The Singapore Night Safari is hosted on 40 hectares of land, most of which are forests and recreated to resemble the natural habitat of individual animals, such as the rainforests found in several Southeast Asian countries, Equatorial Africa, South American Pampas and even the Himalayan mountains. All this is done to ensure the animals do not feel out of place and probably to allow them to mimic natural behaviour unlike what might happen if placed in unfamiliar or new territories. The best way to see all this in a quick manner would probably be the tram ride that ferries you all over the safari, with running commentary and without the need to expend any energy walking the trail. However, it will probably leave most of you wanting to see more and actually going onto the walking trail after that. I know I did, and so did most of my guests.

The trail on the Night Safari is where a lot of the action is, as you get to see the animals up close and personal whether on a tour or on your own. Most guided tours also provide comprehensive introductions and explanation on each species and other things of note that one might chance upon on the trail. You get to see antelopes, tigers, lions, huge elephants, and a lot of other interesting and queer animals never even seen before in other zoos, which is natural since most of them do not offer the unique experience of viewing them at night in a habitat as close to what they were first discovered in as possible. Another special feature on the walking trail or the tram ride is the sounds of the night, or what I will call the Night Symphony of the Animal Kingdom, that you can hear – an eclectic mix of frog croaks, lone howl of wolves or hyenas piercing the eerie silence, cicadas providing the accoustical backdrop, and other sounds that start to be heard as the animals awake gradually.

Another engaging highlight that is a must-see on another tour to the Night Safari has to be the Creatures of the Night show, which is something beyond most shows that one might experience in other zoos or sea worlds. You will get to interact with the performers and animals, and there are some surprise moments which might either have you shrieking in delight or fright, depending on whether certain animals attract your like or dislike. The Creatures of the Night show is so popular that you will be well served to queue up early, which is faciliated easily with a tour group from what I have seen, since seats cannot be reserved in advance and are on a first come first served basis. What makes it even more challenging is that there are only three shows daily, although the weekends allow one extra show to accomodate the extra influx of visitors due to the day of the week. Another great note about the show is that the animals to perform are not always the same from night to night, and even from show to show within a day, since some might pout while others might be more eager to show the visitors what they have to offer.

For those who also wish to check out the dining options available at the Night Safari, be sure to try out the following restaurants or cafes – Bongo Burgers and the Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant. I particular enjoyed the burgers served at Bongo, very fresh and juicy, not something you might get often elsewhere in the country (although Carl’s Junior rules everywhere else). Ulu Ulu is pretty good too, and might perhaps be a better choice for visitors from other countries, since they provide a wide array of local food served either buffet style or ala carte. You can even get to try sumptious local delights like sambal stingray, Singapore chicken rice and chilli crab (although the best of the latter has to be tried at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant). Prices are very affordable and for the amount of food one gets to consume, they fill your stomach well and can either be a great start to the rest of the safari adventure, or a special way to end the whole trip, as many Singapore Night Safari tour packages do.

Private Tour: Singapore Zoo Night Safari Tour with optional Buffet Dinner
From: Viator

There are many great points to the Night Safari as a whole, although there are some minor negatives. My only gripe is the location, but there is really nothing you can do about it since the Singapore Zoo has always been in Mandai and has to be situated away from the city centre or the rest of Singapore which is largely modernised and urbanised. So be prepared for either a long bus ride if you choose the public transport since there are no train stations nearby. This is where perhaps either getting a packaged tour to visit the Singapore Night Safari might help since transport is provided, or even better having someone you know in Singapore driving you there. The other alternative is to hire a taxi or cab, which is still affordable from most parts of Singapore.

Missy Donut came to our Singaporean shores from Japan, after they spotted a good opportunity for the revival of donut consumption and sales in the island country. They were not wrong in their decision and pretty soon you now have four Missy Donut outlets in Singapore, all of which opened to long queues and fanfare. The donuts are made in front of all to see, and come in over 20 different tastes and designs, including special ones made to suit local tastes such as the Kaya donut. When I tried it on the first day the Bukit Panjang Plaza outlet opened, the Missy Donut donuts were really fresh, soft and as with all donuts, when eaten warm, were simply lip smacking. What I really liked about these donuts was that they were not too sweet, yet did not lack any of that sugar boost that donuts traditionally provided.

For a couple of times after that first taste, I had to participate in long queues before getting my fill of Missy Donut. Now, months after the height of the donut craze in Singapore, the queues have disappeared mostly and apart from the Plaza Singapura outlet, the traffic at the other Missy Donut branches have basically died. This is not wholly unexpected given that it was not called the donut fad for nothing. It would be interesting to see how long the chain can survive here in Singapore, given that despite having a huge array of designs, the Missy Donut selections are not the best in uniqueness and often end up looking quite bland, compared to the more interesting donuts that the Donut Factory has produced.

On top of that, the service provided by Missy Donut in the Bukit Panjang outlet is pretty standard of customer service in Singapore – unsmiling, cold and sometimes rude. The person serving you anytime looks disinterested, as if they cannot wait for you to disappear so that they could resume their chats with co-workers. The donuts made by Missy Donut also do not hold up to taste quality an hour or two after they are made, as they turn cold and hard. Now, donuts always come with a disclaimer that you should heat them up in a microwave to enjoy them soft and delicious, but if the ones from Donut Factory and Krispy Kreme can remain soft and delicious after a day without a need to reheat, then surely Missy Donut can come up with a way to do the same. They have been around since 2000 in Japan and that is quite a long time in terms of surviving in the donut business.

So, is Missy Donut worth your time? They certainly are, if you intend to consume them fresh and piping hot after they have been made and immediately after you have purchased them. Perhaps just before that movie at Golden Village in Plaza Singapura, or during a family day out in Compass Point. But they do not last well, and while they are not bad, the standards have dropped somewhat since they opened, and I am still undecided as to them being considered the second best tasting donuts available in Singapore after the Donut Factory.

I bought a six pack the other evening from Donut Factory, partly again because no one was in the queue, and picked out the following six types of donuts – Dark Chocolate Raspberry, two Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, Kaya White Chocolate, Hazelnut Chocolate and another which had white chocolate topping with chocolate mousse filling. I might have gotten the exact names wrong because honestly who really remembers the names of donuts, they just want to eat them. Apologies to the Donut Factory but it is not difficult to differentiate them when placed in front of you anyway.

Actually I had been craving to try out the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate donut for a while since I walked by the Donut Factory branch in Suntec City. Naturally I thought the combination of peanut butter with chocolate would be fabulous. After trying it out, the donut itself was not too bad in fact it was similar to Krispy Kreme in texture and sweetness levels, but I was disappointed that you could hardly taste the peanut butter. There were just strips over the chocolate layer of course, which would explain it.

I then moved on to the donut with the Raspberry filling and it was my favourite hands down. Donut Factory got this one right and it was a simple formula really. I never forgot a similar donut I had when I was in England many years back, and have loved jam filled donuts ever since. This was not the most unique design from Donut Factory, but a clear winner in my books, and the best of the lot I bought.

The rest were really nothing to shout about and common donuts found from the various donut shops in Singapore. Most of them I just chose them for lack of something more interesting. I am not sure how many kaya based donuts or buns or confectionary that Singaporean restaurants, bakeries and cafes need to come up with before they realise that everyone’s sick of it. But I still enjoyed the Kaya White Chocolate donut from Donut Factory, mainly because it was not so sweet that you could not taste the kaya.

Overall, I would say that return servings for the Raspberry Dark Chocolate donut from Donut Factory would be on the cards for me and I should taste it when it’s fresh out of the ovens. The cafe concept at Donut Factory would be ideal for this instead of getting a pack and having them on the go as you really need to eat your donuts fresh and warm. I am not too sure about the other flavours they have – they seem too ordinary, and certainly I could do away with the queue, but Raspberry Dark Chocolate donuts from the Donut Factory is the best donut I have had in Singapore so far.

In earlier Singapore financial news, GIC has stated that their investment structure provides “appropriate downside protection” which will see long term expected lower returns despite the risk. Interestingly it raises GIC’s holding in Citigroup to 4 per cent, and GIC has stated that it does not have plans for a board seat at Citi. This no doubt comes after criticism leveled at other American financial institutions’ moves to seek investment funds from Asian and Middle Eastern sources.

This could simply be a move by GIC to strengthen its investment portfolio and provide a broader management of investing Singapore’s reserves. With the threat of 20,000 Citi jobs at risk, it might or might not have vested interest in ensuring that this does not have greater downstream impact to Singapore’s economy, which is enjoying satisfactory growth against the gloomy global economic outlook, as reported frequently in Singapore financial news. GIC has also sunk US$300 million with US property hedge Rosen Real Estate Securities to take advantage of falling values in the US property market and real estate.

Unfortunately, despite residents concern and some who have voiced it to the mainstream media, the authorities do not seem to take them to heart and continue to iterate the same reasons given – that the gantry will not be switched on unless traffic along the route fell between 20 – 30 km/hr. Given the number of people who have to use it anyway since ERP gantries were set up along the BKE, most expect the gantry to be used soon. Residents around this area now have to pay just to get out of their house to go to work in the morning.

There are some alternate routes to explore, but you would need to get up earlier to make up for the time required to make these extra turns. One way would be to enter Hillview and exit at the old firestation junction further up after the gantry, or to head straight for the junction at Beauty World and the PIE, also via Hillview. However, you can be sure that additional ERP gantries will be erected at these points in the near future as we endure more impractical attempts to curb growing traffic.