Our Fun - and Not-So-Fun - Trip to Singapore's Botanical Gardens

Sunday was a hot, humid day.  Our plan that day was to travel to the Botanical Gardens to buy orchids at their monthly orchids sale.  I have had terrible luck with orchids, but I thought that this environment, coupled with buying the orchids from the experts, would help.

Rich had his handy-dandy GPS feature programmed into his phone.  Unfortunately, it made him think that our stop was a stop later than it actually was.  We got off at the next stop, which was right next to the Gardens, but on the opposite side of the Gardens from the Orchids sale.  The good news was that there was a world renowned sculptor, who had brought 20 sculptures to the Botanical Gardens for view, prior to a Sotheby's auction.  The sculptures were scheduled to be removed in mid-February, (That's why I can't list the name of the artist; his name is no longer shown on "Events".), but we saw several on our search for the Orchids Sale.  Yes!!

We continued through the park, looking for the sale.  I never realized how hilly Singapore was until we started trekking through the Gardens.  We finally made it to the middle of the Gardens, and the Visitor Center, where we finally found maps to carry with us.  We also saw a sign, saying that the Orchid Sale was postponed 'til the second Sunday of March.  No!!!

The good news was that the Visitor Center was right next to the "Casa Verde" restaurant.  Michelle Tan had introduced me to the great pizza there when she had brought me to the Gardens.  It was the best pizza that I have had in Singapore.  Being a Sunday morning, the restaurant was serving breakfast until 11 AM.  Many Singaporean families were enjoying breakfast and socializing at the cafe.  It was much busier than it had been on a Thursday afternoon.  Imagine that!  It was also only 10:47, so we decided to use our new maps to enjoy some of the other sculptures in the Gardens, before trying to have pizza for lunch.

We walked past the Symphony Stage, and through the Frangipani, Sundial, Bonsai, Sun, and Ginger Gardens.  We also walked past the Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchids, the National Flower of Singapore.  By the time we got back to "Casa Verde" we were very hot, and Rich was hungry and grouchy.  I went to scout out a table, while Rich waited in line to put in our order.  The restaurant has about 10 tables inside an air conditioned room.  The other 50-60 are outside under a canopy.  The best strategy when scouting a table in a certain area is to stay parked in that area, staring at parties that seem to be close to leaving.  However, people were not moving, and I was worried that Rich was going to get more annoyed than he was already.  So, I wandered around.  And, because I was wandering, I kept just missing tables.  I wandered back into the air conditioned area, just in time to see 2 different tables being re-occupied!  I was so distraught that I almost missed an outside table that had just been vacated, but Rich alerted me to it.  Thank goodness he was paying attention!

When our pizza arrived, it was fantastic!!  It had roast beef, whole cloves of garlic, onions, mushrooms, and peppers.  Yum!  When we finished, Rich wasn't hungry anymore, but he was still hot and grouchy.    The area where we were seated was close to a taxi stand, but it was nowhere near the bus or subway stops.  With my clothes so wet that they clung to my body, I asked if we could just take a taxi.  For some unknown reason, Rich would have none of it!  Now, Rich takes a cab to work almost every day, and I rarely take a cab, unless I have too much stuff to take public transportation.  So, I didn't understand his hesitance - and I wasn't happy about it!!! We walked through and out of the Botanical Gardens, following Rich's GPS on his phone to get to a bus stop.  But, the GPS didn't show that the street on which we were walking became a dead end.  So we backtracked, walked for another 15 minutes, and finally got to the bus stop.  To add insult to injury, as the bus was approaching, I realized that I couldn't find my bus card.  It must have gotten stuck to my phone, and fallen off sometime when I had been taking a picture.  So I had to ask Rich for change to pay my fare.  Not fun!!!

Rich, with the flowers hanging down.

Rich, in the overhanging roots.

I'm so glad this sculpture was still there; notice how the butterflies are really fairies!

Rich, with one of the goddesses of the Sundial Garden.

A bonsai tree; notice the roots growing down from the branches.

I'm getting ready to feed Rich to the fishes!

Rich, behind the waterfall.

Rich, with our pizza.  Doesn't it look yummy?

Rich, listening to the piano.

By the time we got back to our apartment complex, we were both ready for the pool!  But even after a swim, dinner, and a movie, our foreheads were still hot when we went to bed that night.  That's how overheated we were...