Fish Tales

This morning I woke up and decided it was time to visit the Jurong Bird Park. It boasts the world’s largest aviary, you know. And the highest man-made waterfall at just over 100 feet. So, I hopped on the Red N/S subway, got off at the Raffles stop and switched to the green E/W line and rode it until Boon Lay. Then I boarded the 194 bus and rode it to the park. About 45 minutes of travel for about $1.50. Not bad.

I made a conscious point to arrive early. Less heat and the crowds here can be a bit much sometimes, so I decided earlier the better. Good choice. The walking trails were nearly empty because most everyone got suckered into some stupid “Birds of Prey” show. I swung by for a couple minutes to see what the fuss was about, but promptly decided I’d prefer empty walking trails void of slow moving people, strollers, wandering kids.. and grandma trying to keep-up. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but I like to move at my own pace.

Overall, the open atmosphere of the park allowed the birds to live in a more natural, less-confining space. And the aviary was the coolest ever and I still can’t believe how huge it was. I felt like I was hiking thru the forest with huge trees and lush vegetation all around me. Most of the time I couldn’t even see the net high about the trees. For being captive, those birds didn’t have it too bad. Lots of area to fly around. Fresh melons and mangos lying about to snack on. Not too bad.

Worry time. I was so distracted taking photos and messing with my new camera lens, I didn’t notice the mosquitoes munching on my legs. All I could think about after that was, “I was standing by still water. I’m going to get Dengue Fever… maybe Malaria”. Or is it the other way around? Which is worse? Beats me, but of course I didn’t get any of my vaccinations before arriving. Would be just my luck. Maybe I don’t even need to worry about any of that here… I should find out.