Singapore, Gardens by the Bay

Situated in the Marina Bay Area on totally reclaimed land is one of Singapore’s most visited areas both by locals and tourists.  The Gardens by the Bay is 225 acres of gardens from around the world.  The center piece is the super tree grove where twelve super trees built of a concrete core and reinforced with steel and planting panels tower 25 to 50 meters into the air.  They are covered with over 160,000 plants and at night are the site of two nightly music and light shows which are quite stunning.  Along the waters edge are two vast biodomes. One is the flower dome and is home to displays from different areas of the world as well the main floor hosts special shows. While we were there it was a tulip show which was very colourful but not near as spectacular as Amsterdam.  The Cloud Forest Biospere was amazing.  Home to the highest indoor waterfall in the world the plant displays were spectacular and the cloud walkway led you up to the top of the building where the view down was incredible.  Throughout around every corner one was met with eye catching displays of plants and flowers. It was an orchid lovers heaven.  

There is a charge to visit the biospheres but the rest of the gardens are free for all.  I definitely feel credit needs to be given to the city planners for providing such an oasis for their citizens and visitors alike.

The succulent gardens were so colourful they almost made me want to experiment 

Whimsical figures added to the enjoyment in the spheres

Viewing the tulip show from above. Once we were amongst the flowers it became a bit of an annoyance at times as it seemed that every Asian wanted their picture taken with every flower

Unusual displays for sure. Her eyes even blinked which was a bit startling at first

Unusual gnarly tree inside the flower dome

Highest indoor waterfall

Beautiful carved dragons set amongst the greenery 

Even a few Venus fly traps made from Lego in a display at the top of the cloud dome

It was a very long way down

The variety of plants covering the center dome was incredible 

Peep holes through the rocks revealed garden treasures

Some crystals found in natural formation added to the beauty

Another secret peek

Man made waterways with fountains and whimsical sculptures have walkways all around them so one can spend hours just wandering 

Where a tree has not grown just make one.  These were just two of the interesting ones dotted around

A view of the super grove of trees

I took this photo from the top of the Marina Sands Hotel. The center tree has a restaurant on top

Also from up top this shows the sheer size of these wonderful gardens

Trees lit at night

As well as the lights one can see how the planting’s are progressing up the trees

The lights at night were spectacular with the Singapore wheel in the background 

A great way to finish the evening in the garden before heading off to dinner and an evening martini

Singapore

Our visit to Singapore was both entertaining and enlightening.  Singapore is unusual as it is both a city and a country.  Under tight rule of what one could cal a Socialist Democratic government the reigning party which has been in power for many decades has tight control.  Eighty two percent of Singaporians own apartments in government housing.  These housing projects are huge high rises and citizens must be couples in order to buy a unit.  The units in all the projects are essentially the same ranging from two to five rooms and one purchases a shell and finishes the inside yourself.  The purchase is a 99 year lease and one can sell after five years but can only purchase once from the government and all other real estate is extremely expensive.  The units are sold before the buildings are built and to keep racial peace it is dictated that a precise percentage must be sold to Malay, Chinese and a small number to remaining nationalities.  Interesting approach.  An interesting fact we learn is that medical tourism is huge in Singapore and 60% of the surgeries performed here are done on tourists!

Singapore is definitely a city of contrasts with hundreds of high rises sharing space with with old colonial buildings that have been well preserved and turned into museums and grand hotels.  Even the old buildings in China town have been well preserved and this is a vibrant area to visit.  Singapore is the first city we have visited where we have not hesitated to eat any of the street food as every stall is very regulated and inspected regularly.  We did not see a single street person or begger anywhere.  There are wonderful walkways along the river and the ocean,many with covered walkways to protect one from the hot sun and the pelting rain that seems to occur daily. Though Singapore is densely populated they have done a magnificent job of providing plenty of green space throughout and have planting’s everywhere including on many of the buildings and on most of the walkways.  One never feels like you are in a concrete jungle.  Shopping is obviously a favourite pastime and the malls and stores are plentiful and over the top. The architecture of the buildings is fascinating with some giving the illusion that they are bent. Very interesting when one realizes that 30% of Singapore is land they have reclaimed from the sea, with more yet to be claimed.

The Marina Bay area of Singapore,built entirely on reclaimed land created a large fresh water reservoir needed by the city, and is a wonderful place to spend many hours .  Using walkways and bridges one can walk around the 3.5 kilometre promenade which houses shopping malls, a stadium built on the water, the unusual Marina Bay Sands Resort and the Merlion statue which symbolizes the union of the lion city and the sea.

Definitely the cleanest city we have ever seen and one well worth visiting.

Beautiful flowers adorn the walkways

Playful elephants welcome visitors into the Indian portion of Singapore 

The architecture was stunning with many buildings having the illusion of being bent



One of the many public housing buildings.  The fabric flying outside the units is actually laundry as every unit has special poles for this purpose to keep down energy consumption 

The greenery on some buildings was quite astounding and lush. Of course the plentiful rainfall most days makes for easy watering.

Historic old buildings along the river have been beautifully restored with no changes allowed to the outside and now are a busy area of cafes and nightclubs.

An old bridge from 1868 leads to the historic Fullerton Hotel

The round building is the courthouse and was apparently designed in this manner so no one would ever feel cornered by the judges or lawyers.

An interesting view of a river bridge

A river boat touring the unusual looking theatres on the bay

The Marina Sands Hotel. The views from the top deck of the 56th floor were absolutely panoramic.  There is also an infinity swimming pool up there which I think many may find a bit difficult to take

The food court in China town

China town was so bright and clean

Singapore food carts

All the old buildings are so well restored and maintained they almost look new

The harbour outside the city had literally dozens of frieghtors waiting to either load or unload

The malls were definitely fancier than what we are accustomed to at home

The helix bridge was inspired by the structure of DNA and leads to the science museum as well as the Gardens by the Bay

A view of the walkway along the waterfront with newer buildings dwarfing those in front

The merlion is the symbol of Singapore representing the union of the city of the lion and the sea



The river winds through parts of the city with low rise older buildings along its shores and more and more high rises the further away you get

The lotus flower shaped building is a museum.  I wonder how many balls are lost to the water in the unusual stadium built over the water

The financial district of Singapore 

Kuching, Malaysia

Kuching is located in Sarawak Malaysia or Borneo as it is more often referred to be the locals.Known as the land of the hornbills Kuching means cat in Malay and is home to the worlds first cat museum which you can be sure Eric and I did not visit.  Our drive through the city revealed quite a modern city with more single family homes than we had seen elsewhere on this trip.  The surprising feature was the large amount of brand new multi storied buildings that are standing totally unoccupied.  There were more than a few and one could not help but wonder who has the resources to keep building when the need is obviously not there.

The highlight of our day was a visit to the Semenggah Nature Center to see the orangutans.  Here they are in the wild and there are no fences so there is no quarantee that you will see them but it was our lucky day indeed.  We spent a good couple of hours with permanent grins on our faces first watching three young adults play and eat and then we went for a short trek where we then got to meet the dominant and largest male living at the Center.  Weighing in at over 200 kgs he was quite impressive.  When we thought we were more than lucky and heading out a mom appeared with her two month old baby.  We could not have had a more perfect visit!

As we were in Borneo to make our visit complete we went to visit the longhouse home of the descendants of the Borneo headhunters.  They were not canibals, they collected the heads as trophies when outsiders tried to come onto their land.  They would put the head in a basket in the river and leave it there until the fish had cleaned it to a skull and that is what they hung in ther longhouse.  Thankfully this practice ended many years ago though the longhouse itself could use some updating.

Chinese cemetery in Kuching where each grave is like a giant chair

Some of the remaining heads from the head hunters of Borneo 

Pretty rustic kitchen facility 

Longhouse is raised and the floor is made of bamboo 

Mother and baby coming into view

Enjoying his coconut 

Probably thinks we are all pretty funny looking

The faces are so expressive and darned near human

Aerobics class should be so easy

He is so big I would not want to meet up with him in the forest

He is definitely smiling

You have to love the hair style

Enjoying a bite of lunch

Don’t you dare try and touch my food

I have a feeling that waterfront property is a little more reasonable here than at home


Some of the local fish boats were so colourful that one could not resist taking pictures