondest memories of the Singapore Zoo is that you can get up close and personal with the orangutans. The last time I was here, I had a photo taken with a baby orangutan in my lap. This time, I was happy to take photos OF them, rather than WITH them.






About half way through our trip, it started bucketing down rain. Great for the kids with their raincoats. Not to good for the Aunty with the DSLR trying to take photos. We walked around to a few more enclosures before the rain died down a bit. We went to the kids area where there are picnic tables, playground equipment and a pool/water area.

We got the kids changed into the swim gear, and let them run around in the rain and into the water area. Then me and my sister sat down, and pulled out our picnic lunch of Thai prawn and pork glass noodle salad. We did get a few looks, not only because it was delicious, but also because Singaporeans don't picnic. They generally just don't cook. Out of 10 people, 9 of them will buy their food, which is why the KFC there was completely packed. Didn't stop us going in to grab a zinger burger and potato and gravy to satisfy our cravings.

When the kids came back dripping wet, they spotted our leftover KFC wrappers. This probably wasn't a good thing since we made some sushi and chicken wings that morning. But I am the aunt that spoils them. After 4 more trips to KFC, we packed up and continued the rest of our tour through the zoo.

There was the delicate rainforest section that the kids just HAD to visit. Even though it was utterly pissin down rain at this stage, I followed them and almost walked right into this sloth!!

Sloth

Fruit bat

By this stage, I'm feeling cold and miserable. We headed on home where most of us ended up having a nice long nap. When I woke up after a 2 hour nap, I quickly helped my sister get ready:

Sambal prawns

Nam Yu Pork (Wine fermented bean curd and pork)

Boiled organic choi sum

Steamed silky tofu with oyster garlic sauce

When the rain died down, I promised to buy a few things for the kids at the supermarket. I went for another roam through the fruit section and found this:

Maprang

I've never had this before. After my kiwi berries, I was hoping these were mini mangoes. WRONG. These were nasty. They had this pungent NASTY aroma and strange strange texture. I just had to spit it out. My sister liked it though. Each to their own.

I also picked up a little dessert to end the night:

Kueh Lapis