Melbourne Zoo

I thought Singapore Zoo was nothing great, until I went to Melbourne Zoo. It is suffice to say that from the very moment I entered the gates, I was very, very disappointed. It was nothing like a zoo, instead it felt like I had entered Botanic Gardens.

Dull gravel pavements leading to even duller wooden signboards, leading to the animals. There were no sort of embellishments or nicely done-up enclosed viewing areas. People go there to see the animals, and only the animals, literally.

Took many, many photos of reptiles - chameleons, snakes, etc. I liked the contrast the lighting and background provides to the enclosed creatures.

People generally look at this photo and wonder if I had been standing right in front of the tiger. Yes, I did, and managed to come out alive. No, stupid, can't you see the reflection of the mirror upon the tiger's striped body?

It was so nice meeting not one, but TWO Singaporeans! They identified me quickly after seeing my ez-link card. But, I totally couldn't tell because one of them had developed this accent. Anyway, it was very weird and surprising to hear familiar places like 'Bugis' and 'Orchard Road' being mentioned occasionally.

My favourite animal of the day!

The reason why I absoutely adore pelicans so much - to the point that I couldn't stop snapping countless photos of them even long after the entire group had moved on - is because they are so CUTE, from their artificial-looking eyes that looks like it had been plastered on to their long beaks and their webbed feet.

The second reason, being, that they were practically the only animals in the zoo which were allowed to roam freely about, instead of being enclosed in some cage.