Taman Safari Bogor Indonesia - Daytrip with Children - Part 2

This is a continuation from the previous part 1 which I wrote here.

We get to the main entrance area at about noon time, and soon it was time for lunch.

The weather was great, it was cooling and the hospitality was warm. Lunch was really good and it was affordable. They didn't quite set it up to make it expensive like other attractions which did so.

After lunch, we went to the zoo area by foot.

It was set up in an enclosed setting where we need to move around quite up and down, and there were a few parts where the enclosed area was completely dark and you can see the night owl. Small children and elderly adults might have difficulties navigating the area with ease.

But so far so good for us, no problem much navigating as I had to carry my boy in the dark area.

We saw plenty of animals here.

The buaya was local and they were mostly on land, sleeping. Buaya is nothing but an alligator that you see most around.

There were also animals like horses, elephants or camels where you can pet, feed or ride on them for a small fee. I am not a big fan of riding on animals so we just did mostly on the feeding.

Then there was the Orang Utan where they kept raising their hands asking for food to feed them. It was funny because they seem to know people are coming. Hello there Orang Utan!

We also went for a few shows and we had to move and plan for our time carefully because we couldn't obviously watch a lot of them with the crowd and also we had to time for our going back at around evening.

The first show we watched was the elephant show which was held in an open area setting.

I personally quite like the elephant show on this one as compared to the one in Singapore as there are a lot more interaction with the elephants and also storyline back on how the Himalaya elephants were being tortured and hunted for their trunks.

The elephants also did a great work drawing with their trunks and they managed to raise a sum of money for donation purpose. It was great.

Next, we proceeded to watch the bird show.

The bird show was very interesting for me because it was set up in an open setting and they showed where the bird lives on their nest and how the eagle would hunt for their prey. The fact that the birds flew around in an open setting makes it even more real and it was a great sight to behold.

We also watched the sealion show which was pretty standard and typical.

The main highlight of the show was the tiger show.

I can't recall any zoo in other parts of the world where they had the tiger show so we were excited what's to come, especially since Oscar was really looking forward to seeing the tiger moves around.

The show started brilliantly when the tiger came out and quickly jump onto the tree to hunt the meat.

We were awed by it and at some point a bit afraid as the tiger might just jump from the tree to the audience area and as you can see the cage wasn't high enough. But I think it was fine as the tigers were all well trained.

There were several tigers that were on stage throughout the duration and both the white and Himalayan tiger were all introduced.

Overall, I think it's a great family day out activities and the kids were excited and tired by the time we left for the day.

If you are around the area, I think it makes a great case to visit, especially if you have children.

Top 3 Life Experience Your Children Should Have Before They Turn 10

Teach the children…so it will not be necessary to teach the adults – Abraham Lincoln

Children are like sponges; they will absorb whatever you expose them to. And boy, do they learn fast! Yes, we all want our kids to be successful adults someday but in this race to be ‘someone’, let’s not forget to teach them to be humans with a huge and open heart. Enabling them to have some amazing life experiences at a young age will do just that. Here are a few:

1. Realising the value of money and saving

You might want to give all the luxuries you can to your little ones but while doing so, do not forget to make them realise the value of money. Help them understand that money does not come easy and must be spent only after putting some thought behind it.

How:

• Open a bank account – Kids are becoming financially literate early these days. You can encourage your children to be so too by opening a bank account in their name and helping them deposit the money they receive on special occasions such as Chinese New Year or their birthday(s). Banks such as OCBC have special programmes such as Mighty Savers to teach kids the benefits of saving. POSB offers free gifts such as a coin bank set and a bookstore membership when you open your child’s account with them!
• Limit their spending – Decide a specific amount for their monthly pocket money and observe how they use it sparingly.
• Strike a deal – If they save S$10 in a month, tell them you will add S$10 and deposit the amount in their bank account. You can also offer them a little treat such as a trip to their favourite ice cream parlour if they save their pocket money.
• Professional support – There are many institutes such as MoneyTree which aim to inculcate positive spending habits in children by increasing their financial knowledge. Youth Progress Singapore is also conducting a financial literacy study for kindergarten kids.

Read more tips here.

2. Helping the underprivileged

We all do loads of things for our families. However, what sometimes matters more than that is lending a helping hand to someone in need. Inculcating empathy in your children is becoming increasingly important now with the world turning a little too materialistic with each day.

How:

Children watch and learn. The best way to teach them to care for the underprivileged is to arrange for an experience and then make them realise how good it feels.

• Non-affiliated charities such as Willing Hearts distribute daily meals to those in need – elderly, low-income families, disabled and migrant workers – across Singapore. Willing Hearts accepts child volunteers so it will be the perfect place to help your child experience the joy of helping someone in need.
• Singapore is also home to various animal welfare institutes. If your child is an animal lover, you can schedule a volunteering session with ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society), a registered charity, and let him have a joyous time with his new, cuddly friends.   
• Various banks such as Maybank offer auto debit for charity feature on their credit cards where you earn points for recurring donations.

Read more on similar options here.

3. Travel

Travel is an excellent form of learning. While children learn ample things in school, you will be surprised how much travelling can contribute positively to their personalities. Travel makes them open to change, more adventurous, and fun!  Also, when they grow up, they will have loads of stories to tell.

How:

• Take them to visit theme parks such as Legoland and the Sanrio Hello Kitty town in Malaysia or Hong Kong Disneyland.
• Let them explore the beauty of nature on the pristine beaches of Bali or Thailand.
• Give them a cultural dose at the magnificent temples of Cambodia.
• If you are looking for something more local, why not take your tiny tots to have a little tête-à-tête with nature at Hay Dairies. Visit them between 9:00am and 4:00pm (except Tuesdays and public holidays) and your kids can enjoy cuddling the furry goats and be amazed by watching goat milking sessions.
• Singapore also has many farms, which might come as a surprise to many, where you can either visit or even stay!

This post appeared first on the BankBazaar blog.

BankBazaar.sg is a leading online marketplace in Singapore that helps consumers compare and apply for the best offers across all financial products: personal loans, home loans, credit cards & investments.

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Taman Safari Bogor Indonesia - Daytrip with Children - Part 1

We were excited when my mum wanted to arrange for a day trip to the Taman Safari, which was about a 3 hours drive from where we live in Jakarta. Oscar was particularly excited about the trip because it's been his desire to go to the zoo ever since he started learning about all the animals.

We decided to go on a weekday because my sister experienced during the weekends and it can get very crowded and the traffic can become really hectic. My mum proceeded to book the van by the blue bird which they charge on a full day basis, with a driver. Since it was my mum who booked, I can't exactly tell how much it costs but think it's around Rp 2,000,000 which was about SGD 200 for a full day trip with the van and driver. The van can fit 14 people and we had about 10 people on the car, including 2 children.

Getting ready to go for the exciting family day trip

We headed from home at 8 in the morning and traffic was very smooth. It was a good start to the day. 

On the way to reaching the Safari, there are plenty of stalls on the side of the street selling banana and carrots. We bought 20 stacks of 5 carrots (20x5) for about Rp 50,000 (about SGD 5) and the banana costs about Rp 30,000 (SGD 3) for the animals later. We negotiated the price a bit since they were offering higher before.

On our way reaching the premise entrance

This is what we bought - carrots and bananas for the animals later

Finally, after about a 2.5 hours drive, we reached the Safari at about 10 plus. We bought the total package which includes not only the safari area but also the zoo premise where we can drop off from the car, and have a walk in the area.

One tip is if you are bringing an external driver, do purchase the tickets at the front gate near the toilet before going in as they would exclude the cost of the driver.

They also differentiate the price between local and tourists so we get the better deal since we are locals. Children under 5 gets to enter for free.

This is only the safari area, excluding the roam around zoo walkpath

If you have an external driver, please buy tickets NOT at this entrance as they will include the cost of the driver too

The safari area is huge and highly recommended in my opinion.

We've been to the safari area in Thailand where we have to take a public bus and sadly are unable to get an experience feeding the animals right on site. I think being able to do that adds to the experience for the kids themselves.

The first animal that we see on sight was the elephants.

The kids (and adults too) were getting too excited by now and we started throwing bananas from the van to feed the elephants.

There were a lot of elephants maybe about 20 of them and most of them were Sumatran elephants. Ok don't ask me how I know them, the guide told us afterwards :)

Elephants

The view from our van

Next, we encountered the Tapir and Hippo from the left and right view from our van.

Tapir

Hippo

Next, we encountered upon a camel!!!

I was pretty surprised when I saw them because I thought all along camel only exists in deserts?? And the premise area is very cooling contrary. Hmm, ok time to brush up my knowledge on animal habitats.

The kids also get enclosed to feed the carrots to the camel right from the van.

Camel

Feeding carrots

Hello guys!

We also encountered bull with a huge "Tanduk" on their head which can smash right into the glass window. Right when we opened our glass window, they started charging their bull at us, perhaps asking for food. We got frightened indeed.

Bull Charge coming!!

Asking for some foodies

Over the next few turns, we encountered the bear, giraffe, zebra and some other animals that I have never seen before.

Bear

Giraffe

Zebra

The view from the bus for those who do not have their private car

Next, we started to enter the endanger zone where animals such as lion and tigers surface. Drivers are encouraged to lock their doors and windows and not to get off the vehicles unless you want to become their prey.

The lions are roaming around the premise while some are sleeping on a chilling afternoon.

Lions posing for the photograph

Lions roaming on the street

Tiger

Last but not least, we encountered the Orang Utan area where it is not much different from what we have in Singapore. Since it's one of the last few stops, we started throwing our bananas from the vans where they are delighted to eat so many food that we give to them.

Orang Utan

Alpaca

African Village

It took us about 50 min on the drive to finish getting around the safari area, feeding them and slowly appreciating their existence.

I'll continue in part 2 next when we get to the zoo and the shows by foot.

Cimory Riverside Bogor - Day Trip With Family

On our en route to the Taman Safari Indonesia at Bogor, we asked our driver to make a special trip on the way to the Cimory Riverside which has plenty of rave reviews on the internet.

We went during the weekday so traffic wise it's rather manageable. You can reach Cimory Riverside within 35 minutes from the Jagorawi toll road. From Jakarta, it should be around 2 hours journey.

The place is well known for its amazing scenery view when dining there, overlooking a stream of river and greeneries as we enjoyed our food.

The place has a cute overlooking cow welcoming its guest to the Cimory. It is one of their mascot.

The place is also well known for tourist buying souvenirs back home as it serves a very delicious Chocomory and Cimory Yogurt Drink.

There is also an area where kids can roam around in their playground. The area is not too big but serves enough purpose for the kids to run off their energy. We are obviously not there also for the playground so that's really not our objective there.

Until then, next time again...Cimory!!!