The rules at Singapore Zoo mean, naturally, for safety reasons we are not allowed to touch him. But if we were allowed, we could, I marvel.
That's how close he is.
How inviting and incredible he looks, golden, whiskery, like Old Man River meets ape.
We're having breakfast with the orangutans, and it's a breathtaking bonus we hadn't expected, not knowing how the reality of the event would match up to its name.
But every morning at 9.15, dozens of visitors push their bacon and eggs to the side, mouths agape, as a group of orangutans swings nonchalantly towards them, just metres away.
The wonder of Singapore Zoo, and undoubtedly the reason for its worldwide fame and success, is how wild creatures are kept captive with a minimum of barriers, in areas just like their natural habitat.
Most of the enclosures are large and bounded by a water or concrete moat only (often also camouflaged to escape human view.)
You're watching wild creatures like lions and rhinos with only space between you, no fences, cages or wires to pen humans or animals in.
So our orangutans come towards us from a lush, green mini-jungle, looking perfectly happy with their lot.
As they near our tropical café, an artificial tree branch, just like a drawbridge, lowers to allow them to clamber from their enclosure to an area at the side of our café.
Visitors can pose with the orangutans for zoo-taken photos, available for purchase, or take their own for no charge.
Touching is off-limits, but the orangutans snack and entertain for about half an hour before being guided by their zoo-keeper back home. Their drawbridge goes up, but there's still another thrilling activity to come.
Behind us a three-metre-long snake is lazing casually on a specially designed log platform, again available for photos, and this time allowed to be touched.
It's an amazing breakfast that is easily the highlight of the zoo, no mean feat, as our day includes close encounters with macaws and macaques, a wobbly elephant ride and a mini water-world show, where my children each get kissed by a seal.
Everything in the day's programme is fun as well as informative.
Visitors can be photographed with tropical birds and go to "Elephants at Work and Play" and "Splash Safari" shows; they can attend feeding times with giraffes, lions and chimpanzees as well as white tigers, pygmy hippos and proboscis monkeys; and they can go on behind-the-scenes-tours to see the breeding of butterflies in the "Fragile Forest", and get up close and personal with residents at the reptile garden.
A half-hour drive from Singapore city, it's possible to get to the zoo by public transport but still affordable by cab.
Zoo tours are also offered but have restrictions on attractions and time. Itinerary ideas, travel information and packages including other Singapore attractions can be found online.
The facts
Singapore Night Safari
-40ha of lush secondary forest, opened in 1994
-120 species of animals, 29% of which are threatened
-open daily from 7.30pm-midnight
-adult entry S$22 (NZ$28), child (3-12 years) S$11 (NZ$14). Tram ride extra S$10/$5 (NZ$13/$6.50).
-Not to be confused with the adjacent Singapore Zoo, the Singapore Night Safari allows you to truly see creatures in a different light.
More than 1000 mainly nocturnal animals roam through imaginative and inviting enclosures, seen through subtle lighting under a tropical night from a tram that tootles by.
The absence of walls and wire can be disconcerting when only metres away from wild creatures in near darkness, but it adds to the excitement: the 3.2km ride is a pure adrenaline rush, albeit one that takes place incredibly slowly.
Two road loops and 2.8km of walking trails feature animals organised on geographic themes, such as the Himalayan foothills, equatorial Africa or the South American pampas.
Creatures include hyenas, giant anteaters and rhinos, as well as Asian elephants, Gir lions, Malayan tigers and sloth bears.
Three heart-stopping walking trails include Forest Giants, the Leopard Trail, and Fishing Cat, which includes two giant aviaries holding flying squirrels and the largest bat in the world - the flying fox.
Not for the faint-hearted, the winged mammals swoop so low you can feel the hair on your head move.
For those strong on animal instinct and the call of the wild, the experience can't be beaten.
Other attractions include a creatures of the night show and Bornean tribal performers, who juggle and swallow fire to the gasps of a captivated crowd.
-Entry to the night safari is opposite that of the Singapore Zoo. All flash photography is banned.
Singapore Zoo
-28ha of rainforest environment, opened in 1973
-315 species of animals, 16% of which are threatened
-open daily from 8.30am-6pm daily
-adult entry S$18 (NZ$23), child (3-12 years) S$9 (NZ$11.50).
-Pam Jones is a Warrington-based writer.
