Tonight I went to the Night Safari. I’m a big fan of the night safari. Been there 10 times at least.
They have made a lot of changes in the past year. Since me and my friend from Taiwan had not eaten dinner, I thought why not eat at the Night Safari? It has a pleasant atmosphere and one can get a smattering of local dishes.
Admission fee is 20 sgd. That seems reasonable.
If you want the tram ride, that will be an additional 8 sgd. Ok, it’s a 45 minute ride and is worth it. The commentators are wonderful.
Feeling hungry? A chicken rice set will set you back 16 sgd. A little pricy, almost crossing the line to price gouging, but… because it is a tourist attraction, I can understand a high price.
Thirsty as well?
EIGHT DOLLARS FOR A GLASS OF LIME JUICE.
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!?!? 8 DOLLARS FOR A SMALL GLASS OF LIME JUICE. LIME JUICE. LIMEEEEEEEEEEE JUIIIIIICCCCCCCEEEEEEE.
It’s not beer, it’s not wine, it’s not some fancy fruit cocktail. It’s lime juice.
For a second I forgot I was at the Night Safari. I thought I was at a Sim Lim shop getting fleeced because of my foreign accent. Except the difference was that I couldn’t hope to bargain the price down.
I consider myself a staunch supporter of the Night Safari. So when something like this happens, it makes me feel disillusioned and disappointed with the tourist attraction. I can understand charging higher prices – the advantage of being out there in the middle of nowhere, providing a unique sight for visitors, etc. but they’ve overshot with the price. So high that it probably discourages people coming back multiple times – at least for the food. I definitely won’t be eating there again.
And it’s not because I’m cheap – it’s because I don’t like being figuratively kicked in the stomach and robbed.
On another note, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, also at the Night Safari is 4.50 sgd for a scoop. Reasonable!
Talk nineteen to the dozen 
Posted by Patrick on April 26, 2007 at 1:34 am
Nice – did they have Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream? So did you actually buy the 8 dollar lime juice? If you did, I bet they might have been thinking “some day a local celebrity will walk in here and he and his money shall be parted.” :)