The View From My Beer
I found a bar in the unlikeliest of places, the observatory deck for what are known as the Super Trees. I had a stubbie of Tiger Lager while taking in the light show (different to last night’s).
Singapore
Day two of my three-day stopover in Singapore, returning to Australia from Europe. In 2005, a new projects was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to transition the city of Singapore from a ‘Garden City’ to a ‘City in a Garden’. This was a national initiative to enhance the quality of urban life with pervasive greenery. The main Bay South Garden component of the project inaugurated in June 2012.
I believe today was the day my travel photography went in a completely new direction. I had started to get a better feel for the things that appeal to me when I visit new places. And today was just an overload of so many stunning things I found it hard to put my phone (camera) down. I went from taking 30-50 photos on a good day to taking over 200 photos!
My Walk
Having visited many of the downtown sights yesterday, my plans for today were to explore the Gardens by the Bay area, something completely new since my last visit to Singpore. There were three major attractions I wanted to see today – The Flower Dome, Cloud Forest and the Super Trees is an awesome site to see at night.
The Flower Dome
The Flower Dome is the world’s largest glasshouse. The dome uses 3,332 glass panels and its architecture allows for an unobstructed view of the stunning gardens inside. It is broken into eight themed gardens – of which the flower displays were simply awesome. I would not describe myself as being someone who devotes a lot of time to flowers, but the displays inside the Flower Dome were something else. Singapore is famous for its orchids, and they had the best display of orchids here I have ever seen.
IOther sections of the gardens featured an extensive display of plants from around the world. The plants were often integrated into sets, with accessories adding to the experience.
Cloud Forrest
Next door to The Flower Dome, was Cloud Forest, a conservatory that replicates the cool, moist climate found in tropical mountains between 1,000 and 3,000 meters above sea level. It is currently designed with a theme for Jurassic Park with large animated dinosaurs located around the conservatory. The walk involves taking an elevator to the very top and then winding your way down a path that passes the plant exhibits.
Supertrees
I took a quick walk over to Supertrees grove. My plan was to come back and visit this attraction tonight, but I had time for a quick look before returning to my hotel to rest for an hour or so and recharge the battery on my phone.
The Supertrees are a vertrical garden that blend nature, art, and technology. There are 18 supertrees, each being buildt around convcrete pylons that rise between 25 and 50 metres off the gound. The pylons are sorround by over 160,000 plants from 200 species.
I returned just as the sun was setting. I had putchased tickets for the observatory which would allow me to view the trees from above. I decided to take the climb just before the first of two light shows, alowwing me the chance to view it from above. There was also a walkway option, but it had been closed due to the weather. Afterwards I watched the second light show from below, giving me the best of both worlds. I will say, the photos don’t do justice to how spectacular these trees were.
