"Toon Town" Zoo

Be warned. The Children's Zoo has turned into the "Toon Town" Zoo.

Those of us with children will remember the Children's Zoo within the Singapore Zoo. It was the favourite section for pre-schoolers because the children were able to pet the friendly animals (guinea pigs, rabbits) and feed the goats and other animals. The Children's Zoo has been closed for a while for a major revamp. The last time we visited the zoo at end-August this year, the whole section was still barricaded and hidden from view.
To my horror, when we visited the zoo today, I saw that the Children's Zoo is unveiled and has become "Toon Town" Zoo - that's my name for it. There are these ghastly strongly-hued cartoonish structures at the entrance (see left) which appeared starkly out-of-place in this environmentally-friendly zoo.

Dominating the entrance are a carousel with gaily decorated pony mannequins (ugh! - see below) and the run-of-the-mill tourist souvenir shop. In my view, it is crass commercialism at its worst. What is the management thinking about? Surely there are other ways of making legitimate money. If we had wanted these attractions, we would have gone to Orchard Road or some other theme parks. This is the Singapore Zoo, for heaven's sake. I don't mean to be overly-critical, but my main emotion this morning was one of disappointment.

When the children wanted to feed the goats, we found the goats in a new home. Another horror - the path outside the goats' new home is largely cemented, with hardly any trees. Few trees = few leaves = little feeding opportunity. The children had to literally scavenge the whole place for a few miserable leaves to feed the goats (see below). The children still fed the goats cheerfully but with visibly less excitement.
OK, enough of that. Let's talk about some good surprises... hmm, the family membership fee has gone up from S$150 to S$180 per year. Nope, that's not it. Prices have gone up everywhere, so it's not a surprise. YES - there is a new boat ride (see below) which starts at the Children's Zoo and ends at the exit. It serves to carry visitors back to the exit without their having to walk through all the exhibits, a walk that is easily half an hour. But seats are very limited and you need to wait for designated times.

(Above) The boat, Pedro, is named after one of the otters in the Zoo.
(Below) During the cruise at the Upper Seletar Reservoir.

(Above) The children enjoying a little KFC picnic.
(Below) The jaguars are still alive and well. Thank goodness, feeding time remains unchanged at 11 am.
(Below) After our zoo visit, we went to the Oasis at Toa Payoh for lunch. Faidu loved this scenery very much and we just had to show it ....