In this lock down period, I have prepared this blog to share experience of my travel to Singapore last year. Although travelling is not recommended at this moment, we hope to travel in future when everything will be normal again . We look forward to a normal global health situation soon.
On 7th October 2019, myself along with my family members landed at Changi International Airport ,Singapore in morning. After completing immigration formalities, we left airport by a car, waiting for us to take us to the hotel at Lavender Street.
Singapore is a country consisting of only one city. The country has 63 small islands with total land area of 721 sq. km. Total population in Singapore is 57 lakhs. Although in world map, Singapore is a tiny country, but it is highly developed. Human Development Index (HDI) of Singapore is 0.935 which is very high ranking 9th in the world. Like our country, Singapore was under British rule from 1819 to 1963. The country gained independence on 9th August ,1965. Inspite of poor economic conditions and internal disturbances, Singapore became a highly developed modern first world country within a very small span of time.
We are happy to reach such a tiny beautiful country to explore it for the next few days. After lunch and a brief rest , we left hotel by car . After 15 minutes drive, we reached “ Marina Bay Sands” Hotel.
“Marina Bay Sands” hotel is the most iconic 5-star hotel in Singapore fronting Mariana Bay. After reaching the base of the building, I was astonished to see the architectural beauty, wonderful décor and cleanliness of the building. After strolling sometimes at the ground floor, we went to see the sky park. The sky park and Infinity swimming pool are made at the roof top, 57th floor of the building by connecting three tall Towers by a cantilevered platform – making it the world’s largest cantilevered platform.
We reached there by lift. Scenic beauty of the city- Marina bay,Singapore river, Merlion Park, Gardens by the bay, modern high rise buildings can be seen through glass wall.We got a bird’s eye view of the city with tiny ships sailing on Singapore river and numerous tiny cars running on the streets below. We took the lift down and walked to the nearby “Gardens by the Bay” .
“Gardens by the Bay” is a showpiece of garden artistry and horticulture that presents the plant kingdom from around the world in a new beautiful way. The garden’s total area is 101 hectares. The garden consists of several attractions.
At first we entered the ‘ Cloud Forest’-the magnificent climate controlled greenhouse . Awestruck we stood in front of the 30 meters tall indoor waterfall which was once the world’s highest artificial waterfall. How beautiful is the artificial forest and misty tropical mountain with variety of vibrant flowers ,orchids and lush greenery! We took in the view of the mountain, which is surrounded by the diverse vegetation and floral gems that disappear into the puffy white clouds. We reached at the top of the mountain by lift. We returned by walking through the narrow walkways ,winding down the central column , enjoying the soothing view of flora and fauna with water droplets from the waterfall hitting us all over .
It’s another gigantic temperature-controlled greenhouse that showcases themed gardens with exotic plants from five continents.Right across the hall is the ‘Flower dome’ which is the world’s largest column less greenhouse.
We went to see light and sound programme at ‘Super tree Grove’. We strolled around the super trees- 25 to 50 meters tall technical marvel with large canopies till 8:45 pm. At 8:45 pm the mesmerizing Garden Rhapsody light and sound show started –the trees came alive with melodial instrumental music and colorful lights dancing on its tune. An exhilarating experience of light and sound making a creative vision on the trees! After this show we returned to hotel.
Next morning , we went back to ‘Gardens by the Bay’ as we could not visit the OCBC Skyway due of lack of time the previous day. We took the lift to reach the skywalk. OCBC Skyway is an aerial walkway –128 meter long at a height of 22 meters from the ground connecting two towering supertrees. We experienced a unique sensation of floating above the ground looking at the beautiful skyline of the city , its nature,skyscrapers, and different areas of gardens by the Bay. After reaching the end of skyway, we came down and visited other parts of the garden like Chinese garden, Malay garden, Indian garden etc . We saw super trees and the vast exhibit of trees in broad day light with a very different look than the previous evening.
I recommend to visit the gardens in day but must plan to see the Light and Sound show at evening.
Travels by Arnab De 