Singapore's Iconic Vertical Cyborg Gardens!

Lovely images of Singapore make everyone long to visit the city. I was not exempted of this so when I learned that the next country we will be traveling to was Singapore, I was truly excited! I mean, who wouldn't be especially if you see images like the one above?

We arrived in Singapore at night so we have a glimpse of what the city looked like at night, it was jaw-dropping when we passed by Marina Bay going to our hotel. We were all excited to explore this city the next day!

I researched the distance between this place and the next and planned our first day beforehand, but it was just really different when traveling with a toddler and two seniors. My husband and I could have explored every corner of this area if it was just the two of us. But anyway, it was still fun and I personally learned a lot about traveling with a toddler, so I am hopeful that the next trip would be better!

Previously, I blogged about Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, but I didn't mention about Marina Bay Sands nor the Supertree Grove even if those famous spots are before the conservatories. I intentionally did that because I want to dedicate a separate blog about the two.

Actually coming from Helix Bridge, we have to pass by the Marina Bay Sands to get to the Gardens by the Bay and before reaching the conservatories, we have to pass by the Supertree Grove but because we came here at noontime and we were hungry, we didn't mind the view but went past them so we can have lunch already!

But of course I made sure I took quick snaps of what we saw inside the Marina Bay Sands. This is just the ground floor where the hotel lobby is located and below it is a subway and a casino.

I thought this would be the only day that we would visit this building so I made it a point that once we return here by the afternoon for the Skypark, I'd take numerous photos but actually, we revisited this in our third day because the Skypark was full at that time as it was a weekend.

I'll share more of that later on this blog but this time, let's go on a walk again. Here's Marina Bay Sands from the footbridge connecting to the Gardens. It looks really massive and very impressive. Before coming to this country, I really thought that these kinds of buildings are just from the future but indeed Singapore is making significantly futuristic structures making them really well-known all over the world.

There's wonderful scenery of the Dragonfly Lake from the bridge. The view of the Singapore Flyer and the Supertrees compels everyone to stop and just take photos.

Now, if it was just me and my husband, we would probably explore the lakeside too because there are instagrammable corners over there but we have to take the best and easiest way that we thought. So taking the bridge, we just stopped to take pictures and carried on after a few clicks.

I guess I had mentioned this before but on our last day in Singapore, we were given a free tour by our family friend's employer and he mentioned to us that Singapore's changing their goal from being a garden within a city to a city within a garden and that's the reason why they have the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. They are also preserving certain species of plants and planting them in different areas of the city, making sure that nature is growing!

One of the things that I noticed too during our stay in the city was that most of their buildings are inhabited by plants! I don't know if I have photos of them but I will try to search into the drive and post here a separate blog about the interesting buildings from the country.

After going through the two conservatories, we headed back to the Supertree Grove area. The photo on the left shows my parents just appreciating the ferns and these plants growing at sideways.

We passed by the clock garden too and stopped to take a photo. Actually, it would have been better if there's a platform where we could appreciate the clock from afar!

Finally, we were at the Supergrove Trees again! They looked amazing in person. This was our second encounter because the first time was when we were on our way to the conservatories that noon. We didn't mind stopping because we were focused on finding a restaurant to dine in for lunch.

But now that it was almost sundown and golden hour was just waving, we could appreciate it better! There are real plants on the Supertrees' bark. It's easy to say that this is definitely another iconic spot in the city and since there's no entrance fee coming here, every visitor of the country must see them!

My senior parents camouflaging the supertrees!

So, let's get some fun facts about these trees. First, there are 18 of these supertrees scattered around the Gardens. Then, two of the supertrees are connected by a bridge they call OCBC Skyway, this one isn't free, one has to pay 10 Singaporean dollars but I believe the amount is worth it because of the view from above. Unfortunately, we didn't go up to the skyway. Then there are over 162,900 varieties of bromeliads, orchids, ferns, and tropical flowering climbers have been planted on the Supertrees. At the top of the tallest Supertree is a restaurant and rooftop bar.

The OCBC skyway is 22 meters above ground, 128m long, and offers marvelous opportunities to capture that postcard-worthy shot of the Gardens’ lush surroundings. To get there, one of the two supertrees has a base with a lift. It is open from nine in the morning until nine in the evening with a recommended visit duration of fifteen minutes only.

A wide lens is a must when visiting Singapore indeed. Our 28mm on a full frame can only capture this much of a view. But it is still pretty awesome!

As we came from the conservatories a little tired and thirsty, we decided to stop by the food truck parked inside the Gardens. I left Matti with the grandparents while my husband and I decided to go around the vicinity. I went to find this spot where there's a lake with a nice view of the Marina Bay Sands.

Every visitor here have a camera in hand and this is very important because everywhere we go, they seem to be a good spot for taking photos!

Looking at the map, I found the waterlily garden just a few minutes walk away from where we were sitting. I followed the route and we found two ladies trying to get to the rock a few meters away from the ground. The water is still a little deep and I thought it was very clever of them to be bringing boots for their feet protection.

I befriended the two and found out it was her mother who was taking photos of her from the rock. I also asked permission if can take photos of her with my camera which she gladly agreed. The first photo of this blog is the lady that I befriended. She's from Thailand and when I checked her Instagram account, she seems to be a celebrity there!

I waited for her to finish and she gave me the boots she was using to get to the rock. Actually, I thought it was hers but she mentioned that there were people before her who owned the boots and also let her use them.

I am very thankful for them and in fact, as we were about to go, some other tourists were already waiting for their turn to take a photo of this spot here! We handed them the boots and they were also glad they won't be getting wet going to the rock! It's definitely picturesque being there, thanks to the bloggers out there who shared this spot!

Our original plan was to go to the Skypark that day but when we headed there that day, we found a very long line and so we decided to just call it a day and just go back there on our available day but our second day was spent in Universal Studios so we were only able to go back on our third day instead. So we agreed to go back as well to watch the light show!

I'll talk about the light show and show you the video in the next Singapore travel blog! See you!