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Monday, July 16, 2012

Gardens by the Bay

Last week, my mum and I went to this Singapore's latest National Gardens - Gardens by the Bay, Bay South, just opened on 29th June. Even though the weather wasn't really good, there was already a big crowd.

The Supertree Grove is surely one of the main attraction of the Gardens, as everyone seems to be posing in front of the Supertrees for photo-taking (到此一游!). I'm lucky to take one photo without any people obstructing my view! There are 12 Supertrees located at the Supertree Grove. The other 6 Supertrees are placed in clusters of threes at the Golden and Silver Gardens.



If you are not afraid of heights, you can go up to walk along the OCBC Skyway, a 128-metre long walkway that connects two of the Supertrees ($5/adult, $3/child) for a panoramic view of the entire Garden.


We didn't go up the OCBC Skyway because there was a queue for the tickets and I told myself to come back another time when it is less crowded. Smart decision I made, because not long after, it started to rain and I saw people who were already at the Skyway were stuck up there with no place to take shelter. Pity those people. So choose a good weather to visit!


While it was raining, we went into the Supertree Dining area. It looks like but it isn't a foodcourt like we expected. It has 5 different restaurants in it and each has a different entrance. And you are not allowed to go in and sit if you are not ordering any food. We went into the Hill Street Coffee Shop, thinking of getting some bread and toast for tea-break. Unfortunately, all the bread and toast were sold out, some other items also sold out. There were limited choices and we didn't want a full meal, so we went out without ordering anything. I hope they can improve on the food choices. :(


A view of the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Conservatories from the Dragonfly Bridge.


Some of the flowers in the Chinese Garden.


The entrance at the Dragonfly Bridge, the Dragonfly Lake, view of Singapore Flyer and spotted an Avocado tree planted by Jason Mraz on the official opening day.


So this ends our short visit to the Gardens. Hope to be back again when the crowd is gone. It is a huge place with many little gardens to visit and we have only explored a small part of it. Some of the trees and plants look like they are just planted and there are few flowers and fruits growing. There's also a light and sound show at 7.45pm and 8.45pm every night to watch.

On a sidenote, while the Gardens is free to enter, the 2 conservatories admission fees of $20/adult, $15/senior citizen, $12/child for local residents is a little pricey. You can easily spent over a $100 for a whole family including meals. I think the Gardens should be a place not just for the rich. Lowering the price for local residents will be great.