Panda Bears And A Real Prince and Princess

Singapore hasn't had such exciting visitors till this month. Last Thursday, two giant panda bears from China arrived by plane - Singapore Airlines, of course. Honestly you might think what's the big deal about panda bears. Well, have you ever seen a real panda bear? Me? I've seen a real bear in Korea. But it looked brown and dirty although it was able to beg for food and dance around. A panda bear is in a class of its own. The black patch over its eyes and ears. Isn't that the cutest? Especially so when the bears are so large.

The two giant pandas Kai Kai (male, 5 years old) and Jia Jia (female, 4 years old) are breeding bears. I think you know what that means. I wonder if Singapore gets to keep the cub if the mating is successful? Both bears are on a 10-year visa pass. Gosh, I hope our people don't um...cause them to die. They're like, endangered, you know?

Well, they get to live in a $8.6 million home at River Safari. I think $8.6 million will buy a lot of bamboo for the bears. They're only open for public exhibition end of the year. I guess that means I'll catch them next year.

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Another celebrity couple on their way to Singapore are Will and Kate. Yep, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will arrive in Singapore on Tuesday as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. If you're wondering why the Queen's people are visiting Singapore, it's because Singapore used to be a British colony. That was years and years ago and later when Singapore achieved independence, we joined the Commonwealth.

Am I excited about the royalty's visit? Sure. I mean, how often do you get a real prince visiting your country? And I'm really curious. Why are the couple called the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and not Prince and Princess? If I were Kate, I would want to be called Princess. I mean, what's the point of being married to a prince? And in all the fairy tales I read as a young child, none mentioned the prince could have um...receding hairline. Prince William certainly looks good enough to be able to carry what little hair he has. But didn't you feel a little cheated? Just look at Kate. She has the nice glossy long hair the fairy tales promised. I'll bet they have beautiful kids.

UK in Singapore has suggested the public go to Gardens by the Bay, near the Super Trees Grove to catch the royal couple on Wednesday. Excited as I am about the royal couple's visit, I'm not one to go somewhere just to get a glimpse of someone. Besides I've been to Gardens by the Bay and I got lost and don't fancy getting lost again. Sure it's daytime but a reader left a comment that she went in the day and got lost too! Prince William (I refuse to call him Duke) will be planting a tree. I don't know if it's going to be a Super Tree. I hope it is. How cool will it be? A Super Prince William tree. And at night during the light-up, you will see a crown.

The royal couple will only be here for 3 days. That's just about right. Singapore is so small that you could see everything there is to see in 3 days.

In some small ways the royal couple are like the Giant pandas. They are celebrities and when they are on display, they have to play the part. I can't imagine being publicly scrutinized. To me, that would be a living nightmare.

Oh, you know the Queen Elizabeth paid a visit to Singapore in the 70's? She visited a block of HDB flats in Toa Payoh which is a very tall building. I forget how tall it is. The top of the building was specially built with a viewing gallery, I'm guessing to give special visitors a good view of the city. Well, one day many, many years ago, I was working for a company which built flats in Singapore and I was chosen to go on a tour of the flats in Singapore. One of the stops we had was the same block of flat that Queen Elizabeth visited and we were given access to the same viewing gallery. The guide told me that the exact spot I was standing at was where the Queen Elizabeth once stood. Yes, I was that close to the queen!

Hubs wrote a column on the celebrities' visit too. Go here.