Singapore - Gardens by the Bay

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Note: We are home as of Thursday, 3 November, but still catching up on posting the last few days of this holiday!



Singapore is cursed! This morning at breakfast Bernie was checking our credit card accounts and found some suspicious activity on our Visa card. There was a $1.00 transaction with Gucci and then there were three transactions associated with Bean Mobility Services who we believe run the scooter hire service in Melbourne. Um, we’re in Singapore, we are certainly not riding a scooter around Melbourne.

Oh, hum, back to our room to ring the bank to report that our account seems to have been hacked. It took ages to get through to a person who then had to refer the call on somewhere else after verifying Bernie’s identity and clarifying the problem. Bernie said that he was calling from Singapore and asked if there was any way his call could be fast-tracked? That would be a ‘no’. Many more minutes passed on hold before Bernie spoke with person number two who, of course, cancelled the Visa card. Better cancelled than drained of $1,000s, but … what a nuisance.

Credit card issue sorted we set off for Gardens by the Bay about half an hour later than planned. But then there was the lens hood incident. I hadn’t even turned my lens hood out, but must not have secured it properly last night when I packed the camera up for the night. The lens hood dropped off crossing Bras Basah Road. I didn’t even hear it fall over the noise the pedestrian crossing was making, but the others were like, who dropped something? By the time we turned back to the road it was to see a car crush the lens hood under its wheel. Oh well, at least it was only a lens hood and not the camera!!!

With the Mastercard deemed unacceptable by the MRT and the Visa card now cancelled I used the debit card today and Bernie used another card that he has loaded on his phone. The technology worked just fine, but I remain nervous about international transaction charges being added to the fares we are racking up. Oh well, we can’t sit in our hotel room for three days!

So, Gardens by the Bay, take two. We purchased the $53.00 tickets that would allow us entry to both domes today. First was the Flower Dome which is home to over 20,000 plants from 200 species. It is a gigantic glass house that covers almost two acres arranged in a network of interconnected domes that provide access to different types of plants and gardens.

The volume of the Flower Dome is equivalent to 75 Olympic-sized swimming pools and it is covered with 3,332 glass panels. The temperature ranges from 23°C to 25°C making it a bit cooler than outside which was pleasant. The conservatory actually holds the Guinness World Record for largest greenhouse. The dome also features beautiful sculptures throughout.

The funniest thing though, we were in the cactus garden and we turned a corner and there was a group of primary school-aged students wearing shirts in the same shade of orange as Bernie’s shirt. It was lucky that he had his darker coloured shorts on otherwise he really would have looked like a big school kid!! Of course three of us thought this was hilarious, Bernie not so much.

We exited the Flower Dome via the gift shop, of course, and then made our way across to the Cloud Forest dome which houses a tropical rainforest and, at 35 metres high, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. This dome is as large as one and a half football fields. The temperature was again between 23°C and 25°C but, at 80-90% humidity, it was not as comfortable as the Flower Dome. We were able to venture deep into the forest via aerial bridges that allowed us to view plants from around the world. Some of the most exotic were the Venus flytraps and the pitcher plants. The dome is currently home to an ‘Avatar’-themed display that opened only a few days ago so we were lucky to see that.

After exiting through the gift shop – again! – we walked by the Supertree Grove. The supertrees are sustainable vertical gardens that house over 162,000 plants across more than 200 species. There are 18 supertrees in all with seven designed to harvest solar energy. For another $10.00 we could have ventured up to the OCBC Skyway, 22 metres above the ground, which allows for a closer look at the vertical gardens. We decided that the majesty of the supertrees themselves is better appreciated from ground level and instead decided to track down the sculpture of the giant baby that Steve had seen in a guide book at the gift shop.

The gardens also provide good views of Singapore’s crazy building with the ship on top. The Marina Bay Sands was opened in 2010 and is what is known in Singapore as an ‘integrated resort’. All this means is that the property includes a hotel and a casino together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury retail and fine dining. The ship on top houses the theme parks and also includes a 150 metre infinity pool that is nearly 200 metres above the ground!

We had to head towards the meadows to find the sculpture titled ‘Planet’. The seven ton piece was sculpted by Marc Quinn an artist from the UK. Crafted from white painted bronze and stainless steel the piece is a depiction of his infant son, Lucas. The sculpture appears to float above the grass, but is actually balanced on the relaxed arm of the sleeping child. A pretty awesome piece of art that has been gifted to the gardens for permanent display.

At this point Cathy and Steve decided to retire to the hotel and enjoy some pool time. Bernie and I decided to ride the cable car to Sentosa Island. When we were in Singapore in 2002 Bernie was nursing a torn calf muscle (badminton injury) so we didn’t get about as much as we might have if he’d been fully fit. We’ve always remembered seeing the cable car going through the building to Sentosa Island and thought it was something we should do if/when we visited Singapore again.

We found our way to the North East (Purple) Line and made our way to HarbourFront Station. It was around lunchtime so we thought we should look for something to eat before we purchased our tix for the cable car. We were walking around in the underground station following signs that seemed likely to lead to a food court sort of place. We were almost there and we were just checking a map outside the station when a very helpful local checked to see if he could help us. When we said we were heading to the food court he told us it is currently closed for refurbishments, but then suggested that we could head back into the station and then towards Vivo City instead and we would be able to find plenty of eating options there.

A good tip indeed. We found a food court and ordered noodle dishes by number and had them cooked freshly in front of us. Bernie went the Mee Goreng and I had a Penang Fried Kaow Teow. The food stalls don’t sell drinks, you have to go separately to a central drink stall, but that was the only difference between a Singaporean food court and one that we would find at a shopping centre in Melbourne. When we continued on through Vivo City we came to the Pizza Hut, the McDonalds, KFC and Subway, but we were much happier to have eaten noodles.

When we arrived the HarbourFront Tower cable car station we discovered that there is now a cable car that runs between Mount Faber and Sentosa Island and then there is a second cable car circuit that runs from one end of Sentosa Island to the other. We had been planning to cross to the island and back, but it only cost $2.00 more to buy a Sky Pass combined ticket so we rode both cable cars!

We rode across to the island first on the Mount Faber Line where we transferred to the Sentosa Line for a quick circuit of the island. Out to Siloso Point, back through the Imbiah Lookout Station and then out to Merlion Station and then back to our starting point. Our ticket entitled us to get on and off once at each station, but for us it wasn’t really about visiting anything on Sentosa Island, it was all about riding the cable car.

Now to me the weird thing about Sentosa Island is that it is promoted as an island resort and premier leisure destination. But it’s just a funny bit of land off Singapore’s south coast that is in a highly industrialised zone. If you pay the big bucks to stay at the fancy hotel at Siloso Point you have a lovely view of all the container ships waiting to come in to Singapore Harbour! For the money you would be paying I reckon you could find much more attractive destinations?!

We walked back to Sentosa Station where we re-boarded the Mount Faber Line which we rode through HarbourFront Station to the top of Mount Faber. We decided to alight for a quick look around the peak. One of Singapore’s six Merlions is located here so we took a short walk to find it. It was also an opportunity to appreciate the rainforest and the view looking over the city of Singapore to the north and Sentosa Island (and all those container ships!) to the south.

It was not a busy afternoon on the cable cars so we had a car to ourselves for each leg of the journey which was much preferable to having to share a car with strangers! We imagine that the cable cars are busier in the evenings when people head up Mount Faber to look out over the Singapore City lights. We were lucky to be able to take our ride mid-week. Thank goodness it was not the weekend or a public holiday.

Feeling exhausted we caught the cable car back to HabourFront Station and then the MRT back to our hotel. After a refreshing shower we ventured out to dinner at ‘Holy Crab’. Keen on the idea of eating crab, but not on the hard work of removing it from its shell, we planned to order two plates of crab fried rice for two. The waiter suggested that we order one plate of crab fried rice, a corn and salted egg dish and a noodle dish to share. Great suggestion as all the food was delicious and just the right amount for four. The soft drink list was really short at this restaurant so I drank soda water and the others washed their food down with ‘Fucking Hell’ beer … and purchased beer mugs to take home.

We had thought about visiting Gardens by the Bay by day and by night, but we just couldn’t muster the energy to head back there this evening. With 20/20 hindsight it may have been a better idea to plan to visit GBTB late afternoon and then stay until dark to be able to see it during the day and lit up at night without making two trip. Next time?!



Steps for the day: 18,115 (11.14km)

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