Gardens by the Bay is a hot tourist destination for a reason, boasting some of the most beautiful plants and architecture in Singapore. It covers 101 hectares of land and is a national icon that has won numerous awards across design, tourism and greenery.
Looking through the list of things to do in Singapore, it is very easy to pop it on the list and presume its going to be a pretty good day out after reading great reviews and seeing glimpses all over the internet, but until you are truly standing within it all, it is hard to truly grasp the magnificence of this beautiful creation.
I had been told by a friend to make sure I stayed for it to all be lit up in the evening. Silly me decided not to bring my tripod to Singapore as I didn't feel it was worth lugging around for the activities we had planned on doing. So off I trudged to a dodgy little camera store to find a cheap tripod. I asked the man for the smallest and cheapest he had. I had never attempted night photography at all and really didn't want to spend $100 on another tripod for one night and for photos that might not even work out. I told the guy I wanted the tiny plastic $20 and he laughed in my face. There was apparently no way it would be able to hold my Canon 7D. Maybe this was true, but I was determined to make it work on a budget. I will show you the outcome of my stingy tripod for the end.
One highlights I loved was the Cloud Forest. Wow! It was literally as thought we had stepped onto the set of Avatar. The Cloud Forest holds a 35m tall mountain which contains the tallest indoor waterfall in the world. The mountain is entirely covered in vegetation and is contained within 80-90% humidity (I was dying and puffing up like a balloon!). You kind of don't realise how tall it really is until you make the top of the mountain, in which the views are awesome. The natural light, plants, creative art pieces throughout were just wonderful and there are some beautiful angles to be found within the environment.
We continued on through to the largest glass greenhouse in the world, the Flower Dome which was blooming with flowers and artistic sculptures made out of wood and made our way to the iconic Supertree Grove.
The Supertree Grove was pretty unreal. The OCBC Skyway allows you to get up 22m high to view the entire gardens with a view and get up close and personal with the Supertrees. They all grow a variety of 200 plants ranging from orchids, bromeliads, ferns and climbers and most of the trees contain solar energy on the top of them. At night they come alive and light up, creating a magical garden experience for all ages.
We continued on for a walk around the gardens and saw some lovely displays. After a hefty day of walking, my feet were beyond explosion point so we sat down by the boardwalk and awaited sunset. Remember that dodgy tripod? It was indeed the biggest challenge trying to get my 7D to stay stable on the flimsiest tiny tripod possible and everytime someone walked past on the boardwalk the whole thing would shake but...here are a couple of shots from after dark. Needless to say I am hooked and really want to try a lot more night photography!
Thank you for viewing! If ever you are in Singapore, I encourage you to visit the Gardens by the Bay
