It was the best birthday present to spend a whole day of adventure with great company! The day was spent sharing the experience of two of Singapore’s most amazing destinations: Garden by the Bay and Night Safari. My heart was full by the end of the day, though my body, another year older, was exhausted after such an eventful day. Here’s the documentation of our longest day in Singapore.
Garden by the Bay is a grandiose museum of flowers with two enormous conservatories called Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. This fantastic garden is easily accessible from the city center yet full of naturey-goodness. It is a big attraction so I would highly recommend allocating at least one full day to explore it. We visited the garden in the morning while the tides of the crowd were still low and spent a good few hours taking in the gorgeous waterfalls and meticulous details of Cloud Forest.
Immediately upon entering the structure, Cloud Forest welcomed us with therapeutic oxygen generated from a mass photosynthesis. An impressive tower covered in green plants and roaring waterfalls immediately captured our sights. Stepping into the conservatory from the humid tropical climate was not an entirely world-apart experience, but it rather gave me an impression of discovering a secret paradise encased inside a delicate glassware.
I have visited the Cal Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Biodome in Montreal. Both were amazing. But, my visit to Garden by the Bay moved me to a whole different level. Garden by the Bay was carefully curated to create an environment that resonates with Singapore’s tropical climate. The openness and the scale of this garden was simply mind-blowing and its design was very precise. Even the smallest of details, including the arrangement of sculptures amongst the flowers, had been considered. I’ve never visited any place quite like this before.
We started to explore the conservatory from the ground level, and looped around the circumference of the tower structure. There were many beautiful flowers including the gallery dedicated to hybrid orchids. Eventually, the tour route led us to an elevator that took us to the top of the tower aptly named the “Secret Garden.”
The “Secret Garden” was a starting point to explore the galleries of natural and man-made artworks. The conservatory was filled with small whimsical details such as wooden sculptures and stone figurines hiding behind the blooming orchids. While the fragrant exhibition of flowers was truly mesmerizing, these artworks added an amusing touch. From the “Secret Garden,” we slowly spiraled our way down the tower through the sky walk.
Reaching the bottom of Cloud Forest was a journey of its own. It was a transformative experience to wander through the tunnels and misty passages under the waterfalls. With every transition, every movement through the space, under the waterfalls, down the ramps, over the thresholds, we felt a significant change in climate – activating our senses in a similar way to experiencing a well-curated meal or a narrative instrumental piece of music. When we finally reached the exit, we were content and ready for a lunch break. The conservatory was getting more crowded and it was perfect timing for break. After lunch, we proceeded to Flower Dome.
While Cloud Forest was designed to travel vertically from top to the bottom, the other conservatory, Flower Dome, was an expansive arena that opened horizontally in all directions. Flower Dome was sectioned into various climate zones and housed many different vegetations from around the world. This specific part of the exhibition was quite familiar to us. We were especially at home in the area about desert plants and Californian vegetation. We browsed through quickly and were on our way. I particularly enjoyed the Christmas market in the center part of the conservatory and some of the art installation in Flower Dome.
Garden by the Bay really left a powerful impression on me and it was one of the best memories from Singapore. After we returned to the hotel, Becca and Michelle celebrated my birthday with a surprise Japanese cheesecake(!) ordered from a local cake shop through a delivery app called Grab (which by the way, you must download on your phone when traveling through this part of the world). The cake was too delicious and I was too busy eating it all up that it completely escaped me to take a photo of it. Sorry foodies!
After the sun disappeared into the skylines, Becca had gathered friends from the wedding party and we went out for a quick dinner followed by the #1 attraction of Singapore: Night Safari.
When we arrived at Singapore Zoo, the ticket vendor recommended that we explore the Rainforest Lumina instead of jumping on the tram to Night Safari right away. I don’t think “laser show” was the perfect word to describe Rainforest Lumina, but basically the whole zoo turned into an LED art installation. It was magical and awesome. The path inside the park was arranged with gimmicks involving projection mapping and sound effects. It was a perfect “pre-game” to the one-of-a-kind experience of seeing the animals at night.
Night Safari was a truly special experience. We hopped on the tram that carried us through the dark forests only illuminated by a few lights exposing freely roaming beasts. It was a night after a heavy rain and many animals, including lions, were out in the open to watch us from their casual after-dinner strolls. The park was intended to display the animals in their natural habitat. This was accomplished by digging a moat between the tour trails and the animal homes. Night Safari was a completely cage-free experience. We were relieved that the lions were not into free-range human meat.
If you are visiting Singapore, you should definitely consider trying the two attractions mentioned in this post.
Up next, I will post colorful street photos from various ethnic quarters of Singapore. This will be the most vibrant photo post yet! Please stay tuned.
Shiok la bro!
Written by: Kosuke Haga
Edited by: Rebecca Hoover