Family outing to the zoo - drama ahead :P

One of the Jan10 mummies can get discounted zoo tics at $17 each so I decided to bring the gals to the zoo again though need to 'ponten' school for RaeAnne. Been wanting to go to the zoo again with Mei Mei before RaeAnne turns 3 years old in Jan cos admission is free below 3 years.

We reached there at 10am, it was cool but the sky was grey. Waited for some other mummies to reach and it started to drizzle by the time we went in at 1030am. Luckily I rented a buggy for 2 with rain cover. :)

We already missed the giraffe feeding at 1030am but we decided to head there anyway cos RaeAnne wanted to see the giraffes. Then we went to see the lion and took the tram to the Elephant show at 1130am. The show just started when we arrived but we had no seats cos the place was packed. Although she did not get to see 'elephants fly high high' (she watched too much 'Dumbo' VCD), it was still the highlight of the zoo outing for RaeAnne. Tonight, she kept asking me why the uncle's hat dropped and why the elephant picked up the hat for him.


After leaving the show at 12 noon, we proceeded to Ah Meng restaurant on foot (didn't know that we can take the tram again) so that Mei Mei can have her lunch. She looked sleepy by then. Who knows we were still too late cos Mei Mei fell asleep on the moving buggy before we even reached the restaurant. Raelynn really has hubby's genes, she can fall asleep anywhere. kekeke.

Good thing the Ah Meng restaurant had lots of long couches so I decided to let her nap while the rest of us enjoy our meals. RaeAnne and maid had the hotdog set while I had laksa and fried chicken wings (finally dare to eat sinful laksa again after my bout of food poisoning. :P). Hubby didn't eat cos he was too full from eating the bun he bought from 7-11.

After napping for 1 hr, Mei Mei was still sound asleep but I had to wake her up cos we still wanted to catch the afternoon feeding sessions and it was already 1pm. While she ate, I decided to bring RaeAnne to the Rainforest Kidsworld myself so that she can pet the rabbits at 130pm.


Her wish to feed the rabbit came true cos there were 2 small buckets of carrots and long beans for the children to feed the rabbits. She had fun stroking the rabbits too. I was proud to say that though she was the youngest kid there, she was more gentle than the other bigger gals there. :) The zookeeper had to keep telling them: don't be so rough and don't force the rabbit to eat etc. If only she can be as friendly n gentle towards her 2-legged friends ie other kids and esp her own Mei Mei. -_-

After the rabbits, we went to see the goats (Hubby & co caught up with us by then) and the ponies and they were surprisingly smelly. Ew... :P Tried to find the Giant Rabbit and dinosaurs walk indicated on the map but we failed. Maybe the map was outdated? So, we went to the waterplay area again. RaeAnne enjoyed the water very much and knelt down on the rough ground so many times until her knees were badly bruised. Poor Mei Mei looked very worried in the cold water and didn't like being splashed by hubby. She shivered and cried so we took her out of the water n wiped her dry after just 5-10 mins. :P


After showering RaeAnne, we went to the toy shop but RaeAnne wanted to ride on the motorised ponies. So, paid $4 for 5 mins ride. Of course, she had her heart on the pink pony and even complained when another little gal after her chose the same pink pony. She said 'no, she cannot take my pink pony.' Possessive gal! ;P

When we went into the toy shop, I told her to choose 1 thing that she wants and I'll buy it for her. Then I started to browse around for good buys. Got distracted cos as usual the maid acts like a tourist n wanted to get a souvenir so she was browsing n asking my opinion on what is cheap but good. Since the maid was obviously more interested in the merchandise than her charge, I carried Mei Mei out of the buggy and tried to take a few nice candid photos of her.

When hubby came and asked me where is RaeAnne. I wasn't worried and told him I didn't know and asked him to look for her thinking she must be at one of the toy racks since the shop is pretty big. 5 mins later, he asked me again. And I told him, you find lar. Only when he replied me that he made 2 rounds looking for her already, then I started to kancheong and went around looking for her myself.

I must have looked like the 'perfectly irresponsible mummy who lost her kid and now frantically searching' (guilty guilty... :P) cos a Caucasian lady quickly appeared in front of me and asked me if I'm looking for a little gal dressed in a pink shirt. I quickly told her yes. Then she told me she found RA crying and didn't know where her parents were so she brought her to the first aid hut and she directed me there. I can't remember now if I thanked her properly but I must admit at first, I thought why is she so kaypoh to bring my kid out of the toy shop. If not, we would not have lost her even though she was out of our sight.

Only when I reached the first aid hut and saw the KFC staff there, then I realised through him that RaeAnne had been found outside the KFC. The KFC is a distance from the toy shop separated by the motorised ponies. So, RA had gone out of the toy shop on her own and went all the way to KFC. Why did she walk there instead of looking for us inside the shop, I'll never know. But thankfully, she was found pretty fast and didn't seem to be traumatised so far.

Morale of the story, I should never underestimate the kid's ability to wander far and never overestimate her ability to act rationally (ie look for us inside the shop first) even though she is such a precocious kid and always so clever to talk/argue and drives me up the wall most of the time. Secondly, either me or hubby or maid must tag teams and be responsible for 'sighting' her instead of everyone thinking that somebody is with her but end up nobody is. Finally, I better think of a way to do a 'Return to Mummy' dogtag or buy a ranged radio beeper for her so that if she is ever lost again (touch wood!!!), I will know asap. I saw one of those things being sold at SMH BP before so better go look out for it and buy one next time. :P

Other than this episode, it was a happy zoo outing and the kids were neither grouchy in the car rides there nor during the return ride though it was already 4+pm and RaeAnne did not have her afternoon nap. :)