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conquering its85m-longwaterslide
more thanmadeup for thewalk.
On thesame tripwehadcelebrated
mysister’s thirdbirthdayatRaffles
Hotelwithawhitecake festooned
withpurpleorchids.Thecolonial-era
grandedamewascelebrating its
100thbirthday thatyearandhad
sprucedup for theoccasion.Mysister
and Iplayedonaseesaw in thepalm-
fringedcourtyardwhilemyparents
sipped tea fromchinacups.
Ofcourse,nochildhoodvisit to
Singapore iscompletewithouta
stopat thezoo.Compared to
thecrampedcages Iwasused to
atTokyo’sUenoZoo, theopen,
naturalisticenclosuresof the
SingaporeZoowerearevelation.
Monkeysswung fromvines
overhead, bigcatswerepenned
byhiddenwalls, andgiraffesand
elephantsgrazed freely inside
landscapedhabitats.Breakfast
withAhMeng, aSumatran
orangutanandSingapore tourism
icon, becameapermanentfixture
inour family folklore.
Left to right:At
Singapore’sChangi
Airport in 1989;
breakfastwithAh
Meng theorangutan
atSingaporeZoo in
1987; playing in the
courtyardatRaffles
Hotel inSingapore; at
theSingaporeZoo
