Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay at Night and Day

Garden by the Bays

I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve been to Singapore yet the development in the area never ceases which is good for regular visitors like me as there’s always something new to explore and this visit I had the Gardens by the Bay to explore.  Since I’ve been to most places in Singapore, I adopted a different approach at exploring the place.  One at night where the bright lights would stand out and one in the day where you can appreciate the whole garden in broad daylight.

Gardens at Night

The Flyer, The Super Trees and the Dome at Night

After my afternoon meeting and a run around Singapore, I rushed into Gardens by the Bay which is easily accessible using the Bayfront MRT station.  The first thing you’d notice is the Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore Flyer, the Super Trees and the Domes. These structures illuminated by the moonlight and reflected by the Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lake in the Garden create a very scenic and elegant night view.    A good thing about the Gardens by the Bay is that the entrance is free just visiting the garden though if you’d want to climb the view deck and have a higher view of the park, this would cost you S$5 and visiting the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest would cost you $28 for both domes.

What’s in a Super Tree?

Going further inside the Garden, you’d see more Super Trees, which had canopies embedded with environmentally sustainable features like harvesting solar energy and is about 16 storeys high.  The Super Tree is also suitable for vertical planting.  Each tree is made of reinforced concrete core, steel trunk, planting panels and a Canopy shaped like an inverted umbrella.  There’s a Skyway that connects two of the main super tree wherein you can take a higher view of the gardens. and also the nearby Marina Bay Sands. Some technical info were obtained from Gardens by the Bay website (click here)

Marina Bay Sands

Gardens at Day

The Flyer, The Super Trees and the Dome at Night

Since I was able to go around some of the parts at night time, I focused my time touring the Domes and the Skyway.  The advantage that daylight brings is the you can appreciate the various plants in the Garden and the lakes are also very much visible at this time.  First up was a climb atop the OCBC Skyway which had a view of the Gardens and had a closer look at the Canopy.  At this vantage point, you can see a much better view of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer and the other super trees.

Atop the OCBC Skyway

Next stop was to visit the Domes.  There are two Dome, one is the Cloud Forest and the other one is the Flower Dome.  The Cloud Forest was a look at a different type of rainforest while the Flower Dome had various of plant species from around the world gathered in this dome.

The Cloud Forest

Upon entering the Cloud Forest, the first thing you’d see is an indoor waterfall covered with plants and vegetation.  You then get  to explore the falls from inside as you get to ascend to the peak of the dome where you can see a lot of different plants along the wall and inside the structure.  There’s also a crystal garden, a audio visual presentation on the benefits of the rainforest and an actual rain forest with all misty effect.  It was nice to see the falls from different vantage points.

Flower Dome

Flower Dome was the second Dome in the area and it takes Flower Power to a different level as you get to see plant species from rare cactus to all the common and colorful flower beds.  It was great exploring the place with all the different variant of plants from top to bottom of the dome.  At the bottom of the dome, you are treated to a very colorful display of flower beds.

A Replica of the Gardens by the Bay

It was really nice exploring Gardens by the Bay and to appreciate its beauty at night and day.  It’s great that they were able to come up with an environment friendly concept which is a nice tourist spot and at the same time can promote awareness.

And Another Singapore Visit

Singapore Flyer

That was a productive four days in Singapore as I was able to visit the gardens, eat my favorite Singapore foods, attend a business meeting, shop a little, met former colleagues and friends to catch up and was able to sneak in a few runs around Singapore. I was also able to meet some new friends at the airport.

My New Found Friends