SINGAPORE: A CITY IN A GARDEN

 

Singapore is known as “A City in a Garden”.  It is not only state of the art, clean and well organized, it also has a lot of green space.  Any place there is room, there is a tree planted and according to our tour guide, the focus these days is to continue the planting of trees so that eventually it will not only be considered a “City in a Garden”, but also, “A Garden in a City”!  

During our two day visit to Singapore, we had the opportunity to visit two iconic gardens plus a natural hilltop look-out.  I will share some of the beautiful botanic spaces we saw.

On our first day we visited the “Gardens by the Bay”.  It is a beautiful botanical garden/park with three waterfront gardens adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.  The park was part of the nation’s plan to transform its “Gardens City”  to a “City in a Garden” aiming to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.  First announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2005, Gardens by the Bay was intended to be Singapore’s premier urban outdoor recreation space and one of the country’s national icons.  It certainly is all of that!

The largest of the three waterfront gardens and the one we visited is the Bay South Garden.  Its Flower Dome is the largest columless glass greenhouse in the world.  We didn’t visit that one, but instead visited the Cloud Forest.  It isn’t as big as the Flower Dome but is taller.  It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions.  It features a 138 foot tall “Cloud Mountain” that visitors ascend to the top via elevator and then descend by a circular path crossing underneath a waterfall and enjoy the plants and flowers along the way.  Here are some of the beautiful flora that we saw:

Magnificent Waterfall.

Beautiful flowers and plants.

Garden statues are plentiful.

Gorgeous blossoms!

Incredible view from the “top of the mountain”

Rain Forest behind the amazing waterfall!  This is my favorite photo!

We visited Mount Faber Park which is one of the oldest parks in Singapore. We rode up as far as we could go in the coach and then walked up the rest of the way on the Murano Trail to Mount Faber Peak which is the highest point in the park with a panoramic view, a mini Merlion, and a tree that was planted during the first Tree Planting Day.  Here are some photos that I snapped along the way:

Walking trail heading up!

We passed a Yoga Class along the trail.

The Peak Look-Out.

Mini Merlion

City Views

View of the cable cars and Ocean

Cute couple!  Ha!

We also spent time at the National Orchid Garden.

It is located on the highest hill in the Singapore Botanic Gardens and opened in 1915.  There are about 600 Orchid species and hybrids on display.  Needless to say the garden is gorgeous and very well done!  There are so many varieties of Orchids.  I had no idea…..

The following photos show some of the gorgeous flowers thar we encountered while wandering down the many paths.  Enjoy!

Which path to take?

Before our departure from Singapore there was one more thing to do - Take a Ride on The Cable Car! 

The Singapore Cable Car is a gondola lift in Singapore, providing an aerial link from Mount Faber on Singapore Island to the resort island of Sentosa across the Keppel Harbour.  The cable car went right above our ship.

I am not fond of heights and was tired after a busy day and elected not go.  Mark was determined to do it so he decided to go by himself.  He was gone a little over an hour.  After excitingly describing his journey once he returned, I was a little jealous!  Next time I need to be more “OPEN”!  Here are some photos he took on his “incredible journey!  I especially enjoyed the cartoon Little Kittys on the cable car windows!

Time to go!  So Long Singapore!