Saturday, November 17, 2007

the night safari

just two nights ago i was at gwc and so i'd pass a spinelli :X ooh they had my favourite strawberry cheese tart (its actually a cake) and i bought 3! whee.. me and my over indulgence in cakes, tarts and other sweeties!

anyway, doo and i were at the night safari last night~ and boy did we spend almost $200 there on admission, food, cab fares, etc.~ we went to ulu ulu for dinner, and their buffet spread was so small. the sushi however was fantastically fresh, the rice tasted so different and much more fragrant (or whatever you call it) than the other sushi restaurants in SG that serve regular plates of sushi at approximately $2+++ but taste the same as the ones sold at supermarkets. anyway, they also had super soft spongy cake with strawberry cream sandwiched in the middle of two layers of sponge and had some nut on top (was it almond?). HEAVENLY i must say~ the amount of sweetness and strawberryness was just right, and the sponge was SO SOFT. needless to say, the nuts were like seeds to me because i don't eat them. all along i kept thinking that the nut spoiled my appetite for the cake (but i still took like 4 pieces anyway!) and its so wasteful of me to just put it aside and refuse to eat it. but still! no means no in this case. the meal cost a bomb (more than our admission+tram fees) considering it was the usual local fare - satay (the mutton ones served here are far better than the chicken ones), sweet & sour fish, some indian dishes, papadum, roast duck (taste was not fantastic but the meat was tender) and loads of sushi - tamago, unagi, beancurdskin. quality wise its really not too bad for a buffet at all, but its such a pity the spread was small. well what to expect from a tourist attraction yea? the good thing however was they kept topping up the food~ :)

speaking of buffets, the waterfront copthorne hotel beside zouk was pretty good~ more expensive than the ulu ulu one but they had a better spread.

anyway, we went along a trail by foot before we went to catch the 'creatures of the night' show which had a very entertaining MC along with an otter who could sort recyclables! btw, i was so scared when we were walking along the trail mainly because i'm terrified of darkness and the place was so discreetly lit. thankfully, we met some otters along the way~ haha! in their watery 'enclosure' of course~ but they were so cute! they played follow the leader with one another, climbed up this skinny 'log', went along it a little bit (which meant that they were coming nearer to us) and stood up! its as if they came to say hi to us! they also made some indescribable noises which were cute. a.i.y.a they were just ADORABLE!!!~

ooh and we also caught a tribal dance together with a dart-shooting, fire-breathing and swallowing performance. the guys were so muscular, agile and funny haha! funny in terms of body language, not that they spoke in English at any point in time to the audience. instead, loads of gestures were used to round up some applause and stuff like that~

like anyone else, i'd say the $$ spent on ticketing was worth it ;) i like the decor very much and i love it more than the zoo!~ though i'm not exactly sure when i'd go back again. perhaps when i find out how to see the tigers face to face i'd go back sooner than expected, cos that was something others told me they experienced but i didn't cos i didn't know where to go for that and we were running short of time was we reached there just before 8 (and i was mad at doo for giving the taxi uncle an extra $1+ not only because it was $1+ (yes i can be kiam at times because doodoo has a habit of rounding up taxi fares and a habit means it occurs and recurs so this time rounding up by the dollar is too much!!) but also because the guy dropped us at the zoo and we had to walk to the night safari!). small matter, but o well~

oh yes, and we were on the tram, we really could see some of the animals up close! it was really cool~~~! they didn't seem to care about the tram going past.. and i was wondering why~ haha. must be a common sight to them~ at some point in time, they tried to create suspense and at another point in time during the ride we were driven past the empty enclosure of the asian rhino.. which apparently means that he's X_X. i felt so sad when the live commentor said that was what extinction looked like. T_T!
bee at 10:35 AM