Time flies fast, indeed; Singapore and the Philippines are now celebrating 50 strong years of diplomatic relations. Because of this milestone, one of the many tourist attractions in Singapore, the Jurong Bird Park, offered a 50% discount on their full-priced admission tickets for local residents (including foreign workers) and Filipino citizens*.
Alex saw this information and made plans for both of us to spend our off-day at the park. So, we booked the tickets and prepared for a day of fun as tourists in Singapore!
From Boon Lay MRT Station, we boarded bus 194 towards the park. There wasn't a long queue and the weather was looking fantastic. By that I mean it's not hot and sunny, rather, it was cloudy and it really made me feel happy.
I decided to wear my Uniqlo mock neck long sleeves because I liked the color. The entire morning, I had hoped for cooler weather. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry so much about sweating a lot!
We reached the bus drop-off point within seven minutes. Alex and I walked from here to the park itself. The walk didn't take long and we reached the place at around 10:30 in the morning.
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| The Jurong Bird Park signage |
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| Our selfie! |
The morning crowd has not arrived yet when we did, so it wasn't packed. We took a quick selfie at the entrance. Both of us were excited to explore the place. Alex had already visited Jurong Bird Park when he was younger but couldn't remember the details. I'm happy that we're both looking at this experience with fresh perspectives! Yeay.
The first on our list was - nothing. We had no plan at all! :D Suddenly, we heard music blasting nearby and with curiosity, we walked towards where the music was coming from. Unknowingly, there was a bird show going on and we decided to stay and watch - best decision! It was a show that almost made me cry. I was in awe of how they emphasized caring for our environment, being mindful about other creatures and in choosing them as pets, and of course, reminding the crowd of the birds' grandeur.
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| The big crowd eager to watch the show! |
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| From children to adults - all were excited and watched the show feeling mesmerized. |
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| This was where Alex and I sat during the show. |
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| By now you must already know that we both like taking photos! (or maybe it's just me) hahaha |
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| One of the talented parrots in the show. |
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| Photo op with the star! |
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| Flamingos having fun. |
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| Who knew these birds could be wacky! I like how they look like they're having fun! |
After the show, we had our photo taken with the flamingos. I couldn't stop talking about how much I enjoyed the experience.
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| Photo was taken by one of the park's rangers. |
We walked further down the park and explored the place. We saw different kinds of birds from parrots, to macaws, even birds of prey like the eagles and vultures. What's even more awesome was that the Philippine Eagle was there too! In fact, that is the main highlight of the event - thus, the King's Fiesta. Here are some of the photos we took during our walk.
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| A park ranger feeding the pelicans. |
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| Penguins ready to strike a pose. |
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| Funny story - Alex and I were taking a photo when we noticed this bird staring at us. It initially surprised me and Alex was quick enough to snap a photo of this little fella. |
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| There is even a waterfall in the park! |
#TEAM SCHATZ
One of the best parts for me was our conversations. In fact, I shared with Alex how much I enjoy going to parks and taking long walks with him and that when we both grow older (God-willing), we'll still share the same love for this sort of activity. His reply was earnest and simple. He told me:
"That's why you need to eat well and be healthy. Because we need to take care of each other and reach old age and still be able to walk and enjoy what we are doing now. It's better to eat healthy food like medicine than eat medicine like food."
He just leaves me speechless sometimes.
Going back to the topic, we took quite a lot of photos together.
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| Photo was taken at the mirror! |
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| Ze bluetooth device iz ready to pair. |
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| Ze bluetooth devise iz connected-uh-successfuleh! (lol if you can relate) |
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| Close up photo! |
THE ONE WHO HOLDS THE MAP
In all of our trips together, he is in charge of navigation for a simple reason: I can't read maps and I have a poor sense of direction. When you tell me left-right-left, I would remember only going right. Once I went to a toilet and forgot how to head back to our table. When we are in church and I would need to pee, I would forget which pew we were sitting on. To cut the story short, Alex is a reliable guy to be in charge of this. He also does a really good job at it!
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| Holding the map of the park. |
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| Deciding which way to go. |
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| The details of the map. |
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| Resting at the bench. |
THE ONE WHO SAYS "PICTURE-I DAW KO DINHI"
The following photos below are mostly me. If you find that idea a little off or maybe vain, then please scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and read the end. However, if you would like to see how Alex is also good at taking photos and what other stuff the park has to offer, then with pleasure, go ahead and explore these shots.
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| Alex has improved his eye for details. This particular shot was his own initiative. |
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| A candid pose. I didn't know he took a photo of me mimicking a blogger pose. lol |
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| Teaser photo for what's to come. Are you ready? In 3.2.1, okay scroll down! Now! Next photo! Go go go! |
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| Wohooo!!! You made it! hahahahahaha Inspired by Mary Poppins. |
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| "Do another pose, your legs look awkward!", he commented. "How about this?", she replied. "Okay, good! 3.2.1, smile!" |
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| "Pila kabuok buslot sa skyflakes gane?" - Were my thoughts at this exact moment. |
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| Awkward knees - photo taken at the Swan Lake. |
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| "Uy, basin di pwede musud!" - was what he said but I was already making a pose. He had no other choice but to snap a photo! :P |
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| One more. |
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| "You think the only people who are people - are the people who look and think like you..." |
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| "But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew, you never knew." (Colors of the Wind) |
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| "Ka awkward sa imong kamot oi, do a different pose!", (wow, strikto si ser) |
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| "Picture-i ko dinhi schatz! kanang with lighting effect!" |
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| Alimuot sad dzae oi. hahaha |
WORK HARD, PLAY HARDER
Working overseas is no easy feat. Whenever we have an opportunity, we always make sure to savor being in Singapore in a light-hearted manner. One of those days is this - a trip to the park.
While it's a simple way to spend our off-day, I find that it's very rewarding to give ourselves time to have fun and enjoy it. So many ordinary and simple moments happened today that filled my heart with gratitude. For example, Alex cooked our lunch and we had a picnic together, he took so many beautiful photos, and both of us enjoyed each other's company.
Sometimes, material things cannot replace the beauty of spontaneous and candid moments where time and effort are given.
We have reached the end of the tour.
So happy to visit Jurong Bird Park with my fiance (flex again! haha). Thank you for being generous with your time as you read this post. If you ever visit Jurong Bird Park, we hope you would enjoy it as much as we did.
Love,
Mary Jedde
*tickets are discounted when bought in pairs from 16 November to 29 December 2019.
Amazing, the entire post went like a movie reel infront of me. Great pictures. Feelings and passion exuberated through simple words. Reminded me of an old adage - "Beauty lies in simplicity."
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Thank you for taking the time to read and even write how you felt about this post. I appreciate your kind words. Cheers!
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