naturish

Yesterday was a day of 'natural' environments and habitats... or at least as much as nature as Singapore can provide. I spent the early afternoon walking around the Botanical Gardens and looking at the beautiful orchids... they've even named a few hybrids after dignitaries and celebrities like Kofi Anan, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, Laura Bush, Shah Rukh Khan (my favorite Bollywood actor!) and Ricky Martin. I don't see the resemblances. Then it was off to join the human inhabitants of Singapore in their natural habitat... the high-end shopping malls. They have an amazing Muji (Japanese home goods) store here! I bought an umbrella because it was raining. I can't wait for NYC to get one besides the little area of the Moma Soho store.

Then last night I went to the Zoo to take the touristy Night Safari tram ride... totally amazing! It was a little unnerving... there were few if any barriers between you and the animals and you saw them all in natural habitats, between 3 and 30 feet away from you... I couldn't figure out how they kept many of the animals in their areas, and also kept the people out. I saw all manner of deer and mountain goats and buffalo as well as hyena, rhino, giraffe, zebra, hippo, elephant, tapir, tiger, leopard (so beautiful and powerful, they were just one inch away through the thickness of a pane of glass!), lion, giant flying squirrel, bats (these things were as big as, and flying and eating inches from, your head), tarsier, otter, and owl. These animals are all active at night and they had a moonlight affect on them so you could see, but not enough for pictures and flash isn't allowed. I skipped the crazy animal talent show with the screaming kids and the flaming hoops.