Monday morning and tea in bed! Thanks Liz!!!

Mark was to be taking us to Jurong Bird Park today and I thought I might get some sun. To explain, it is very sunny and hot in Singapore but, most of the time, because of the enormous humidity we were in the shade or in a building ? most buildings there have air-conditioning.

Breakfast ? well after yesterday?s fiasco we opted for MacDonalds again ? I don?t normally eat breakfast at home ? I prefer it mid-morning but Liz does have breakfast and even though she didn?t fancy it much she opted for a bacon muffin meal ? I didn?t want anything big so I had an orange juice and their ?quickie? snack of coffee and a hash brown. It was very nice too and we were just finishing when Mark arrived.

We took a taxi to Jurong Park ? it was quite a way but, to be fair nothing there is further than a 25 minute cab ride away.

We bought joint tickets for the Bird Park and zoo because we were already booked for ?Breakfast with the Orang utans? on Thursday and there were discounts to be had if you bought the ticket both both venues.

The first show was about to start in the main arena and I have never seen anything like it in my life?.

It was amazing to watch birds collect and deliver notes among the audience

and even fly through rice paper hoops!

The announcer was putting them all through their paces and they were flying in from all areas of the arena

and out again to just where we were sitting!!!

Jurong is a breeding park and the habitat is all natural for the birds with plants grown to feed them. So the majority of it was a rain forest setting and the humidity was stifling.

But the flamingoes were gorgeous..

and  little fellas like this were everywhere we went

The penguins were quite happy ? well they were in cool water!

This area was really beautiful and quite refreshing to be near with the spray from the waterfall

But then it was back to trekking through the forest and up more steps!!

Worth every minute though to get up close and personal with the prettiest birds

We bought food, held out our hands and up they came

I loved the little guys with the purple heads!

It reminded me of times with my Mum in Trafalgar Square in London except these were prettier than pigeons!

The Hornbills at the park were part of a breeding project and the nesting boxes had cameras inside ? there was an area where we could watch the new chicks on screens.

The notices around the park were obviously meant for the school visits but they helped tremendously by explaining that by creating this natural habitat it could produce the food to maintain the birds, and the birds spread the seed to make more grow.

This was just one of the many plant projects to help threatened species avoid extinction.

It really was fascinating but more than humid ? I think we were all melting.

We left around 3.30 and made our way back to the hotel for showers and to get ready for the evening: cocktails in The Asia Bar of The Swiss Hotel seventy (yes 70) floors up with views overlooking Singpore!!!!