Night Safari and more scenes

Over the weekend, I went to the Singapore Night Safari!  It's basically just riding a tram through the zoo at night, but lately I've gotten this idea in my head that I want to go on a real safari, so I was excited :)

Fake elephants, obvi

The website basically just said that you could go to the Ang Mo Kio MRT stop and then take the 138 bus to the zoo.  Seemed simple enough, but it actually took over an hour to get there!  The Ang Mo Kio (which translates to "white man's bridge".. or so I'm told.. I've also been told that "ang mo" really means "red hair".. which Singaporeans interpret to be a direct translation to "white person"?) station is definitely the farthest I've ever been on the MRT, and then the ride on the 138 was probably another 30 minutes after that.  I basically had no clue where we were!

We had dinner at the restaurant at the zoo, and then watched some sort of fire breathing show.

We were standing at the very front of the audience, and at first, I assumed that the fire guys were just drinking alcohol of some kind to light the fires, but the air around us definitely smelled like gasoline.  Somehow I don't feel like holding gasoline in your mouth is a very good idea...

I actually ended up getting pulled out of the crowd to go on stage and "help" with some little props and stunts.  No fire breathing or gasoline for me though!!

After the show, we boarded the tram to do the safari ride.  Flash photography wasn't allowed, so I have no photos to share, but trust me when I tell you that some of these animals were ugly.  The weird thing about the safari was that there were tons of animals that I had never heard of before, but they were all sitting right near where the tram would pass by, as if they were perched and ready for observers and photos.  You know how when you go to a regular zoo, sometimes the animals are all bunched up in a corner or hiding under a tree or a ledge?  Not at the Singapore Night Safari. They are all just sitting, perfectly posed in a spot where the bushes are low and everyone can see.  It was kind of weird and made the whole thing feel kind of fake.  Very Singaporean, I guess.

Anyway, since I have no pictures of animals to post, I figured I'd post some other random Singapore shots.

This is the drink machine in the office.  No Flavia here.  Rather, you can choose from a variety of hot and cold beverages!  But don't be too jealous, the coffee is still semi gross.

I went to a work training last week.  This was the afternoon snack provided.  Spring rolls and white carrot cake.  (Obviously it's not carrot cake like we think of in the US.  This is actually white carrot, the vegetable, sauteed together with egg and starch - super yummy.)  Clearly, this is very different from the cookies we would be served in the US!

So intriguing.  I see advertisements for the McDonald's Samurai everywhere.  I think it's like the Singaporean version of the McRib?  A fan favorite that randomly comes out for a limited time only?  I can't quite tell what the Samurai actually is though.  The picture just looks like a burger, but surely there is something distinguishing about it.  Anyway - I'm excited to try it!

Alright friends - it's Tuesday night, so that means I have some calls with the US that start pretty soon.  Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!