Singapore is also known as the “Garden City” with good reason. There are tons of parks and green space; we had visited Gardens by the Bay and Fort Canning Park in the previous post, and next we wanted to see the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is one of only three gardens to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It sits on 200 acres, with 10,000 plant species, well kept pathways, multiple entrances and, the best part, it’s free to all (only one part has a fee, we’ll visit there later). There are multiple places to get picked up by taxi as well, and a shuttle also runs throughout the park, so super easy to get around.
I know that read like an ad for the Gardens, but we actually enjoyed it so much on our first visit that we returned the next day to enjoy it some more. We started out at the main building, impressive in itself. There, a nice staffer named Helen gave us the lay of the park.
Then we were off to wander.
It is a really beautiful place; we saw different plants and there are so many paths and different themed gardens to see; we didn’t even see half of it during our two visits. We did see a few monitor lizards, which were startling as they are three feet long; a hornbill bird in the trees, and even a tree named after us (the barringtonia asiatica)!
The highlight of the gardens though, is the one place that has an entry fee; the Orchid Garden, which is well worth it. Once you find the clock, you know you’re there.
The Orchid garden is really big, and there’s thousands of different varieties of Orchids. There is even a section for visiting heads of state and world leaders who have orchid hybrids named after them. Here is just a small sample of the orchids we were lucky enough to see:
It is always hot in Singapore, and the Orchid Garden is no exception, but there is the indoor Tan Hoon Siang Mist House, which houses all the indoor varieties. It is a great place to cool off as the A/C is on full blast and the orchids are arranged so beautifully throughout. We walked through it, then turned around and went back the way we came in, to get as much A/C as possible.
Our last full day we visited the National Gallery Singapore. It is housed in the former city hall, and connected to the Supreme Court building; it was a bit confusing to find as we had to go through the whole Supreme Court building to reach the museum.
Once we figured out where to buy tickets, we went to the basement to check our backpack. There are galleries on three of the four floors, and a free gallery on the basement level; but one can wander through the hallways without a ticket, which made it more confusing; and there was also another paid exhibit which we chose not to pay for on another floor.
From the basement level we took the elevator to the roof as we had heard that was worth seeing, and it most definitely is. The sun was still out and it was so hot that we only snapped a quick pic of the courthouse dome and orange art installation and then headed back inside to the A/C, to return later.
We started exploring the museum on the 4th floor to see a temporary exhibit devoted to the paintings of He Xiangning, who I had not heard of before. She was quite an impressive artist, and that was just the beginning. She was also a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, and poet on top of being a renowned painter. It was really interesting to read about how much she accomplished and what influence she had on both Singapore and China. She also collaborated with many artists. Here are some of her paintings I really liked.
On the other floors were art from Singapore and other Asian countries from the 1800s-throught the present day. It scratched the Art itch we had. Here are some of my favorite pieces:
We returned to after the Gallery closed to the roof deck, our favorite part of the museum. The ominous skies gave way to a little drizzle while we were on the roof, but the views were worth it.
The rain picked up on our walk back, because we did not bring our umbrellas with us…we brought our umbrellas on the night tour and to the botanical gardens and it never rained once, but the one time we did not, it rained on us during our walk back. We stopped in the mall at Clarke Quay, and learned there was a whole food court in the basement. We ate banh mi sandwiches (which is kinda silly as our next stop is Vietnam) and some Chinese buns. It was cheap and delicious.
There are a lot of food markets (called Hawker Centers/Markets) in Singapore and those are where the cheap eats are found. Sit-down restaurants charge a service fee and tax of up to 25% total, while the Hawker market eateries and food courts charge 0%, which make the Hawker markets a good place to find a lot of food choices for not a lot of money.
Overall, Singapore was a fun place to visit. It is expensive, however, at least provides new roads, clean streets, great shopping, and safety/no crime for the expense. They also have top notch public transportation, but we weren’t there long enough to use it. It was a little sterile for us, but that can be good for many travelers and I recommend visiting if one gets the chance. That wraps up our quick, four night stay in Singapore, on to the next country, Vietnam!
Phil's WayPastCool 