What is there to do in Singapore you might ask? Well, we are still waiting on a good answer! I have yet to see the “best urban jungle.” But perhaps I am being a bit too harsh considering the pounding of rain we received while visiting the Botanic Gardens.
One of the items on Liz’s short list of things to do in Singapore was to see the Botanic Gardens. As this was the last day we would be seeing her before she flew back to the U.K. we made sure it happened.
Starting out in the afternoon, we made our way to Queen St bus terminal paying $2 SGD each. The ride wasn’t very long, but we managed to get off one stop too early instead of the stop that said Botanic Gardens. We started on the east side at Bukit Timah Gate. Not realizing the scale of the gardens we skipped Eco Lake thinking that we would circle back to it but we never did. The first stop was Foliage Garden followed by the Healing Gardens. There wasn’t many flowers throughout the gardens, more greenery than anything else.
Drip drop, drip drop, and then pouring rain! Luckily we hid under a gazebo while we waited for the rain to stop. Hurriedly walking to the Food Canopy to grab drinks and food, and again waiting for the rain to stop. Lightly drizzling, we made the decision to move towards the visitor centre. Finally grabbing a map of the gardens, and realizing the enormity of them we headed into the Rain Forest.
Nearing the end of the Rain Forest, the downpour started again but luckily the large leaves protected us until we found shelter. After some terrible rounds of charades to pass the time, we decided to make a run for it and scrap seeing the rest of the gardens. We made it to the start of Lower Ring Road when the downpour became too much. If this doesn’t cement your feelings that Singaporean people are extremely nice, then I don’t know what will! As a worker at the park was kind enough to pull out his extra poncho and provide us with two garbage bags. Running the rest of the way to Tanglin Gate with our garbage bags on we looked quite funny to those passing by. Crossing the road to the bus station we jumped on bus 77 heading to Rendezvous Grand Hotel bus stop. Hugging goodbye to our final British friend, Liz, it marked an official end to an epic travel experience with our British friends who we met back in Vietnam. Who would have thought that we would see them again let alone travel countries with them!
To live well in the present, we need to know the past and have a sense of the future. – Heng Swee Kiat
Total Cost = $5.10 SGD
- Bus to Botanic Gardens $2 SGD
- Bus to Revendevous Hotel $1.60 SGD
- Sprite $1.50 SGD
