We went to Sentosa Island in Singapore to visit the Underwater World. It is Southeast Asia's first and arguably the best public aquarium. And no, I have not been to KLCC's Aquaria yet, so I can't make a comparison.
There is a 'petting zoo' where visitors are encouraged to dip their hands into the pool so that they can get bitten by the resident shark.... kidding. There are super-friendly stingrays and fish here that will not shy away from humans in this pool. One word of advice: don't stand too close to the edge of the pool if you don't wanna get splashed wet by the enthusiatic rays that swim right up to you.
There were small well-lit tanks everywhere containing all sorts of marine life, like this yellow pipe fish.
I felt like I was cheating, as I could take really close up shots of fish and corals without having to don my diving gear and haul 2000kg airtanks on my back. Hehehe
Shrimp? Asther can help ah?
To be updated after Asther reads this. ;)
A very colourful critter. I especially like the whiskers. Reminds me of my sister's cute Persian cat, Fergie. Sigh.. I miss Fergie.
Ghost pipe fish hanging upside down like bats...
My first sighting of garden eels!!
Erm.. is this a kind of shark?
A very colourful breed of scorpionfish. How come the ones we see underwater are so ugly?
This yellow boxfish (or is it cowfish?) looks like it's ready to charge at me! Ole!
Hmmm.... a lot of these sea critters seem very eager to charge at me. What did I do to provoke them? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing!
Aww.... two spotted sting rays out on a date....
... while the local moral policefish is hiding in the bushes waiting to catch them red handed!
Upclose shot of a purple crab using my new lenses. Still trying to get the hang of it.
A hermit crab that has hijacked a snail's shell for its own use.
The big mama of a crab is taking a rest while her kids go out scampering amongst the tourists...
Are you looking at me, punk? I said, are you looking at ME???
Aiyoh... so noisy.... Please shut up and let me get some sleep!
Ohmygawd! A very fancy seahorse just floating by in his tank! Honestly, I really feel I am cheating or something.
Here we are in the undersea tunnel where we can see all sorts of fish, sharks and other marine life floating past us, beside us and above our heads.
And this is what the fishermen mistook for mermaids??? What were they smoking???
Imagine you're in the Titanic in one of the lower bunkers... and you look out the window beside your bed... and you see this!
There were many cute little clown fish swimming about this soft coral only a minute before I took this shot. I swear!
This is the Asian version of Dory (of Finding Nemo fame). Hehehe. And if you didn't get the joke, don't bother asking me.
Ok.. I am officially hungry for seafood now.
Ooh.. a unicorn fish. He looks a bit clueless, doesn't he?
Ok. Here's a good way to end the visit - by realising that somewhere out there, there is a spider-like crab out that is as big as you are tall and can devour you in minutes. Oh my!
We went to Sentosa Island in Singapore to visit the Underwater World. It is Southeast Asia's first and arguably the best public aquarium. And no, I have not been to KLCC's Aquaria yet, so I can't make a comparison.
There is a 'petting zoo' where visitors are encouraged to dip their hands into the pool so that they can get bitten by the resident shark.... kidding. There are super-friendly stingrays and fish here that will not shy away from humans in this pool. One word of advice: don't stand too close to the edge of the pool if you don't wanna get splashed wet by the enthusiatic rays that swim right up to you.
There were small well-lit tanks everywhere containing all sorts of marine life, like this yellow pipe fish.
I felt like I was cheating, as I could take really close up shots of fish and corals without having to don my diving gear and haul 2000kg airtanks on my back. Hehehe
Shrimp? Asther can help ah?
To be updated after Asther reads this. ;)
A very colourful critter. I especially like the whiskers. Reminds me of my sister's cute Persian cat, Fergie. Sigh.. I miss Fergie.
Ghost pipe fish hanging upside down like bats...
My first sighting of garden eels!!
Erm.. is this a kind of shark?
A very colourful breed of scorpionfish. How come the ones we see underwater are so ugly?
This yellow boxfish (or is it cowfish?) looks like it's ready to charge at me! Ole!
Hmmm.... a lot of these sea critters seem very eager to charge at me. What did I do to provoke them? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing!
Aww.... two spotted sting rays out on a date....
... while the local moral policefish is hiding in the bushes waiting to catch them red handed!
Upclose shot of a purple crab using my new lenses. Still trying to get the hang of it.
A hermit crab that has hijacked a snail's shell for its own use.
The big mama of a crab is taking a rest while her kids go out scampering amongst the tourists...
Are you looking at me, punk? I said, are you looking at ME???
Aiyoh... so noisy.... Please shut up and let me get some sleep!
Ohmygawd! A very fancy seahorse just floating by in his tank! Honestly, I really feel I am cheating or something.
Here we are in the undersea tunnel where we can see all sorts of fish, sharks and other marine life floating past us, beside us and above our heads.
And this is what the fishermen mistook for mermaids??? What were they smoking???
Imagine you're in the Titanic in one of the lower bunkers... and you look out the window beside your bed... and you see this!
There were many cute little clown fish swimming about this soft coral only a minute before I took this shot. I swear!
This is the Asian version of Dory (of Finding Nemo fame). Hehehe. And if you didn't get the joke, don't bother asking me.
Ok.. I am officially hungry for seafood now.
Ooh.. a unicorn fish. He looks a bit clueless, doesn't he?
Ok. Here's a good way to end the visit - by realising that somewhere out there, there is a spider-like crab out that is as big as you are tall and can devour you in minutes. Oh my!
6 comments:
So did the policefish saman those two stingrays for holding hands in a public aquarium?
Kena!.... saman in sing dollar lagi! Hehehe.
Heyyy... I suka lah gamabr kawan I tu.. the dugong... kami beruang kat darat kawa baik ngan dugong ni... tak makan tau... yg lain tu semua kami makan... kalau boleh!!!
Hey thanks for allowing OpenID comments. Now it's easier for me to leave comments here. So you have to update more frequently too you know :-)
Hello... wah... so sorry hv not come by to see wat u been up to... Busy busy new year, man! I see u d same too! Travelling all around! Hehehe... Okay, here I am to the ID rescue!
* the cute pretty shrimp is a harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera picta). A must see (but rare) when diving in Tulamben, Bali.
I saw a pair 3 weeks ago! :P
* aaahhh... moray moray... dragon moray (Enchelycore pardalis) it is!
* upside down shrimp! Hahaha... this is one of the friendliest shrimp called white-banded cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) commonly found in Mabul, hiding in crevices of artificial reefs.
* these are not ghost-pipefish as they hv no similarities with the seahorse family. These are shrimpfishes (Aeoliscus strigatus). The locals (Malaysia) call these razorfishes too.
* come on... u never seen these in Sipadan? There were loads of these spotted gdn eel (Heteroconger hassi) right before the channel of Barracuda Point in Sipadan.
* er... very dark... but I'm guessing this pair to be juvenile Whitespotted Bamboo Shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum)
* haaa... u wana see this beautiful scorpionfish, go to Lembeh Straits! (I'm going next week. Teeheehee...) It's called the Rhynopias, specifically Weedy Scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa)
* yes yes... a cowfish, specifically a Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria conuta). Used to see this commonly in Mabul but not anymore. :( However, still plenty in Lembeh!
* hmmm... i think this is a horseshoe crab species. (but it looked nothing like a horseshoe to me! Hahaha...)
* hai... these stingrays are of the freshwater species. I've not much knowledge of them. *BLUSH*
* so is the fish...
* all the crabs & hermit crabs... I dono specific ID ler.
* EXCEPT the last big burly one. It's definitely a box crab but I'm not sure which exact species.
* Ooohhh... this one is one of the MAIN reason why Australia is in my "next dive destination" list. Weedy Sea Dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Actually a seahorse family.
* hahaha... the "Gan" fish with some kind of shark hovering above... dugong... jellyfish... sea anemone...
* now the yellow fish is a Yellow Tang! (Zebrasoma flavescen) Hahaha...
* some kind of surgeonfish... Yellowfin Surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus) I believe.
* yup... unicornfish, specifically... I DON'T KNOW! Hahaha... need other angle shots to determine.
PHEW! Now I'm hungry... Ciao!
:: hi... entri yang menarik.
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