Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

Recent Posts

  • Gardens by the Bay – when technology and nature combine.

    This afternoon I got a chance to visit Gardens by the Bay another complex of stunning gardens that are a major attraction in the city of Singapore. If the Botanic Gardens blow you away by their sheer natural beauty, the Gardens by the Bay will wow you with their sheer audacity :artificial waterfalls, drift wood sculptures, and the flora of different ecosystems under one dome ( two, actually to be precise)  as a testament to the miracle of technology . 

    Thus on a hot tropical afternoon you can wander amid desert cactii, African and Australian Baobabs, enjoy the gardens in South America, the Mediteranean and ultimately find yourself at the steps of Pollen a delightful eatery in the Flower Dome. 

       

    This driftwood sculpture of a duck in flight is just one of the fantastic pieces of sculpture in the flower dome.

    Some more tortured pieces of wood.  

    The strange beauty of cactii .  
      

    The forest of Baobabs

      

    More driftwood animals

    A white Christmas in the flower dome.  

    Singapore’s magnificent skyline seen through the dome  

    Some flowers are weirdly exotica and looked quite spooky to me

    The Cloud Forest

      

     A magnificent waterfall welcomes you to the Cloud Forest inside the second dome  which is misted at given times to maintain the feeling of walking through a cloudy mist as you walk your way around a seven storey mountain .

      
    Once again , this is pure fantasy where The Lost World with its Venus Flytrap and other rare botanical species stun you with their exotic beauty.

      

      
        
        

    Can you make out the real plants from the Lego sculptures in the picture above? 

      

    I just love Begonias and was thrilled to see these unusual varieties in such profusion of colour.  

    Doesn’t this flower have an other worldly look to it? 

        
       

    These are just two of the gardens that I saw at the Gardens by the Bay. Indeed their are many many more like the Supertree Grove with its   magnificent trees that light up at night and look like some strange extra terrestrial species of plant life. 

    It takes a fare bit of time to see the gardens and the two gardens under the dome have an entrance fees which some may find a bit steep at $28 for each adult who is not Resident or native Singaporean. There are buggies that one can use to look around and conducted tours (for a fee of course ) that make the visit more enriching.

     The gardens invoke different reactions – some love the fantasy world while some find it too fake and far removed from reality but they are definitely awe inspiring and a true reflection of  how imagination can create a artistic blend of technology and nature.  

  • Reaching for the sky

    As I spend my last Friday in Singapore I’d like to share a sky that will forever epitomise this city in my memory : cranes reaching out to the sky, 

    making buildings that are taller and swankier. 

     

    And here’s another sky 

      
    For more skies from around the world do visit SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

  • Underneath the Golden Arches-Orchid Garden , Singapore Botanic Gardens 

      
    It had to happen – after three weeks of non-stop eating , even the regular housework, the wheeling the baby in the garden, the frequent jaunts to the malls and sporadic morning walks didn’t help to keep the weight down so finally I just had to do something to get those fat cells moving.

    It was late afternoon and the overcast sky didn’t bode too well. But despite the tiny drops of rain, I persisted in walking through the Botanic Gardens, a sprawling beautifully maintained garden that has been declared a UNESCO Heritage site. For more details on this gorgeous oasis of calm, visit here.

      
    The stunning wrought iron gate at the entrance to the Gardens is just a fore taste of the splendid, 82 hectares of serene parkland that lies behind them.

     With more than 150 years of history, the 82-hectare Gardens holds a unique and significant place in the history of Singapore and the region. 

    There are several gardens within the garden but the pride of place goes to the National Orchid Garden with its stunning collection of rare and hybrid orchids.  

       

    The gardens have a section devoted to commemorate the visits of VIPs in the special VIP Garden with special orchids named in their honour.

     

    A tribute to nature

    With rampant and often unplanned urbanisation in different parts of the world, respect for the environment and nature is often given short shrift so it is heartening indeed to find a place that doesn’t sacrifice nature for progress.

      

    A special section of the Orchid Garden is dedicated to VIPs who have visited the garden and have had an orchid named in their honour. This gorgeous bloom is named after Mrs Narayanan wife of the then President of India during their official visit to Singapore.

    Not just a walk in the park.

    Dear reader, you may be wondering why I chose this post to express my gratitude this month. Surely there are many more things other than a mere walk in a park that I have to be grateful for. And yes, you are right about that but there was a strong indescribable feeling of sheer gratitude that filled me when I walked through this garden. 

    So top on my list for things I have to be grateful for ,is the opportunity to visit this beautiful garden and immerse myself in the glory of nature- it is indeed a blessing to be able to wander through a magic parkland in the middle of a bustling city. 

    What filled me with gratitude? Was it the sheer beauty? Was it the stillness and calm? Was it the amazement of a real forest in an urban jungle? 

    Perhaps these photos will give you some idea of the emotion that I felt in the park.

       
    I’m linking this post to the Gratitude Circle  hosted by Corinne and Vidya.

      

     

     

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