Gardens By The Bay & Orchard Street

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We started our last full day in Singapore with an early start. There is so much we want to do but will really struggle to fit it all in. We were up and out of the hostel by 8am and straight on the train to take us down to Marina Bay. Here we walked all the way along the front, eventually coming out at the Art and Science Centre/Museum. At the moment there is an Andy Warhol exhibition on and also a Harry Potter one. The building is something else and looks like a huge unfurling flower on the skyline. Underneath it there is a large pond with tiny fish swimming around and also lots of water lilies in lots of different colours. We took some time to photograph some of the lilies but didn't have time to visit the exhibitions. By this time the Sun was up and it was very hot so we went into the large shopping centre to cool off and have a cold drink and some fruit. Inside there is quite a large ice rink but we were too early to see it open.

After refreshments we wandered further along the front and came to a footbridge over the river which looked like the double helix structure of DNA. We walked right along this and this gave us an alternative view of the bay and a closer look at where they were erecting a stand for the GP. After taking more photographs we wandered back along the bridge and then made our way towards Gardens By The Bay. This from a distance is an impressive structure but is even more so close up. Its made up of 2 domes which have different environments for the plants inside and soem huge 'supertrees' which dominate the skyline. The Gardens themselves are free to get in but in you want to enter the domes or go on the skywalk which takes you from Supertree to supertree high above the ground you have to pay. We decided to visit the Cloud dome first. It was quite a shock as to how cold it was inside. This is because the plants that grow here usually grow very high up on mountains 'in the clouds' as the name suggests. As you go through the door you are met by a huge waterfall and you can feel the spray as you walk past it. You then take a life to the top of the dome where you are literally in the clouds and take a spiraling walk down through the different environmental conditions of different plants. The plants, as you would expect, are very small at the top and get larger as you descend down the dome. Some of the flowers were stunning and there was an exhibition of stalagmites and stalagtites about half way down. After finishing up in the dome we had a very hot wander round the gardens (some of which is still under construction but this doesn't detract from the experience) before taking a lift up the middle of one of the supertrees to walk up in the 'canopy'. Because the attraction in just a year old it will take some time for the supertrees to mature but it was a great experience, especially as there was more wind up there than at the bottom. As we were wandering around there was sojme large claps of thunder but thankfully it didn't rain. After this we went into the second 'Flower' dome. Here there were flowers from different areas of the world and again it was much cooler in here than outside. We wandered round the dome and then it was time to leave. We walked from the Gardens to the train station and made our way to China Town.

In China Town we did a little bit of shopping - the prices here are very cheap and most things are priced so you don't have to haggle. I wanted to buy something for my daughters and an old woman in one shop was very persuasive and knocked the price down without me even asking! She was very funny and undoubtedly one of the best saleswomen in Singapore. Because of the contrainsts of luggage I was unable to buy and much as I might have like to but to be fair I could have probably filled a shipping container and started a business in the UK. Next we went for late lunch and eary tea in one of the many streetside restaurants. I had sweet and sour pork and Neil stuck to his meat free onion omlette both of which were very nice. The absolute favourite without doubt though were th chop suey rolls which were gorgeous. After lunch we were back on the train and off to Orchard Street.

Orchard Street was very busy eventhough it was after teatime on a Sunday. The shops and shopping centres were still all open. The range of shops was mind boggling! Very much intended for the higher market. We went into one of the shopping centres for another cooling drink before going back out onto the street. We had no intentions do any shopping (even it we could have afforded either the money or the space!) so we had a quick look round before making our way back to Marina Bay to watch as the sun went down behind the skyscrapers. We must have sat there for over an hour, both of us absolutely exhaused from all the walking round and the heat of the day. It was a great experience and we got some great photographs. After this again we walked along the front and just as we got to the LV building the fountain display in front of the shopping centre was about to take place. This was quite a sight to see with images being projected onto curtains of water and mini balls of fire being shot into the air.

From here we walked back to the 'DNA' bridge to get more panoramic shots of the bay and then onto the Gardens By The Bay, again to get photographs of the supertrees lit up. By this time our legs would hardly carry us and we were quite pleased to see the train station at the end of our long day which would take us back to our district of Clarks Quay and our hostel. An absolutely fabulous but very tiring day. Singapore is a wonderful city and I will bad a little sad to leave to tomorrow. But the adventre continues with Borneo which promises to be very different from our experiences here so far. The beach will be calling on Tuesday and then I'll do 3 dives on Wednesday. Can't wait!

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