Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay: the standard-setting floral-forest display!

Though it’s some three weeks since I was in Singapore for, among other things, GITEX Asia, and I’ve traveled thousands of miles (between three continents) in the meantime, herewith – another post on… Singapore. (Well, I did warn you: Singapore doesn’t let you go that easily!) For there are still some stories I need to tell you about some unbelievable Singapore wonders…

Let’s start with one of the most remarkable spots in this city-state – the Gardens by the Bay. This is how they look from the rooftop of that hotel – the one I stayed at (Marina Bay Sands). Check out those two big “shells” by the river: more on them a bit later…

And this is what it all looks like on Google Maps:

Now, those of you who’ve been following my tales for some time may be somewhat tired of my endless hyperbolic “Kasperologies” about places around the world that can only be described as mind-blowingly perfect, brain-meltingly unique, and absurdly stunning. Well… sorry, folks, but today it’s ‘here I go again’. For Singapore’s Gardens are exactly that kind of place. Nowhere else comes anywhere close, period. Let me show you how…

First things first: tropics with insane amounts of greenery ->

And lots of water too:

Second, everything was clearly carefully planned down to the minutest details, and it’s all neatly tended, trimmed and combed ->

Third… the total wow factor!

A little off to the side – a lily-covered pond…

…With kunsty installations!

And wildlife seems to be rather happy with Singaporean comforts…

Are there any downsides to this place? Of course: the Singaporean climate. Crazy hot, crazy humid, crazy sweaty; makes you crave ice cream or an ice-cold beer plus AC all the time. But I’ll come back to that in a bit.

Our aim on this day’s stroll: checking out those big shells I pointed out at the start. Here we are inside one of them:

Basically, they’re like giant greenhouses – only in reverse: giant… fridges! Ok – coolers maybe (for it only gets down to around 25°C; still beats the intense heat outside). But that’s not the main thing. The real deal is this absolutely jaw-dropping botanical construction the size of the whole shell:

That’s the structure we’ll be walking around for about an hour – quicker is just impossible. You keep stalling – staring at all the crazy installations, like these waterfalls:

But let’s follow the route:

Around the corner – elevators that drop visitors right under the top of the dome, from where you stroll down by foot, checking out everything along the way:

And there’s plenty to feast your eyes on!

Even the outside views are pretty epic (through nice clean windows) ->

Turn around – and you get this:

Peek outside again – the view’s changed:

A Grandiose, paradisical place!

How many pics did I snap there? Lost count. Editing them later was exhausting.

This shell-cooler isn’t called Cloud Forest for nothing. Every even hour (10:00, 12:00, 14:00, etc.), clouds get released over the whole installation from various spots up top – there, you can see a bit of mist appearing already:

Then it starts sinking lower and lower:

And you end up walking sometimes in clear air, sometimes through a misty haze:

An absolutely charming walk! Here’s a top-down view of the waterfalls:

And here’s the carnivorous plant section:

Shout-out to all vegans! Their beloved flora doesn’t mind snacking on passing fauna. These cute little pitchers just love insects ->

Any bug that falls in there is done for.

But since it’s not lunchtime yet, here are some other shots:

Even though I’m usually pretty indifferent to flora, I couldn’t resist snapping pics of flowers here! ->

A wonderful hour or hour-and-a-half stroll (if you don’t rush). I already want to go again!…

Sure, you can rush through it all in half-an-hour, but if you do you’ll miss some of the finer details. Like this: it’s not just a twisted tree-trunk, but a whole installation: the middle isn’t just a sphere – it’s a globe, and those branches have been transformed into… something like a cat chilling on top, and there’s a heron’s beak poking out in the middle. Lower down there’s a dolphin’s head sticking out, something whale-like too, and a snake slithering along. How can you walk past all that in a second?!

Unusual, inventive, unexpected… awesome! ->

Practically all pics are mine. But not this one ->

And that was that; Cloud Forest – done.

So what about its neighbor? Time to check it out too…
The Flower Dome is an enormous conservatory with all kinds of plants ->

Let’s walk!…

Though it’s called Flower Dome, what stands out the most (by far) are the cactuses and baobabs:

That’s baobab in the above pic, and as for cactuses – there’s an immense variety here! ->

Mammoth mushrooms!…

…But they’re not real. They come with what look like fairy-tale characters ->

And all sorts of other stuff too. Like these totally unusual plants that look plastic (and probably feel like it too – not that I touched them) ->

The objects bottom-right of center look like stone or crystal structures. But they’re plants too. Something like a “stone mushroom” ->

“Mother-in-law’s tongue” – a truly multicultural and interfaith topic :) ->

A dragon taking a break:

Stone birds kissing:

But I’m getting carried away again. Time to get back to the cactuses…

There are plenty of other plant kingdom members here (yep, that’s the official term – “kingdom”), but cactuses clearly get preferential treatment. And they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: