Chapter 6 – The Immortal Goes to the Zoo

During one weekend, Jiminie was over at my apartment watching a show on television and I was seated cross-legged next to him when he switched channels - settling on a documentary about an animal. My eyes widened when I stared at the black and white fuzziness on the television screen.

"What the hell is that animal?" I asked.

Jiminie turned his head so quickly that I was worried he would have whiplash and he stared at me in perplex. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "Don't you know what that is?"

I tilted my head. "I have never seen it before," I admitted.

Jiminie's mouth dropped open and I closed it back. "We … we should go to the River Safari to see it," he said slowly and then grinned. "We can go together next weekend!"

"Do we have that here?" I asked.

He burst into laughter at my question and threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around me as he giggled. His reaction made me confused and I didn't understand what he meant. I waited patiently until he was done laughing, pulling away as he wiped away a tear.

"You're so adorable when you're clueless, Alice," he pointed out and patted his chest eagerly. "Leave it to me, I'll book us tickets and we'll head to the zoo next Saturday!"

"Okay, I'll look forward to it."

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Next Saturday, Jiminie had instructed me yesterday night to come and fetch him bright and early. So, here I was outside his apartment complex at nine in the morning. I was excited to spend the whole day with him, and I was eager to see the fluffy animal at the River Safari.

Five minutes later, he came bundling over with a bright smile on his face and a shoulder bag. He greeted me cheerily as he slid onto the passenger seat and buckled up. Mimicking his greeting, I turned on the signals, checked my mirrors and slid out from the parking lot to head out.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" I asked.

"Yup!" he replied. "Mum made us sandwiches! We can eat them there because the food and drinks are super expensive. The prices there are targeted for the tourists which explains why it's so costly."

I nod. I didn't want to tell him not to worry about prices when he was with me but I didn't have the heart to say it either. Hiding a smile, I concentrated on driving and listened to the little one narrate his week to me - a usual pastime that we had grown accustomed to.

The drive to the zoo took some time as it was located on the other side of town, and we almost got lost there despite having a navigation app. Apparently they had shifted the entrance and it looked different according to Jiminie. Despite the mix up, we managed to find the entrance to the carpark, and found a free lot.

We got out of the car and headed down to the first floor, following the signs where it'll lead us to the entrance of the River Safari. Jiminie had tickets on him, and he explained that Taeyeon had helped him get them. Hiding a smile, we got in and I was thrown into another world.

Right at the front, there were people milling about and I noticed that they were taking photos of parrots that were lounging on a large stick balanced on sticks. There were four parrots with three kinds of coloured feathers and they were being fed by their keepers as tourists took photos of them.

"Those are macaw parrots, Alice," Jiminie piped up next to me, holding onto a map he was reading from. "They're the first exhibit."

"They've come a long way from home," I murmured.

"Come on! Let's go to the one that you wanted to see!" he cried as he began pulling me along. "The Panda Exhibit is right at the back! We can take a boat ride too! We're gonna go on everything!"

With Jiminie next to me, we visited each exhibit that the River Safari had to offer. Each exhibit was filled with information about the type of animal, insect or fish that lived in their exhibits. Their living habits, their eating habits as well as where they were from.

Each exhibit was thoughtfully designed and crafted, and we took many photos there. Despite the crowd, I find myself having a good time with him. We took a break when we entered the fish exhibit, sitting at the opened space where there were benches for us to relax.

It overlooked a large aquarium where we could watch their array of fishes swim by. It was peaceful, and we ate the sandwiches that Taeyeon had made for us. It was Jiminie's favourite, and we soaked up the atmosphere quietly - this moment was precious for me.

"Are you enjoying this, Alice?" the little one asked.

"Yes."

"I'm glad."

"As long as I'm with you," I added.

He chuckled.

After we rested enough, we completed the rest of the exhibitions and finally, we entered the Panda Exhibition. They had built a special enclosure which enabled the pandas to roam around freely, and we were able to walk above them on a bridge that was specially constructed around the exhibit.

I let out a sound of wonder when we entered the quiet exhibition and I could feel the excitement creeping up when I saw the fluffy black and white animal lounging about the opened enclosure. There were two fluffy pandas on loan by the country, and I was eager to get as many photos as I could.

Without flash of course.

"Look, Jiminie!" I grabbed his hand and pointed at one of the pandas which was rolling about the grass before grabbing a piece of sugar cane to eat. I could hear them crunching on the sugar cane. It must taste delicious for them. "They're so adorable!"

After I took enough photos, we left the enclosure and entered the souvenir shop next to it. It was filled with an assortment of gifts for tourists to take back to their home country; cups, t-shirts, towels, magnets and there were keychains as well. Seeing the cute panda keychains by the corner of the shop, I headed towards it.

I roamed the shop twice, staring at each merchandise closely and grabbed a handful of magnets that would look nice on the refrigerator at home. Jiminie followed me around quietly, hiding a smile whenever he saw me pick out something but put them back to take something else instead.

With the basket almost half-full, I hoisted it to the cashier who rang the items up. I had a little smile on my face, the excitement of visiting and seeing the black and white animal was still running high. The cashier notices it, and mentions that there was a sale on the panda merchandise and I could get a toy panda if I wanted.

My eyes went wide and I turned to look at Jiminie, as if I couldn't believe what the cashier said. Jiminie burst into laughter, telling me to go and take the one I wanted so I quickly crossed over to the other side of the shop to grab the toy panda that I wanted.

As I returned, I saw the cashier chatting with Jiminie and I plopped the toy on the counter which she rang up immediately. After we were done paying, we left the shop with two bags of souvenirs and I was humming away happily as we began heading out of the place.

"Are you tired?" Jiminie asked.

"I'm good, little one," I said.

We headed back to the car park, taking the elevator up to where the car was parked. At this time of the day, the car park was already full. We were lucky we arrived earlier. After Jiminie loaded the bags into the back, we got into our seats and I started up the car - adjusting the air-conditioning and the radio play.

"Where should we go next?" I asked. "Are you hungry?"

"Yup! Let's go here!" he said as he showed me a map to the restaurant that he had chosen. "I heard this restaurant has good reviews! One of my friends suggested this to me earlier."

"Okay!"

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