This coming Chinese New Year, to usher in the arrival of the Year of the Dragon, there are many dragons in major attractions, including Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay.
Actually besides dragons, there are nice Dahlias too.
I usually walked over to Gardens by the Bay from Bayfront MRT station and today decided to try Gardens by the Bay station on TEL, then realised it is actually just beside the Barrage… misnomer?
Anyway, I’m here for the Four Regions Dance of Thailand at the Flower Dome, not to explore stations 🙂
Since i’m already at the Flower Dome, I should not miss the current Orchid Extravaganza 2023 too.
It were just 2 statues …
but more Sakura at the Flower Dome, the event that coincides with the Transformers movie promotion event.
Someone brought a doll for a Sakuru photography session and another lady (not pictured) even wore a kimono for a personal shoot.
I’m pleasantly surprised with the output of this $360 handphone. All pictures below are taken straight out of its DCIM folder without further processing (I think the its AI- assisted camera already did enough of it).
Made another trip to Gardens by the Bay with complimentary tickets from blood donation 😛
Makan first, shoot later. 🙂
Great harvest in the Flower Dome.
I missed the Tulipmania last year at the Gardens by the bay and heard it was good. So I made a trip down today to take a look.
The Tulips only occupy a small portion of the Flower Dome, i.e. the Flower field.
But the tulips were really nice.
Efforts were made to create a Dutch landscape, including this miniature exhibit.
And I’m pretty happy with the misleading photographic opportunities.
After having enough of tulips, I came across some nice dutch clogs…
… as well as my favorite subject of the day, a gigantic clog.
Before leaving, I had another round of flower macros.
Nice tulips, I’ll definitely be back next year!
I remember seeing a gigantic baby sculpture at the Gardens by the Bay, south and always wanted to take picture of it but couldn’t find the time. Finally, I was able to find time today. I had 1/2 the morning and sometime in the afternoon to myself, so I decided to cover the Meadow, the Dragonfly island and the Flower Dome. I had already been to both domes but decided on the flower dome again because of the prevailing theme, Flight of Fancy, a colourful display of hot air balloons and other exhibits.
Equipment
Thus this time, I brought with me not two, but four lenses:
Baby hunting
First I head to the Meadow and look for my ‘baby’.
Planet sculpture – by Marc Quinn.Â
I particularly like this angle because it contrast the baby in the foreground with the financial centre in the back. In the highly competitive work environment with tremendous stress on everyone, it is an unfortunate consequence that baby making has to take a back seat.
Dragonfly hunting
I wanted to take some live dragonflies but didn’t manage to capture any keepers because those I spotted are really skittish and just can’t keep still for a picture. In the end, I could only contend with a more friendly grasshopper…
… as well as metallic dragonflies.
Flower dome
Without much luck with dragonflies and I’m melting under the hot noon sun, I headed to the cool conservatories. I wanted to take an aerial overview of the Flight of Fancy theme, so I went to the Baobabs.
Just a few more steps and the good overview of the Flower Dome.
Next I head down to the Flower field to have a better look at the exhibits.
Overheard one of the visitors mentioning to her friends that she wanted to get married here. She better hurry though, because these exhibits are not permanent.
Having enough of the exhibits, I turned my attention to the flowers. I don’t particularly like to take flowers though, but these few caught my eyes.
Overall, I had quite a fruitful trip today 🙂
I got a few hours of early release from office today (one day earlier than Chinese New Year Eve) and my kids should be having fun at their childcare, so I decided to maximise my few hours of freedom. After having a quick lunch, I headed down to Bloodbank@DhobyGhaut to donate some ‘healthy’ blood before the CNY festive contamination. Bloodbank@DhobyGhaut, located in the Dhoby Xchange right above Dhoby Ghaut MRT station is definitely much more convenient than Bloodbank@HSA.
Then off I went to Gardens by the Bay. I had already went to Cloud Forest with my wife sometime ago, so decided to take a look at the Flower Dome again (my first visit was during its preview during one of the Orchid Exhibition). Before I reach the domes, I was already greeted with festive colours of flowers. Nice!
Festive colours
Fisheye fun
I had not gotten a fisheye lens when I first visited Flower Dome during its preview and now that I had one, I tried to play with it in the wide area inside the conservatory.
After having fun with my fisheye lens, I turned my focus on the colourful flowers. I read that the flowers will be changed slowly throughout the year, to reflect the ‘changing’ seasons. So I presume it is the spring colours I’m seeing now, predominantly red, pink, yellow and white.
Flowers everywhere
Festive mood
Nearer the exit… it is not the flowers but a simple chinese knitting that caught my attention.
Comparing the two domes, I prefer the Cloud forest to the Flower Dome. I found the former’s multistorey architecture, waterfall and varied flowers much more interesting.
Singapore Through My Eyes 