Wild Singapore | My son's hair was pecked to look just like a bird's (Part 1)
The following content is selected from my personal essay collection "I Want to Ask You a Question" that I am planning to publish
The world is an experience, and all experiences are only related to oneself,
so here, my sharing is about, and only about, my personal true experience.
Q: I'm worried about safety when traveling abroad, can you recommend a country suitable for family trips?
A: Family travel has several core elements: sunny beaches, zoos and museums, international experiences, and preferably unique memories that other countries do not have. These unique memories become a distinctive symbol of a country's travel, something everyone wants to see when they go there, and something everyone wants to share after they've been. Singapore includes all of the above elements, and it is prosperous and convenient, with a sound legal system. Women don't have to worry about harassment, and men don't have to worry about losing their children. How comfortable and superior!
It is the high level of civilization that allows Singaporeans to present a clean and decent state, even the taxi drivers. The driver who took us to the Singapore Zoo that day was just like that, a man in his fifties, with a clean car, no unpleasant smell, and dressed decently, not like someone from the taxi driver class. He started talking to us, and we could tell he was Chinese, who had come here with his grandfather since he was young. His grandfather was from Fujian and had worked in a shipyard. Many Chinese in Singapore are from Fujian.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the zoo. If I were to introduce this zoo in one sentence, it would be: You should come, it's worth coming, really worth it! In the zoo, you can see not only animals but also plants. The trunks of wild trees are thick, and their roots sprawl greedily on the ground, boasting: I am much older than this zoo. The branches keep stretching towards the sky, covering it tightly, as if competing for the sky's favor. "Watch out! Under your feet." We saw a forty-centimeter monitor lizard swaying across the path, constantly flicking its blue-purple tongue. We stood and watched it leisurely cross the road, from one clump of trees to another. For us who live in the city for a long time, this kind of wildlife is rare. Singapore Zoo
This wildness is not only on the ground but also in mid-air. My son and I took the Tiger Bus (a free shuttle tour bus in the zoo) to a bird park. The birds here are not living completely in the open outdoor environment but are covered by a very high canopy. When we went in to watch, we shared the sky with the birds here. Perhaps it is this kind of environment that is not quite free, nor unfree, that makes some birds live irritably inside, flying close to people's scalps. I reminded my son to be careful of the birds, but before I finished speaking, a bird "swooshed" over his head. The bird didn't tuck its claws tightly enough when flying, and it pecked up my son's hair several times. The bird that flew by had its feathers standing tall on its head, and now my son's hairstyle looked just like it. Singapore Zoo