Jurong Bird Park

Before my trip, I have been scouring for places to see in Singapore through the internet. Considerably, most of the places I want to see are the nature side of the city. I was keen on seeing the Forest Walk at night but it didn't materialize. Anyhow, choosing to spend the first day of 2011 at Jurong Bird Park is absolute fun for my youngest sister and me.

It’s our first time to explore the park and so my sister had to search on how to get there. Good thing she’s good with directions so we rode the right bus and dropped off the right stop. The moment we saw the sign and alighting from the bus, we knew our adventure already begun.

We’re both excited upon entering. At the entrance, there’s this counter with brochures of different tourist spots you would want to go to in Singapore. I got as many as I can for references, of course. And I was happy to see so many people inside already. It made me feel energized. After all, exploring the world’s largest bird park is no small feat. And it’s fun to see others, different nationalities, who are as excited as we are to see the birds.

Before heading towards the ticket counter, we saw the shop located at the entrance area and I hurriedly looked at the penguin stuffed toys. We would have wanted to buy something already but we thought we can do the shopping later. After all, we still don’t know what’s inside the park and not be able to explore all because of time constraint was a no-no to us. Our goal was to see ALL what the park has to offer so we opted to start early as possible.

I’ve let my sister inquire about the tickets. We’ve known that there was a promo for the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari tickets for only SGD58. I don’t think I remember the price right but since we don’t have the luxury of time to explore the three mentioned parks while I’m in Singapore, we disregarded the promo and have our tickets for the bird park be maximized. We bought the tickets inclusive of the Lory Feeding and Panorail Ride. After the ticketing staff gave us our tickets and our map (I love maps!), off we go to start our adventure.

Both my sister and I can’t contain our delight upon knowing that there are penguins inside the park. Silly us, of course, they are birds! But you see, we’re big fans of Happy Feet. Did you see the movie? You should see it. They are absolutely adorable and cuuute! OK, I digress. Anyways, we can’t help ourselves but shriek upon seeing the penguins, different species of them. We spent about 30 minutes inside and decided that we should head on and just go back for the feeding time in the afternoon. Or else, not enough birds to see for the day.

After the Penguin Coast, we breezed through the Flamingo Pool, Wetlands, Fuji Hawk Walk (we’re not able to see the Birds of Prey Show), Riverine and the others. But not without uttering Wow!, ‘Ang ganda!’ ‘Look!’ That day was definitely our ‘being a child again’ day.

We’re kinda tired with all the walking (it rained pa) and picture taking already by the time to see the Birds n Buddies Show at the Pools Ampitheatre.

I’m not good with names, I forgot the name of the bird trainers, the host especially and the birds that entertained us. Certainly, forgetfulness comes with age. Geez! But isn’t he looks like Pinoy? My sister and I argued if he is one or not. But we absolutely enjoyed the show and happy to see kids watching in awe.

After taking lunch at the terrace kiosk, we had to leave hurriedly because we're too excited to go to the Lory Loft for the feeding of birds. We had to walk our way there to see the rest of the birds on the area. It's raining a bit since we're at the ampitheatre but good thing it didn't rained that hard. While at last we're at the entrance of the Lory Loft, I was extremely surprised to see the Bottle Tree. I had no idea such actually exists!

After taking pictures of it, we then proceeded inside. We asked the one in charge at the counter if we were to pay for the bird food but he informed us that it's already included in our tickets so we didn't have to purchase one for that purpose. I forgot that, actually. And since I can't find my ticket (bummer), we got only one cup as my sister was very impatient to start the feeding after seeing others already doing that.

The Loft is nice, it felt like you're in a forest, only quite accessible. Anyhow, feeding the birds was not easy at first. We needed to go to an area where there are birds already on the branches where we can reach them. We didn't wait too long though as two started to approach us and there we go, reaching out the cup for them to feed on. The fun started here and both my sister and I were giddy and so happy for such unforgettable experience. If only I can kiss the birds, I would, only to say thank you to them. That's how overwhelming it was to us.

While we enjoyed feeding them, our arms already felt the strain. You can see how high we need to reach, at one point, I had to pull down one branch to somehow make it easy. When there's no food left, I urged my sister for us to head on since we need to go back to the Penguin Coast to watch the feeding session at 3:30pm. Again, it's total fun once again for us both. There's an scheduled encounter too with one but due to an outpoor, it didn't happen as it was to be held outside. But anyhow, we're still contented with just the feeding, the penguins are úber cute! (I can't upload the video I took, the file is so big) The staff who's feeding them is lucky to have that job, really!

When the feeding session was finished, we went to the World of Darkness to see the owls. We didn't got to stay longer though as it was uncomfortable for me, and I was kinda irritated because some still used a flash even though they were requested not to. Poor owls, they were kinda disturbed. Anyhow, we're off to our final destination, the African Waterfall Aviary.

We needed to ride the panorail from the main station since we're running out of time. It rained hard again on our way there so after alighting from the aviary station, we needed to wait for the rain to subside. We ordered Milo (they have a very delicious variety) and waited patiently. Upon realizing that it kept raining, we thought of buying us an umbrella. We didn't opt for the raincoats for practical reasons. But as we finished our Milo, the downpour stopped. Off we go, we run actually as we're afraid we'd never have the chance to see the waterfalls if it rained hard again and besides, we're running out of time. Finally, the one I so wanted to see...

I can't stop clicking after gazing at its beauty and was surprised to see I captured a bird flying through. Actually, I didn't notice it until I saw it in my camera. My sister and I stayed awhile longer since it's our last stop and gone up to the observation deck. The view is even more beautiful there. And it's nice to think that we're actually seeing the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. Though we didn't see much of the birds in the aviary, it's good enough for us.

On that note, I'm contented and happy to see it and explore the park. Besides, it's a chance of a lifetime for me. And as we walked towards the station, I got to thinking... I'll definitely go back. :)