Having visited Singapore two years ago we didn’t feel we needed to take city overview tours so we took tours to specific sites/attractions in the city.

Today’s excursion was called “Gardens By The Bay & Marina Bay Observation Deck”.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is a beautiful Hotel with what many people call a boat built on top.  It has three towers each of 58 stories with an infinity view swimming pool, restaurant, and observation deck on top.  Paul was able to take some great views of the city from there including the garden & domes we’d visit.

In the gardens surrounding the domes were huge man made “trees”.  Besides looking aesthetically beautiful they also serve three additional functions.  Firstly they are wired with lights to produce a light show at night.  Secondly they have solar panels installed to help produce electricity used to power the garden domes.  Finally they also serve as rain collectors.

Singapore averages 92.1 inches of rain per year.  Since it has no natural sources of water (it imports additional water from Malaysia) it has built large reservoirs around the city to capture the runoff for drinking.   Another reservoir is located under the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  Some of it’s water is used on the gardens and surrounding greenbelts.

Both garden domes house major exhibits of plants by geographical region e.g. Africa, Mediterranean, etc as well by variety e.g. orchids, succulents.  A special exhibit of blossoming Cherry trees from Japan was also on display.

The second dome was the “Cloud Forest”.   Inside was a 90 ft waterfall!  Walkways were built at various levels throughout the dome for added thrills (not for someone afraid of heights).  

Also, sprinkled throughout the dome were pieces of art: some serious, mostly just fun.  I especially liked the carnivorous plants made out of LEGOs at the top of the waterfall.

We spent our 2 hours here and then returned backed to the ship.

On a sadder note, the ladies from Toronto that we dine with left us in Singapore.  We met them on the 2017 cruise and enjoyed their company a lot.