Rainforest KidzWorld @ Singapore Zoo

Some of you might have wondered why i did not mention the lively Kidz World in my pictorial post on Singapore Zoo.

Truthfully, my memory is still active and i have to separate the post because i face problems whenever i upload more than 30 pictures to blogger!!

Continuing my last pictorial post of the zoo, this was the first structure that greeted us when we entered; a carousel that seemed out of place in this national green zone!

Fake animals are nothing to scream of! Get ready to be really close to the gentle ponies and cutesy falabellas when you step ahead.

They were close enough for an engaging pat but not a hug! :(

Most of the animals were near enough for exciting interaction! Provided they care to go near you (enclosures are not that small)!

Fat cuddly rabbit! Do note that care must be exercised when you are touching or handling the animals. Rough handling may result in injuries (for you or the animals or both)!

This is something i find very interesting because i used to live in the kampong (village) and a typical village house looked almost like the one above.

It's true! Back then, the working kitchen looked worse than this! The picture above portrayed a too-clean cooking area!

Inside this realistic doll-house lived a few life-size, human-faced mannequins! 

Being located in a zoo means it must have some educational factors involving non-humans. The above explained the prevalence of bed bugs in the kampong then! And the use of spitton is so right for that era!

Scariest mannequin; the matriarch of them all! It looked eerily life-like! I bet there is a ghost story attached to this house! *excited*

Basically, the KidzWorld is a big playground! Like this thrilling flying fox!! If not for the kids there, i am really tempted to give it a try!

Most, if not, all water loving kids will love this!

And there are more water structures to cool that irritating hyperactivity! Parents will love the peacefulness when their kids are finally drained of energy at the end of the day!

A panorama picture that will give you a rough estimate on the size of this mini water park.

Catering to its main market, KidzWorld has loads of structures appealing to the juveniles! Like these octopus arms that act as shower heads!

Let the following three pictures do the final talking and conclude this post!

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Location

Within Singapore Zoo.

Price

Included in the zoo's admission.

Oolong Milk Tea (乌龙奶茶) @ Ochado (茶の道)

Oolong Milk Tea

@ Ochado (茶の道)

The craze on bubble milk tea is back again in Singapore and this time, the gameplay has changed with only one main player dominating the market and attracting queues in all their branches; Koi.

Of course, competitors are aplenty and a notable one (with a much bearable waiting time) is Gong Cha, which is a "BIG" thing in Hong Kong!

Despite my impatient nature, i was guilty of queuing at Koi on a few occasions after my sister shared a cup of Oolong milk tea with me!

I was taken aback (then) mostly because of the lingering fragrance the Oolong tea in my mouth and the bite of the solid yet chewy pearls!

Not exactly on a crusade, i do check on the availability of Oolong milk tea at other bubble tea stalls after the Koi episode and i came across one shop recently in Chong Pang, Yishun by the name of Ochado (茶の道).

Judging by its name and pleasing to the eyes facade, i thought finally, i will be able to satisfy any Oolong milk tea craving any time with such close proximity to this shop.

With excitement, i purchased my first cup this afternoon.

Initially, i found the taste to be just right with only 50% sugar (yes, you can choose the level just like Koi). The pearls (additional S$0.50 cents) were chewy with a slight hint of sweetness although i prefer the ones from Koi, which are more solid (harder).

After a while, happiness turned to slight disappointment; the milk taste seemed to overtake the Oolong tea fragrance and this kind of turned me off although for some of you, it has become a better drink.

I like my Oolong milk tea to have a stronger tea taste. If i want a milky taste, i can buy a carton of Meiji milk from Shop N Save next door.

But i prefer this version of Oolong milk tea as compared to the bloody milky one from Gong Cha.

Sorry Kon! 

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Location

Block 102, Yishun Avenue 5,

#01-129, Singapore 760102

Price

S$4.30 for a large cup of Oolong Milk Tea with Pearls.

Damnoensaduak Floating Market @ Near Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is such a fabulous shopping paradise that I have not really explored any other attraction beyond the main city area.

My recent trip was different because that was the first time I paid for a half day tour to the famous Damnoen Saduak (not sure if the two words are joined or not) floating market, one hour drive from Bangkok.

At 700 baht per person booked with the hotel’s official travel agent, I had expected it to be only slightly more expensive (laziness had prevented me from sourcing around) till a fellow Singaporean traveler on the same tour told us, albeit proudly, she paid only 400 baht per pax!!

ARGH!!!! Hate it when I know I have been scammed! 700 baht was approximately S$31.

Anyway, no point crying over spilt milk! The minivan took around an hour from our hotel to reach a desolate jetty with long-tailed motor boats to bring us to the floating market.

Initially thought to be totally irrelevant since the floating market is easily accessible by car, the boat ride opened our eyes to the lives of the common people living right beside the khlong (Thai for canal)!



No, she didn't attempt to strip.

Eerie looking house! I wouldn't want to go near it at night!

Wondering what the steps are for? Most residents have a boat tied around the wooden beams.

The big khlong before reaching the floating market!

Boring and not exactly very interesting for some people, we found the breezy ride a natural remedy to freshen up the sleepy souls within us.

After around twenty minutes, we disembarked at the apparently famous yet dismal looking floating market. You could see a few boats here and there; not exactly the bustling market I anticipated!

The best thing?

The highly priced 700 baht tour doesn’t include that close, intimate experience to do my marketing on the river!

It will cost us an additional 150 baht EACH for an half an hour ride on a hand-rowed, long tailed boat!! Another bloody rip off!

We decided to explore the market on the land instead as Mom wasn’t interested in doing any marketing (thank god) and there was plenty of free time on our hands (an hour)!

Let’s use pictures to take a closer look at this special market!

Found a high spot to take some pictures on the increasingly crowded floating market mostly made up of tourists.

A shop catering to the curious shoppers on the boat!

Curiousity doesn’t guarantee buying! A moving boat has its disadvantages; the time was too tight to bargain for a good price!

Empty long tailed boats waiting for passengers.

Yes, cooking on the boats was common! Heavy looking gas cylinders were used as fuel but we wonder where they get the water from…..

Maybe the water is from the polluted river? Euuuwww… that thought stopped me from buying any edible items from these boat people!! Back in my kampong, we used to have a toilet right above a running stream, with a gaping hole right in the middle for humans’ big and small businesses!

Food stalls took up a big percentage of the trade in the floating market! Sad sad sad *imaging the journey of various waste materials flowing from the stream into the canal* 

Local hats that will look too touristy on foreigners (like the farangs) were on sale everywhere!

A group of locals savouring their meal on the shore, next to the floating ‘shop’.

It did not take too long for me to realize that almost all the vendors line their boats to either side of the canal and most local customers will actually purchase their items from the shore side.

This phenomenon totally explained why most boats travelling in the middle of the narrow canal carry tourists, instead of locals! Of course, looking at the other side of the coin, maybe the foreigners have pushed out the locals since tourist dollars are always more lucrative.

Having said that, a bunch of bananas at less than a Singapore dollar was a damn good buy!

Fierce looking huge dog blocking our passage!!! We took the risk to tiptoe our way around it in order to get some badly needed caffeine in a western coffee joint.

Guess we were the early birds as the market became more and more crowded as the time passed!

Providing Thai massage service is a must for any place in Thailand with an influx of foreigners. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is no exception to this rule.

Lastly, in order to abruptly end this post, three pictures with no caption!

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Oh! I have to post this super duper cute puppy at the jetty where I took the motor boat! The devil in me kept telling me to grab this sweet young thing, shove it into my backpack and zip up the bag!