We get a late start into our sightseeing today as we need to get our photos off the cameras and onto the website first! But by late morning we are out the door and on our way to the next attraction Singapore has to offer: the Gardens by the Bay.
We grab a quick bite to eat before trading the hot and humid air outside for the chilly and dry world of the Flower Dome, the first of the two conservatories here. Spectacular and innovative, it is the largest glass greenhouse in the world! We dip in a world of perpetual spring with the amazing changing display of flowers and plants from the Mediterranean and semi-arid regions. The Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Here, one discovers not only the amazing beauty of these plants and flowers, but how they have also adapted to the cool-dry environments. The only thing missing from the California Desert display of cactus plants is a Joshua Tree! 😉
Up next is the entirely different Cloud Forest, which showcases plant life from tropical highlands up to 2,000 meters above sea level. It features a 35-metre-tall mountain covered in lush vegetation, shrouding the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. After taking the lift to the top of the mountaintop to discover the unique biodiversity and geology of cloud forests, we then take a stroll along a walkway in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy and mountainside below.
One could get used to the cool(er) temperatures in here, but there’s nothing like the reality check as we leave the conservatory for the outside world – and get hit hard with the hot and humid air that was waiting for us all along! Nevertheless .. there is more to see and we are off to explore it!
Of the 18 Supertrees in Gardens by the Bay, 12 of them can be found here at Supertree Grove, with the tallest one measuring up to 16 floors in height. Quite impressive (but hard to follow after the conservatories … definitely should have done this part first!
Soon it is time to head back to the hotel to grab our bags as we are off to another city, another country for the next 48 hours! But not before we learn that the black and white cabs re more expensive, all other color-cabs are cheaper (although for San Francisco terms, they are all cheap), and the airport is only a 30 min, SG$30 ride max away!
On our way to the airport, we also learn that Terminal 3 hosts a food court that is worth the visit – great food and cheap prices, and that sooner or later, the whole airport will look like the Gardens by the Bay: we find the cactus garden, the butterfly garden and a couple of min-Supertrees just by strolling through the terminal!
Our light on Jet Star SIN-KUL is delayed by almost 1 ½ hours, so we just hang tight before we make the 40 minute jump to Malaysia! Kuala Lumpur … what a difference (to Singapore)!
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