26th entry - A Visit to Singapore Botanical Gardens

S and I visited the Singapore Botanical Gardens on 14 Jun, right after our KL trip. It was our first visit together, and S's first time at the Gardens, so I was pretty excited about showing S around. The Gardens held good (and sad*) memories for me, and I wanted to create beautiful memories for S and I.


We set off happily in the afternoon, encouraged by surprisingly fair weather - partly cloudy, neither too hot nor wet. Wearing comfortable tee-shirts and flip-flops, we arrived at Somerset where S went to fill up bottles of cold water from California Fitness gym, of which S was a member. We walked to the bus stop not too far away and boarded Bus 106. After 15 minutes, we arrived at the Gardens, entering via Minden Gate.


The first attraction that greeted us was the Gazebo overlooking the Swan Lakes. We strolled along the edge of the Lakes and spotted the elegant swans. Our path led us through a huge bundle of creepers that had become a canopy covering a section of the walkway, into a damp, mossy maze well-hidden by tall, shady plants. It felt as though we wandered into a mysterious forest and if we were not careful, we could easily get lost in the maze... S loved the brightly colored flowers of the"Bird of Paradise" (likely to be a species of Strelitzia reginae or a relative of this species), especially the pink ones.

Upon emerging from the dense maze of "undergrowth", we heard a bunch of Japanese tourists shouting cheers. We walked in the direction that they came from and found ourselves in the Ginger Garden, a beautiful little feature section of the Gardens complete with a man-made miniature waterfall. A convenient toilet was built right next to the waterfall, where we took some nice pictures. As we sat down on one of the garden benches in the Ginder Garden to take a sip of water and rest, a refreshing cool breeze brushed us gently by, urging us to carry on our tour. So we bade our goodbyes to the radiant ginger flowers and went on our way.

We strolled past the Orchid Garden and arrived at the Palm Valley and Symphony Lake. Symphony Lake looked a little like Swan Lake except it had a covered stage that faced the Palm Valley, which was a gently sloping natural arena theatre for audiences to have picnics while listening to their favourite (free) public performances. S and I headed for a little gazebo at the far end of the Symphony Lake (behind the stage) and took some photos there while enjoying the cool shade and relative privacy. We then spotted some ducks wading in pairs on the water, and smiled at how loving and devoted they were.

After snapping some photos with our adorable feathered friends, we headed for the Bukit Timah Core of the Gardens. Along the way, we passed the Visitors' Centre and National Parks HQ. We realised that there was much more to see but we had limited time (I was supposed to go for my watercoloring class that evening), so we decided to return to the Gardens again. We went through the Eco Garden in search of the Bukit Timah Gate, where we would exit and take a bus back to S's place. S teasingly made me pose in a series of photos that looked as though I was doing jumping-jacks on the bridge of the Eco Lake.

It was a tiring but memorable day for us. S appeared quite happy about the trip while I was very very happy to be spending time with S. I am looking forward to frequent visits to the Gardens with S, as I believe that its a healthy way for us to be spending quality time together, provided S wants to of course. Imagine the day I can bring my paints to the lake and paint while S brings a book to read - then we can have our picnic dinner while listening to some relaxing music at the Symphony Lake...Sigh! :-D

*Post-script: The sad part comes from the fact that my first ex and I had some nice memories at the Gardens many years ago. I dont miss my first ex at all, but going to the Gardens reminded me of those memories, which have become bittersweet for me.