I Want to See The World ! : January 2013

Fresh market at Admiralty station

January 28..... Last day in Singapore and I am gonna head for something nice and relaxing.... Gardens by the Bay! It's the newest addition to Singapore, and it's a big park consists of outdoor and two domes housing non native plants therefore well controlled climate inside the domes according to the plant regions. Gardens by the Bay was a big project of Singapore government to try to create 'City in the garden' instead of the other way around, to promote green and cleaner environment in the big city such as Singapore. I think it made a lot of sense, and I really like the idea of City in the Garden because we have to work around our environment and not the other way around. The garden designed to be a garden that takes care of the environment and sustainable. The details of the garden could be read here on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay . Of course, nothing beat actual nature such in the village of Munduk, where the mountains are green and the forest naturally still abundant of beautiful native plants and trees, but the amazing effort to make Singapore a city in the garden is great! The easiest way to get there is by MRT to Marina Bay, then get off to transfer to orange line that will take you to Bayside station. From there, the direction is clear of which way to go. The orange line is a new additional MRT line, still under construction for some parts of it, supposed to be the circle line similar to Yamanote line in Tokyo. Moreover..... Singapore MRT is much more simpler than Tokyo's subway system..... only 4 colours to choose from :D !

First, we head to the pasar (market) to get fresh grated coconut.... something that is impossible to obtain in Canada. The market is typical Asian fresh market, but of course, because we're in Singapore everything is clean.

Fresh grated coconut.... a non existent greatness in Saskatoon

If I live in Singapore, this place could be one of my favorite place to go and hang out by the water and plants. The admission cost for one of the domes is SGD$14, but considering the amazing design and technology, that's not a bad price at all. The outdoor gardens are free (hehe, that's where I would be hangin out if I live there), and consists of regional themed gardens such as India, China, etc, featuring native plants from the regions. The supertrees are group of structures served to mimic trees, and it housed orchids and other exotic plants at the sides of it, kinda like how it is in their natural habitat. The sky walk connecting one supertree to another, provides a view of Singapore's concrete jungle and harbor. A man made river run through the garden, made it perfect spot to just hang out by the plants and water.... no smoking areas around the garden though.... I guess the plants don't need second hand smoke to clean too :D . The plants and trees were shipped from their original countries, hence the size of them and since the garden is new, some of the trees hasn't reach it's potential yet (the bigger trees has to have some of its branches cut off to properly transport them, so as seen in the pictures below, some trees has big trunk but not too many branches). Artificial garden never felt the same as actual nature ( and as I discussed on previous posts, actual nature walk in Singapore is non-existent, most are man made or already tidied up for tourists to enjoy) however, it is an excellent effort to integrate nature into the city..... any effort better than none basically :D.

All fresh and cheap....

Always fresh fruit at every corner :D

We went to my favorite Little India afterwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of Thaipusam ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam ) , a Tamil cultural celebration during full moon in the month of Thai (January/February). This is a celebration where devotees will carry kavadi (represents physical burden) and offer prayers by piercing their bodies.... aaaawwwwwh! we just missed it by one day!!! I was told by local Indian woman that the celebration was only one day and that was the day before :( Dammit... rather see that than going shopping :( While in Little India, we also had some dosa, which is Indian food stuffed with potatoes, onion or egg.... I choosen the onion ones.... very delicious, but such a big portion (0_0)! If we had known, we would've just share one. The samosa also vegetarian, the best one I ever had! Oh my.... it's gonna be so hard going back to Canada and trying to eat anything..... haha, just like always when I got back from travelling :D ! We went around Little India's Tekka market, I almost bought a sari........ ummm.... actually 'this' close...... err.... it was a black sari with red embroidered flowers on it.... :( very pretty and would look good with black long skirt.... huaaaaaa.... should've gotten it :( !!!!!! I run into the temple I went when I was in Little India previously, Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, but it was under construction so I didn't go inside. I will post pictures from my previous travels later.

It was really hard not wanting to cook something after seeing all these
fresh ingredients!

I thought it's time we head back (mostly because I want to avoid shopping) ...... Going to Gardens by the Bay really gave me some ideas for my garden..... I really have to work on how I want that garden to be with the least amount of maintenance but comfy to hang out in...... so pumped up.... can't wait till spring in Saskatoon.... oh I mean summer.... (^^).