Orangutan and Rambutan, Komodo Dragons and Dragonfruit
Took a trip to the Singapore Zoo yesterday. There were a LOT of primates there. The orangutans and chimps are a major draw as always; I guess some famous orangutan died recently and the entire city mourned her. Foreign dignitaries used to arrange for dinner with the ape. Go figure.
They also had a very impressive lizard and snake exhibit, complete with Asian Giant Tortoises and even a Komodo Dragon! It's hard to get a sense of scale from the photo but this guy was HUGE, easily longer than a human being. Most of the animals have daily feeding schedules where you can get a closer look at them, but of course they only feed the dragon twice a month. But he was still out sunning himself. They also had a few Gila Monsters. People who know me will find that highly ironic.
Wendy's mom brought home a couple Malaysian fruits last night. One is called Rambutan and tastes something like a lychee, and the other is called "Dragon Fruit" and its innards look and taste somewhat like an albino kiwi fruit. The wiki article says the latter fruit originated in Mexico, and is a traditional fruit of tribes in the Sonoran desert. My gut tells me that article is full of crap, because I've sure as hell never seen this fruit in my life. They both look like they came off a sci-fi space station.
March 30th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
How great that you got to visit the zoo there...that's as much up my alley as food, although I'm not much into primates (can see those anywhere, haha). The Komodo dragon looked pretty plump and happy, although I would not want to test that theory. As for the dragon fruit, the only other time I've seen/heard one referenced to was on the Disney Channel. There's this short show ("This is Daniel Cook") where this kid gets to experience new things and talk about it. It's Canadian, so you can imagine. Anyhow, one show was on fruits and they tried a dragon fruit. The host was a nutritionist who was Asian, so I'll have to admit...dragon...Asian...I figured it was some type of Asian fruit. Whatever its origin, sounds tasty! Man, so much for you ever being able to go to McDonald's again! :o)
March 31st, 2008 at 4:16 am
Maybe they are somehow related to prickly pear (fruit)? They look pretty weird.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Looks like Arizona will find you no matter where you go!
Your reptilian pics make me happy. Any more zoo photos you can post?
April 1st, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Thanks for the zoo photos!!
April 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am
C: Currency. Before there was Wikipedia, there was World Book Encyclopedia, and it was my constant companion in middle and high school.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Whoops. Clicked on form for wrong entry.