Zoo memories

For the next two weeks, both kids will not have to attend school. Two weeks would have been perfect for a family getaway...

I wonder if they would be keen to visit the zoo with me, for old time's sake. When they were little, they could never get enough of the zoo. We even signed up as "Friends of the Zoo" so we could visit the animals every weekend without burning a hole in our pocket.

Naturally, the visits dwindled as they got older. Come to think of it, we haven't been back there in years!

I wonder if the baby pygmy hippos have grown any bigger. They're so darn cute! I hope those pot-belly pigs in the baby zoo are still around. Those adorable little lambs too! I miss the vegetable and spice garden by the reservoir bank. And those picturesque views.

I remember how the kids loved the Fragile Forest where butterflies flitted about and small animals roamed freely. I always find the fruit bats fascinating but I wish they would stop those big fat chameleons from ambling about. They freak me out.

We do have a really fine zoo. One that is more like an enchanting tropical rainforest. Having an open concept means that the animals live in spacious environments simulating that of their natural habitat instead of being kept in small enclosures.

It is world renowned for the mélange of monkeys at Primate Kingdom. While my kids aren't particularly found of primates, I recall how they had gamely posed with the cheeky Orang Utans. I still have the polaroids!

Memories of our zoo trips make me smile. Maybe it's not the zoo that I miss, but the happy weekends spent there with the kids. We should return to relive some of those memories again.