Hello Pandas!

Really happy to visit River Safari with GT and XF on Sunday! :) It is one of the latest attractions in Singapore under Wildlife Reserve Singapore and is Asia's first and only river-themed wildlife park!

 

While it is a pity the river boat ride and some exhibits were not ready yet, some good came out of it: we paid $25 for admission (will be $35 later) and the park was not very crowded. We could visit the pandas twice without having to queue at all! All good reasons to visit now and again later (more reasons to visit next year perhaps to try the ride and to see Jia Jia and Kai Kai again? :)). They were so cute! Pardon me, but I think I will be repeating 'cute' many times in this post :P

 

Taking a picture for keepsake at the entrance of River Safari, next to the Singapore Zoo! I am like so dwarfed by the giant pandas :P

 

The park was designed by the river theme and we saw different animals as we walked through the different river zones e.g. Yang Tze, Amazon, Nile etc. We were impressed by the animal enclosures - thought they were really clean and spacious for the animals, and enhanced our viewing pleasure as well.

 

The animals looked so 3D from our angle - very 'real' as though we were swimming next to them :P

 

Besides fishes, we also saw alligators!

 

Lunch was at mama panda kitchen, right next to where the pandas were. Food was ok. Price was also ok for a tourist attraction - we paid about SGD10 each.

 

Hello Panda! Bun with red bean stuffing. According to the menu, this is the favourite of Jia Jia and Kai Kai. LOL. Almost every customer ordered one (Really!).

 

Typical (and literal) Chinese-theme decorations - bamboos and red lanterns :)

 

The beautiful red pandas were the giant pandas' neighbour. Very cute too! They were very active - running around all the times, chasing each other up and down the trees and fooling around :) Kept us so entertained! So cute!



Kai Kai, the male giant panda! He was sleeping the first time we saw him and then woke up for a while the second time. Found him to be a bit grumpy and clumsy as he moved around his enclosure a little before disappearing into the cave behind him :P Such a teaser! Very cute!



Jia Jia, the female giant panda! She was hiding in her cave the first time and we could only see a bit of her head and view Jia Jia via a live feed from a CCTV installed in her cave :) Apparently she is very shy! We were lucky the second time and spotted her eating bamboos! A hungry panda is shy no more! LOL. Very cute! Jia Jia is more dainty compared to Kai Kai, although she was ripping her bamboos apart!

  

Me and Jia Jia in the background :p

 


There is a serene air about River Safari. A bit quiet, a bit rustic... unlike Singapore Zoo which is more lively... Not sure if it is because the crowds have not arrived yet. But I do hope its serenity remains. Would be a very nice place to think away...



Graceful were the mermaids (Dugongs) despite their size!

 


It was a pleasure to see them dancing in their enclosure. And heart-warming to see happy adults and children dancing with them :)

 

Would say the mermaids are very lucky to have such a big and beautiful home! River Safari is beautifully and environmentally built, I must say!

 

The squirrel common monkeys were very cute too! You can see them up close and person in their enclosure :)



And I do think we have one of the best souvenir stores in our zoos that enticed even the locals (me!)! See the green hat and cap adorned with River Safari animals? Was so tempted to get them. Nice!

More cute souvenirs to make you happy! :)

 
It was drizzling most of the time and fortunately, River Safari is well-sheltered. It was a simple trip that made my day. Yes, happiness can be so simple! :)

Across the causeway again

Besides shopping (the cost is slightly cheaper compared to Singapore and some brands are not available here), one of the best things about going across the causeway to City Square JB is value for money food. This time, we had lunch and dinner at Arashi Shabu Shabu and Taiwan Nostalgia Café.

Arashi Shabu Shabu (Basement 1)



Japanese hot pot! The 3 of us ordered 2 sets - milk broth (yummy!) and spicy Sichuan broth (spicy!) which came with ingredients such as vegetables, bean curds, fish balls and meat etc.



We chose Chicken and Pork Shoulder as part of the set and also ordered lamb as an add-on.



You can also choose a carbo item for each set - we ordered rice and noodle.

 



So this was our very sumptuous lunch which cost RM73.20 (about 35SGD) and our mother thought it would cost us at least 100SGD! Value of money, right? :P

Taiwan Nostalgia Café (Level 3)



After a few hours of shopping, we were undecided if we should have dinner before going home. We did - no prize for guessing right :P We decided on Taiwanese food. This was the Minced Meat Rice (鲁肉饭). I like it. Reminds me of the ones I had in Taiwan.



Must drink in Taiwanese café! :P Pearl Milk Tea (珍珠奶茶).



Lattea Green Tea (绿濭茶) - it's green tea topped with sea salt cream.



Crispy Salt Chicken (盐酥鸡). It was OK. Served hot which makes it nice.



My mother's choice - Taiwan Omelet (台式蛋饼). Something different from what we will order usually. Total damage was RM33.55 (about 16SGD).

For me, visiting Johor Bahru (JB) is like a short vacation without the bells and whistles. It's funny but I do feel relaxed and that I am on a vacation even though JB is only 90minutes away from Singapore. Being on foreign land always has that effect on me :)

I'm sure many Singaporeans are familiar about how to get to JB from Singapore. If you are visiting Singapore and would like to take a day trip to JB, you can take bus 170 from Kranji MRT station. Just follow the crowd and you will get there somehow :)

Tale of two cities - IKEA

My trip to Ikea at Alexandra reminded me about my trip to Ikea in Stockholm. As you may know, Sweden is the hometown of Ikea. I realised I have not blogged about my visit at all so here it goes.

Ikea, Alexandra, Singapore


Although Ikea at Alexandra, Singapore, is much smaller than the one in Stockholm, there are some similarities in the building. Guess all Ikea stores look alike :)

 

Spotted something new - pandas soft toy! Ever since pandas Jia Jia and Kai Kai came to the Singapore Zoo, there has been this craze about the endangered black/while sweeties :) And no, I don't think I spotted them in Stockholm :P I am going to see them this weekend. So excited! :)

 

Spotted another new thing - the food trolley! I must say this is a great invention, given Singaporeans love their food and order a lot of food. Ikea is quite popular with us. Don't think I saw them in Stockholm too.

 

Kind of cute to see people pushing the food trolley around. Some people said that Ikea food taste like plane food and this scene reminds me of the air stewards/stewardesses! :P

 

I would usually go for baked salmon and potatoes but I wanted something more Swedish that day I visited :P So I went for a salmon roll and clam chowder soup. Hmmm... what's so Swedish? Well, I tasted bits/chunks of shrimps and salmon in the soup. So good! :)

 Ikea, Stockholm, Sweden

 

Free bus to Ikea, which you can take at the bus stop opposite Stockholm Main Station. Was amazed by the free wifi on board the bus!  

Hey Ikea in Stockholm!

 

Must take a picture at the hometown of Ikea, right? :P

Don't think this is available in Singapore. Nice idea to have a flower pot built into a table!

Christmas was in the air when I was in Stockholm from Oct to Nov 2012.



More stuff spotted! Books in Ikea!! :)

Ikea has always been a happy place to visit, whether in Singapore or Sweden :) It is one place that always makes you feel at home. Don't you agree? :)