Hello Singapore! continued

The first part of this topic was posted earlier (Part I, plse click here). I opted to post a continuation because there are more pictures that might give more information. Actually this includes mostly those we visited at the end of the day at the Gardens by the Bay. These include the Supertrees and the OCBC Aerial Walkway. It was spectacular for me while still in the experience, so i hope i can impart some of my feelings through my pictures.

Gardens by the Bay covers 101 hectares of reclaimed land adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.  The team who planned about these gardens have exceptional futuristic ideas that they were able to manifest through the technologies already present today.

some of the Supertrees, made of structural metals and steel, a feat of 

engineering and architecture

trunks of the supertrees have vertical gardens automatically maintained by computers

a ground view of the OCBC aerial walkway connected by two supertrees

the aerial walkway

I already admitted in the first post that i have some height freight, so these super-elevated walkways are challenging for me. Moreso, the walkway has some slight movements as it is suspended and attached only on two ends. I always hold on the rails even if its length is closely covered on both sides. 

 Marina Bay Sands Hotel viewed at the aerial walkway 

The number of persons allowed to the aerial walkway was controlled. We were lucky to be on top when the sunset horizons changed colors.

 sunset horizon colors are changing now

 

am so glad to be on top when this happened

Even the moon surprised us by its presence

 view of the ground from the aerial walkway

Viewed from the top, this looks like a giant soup bowl with toppings. 

Together with the rest of the tourists, we stayed as toppings in the giant soup bowl as we viewed the Rhapsody of Light with the wonderful music. 

 The color changes and permutations are certainly more spectacular and awesome in the actual show. My photos will not justify the reality of the sight. You need to experience them yourselves!

 After the Rhapsody of Light we took a taxi to the famous hawkers food plaza in Singapore. There are lots of people, seemingly all chairs were taken by different nationalities, young and old. This is at the other side of the garden, and the view is also exceptionally wonderful.

another view to the right of the Marina Bay Sands

We can already go home, it was already a complete experience. 

Hello Singapore!

Singapore is very near Manila, Philippines. Going there timewise is just like going to Bangkok, Hongkong or Taiwan. Transits to other countries are either in Hongkong or Singapore, a very busy airport.  I am amazed that i've been to many countries but i have not been to Singapore! I am still curious why i have not been there. So last April-May with my sister and niece we spent a whole week there, with the last two days in Kuala Lumpur before coming back to Manila.

I know Singapore is beautiful, orderly and specifically more of a shopping city because friends go there for that. But i am wrong, it is truly lovely even without going to the shops. We just followed the normal tourist destinations, taking MRT most of the time, bus and taxi going to nearby areas. The mass transport system is convenient except for the long walks to change trains. And my not so young legs sometimes complain. I will just be showing some photos in my files, as this time i did not get much pictures like what i usually do in other places.

 The Chijmes Hall

A formerly Catholic Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, a 19th century Neogothic Chapel is now a Heritage Site,  being used as a function hall for weddings and events.

 Inside the Chijmes Hall

 Flower Dome in Gardens by the Bay South Gardens 

We were lucky that a European Gardens Exhibit plus some other countries plants are on display  during our visit. My niece was so elated to see the tulips, which otherwise will only be seen in pictures. There was also an ongoing Dutch Food Show and exhibit, wo we tried most of the food. 

one of the garden exhibits at the Flower Dome

Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay

Stairways and elevators bring tourists to the different levels of this structure, until they reach the ultimate challenge: traversing the suspended semi-circular bridges that make you feel you are really on top of the trees. 

 My height freight did not allow me much enjoyment of the suspended bridges on the clouds. My niece has to hold my arms while i am slowly navigating  it to reach the end, where the down elevators are located. I have to focus my eyes above my eye level, refraining to look downwards at the sides. I tell you my heart beat faster than usual, at least blood pressure did not soar up too.

 The high elevation plants are acclimatized very well, growing luxuriously on those automatically maintained vertical gardens. I saw lots of our endemic plants growing well there, even our endemic orchids and epiphytes. I need more time for the plant details, but we must move faster to cover more grounds.

 I am too fascinated with these structures, magnifying glasses for the minute flowers to be appreciated better. I spent more time here that my companions had to call my attention to go forward.

The tree at the left is a very tall conifer, planted a few floors above ground. This portion is almost at the end of the walkway bridge, and i am not much scared anymore. I can now even take photos of my companions. Just a few more steps and the downward elevator is already there. 

And this is the view of the surreal gardens. The Garden's 18 Supertrees are all at Bay South. The tallest steel-framed concrete structure is 50 m tall while the shortest is 25 m. The OCBC aerial walkway is connected to the 2 super trees at 128 m long.

More pictures about these structures and the OCBC walkway will be for the next post.

On the Way Home

Hello everyone! When i started a 2nd blogspot, i relegated this to my travels. Circumstances however were not very favorable for me to do that, so this one got lagged while the other one has been so busy. It was assigned for the plants and biodiversity in my garden and nearby areas. Suffice it to say, i now just realized that it is almost one year that this has not been given any entry.  Maybe i just got too busy too because i can always  put some minor travels here. That is how i will start with my posts here again. 

I work in the big city which is just 3 hrs by bus from my house in the province. This travel time cannot materialize these days when our highways, streets and even expressways are normally full of transport vehicles. There are only a very short window on Saturday early mornings when i can travel home by bus at the shortest time of 4 hours. Most other days, we loose at least 5 hours inside the buses. At least the buses are comfortable with TV or music and passengers can recline seats and sleep. Most buses also have WiFi on board. 

One morning bus i took one Saturday morning is not full. It is a bit perplexing that only a few passengers are here. I was fascinated with the decorations inside the bus.

i like the pair of light filters with doggy in the basket

another pair of stuffed toy hanging at the side of the driver, aren't they cute.

We are at the middle of the rainy season so you can see all green everywhere, crops here are growing nicely with the regular rains.

above fields could be cassava plants, while at the back are still for planting

The STAR Tollway, the expressway direct to the Batangas International Port

the signboardd shows where we are going

above photo was shot last May, remnants of the dry season fire trees along the highway

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These fire trees, Delonix regia, is an introduced species but already naturalized here. It provides a colorful happy view on the otherwise all green landscape. It is a very welcome sight along the travel routes. Other highways also plant more of these for better vibes.