Gardens by the Bay

We spent Sunday touring Singapore's Gardens by the Bay.  The Gardens has hundreds of acres of tropical plants from around the world.  It also has some man-made attractions.  The Cloud Forest contains a fully enclosed 125-foot mountain that simulates the climate and vegetation of a tropical mountain forest. It is quite chilly at the top of the mountain despite the warm temperatures outside the dome.  Here is a panoramic view of the Cloud Forest mountain, with the high walkway curving around it and the dome covering it all. The photo was taken from a lower walkway that you can see curving around to the right and left at the same level of the photographer (Sandy).

This photo was taken inside the other enclosed dome called the Flower Dome, which obviously contains some flowers.  I was more interested in the bottle trees like the one in the photo.  The humps in these trees are used to store water.

Outside the two huge domes, there is an outdoor Skyway that allows one to walk among the upper reaches of the Supertree Grove.  This is a grove of man-made trees which have live plants growing within the frameworks.  As you can see, the walkway is pretty high.

Among the supertrees, one tree towers above the rest (second from the right in the above photo).  This one, of course, is where the enclosed restaurant and open-air, top-deck observatory are located.  On the observatory, we got an unobstructed 360-degree view of southern Singapore.  We also got a beverage appropriate for Cinco de Mayo celebrations.  That is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino behind the beverages in the distance.  The Marina Bay Sands is probably the coolest looking hotel in the world.  All the surfaces are curved, and the top deck looks like a ship (or surf board).

Here is a selfie of the happy bloggers on the observation deck of the Supertree with the Singapore Eye in the background.  We intend to ride the Eye during our last weekend here.

This photo shows the Marina Bay Sands after dark, which is why we stayed on the deck drinking margaritas until nightfall.  Cheers!