Gardens by the Bay

Dear All

Some time back, when we were at The Singapore Flyer looking at what we know now as the Giant Trees, we wondered what was inside those two gigantic glass domes. It was later reported in the Straits Times that one dome (Flower Dome) holds plants from temperate countries whilst the other called the Cloud Forest Dome has a man-made waterfall. You have to wear non-slip shoes in the Cloud Forest Dome as the floors are wet & can be slippery. I almost slipped twice here, especially on the ground floor near the entrance where the waterfall is...it's very wet. I believe Gardens by the Bay opened officially on 29 June, so we missed it as our anniversary day outing, as it was not ready yet!

Skybridge at top of Marina Bay Sands (below):

The 2 Domes & the Giant Trees (below):

The OCBC bridge linking the Giant Trees (below):

Dragonfly Park (below):

Gardens by the Bay is a huge place. There's a few MRT entrances to the place. I think the nearest MRT is Bayfront. For us, we didn't know then that Bayfront station was the nearest, so we took the MRT to Promenade station and walked to Marina Bay Sands and then walked over the Skybridge (which is where the gondola "river" is), linking Marina Bay Sands Shopping Mall to the Hotel side. From there, we can walk all the way to the gardens.

Bridge from Marina Bay Hotel to Gardens (below):

Where we came from...Marina Bay Hotel (below):

We didn't realise that the place was quite big, so we only covered the paid exhibits of the two domes. The OCBC Bridge that links the Giant Trees is best left to the evening, according to the salesgirl, as it's under open skies and can be quite hot.

Panels in Indian Gardens (below):

Upon entering the gardens, we can see from the bridge, the dragonfly pond with its 2 huge dragonfly structures. According to the map, there are other ponds around to be explored.

Before reaching the domes, we passed through the Malay, Chinese and Indian gardens.

For Singaporeans, we get to see both the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Dome at a discounted price of $18. Just bring along your i/c for prove. The OCBC bridge is $5 per person...no discount for Singaporeans.

Tickets to the 2 domes entrance to Flower Dome (below):

Inside Flower Dome (below):

Bottle Trees in Flower Dome. The whole place is air-conditioned (below):

Overview shot of Flower Dome..a colourful place (below):

In the dome filled with temperate plants (Flower Dome), there were lots of bottle-trees! However, none of them was shaped like the beautiful bottle-tree found in the Bottle-Tree park I had written about in my earlier post. The Cloud Forest Dome is not for those who are afraid of heights. We had to take a lift to the top-most storey and slowly walked our way down the different levels of the waterfall. Re-entry is allowed for both domes. You just let the staff know when existing if you wish to return within the same day. Then, they'll give you a stamp on your hand.

We took about 3 hours all in for the 2 domes and the Chinese and Indian Gardens, strolling at a leisurely pace, reading the info plates and taking photos. And yes, photography is allowed in both domes. Seems there's a annual pass for those who are interested in entering both domes at any time for an entire year, and there are senior citizen rates as well.

Outside entrance to Cloud Forest Dome (left) were statues of lions and elephants.

The man-made waterfall called "The Fall" houses steel structures reaching to the glass ceiling of dome (below):

The start of the looping bridge at top of waterfall. This is the highest point (below):

Slowly descending (below):

 Looking down from top-most level of the waterfall (below):

Notice how far the huge ferns are from above & then zoomed up close (2 pixs below):

Entering the Crystal Cave (below):

 From below looking up. Can you see the tiny people on the loops? That's where we came from (below):

 Another view of the bridge from where we came from (below):

 Back on solid ground, we saw a pitcher plant! (below):

 Don't know if this is an orchid or a sort of pitcher plant (below):

For us, $18 per person for 2 domes is a little on the high side, however, considering that the domes are fully air-conditioned and under the blazing hot Singapore tropical Sun, the electricity bill to cool the place must be exhorbitant. I suppose the fees would help defray some of this costs.

It's a must see for at least one time.

We intend to come back another time to explore the OCBC bridge under cooler weather, and to visit the free sections of the garden which we didn't realise were there, and what's more, for free!

Love
Theresa