Visiting KaiKai And JiaJia At Giant Panda Forest, River Safari (Singapore Zoo)

Finally the Giant Panda Forest exhibit which is located in the new River Safari is open for public preview since early December 2012. And since this is the last week of school holiday, my kid and I decided to take the opportunity to visit KaiKai (凯凯) and JiaJia (嘉嘉) . The pandas preview is allocated for a 15 minutes viewing session through different time slots (refer below) which is available for a top-up of S$5.00 (Adult) and S$3.00 (Child; 3 - 12 yrs old)  to the regular zoo admission price (you can check the ticket price lists here).

Although we reached the ticket booths around 8.45am (on a Thursday) but there were already quite a number of people queuing ahead and some of the time slots are selling fast too. And for your information almost everyday the viewing time slots will be SOLD OUT even before noon time. (updated status of the time slots can be found on their official site here)

At the moment, the entrance to the Giant Panda Forest is access via through Singapore Zoo (until river safari is fully open to public in 1st quarter 2013) at the admission queue which is around the Rainforest Walk that is opposite the Otter exhibit as shown on the Zoo map.

You won't miss out the entrance as there are a lot of direction signboards similar to the above shown

Although we purchased the 10.20am slot, but we are able to go in around 10.05am to queue up for our turn to enter the Giant Panda Forest which is a about few minutes walking distance away from the entrance.

Queuing up to enter the Giant Panda Forest

Upon entering the Giant Panda Forest, the first to greet us is this cute little "Red Panda" which share certain similar traits with the giant pandas because they both feed predominantly on bamboo and have extra "thumbs" to hold their food.

At the open kitchen window, there are displays showing KaiKai and JiaJia's Menu of the Day so that we get to know more about their diet and types of food they consumed.

Most of us were quite disappointed as JiaJia (嘉嘉) was taking her beauty sleep during our visit. although most of us couldn't do much but everyone is still very excited to snap photos of JiaJia or with her in the background.

JiaJia (嘉嘉) is taking her beauty sleep

Whereas KaiKai (凯凯) on the other hand is more active as he kept roaming up and down around the enclosed area making his "Panda Walk" for visitors to take photos/videos of him. Overall the pandas are not as chubby as what we thought off but they are definitely the most cutest animal of all.

Both me and my kid are very thrilled on this visit and we all felt that 15 minutes preview time is really too "short" to juggler around with those "three" cute fellows.

After the Pandas preview, you could also grab some lovely souvenirs shown above from their gift shop which are only available at the Giant Panda Forest outlet ONLY.

Mama Panda Kitchen

Above are the second reasons of our visit to the Giant Panda Forest. I first saw this Panda Pau from two of my friend's instagram posts which me and my kid fell in love immediately. This Panda shaped like steamed bun is so cute and irresistible despite of it's pricing.

Panda Pau from Mama Panda Kitchen

This cute Panda Pau is shaped to look alike like a panda head and it is filled with sweet and fragrance red bean paste which resemble our local "steamed red bao (豆沙包)" but with an over-rated price of S$2.90 each or 4 for S$11.50. Although the price is on the high end side but still you can see these cute panda pau appears on almost all the occupied tables. 

Giant Panda Cappuccino from Mama Panda Kitchen

This Giant Panda Cappuccino (S$5.50) is equally cute as compared to the Panda Pau above and it is a "must order" so that you could get a pair of this adorable panda to accompany you for either breakfast or tea-break.

On top of the above, the Mama Panda Kitchen also served hot food like Braised Beef Ramen Set (S$13.90), Chicken Cop Ramen Set (S$13.90), Vegetarian Bamboo Rice Set (S$13.90), Snacks and etc (all sets including 1 main, 1 side and 1 dessert).

View of the River Safari

View of the River Safari

Even though the visiting time for the Pandas are quite short and rushing but we all had an enjoyable time with the Giant Panda. We would definitely look forward for the official opening of the River Safari and our next visit with KaiKai and Jia Jia.

For more photos of our Giant Panda Forest and Singapore Zoo visit, please refer to the photo album over at Cuisine Paradise Facebook page HERE.

Have a great weekend everyone!!! Cheers!