Back when I was growing up, the place where birds were kept was called Jurong Bird Park. Save for the world’s largest artificial waterfall, it contained birds kept in enclosures and was basically a forgettable tourist attraction.

Fast forward to today, and rebranding has given Bird Paradise a new lease of life. The amount of thought that went into curating this space is commendable and will stir a wave of patriotism within Singaporeans. Demarcated into various zones such as the Amazon, the Australian Outback and the Heart of Papua, it showcased a wide array of birds from countries all over the world. We could see, up close and personal, different signature birds from different regions. In fact, some of them flew so near us that the son was alarmed and kept holding his mother’s hand.

For my family, the highlights were definitely the penguins and the flamingos. Imagine being greeted by penguins jumping, swimming and even leaping merrily in a gigantic glass enclosure the minute you enter Penguin Cove. Jumping vigorously, my daughter let out shrieks of delight, immensely captivated by the agile swimmers before her. Another bird that held appeal for them was the flamingos. We could feast our eyes on two different types of flamingos at two different places: African flamingos and American flamingos. We literally looked down at the lesser flamingos and the greater flamingos and observed their movements from afar. Perhaps this distance made us enjoy the spectacular sight of the American flamingos at the Crimson Wetlands all the more. Separating us was a muddy area, and the flamingos were just going about their everyday routine—preening their feathers and drinking water. It was one for the memory books.

As for me, I bitterly wanted to take my students here on a learning journey. Bird Paradise has many informative panels, and I kept coming across words that I have been teaching my students repeatedly: vulnerable, amplify, thrive, intricate, incredible, among others. Maybe pointing out these words to them would be a more effective and memorable way of learning!