My father-in-law really loves birds - the kind of birds in his backyard - nothing fancy. He knows everything about them. So all I could think today while I walked around gaping at feathered friends like I've never seen is, "Boy, I wish Jippe was here!"
Since he's back in New York, we went with some folks who are kind of, sort of from home. My childhood friend Tim's in-laws just moved here from Houston. In the spirit of "Hey, it's Singapore. Let's be friends," we met for the first time at the Jurong Bird Park, a big attraction here. Since their daughter Emily is 13 and son Ethan is 11, I figured all of us could enjoy it there. I was right. The best part is that our kids absolutely adored their kids. Maisie held Emily's hand and refused mine! Ethan watched over Hudson as though he was his own. Adorable.
I remember seeing a bird show at Six Flags in Arlington as a little girl. I thought it was the best thing ever. I kind of expected the same kind of show - and it was - only on steroids. The thing about the Jurong Bird Park is there are so many birds that I've never seen before - gorgeous, stunning birds each more fascinating than the one before.
We started with the "King of the Skies" show. Holy cow! I've seen an eagle here, an owl there, but there were LOTS of birds or prey - flying overhead from trainer to post back to trainer, buzzing not-all-that-high overhead. At one point, they had five different kinds of owls out. A half dozen or so vultures also crowed the arena at once. One was massive in size, the kind you see in a cartoon. He was giant and pretty, darn ugly. Maisie liked the guy in native garb riding around on horseback holding a bird.
We got to our second show pretty late so we had to stand in the back. It was the pretty, fancy birds - macaws, cockatoos and the like - flying over the audience, going through hoops, playing "basketball" and the like.
We wandered around looking at other exhibits - nothing too out of the ordinary except that there were birds I haven't seen like I said. Then we stumbled upon the Lory Loft. It's the biggest bird enclosure I've ever seen, several stories high and equally as wide. When you go in, you can purchase cups of food (some kind of nectar,-grain slosh) and then feed the lorries. You are at the treetop level so the birds swoop up, sit on the rail and lap up the liquid like a dog except that their tongues are going a million miles an hour! It was hysterical Maisie loved it as did Emily and Ethan. Hudson? Well... once again he preferred to watch. We wandered around the suspended bridges while birds climbed all over us hoping for some more slosh.
When we were birded out, we hit yet another water park. There are a zillion of them here. Our new friends took off before we donned our bathing suits. Lucky them... but once you promise toddlers they get to go to a water park, they get to go to a water park. You know what i liked about this one? Adults supervised the park so I didn't have to get sopping wet chasing my kids! As usual, the kids had a ball.
Last night was also interesting. I braved the POURING rain (worst I've seen since I've been here) and took a subway by myself. Wahoo! It's the first time I've been in the MRT system without the stroller. What a breeze! Nosearching for a lift. It was also incredibly crowded with rush hour craziness. I met Tom at his office and the two of us walked under one umbrella (in other words, we both got sopping wet) to meet my new friend Penelope and her husband Mike at the Asian Civilization Museum. We'd all heard it was a great museum and it really was incredible. There is art from all periods and all areas of Asia - some of it absolutely stunning. Best of all, it's displayed perfectly with amazing light and video guides. I learned a lot. My guess is I could spend a few days there and learn something more every time.
Afterwards, we went to the attached restaurant called Indochine: pricey and just okay. It was the nicest restaurant we've been to in Singapore. For me, it was just fun to have a night out, enjoying yet another benefit of Cheryl. It's also fun to trade war stories with other newbies. Penny and Mike only just arrived in May. They have a 2-year-old and baby - where we were two, short years ago. Since the restaurant was situated on the Singapore River, we strolled home along the water. Lovely!
Now we're listening to the planes practicing the flyover yet again. National Day is Thursday and they've been practicing every Saturday night since we got here - even the fireworks are rehearsed! I can't wait to see the real thing later this week!