YOU DID NOT SEE ANYTHING....

If you by any chance saw the animated film MADAGASCAR, you'd remember the penguins in that movie. Ever wanted to get to meet one up close? Panda bear Isha and I were celebrating (for a second time) our monthsary and were enroute to SM MALL OF ASIA only to discover it actually does close by eight o'clock. So we decided to head to the next fun looking venue in the area: Star City. Last time I visited Star City was a loooong time ago (Oi, hindi naman to the point hindi ka pa pinapanganak Ish.. grr...) and I was with my friends desperately seeking to horrify the men dressed as monsters in those fun house horror booths. So I felt kind of giddy as a child to see how much Star City has changed since then. And the answer was: VERY MUCH and yet not quite so. So dressed in our matching Jedi outfits (we both had a cloth "adornment" covering our shoulders and neck), we made our way inside.

First noticeable change was the scaling up of its cosmetic qualities! With a full animatronic display up front (which I guess to save on money, they left unmoving) to the air conditioned entrance, it was clear this wasn't the Star City of before which had billboard wooden entrances and those pink ticket stubs similar to movie tickets of yore. The pricing scheme was confusing, taking me almost three attempts before I realised there was an entrance fee (Php60 or $1.25) an entrance fee with 3 rides (Php 200 or approximately $4.00) and an entrance fee with all-you-can-ride option (Php 250 or approximately $4.50). Once inside, the first thing you see are rows upon rows of tiangee stalls selling everything from t-shirts, to funky pens, to perfumes, pirated DVDs, shoes and even pellet guns! Then you find the first few game booths and food stalls.

We opted to eat at Chowking and were delighted to discover they served "Shrimp Fries" and Fortune Cookies! Then headed to the game booths where Isha actually won us a PIG!!!! (I from this point on name thee Nathaniel the Pig. Natz the Nutty Neighbor of Suzy and Geno) We went around, talking about how cool the buildings seem to have been built with the rides precisely in mind and eventually found a sign that offered "Have you MEET Penguin?" (that's the sign in verbatim). We stepped in to discover how much we loved the penguins! There were five cute birds (one of which looked sad and lonely. Further investigation led us to discover the fifth was separated from its mate and was molting. Penguins actually do shed their feathery hides on occasion.) We learned you're allowed to touch them, so long as you do it gently and started to reach out towards them and discover how adorable the little things were. Under the kind supervision of an informative animal handler, we got a quick dose of information on how much endangered they were, on how they're pretty picky on what they eat, and like. Soon, more people started showing up, and seeing me and Isha handling the penguins, started reaching for them too. It was such a wonderful time, so wonderful that it made the whole visit to Star City (for sixty bucks!!! An additional forty bucks per person to see the penguins!) so much worth it. We recommend you find time to visit if you can.

Isha even was permitted to keep one of the penguins' molted feathers. Cute tiny thing. Made me sneeze though.



So again, I cannot stress how much fun it was, do find time to visit the Penguins at Star City! They have feeding hours at 8:30pm and 10:30pm where you can see them running around on thier tiny little feet! Cameras are welcome too!

Oh, and yes, I love you Isha!