Though I’d been to Singapore several times I’d never visited the botanic garden. So this visit I corrected the omission and like most everything in Singapore it was no surprise to find it was impressive. Founded on the site in 1859 for the purpose of research into the cultivation of rubber, the park occupies 200 acres, is 1.6 miles long north to south. Singapore Botanic Gardens has received numerous global awards including the only tropical garden and one of only 3 gardens in the world named a World Heritage Site, by a unanimous vote. As part of that process a panel of experts recommended the designation in 2015 as follows: “…the Gardens demonstrates the evolution of a British tropical colonial garden into a modern and world-class botanic garden, scientific institution and place of conservation and education.”
We set out after our usual bakery breakfast in our Chinatown neighborhood, then descended into the MRT at the nearby new-since-my-last-visit Maxwell Station and were delivered quickly and comfortably to our destination of the day. Words are inadequate to describe the beauty of this garden so I will rely on pictures to do the job for me.
Entering a realm apart from city,
palms, flowers, trees, ferns, some familiar, many not.
The National Orchid Garden
The highlight of the hours spent in the gardens was the National Orchid Garden, said to be the largest display of tropical orchids in the world.
Burkill Hall
Burkill Hall is a restored Anglo-Malayan plantation house within the
National Orchid Collection and is available to rent for special occasions.
Tea, coffee, a snack . . .
. . . then back home to Chinatown.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens website:
https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg
Next time, on to Kuala Lumpur.
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Truly one of the world’s best botanical gardens. It has been a few years since I last visited Singapore, but I leave impressed every time I go to the garden. Lovely photos!