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Monkey Tales

We had an oh-so-interesting visit to a new park today, McRitchie Reservoir. Firstly, it was beautiful. Like a landscaped rainforest! We didn't make it far into the forest though, pushing the double stroller up the steep hills. But we do have a story to tell!

As we crossed a bridge to the other side of the lake, I spotted a monkey. "Wow, monkeys roam freely in this park", I thought. "Let's hurry over before he scurries away." As I rushed over to give the girls a peek, I suddenly caught sight of his family, extended family, and 100 closest friends! Not only did he not rush off; He invited us to his house! "They're harmless", an passerby exclaimed. "The governement would never allow them to roam here if they were a problem." Hmmm... It was about then that my motherly instincts should have started kicking in. It all happened so fast!

It was about 10am, so we didn't have any food in sight; Just an inconspicuous juice cup. Ever the mindful mother, always thinking first of my children's safety and well-being, I took out the camera and began snapping photos of the monkeys barraging my children. All of a sudden, one of the monkeys climbed right up onto the stroller and snatched Ellie's juice cup right out of her hand! Amazing dexterity, the little dickens!

Before I realized it, that darned critter ran up the side of the hill straight up into the tree with poor Ellie's cup. Mommy thought the whole scene was hilarious, but Ellie was not as amused. The three of us waited helplessly as we watched him laboriously try to crack it open from the top of the tree. Meanwhile, (I'm quite sure they were working in cahoots!) another monkey spied our backpack open which was hanging on the back of the stroller. He jumped on top of the stroller, onto the backpack and began rummaging through the bag for more untold goodies! Luckily mom was becoming keener on these aggressive monkeys and I shooed him away before he could make off with any more loot!

I am not kidding, we (and the small but growing crowd of onlookers) waited for 20 minutes while the cup was passed from monkey to monkey, each having their turn trying to get into this treasure. (I was determined to get the cup back, because I just bought it, at the only store in Singapore that carries this type, and it wasn't cheap!) At one point, it dropped out of the tree, and a whole swarm of monkeys bolted out of the tree to fetch the prize! One papa monkey-- he looked bigger and smarter than the rest-- snatched it up for himself, and the other monkeys knew who was boss. They left him alone. He gnawed and chewed and grunted but to no avail. Another baby monkey took up where he left off. He dragged it across to the other side of the lake, but we followed in hot pursuit. Finally, he let go of the battle-scarred sippie cup, and left it by the bank of the river. The other monkeys had lost interest, so I swept in to recover it. It was chewed to shreds. Such a short, tragic life.

And poor little Ellie. Kathryn was kind enough to share her cup with Ellie for the rest of the morning, but both were a bit traumatized. Kathryn kept saying "Mommy, the monkeys! Hurry-- take my cup before they can get it!"

Later after the incident, an observer asked "Haven't you been here before? Didn't you know? You don't ever want to have a picnic here. Never feed the crazy monkeys!"

Thanks for the tip.