I said I would take more pictures in the graffiti food court...so I did! We went back the next day, Thursday, and I had some pretty good sushi (HUGE pieces though) along with a nice salad and a soup that I think was the baby of Miso and French Onion. Jess apparently had a fairly average burger. But the place was packed as usual... we got there right around noon, which is early for lunch here, and we had a limited choice in seats.
After lunch I wandered down Haji Lane for a bit (the real reason was so I could go get a piece of rainbow cake though). I went quickly in and out of a few shops, thinking they might be more interesting, but most were not. I got yelled at for taking a picture in one store, of their "home decor" section, then saw the big sign that said "NO PHOTOGRAPHY! $50 PER SNAP!"
Jess went out to dinner with some co-workers that evening, so I got that "amazing" salad from Going Om... not so great on the second go/as take-away. So I had Jess bring some beef satay home with him... that made up for it.
Friday I woke up with a headache, and Jess went to work a little later than usual... sleeping in is too easy with heavy drapes, especially if you're both zonked and just don't feel like waking up. We opted not to have lunch together because of that... also because I spent the entire day trying (and failing) to get rid of my headache.
I made spaghetti while Jess walked home from work... yes, this was the third time we've had spaghetti since we've been here. It's easy to make, and this kitchen makes it difficult. So that should explain why we're not being super adventurous about cooking our own meals. However... I did make some fantastic garlic bread in our microwave/oven/grill.
We had plans to go to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. This was literally the first thing I found when I started researching Singapore, so I was excited to see that there was a promotion for March. 50% off for Singapore residents and work permit/long term visit pass holders - yay! We have those! I felt extra fancy flashing my card to the employee at the ticket counter... he did not care, nor did he seem impressed.
We got there just in time for the start of the Creatures of the Night Show. It was silly... pretty much what you would expect from a zoo/amusement type show. They had a couple volunteers from the audience go up to do some things. First they got a young boy to hold a grape in one of his hands and had a bear cat choose which hand it was in.
Then they had a "macho man" go up (that is specifically who they were asking for - the host went and chose someone, thin guy with glasses) to pet a snake. The biiig snake was being held by three employees. They put the snake on the man's shoulders, then the lights started flashing, then they went out, then all the employees took off and left the poor man standing on the stage with a big snake around his neck. They left him out there alone for about 5 seconds longer than I felt comfortable for him (they probably only left him for about 2 seconds).
It ended with this super cute otter showing us how to recycle.
There were a couple raccoons, a hyena, and a cat that wouldn't do its trick. Thankfully we were sitting in the back row, so we got out quickly once it was over... getting in was a bit of a hassle. People here just don't seem to follow the rules of the queue, and they will walk up ahead of you even though you've clearly been standing there waiting because there is a line of people.
Let's also take a moment to appreciate how cute my hair was... this did not help with my persistent headache, but it did help with the heat.
After the show we hopped on a tram for a 40 minute ride through tour. I actually got a little bit chilly! Too bad we didn't end the trip with the tram ride because it was relaxing and cool.
There were a bunch of varieties of deer, some giraffes, elephants (one yelled at us as we drove past), a hippo butt, some piggies, a couple rhinos, some lions, and some tapirs that were RIGHT NEXT to the tram... the tapirs (like some of the other harmless animals) were not fenced in and they were so close that we could have touched them (if we were allowed to). Unfortunately the tapirs were not on a walk through path because I would have loved to have seen then closer, and maybe tried to sneak a pet.
After the tram we did the walking trails. We started with the wallaby trail and bat cave. There were no bats in the cave (except for the one that flew out just as we were entering), and I wasn't really expecting them to be outside the cave, but they definitely were. Once we reached the other end i said "whoa! there was another bat!" Then there was another, then another. I screamed only a ...few times. I am a fan of bats... but I'm pretty sure they wanted to take my head off. Also, I am not used to that many bats flying that closely to my head.
After this encounter I was a little on edge. I assumed these bats were just free flying bats and not necessarily part of the zoo attraction, so I wasn't expecting to get up close and personal with anything else. We entered an exhibit with doors (like the bird exhibits you see sometimes in zoos and aquariums at home)... this one had wallabies. Keep it mind it is after 10pm, and it's dark. They do not have many lights in the exhibits because these are nocturnal animals, but they have very brightly lit information signs. So your eyes are constantly transitioning, and not quickly enough. So... I noticed a few wallabies, even one being sneaky and very still next to a bush. The I screamed (again) as another wallaby came crashing out of a bush from behind me. We quickly hustled through the rest of the wallaby exhibit, and almost got run over by one of the little guys trying to cross the path. Of course I stopped dead in my tracks unsure of what to do, and he and I just stared at each other. Jess finally excused us from his path and we continued on.
I'll go ahead and insert an apology for the lack of pictures here. Like I said, it was incredibly dark, so I didn't lug my big camera with me (knowing it would be near impossible to actually get any shots without flash or tripod). So we made due with the few crappy phone shots we could get.
We ended up seeing a few of the animals we couldn't see too well from the tram.
Stopped for a potty break and clearly we were both fascinated by these outdoor bathrooms. For some reason the men's room had one tiny toilet, and the women's room (like a few other places here) had a small urinal right at the entrance. And once again... no paper towels or working hand dryers, it's a common theme here.
After the potty exhibit we passed by some civet cats, another cat that was possibly just a house cat, some sugar gliders, and a really fast tarsier.
Then there was another enclosed walk through exhibit. This did not feel like something we were supposed to enter, and it felt like entering Jurassic Park. Big big bats (flying foxes) everywhere. And it's so dark, and there are so many trees, you keep noticing more bats you did not see before.
We watched one bat hanging upside down, partially sleeping for a little while. Just as we started to walk away, he took off and flew across the enclosure. I am not proud of this, but I grabbed onto the back of Jess and nearly dropped to the floor. Their wingspans are huge and I felt the breeze on the back of my neck... he came close. The entire time we were there I didn't see any other person getting battacked.
But look how cute they are. He was close enough to pet... but he probably would have flown away and cut my head off with his enormous wing if I tried.
After the flying fox exhibit was the giant flying squirrel enclosure. These guys were much more difficult to find. Not sure how many were in there, but just as we were about to give up we saw the tops of a tree moving. This thing was bright red and about 3 feet long, so I'm not sure how we missed it. We still couldn't get a great view of it because it was high up and really hiding behind some branches. We watched him jump from branch to branch, but didn't get to catch him "flying". He did launch himself off the tree further toward the back of the enclosure, then we heard a thump. Then we left.
We scooted pretty quickly through the rest since the park was closing soon, and I was starting to feel warm and kind of sick. Saw this cutie leopard resting his leg on a log. then some deer, mouse deer, random mice (not part of the exhibits), another civet cat, some porcupines, pigs, then we heard loud chirping... lots of loud chirping. We rounded a corner and found these amazingly super cute otters! When we got to the clearing they all swam over and stood up on the logs in the water and chirped right at us (one meowed). I could have watched them for a while longer, but I was about to climb in and pet them they were so cute.
Excuse the terrible dark video... it's from my phone. Jess' camcorder was dead, and again, it was crazy dark there.
The cuteness of the otters fueled me to finish the trek back to the front of the park. We walked into a glow in the dark gift shop and I'm so glad we did... we were wearing the perfect outfits for the black light.
Then obviously I was feeling sick by the time we finally got a car to take us back home. We got dropped off across the street so we could grab some food, I went ahead back to the apartment while Jess waited for take away. I watched a drunk girl almost get run over by a cab while jay walking. Then I had a fantastic blueberry cheese blintz when Jess got in with the food.
At some point I fell asleep on the couch with wet hair, while Jess dealt with maintenance getting our water turned back on (since it had apparently shut off sometime between my shower when I got in, and his shower about 25 minutes later after eating the food). He let me sleep on the couch a long time because he was busy playing video games.
My headache was still not gone.
Slept in this morning then finally went to a very late breakfast around 2. After lots of research (mostly Yelping for "waffles") we came across Tolidos. By process of elimination they won because of proximity. I had some amaaaaazing Banana Almond French Toast and basically a Starbucks caramel frappucino (though I think it had bits of fried chicken -not really but kind of tasted like it- in it, which was a disappointment since I thought it was big sugar crystals).
We got back and went to the pool for a bit, then stayed inside for the rest of the daylight hours. We did some Bali research and booked two hotels - two nights in Ubud and two nights in Seminyak. Both came with "free" stuff like massages, dinners, airport transfers, welcome drinks and private tours. Should be exciting!
We decided to go out for a bit this evening, since we haven't really done much across the street. We sat at Berg's and had some burgers while watching the sweaty drunks dancing in the street. Haji Lane gets crazy at night... we decided that, after all, we didn't really want anything to do with that part of Haji Lane.
We headed up the street to a place called Bar Stories, the bartender from Coq and Balls recommend we try it. Their thing is that they don't have a menu. You tell them what you like, and they come up with something for you. Unfortunately when we first got there we sat at a table instead of a bar, so a waiter came to "take our order." He asked us what we like, and we basically got exactly that. Jess mentioned that he liked margaritas, so he did get an interesting twist on one, but I got a straight up Old Fashioned with walnut bitters (Ooooo, fancy). I literally make that at my house.
For the second drink we had moved to the bar though and made a point to get the bartenders attention. My drink this time was much more custom and enjoyable, though the first was still delicious.
Now Jess is yelling at me for this post being so long. SORRY GUYS!!
Tit-bits at the mini mart.