I had some family in town over the weekend, which always goes down a treat as we temporarily do away with the tyranny of distance and get to spend some quality time pretending we don't just spend our time working, drinking and sleeping. We try to keep a couple of tourist attractions up our sleeve for visitors, and more recently have been holding off visiting Gardens by the Bay, so we can kill two birds with one stone, which we did last Friday on a rare day off work actually spent in Singapore.
Wow! What can I say except this attraction goes straight to number one with a bullet. What an amazing place, the architecture is stunning and they have a great variety of plants from around the World. As an added bonus the whole thing is air-conned, and not a hint of humidity (which is more than can be said for outside this time of year). It gets bonus points for being within walking distance to the bars of Boat Quay afterwards - especially if you call a 45 minute walk a 'stroll'.
Entering the first of the two covered domes, where the wonderful glassed architecture of the roof greets you with amazing light and yet a very cool and dry environment:
The themed flower area in Flower Dome, with an aviation theme
Camera enthusiasts of Singapore rejoice, as along with the Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay brings the number of fauna related shooting locations in Singapore to a very respectable two. The teddy bear on the baloon was cute, and if you can look closely enough into his sunnies you can see my shorts:
Next up in the Cloud Dome is the massive waterfall feature which greets you as you walk in. You then walk around it and take a lift to the top, and make your way back down through the various types of rainforest that exist at different altitudes. Its all very well done, and walking across the Tree Top Walk so far above ground is not for the feint hearted.
The view of the waterfall, looking back down towards the entrance:
And last but not least, Marina Bay Sands as seen through the glass windows from the Treetop Walk:
So there we have it, Gardens by the Bay finally ticked off the list. Next stop Tiong Bahru, and coming up next month - and I'm REALLY looking foward to this one - the Tiger Brewery Tour. 'Til next time.
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