The weather forecast for today promised high humidity and thunder showers. It was right on both counts. After ten minutes outside, my curls rivaled Little Orphan Annie’s. The thunder shower, supposed to start at noon, held off until nearly six. I was grateful for that, but not entirely (I’ll explain later).
After breakfast I took my first ride on the Singapore subway system (the MRT). As any visitor to the city will attest to, it is clean, fast, and efficient. All the signs are in English, making it easy to navigate. The stations have elevators and escalators, making the system accessible for me and other travelers with mobility issues. I wish the NYC subway system were half as pleasant. My destination was the Gardens by the Bay.
The Gardens didn’t exist when I was here last; they opened in 2012 as part of Singapore’s vision to transform itself into a “City in a Garden.” Since then, it has become one of Singapore’s most visited attractions, drawing millions of visitors annually. The two domes of the garden, the Flower dome and Cloud dome have icons of the city’s skyline. The other unmissable feature is the towering Super Tree Grove.
A shuttle van whisked me from the MRT to the domes. I began my visit in the flower dome, the larger of the two conservatories and one of the world’s largest glass greenhouses. The sweeping glass shell floods the space with natural light. As I walked through, on gently sloping paths, I passed through areas where the climate and vegetation mimics differing environments like the Mediterranean, California, South Africa, and Australia. And I must mention the many lovely sculptures elegantly displayed in the garden. I always think of the NY Botanical Garden as immaculately maintained and extraordinary. Gardens by the Bay is its equal.
For the coming Chinese New Year, the Flower Dome also has a massive display celebrating spring. There are elaborate lanterns, pagodas, archways, and auspicious red and gold floral displays. It being the year of the horse, there are also a lot of horses embedded in the floral displays.
After a couple of hours of immersing myself in the displays I needed a break. The food options range from simple snacks to Shake Shack to fine dining. I opted for a seafood restaurant where I ate a delicious meal of smoked salmon fried rice.
Then it was on to the Cloud dome, currently hosting “Jurassic World: The Experience.” I assumed it would be a bit hokey and wouldn’t take long to walk through. On the contrary, I spent more time there than I had in the Flower dome.
I stepped into the mist-shrouded conservatory. The first sight is a dramatic waterfall crashing down from the top of the dome. Walking along the path I came upon endless varieties of orchids, ferns and other lush plants that thrive in cloud forest conditions.
The Jurassic exhibition transforms the misty greenery into a prehistoric world. Along the route are life-sized animatronic dinosaurs including a towering Brachiosaurus near the central waterfall and a fearsome roaring Tyrannosaurus Rex. Overhead are pterosaurs, prehistoric reptiles that flew above the dinosaurs.
Paths (accessed via elevator or escalators) swoop around the dome.
Every few feet a new plant or view caught my attention and caused me to stop and admire it. I spent hours in the dome; I simply couldn’t tear myself away.
When I finally left, I was exhausted. But I soldiered on, drawn by the nearness of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel (of Crazy Rich Asians fame), with its three distinctive towers topped by a park and infinity pool. I simply had to take a look. I never made it up to the roof, a steady drizzle had begun. Instead, I peaked at the public spaces, had a drink, and sat for a while soaking in the hotel’s atmosphere.
I had a ticket to take a night tour of the city, on an open-top hop-on-hop-off bus. By the time I arrived at the departure point, the drizzle had become a downpour. I changed the tour until tomorrow night when, hopefully, the weather will cooperate (though the forecast isn’t promising).
Then I did what every Singaporean seems to do on Saturday night, I wandered around the nearby mall. Frankly, it wasn’t all that interesting. I had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, which seemed a lot healthier than the other mall options. My hawker meal still awaits.
These are but a few of the MANY photos I took. You’ll see more of them at some later date.