Singapore

Tuesday 28th April

Today has been the day of the Bayside gardens, and the domes. I haven't been to Singapore since 1975, and I am surprised at the changes. This is a modern sophicated City. But the feature which took our attention all day today was the Gardens by the bay. 

These are artificial trees. They are vertical gardens, with vines climbing right up the top of the trees. The growth isn't complete yet but it will be spectacular when it is. The birds have moved in already though. We counted 17 of these "trees".

Nearby there are two "domes", which are indoor gardens in controlled environments. My favourite was the "cloud Forrest" dome. This is another vertical garden with a 35m waterfall, simulating the cloud forests found at high elevations around the world. 

The second dome is a series of ornamental gardens from Mediterranean climates around the world. It has a lot of flowers. 

And all of this is in an extensive garden area, with wonderful tropical gardens. 

But we ate too much today! There is vegan food everywhere. At least as best we can tell. We had wild mushrooms with a mild wasabi dressing, crispy fried tofu with spicy Thai dressing, vegetable dumplings for lunch. For dinner we cruised around a food mall. We came across a number of strange looking dishes made from radishes, taro, sautéed lettuce, and a desert with mango purée and ice cream served in a green coconut - until I couldn't eat another thing. 

We dragged ourselves back to the hotel to the sound of the loudest thunder I have ever heard, heavy rain, and very weary legs.