Having already been enthralled by Singapore’s botanical gardens, I headed down toward the Harborfront area to check out the Gardens by the Bay, the iconic gardens in front of Marina Bay Sands Hotel with the nightlit trees.
The Gardens by the Bay is a pretty spectacular space, unlike the botanical gardens it exhibits an array of manmade objects (sculptures, rocks, walkways) along with the wide variety of plants and flowers that thrive in Singapore’s tropical climate. Walking around the garden area I felt at times like Alice in Wonderland – what’s real? what’s not? – as the designers of the gardens really made amazing use of the space, both horizontal and vertical space.
One could walk around aimlessly along the gardens, most of which is free (you can also pay an entrance fee into certain exhibits and onto the skywalk). I did just that, walking without a map until I seemingly walked through the garden, arriving at the harbor with a beautiful view of the Singapore flyer and the cityscape. Continuing along, I noticed a bunch of kites flying – the wind had picked up although luckily there was no rain, turning the blue sky into an ocean full of colorful kites. Walking to the top of the Marina Barrage, I found a huge grassy arena (like I mentioned earlier about the vertical real estate, this spot would easily be overlooked unless you actually walked all the way to the top). Arriving there gave me the same sense of satisfaction as when I discover sweet little rooftop bars or terraces in Tokyo. There were a ton of families having picnics and flying their kites and just hanging out. It was reminiscent of long summer nights in Baltimore, the extended dusk as the warm air swirls around you, one of few times the sound of children screaming and running around didn’t bother me because it was accompanied by their playful laughter. It was the perfect place to sit and watch the sun set and just enjoy the feeling of being present in the moment.
Eventually the sun did set as it always will, one by one each of the buildings in downtown Singapore, the rooms in the Marina Bay Sands, the seats of the Singapore Flyer and the Supertree Grove all lighting up the darkened sky. Heading back home from my spot atop the Marina Barrage I managed to catch one of two nightly light shows of the Supertree Grove.
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