Touring My Hometown — Gardens by the Bay (updated)

(This post was updated on 14 October 2020, 12:40am.)

Hunnya and Naomi at Gardens by the Bay (on IG).

Last Friday, I took Naomi to Gardens by the Bay! We met up with buddy Sheena and her candy calavera Hunnya and spent some time catching up and just enjoying the greenery. Also, I was able to give Sheena the amigurumi Dusty I made for her (posted here).

Amigurumi Dusty is now with her owner! (More on IG)

She seemed delighted with amigurumi Dusty, and remarked that the colours were just like Dusty's. I was really glad she liked it. We also did a little photo shoot with our girls, first at the Dragonfly Lake, which was the first spot we arrived at, after we exited Bayfront MRT Station. 

Naomi at the Dragonfly Lake, Gardens by the Bay (on IG)

It's been some time since we've taken any of our girls out to photograph, so it was also pretty fun. It's been a long time since I spent quality time with my girls, so it felt really nice.

Naomi at the Dragonfly Lake, Gardens by the Bay (on IG)

The Dragonfly Lake gives wonderful waterfront views of parts of the Bay South Garden area of Gardens by the Bay. It's a pretty good place to start as it's a picturesque spot, with a peaceful and leisurely kind of feeling. 

Some fun behind-the-scenes, Dragonfly Lake, Gardens by the Bay (more on IG)

Caramelaw and Hunnya having some camera time. Dragonfly Lake, Gardens by the Bay (more on IG)

Me and Naomi (also on IG). Both Naomi and I were having a bad hair day. Haha. I was in the Kalle Shirt Dress in nani IRO 'fuccra rakuen' print that I finished last year earlier this year (posted here).

In the lake are the aluminum dragonfly sculptures, fountains, some rock sculptures, and a little island filled with trees. Also, on the east side of the lake is a 440m boardwalk. It was picturesque as we walked along the waterfront, as we passed the little island in the lake, we glimpsed views of the SuperTrees in the distance.

A view of the SuperTree Grove from the Dragonfly Lake, Gardens by the Bay (more on IG)

Besides being designed for beautification, the Dragonfly Lake is also designed to be eco-friendly and sustainable. Not just this lake, but all the lakes in Gardens by the Bay. The lakes in the Gardens form a lake system in the Bay South Garden area, and this lake system is, in turn, part of the water catchment area in the Marina South area of Singapore, and are connected to Marina Bay by a canal. Water is drawn from the Marina Reservoir to the Kingfisher Lake, then circulated to the Dragonfly Lake, and when the Dragonfly Lake rises after rain, the water overflows back into the Marina Reservoir.

All nice and cosy in there! Maybe a little too cosy? Social distancing, girls! (Another on IG)

The water from the lakes is also used for irrigation in the Gardens, and the plants in the lakes are also intended to act as an eco-filter, absorbing excess nitrogen and phosphorus, etc. and to improve water quality. 

Wow wow wow wow wow. Sounds very sustainable. This, I didn't know. Oh goodness, and I'm a local here....

"Oh wow! The Dragonfly Lake is part of a reservoir system!" (Also on IG)

So, then, we took to the boardwalk a little, and made our way to the SuperTree Grove. As we walked, we impulsively decided to get tickets to the Cloud Forest. Due to the pandemic and the travel ban, the Gardens were relatively crowd-free, so why the heck not? we thought. So Sheena whipped up her mobile phone, scanned the QR code at the ticket booths, and booked us a 6pm-7pm time slot to the Cloud Forest.

We were both pretty excited. It was Sheena's first time visiting the Gardens. I had visited the Gardens twice before, but it was my first time visiting the Cloud Forest, and spending an extended time at more than 1 spot in the Gardens.

So my first time had been in 2016. Hubby and I walked through the SuperTree Grove (posted on IG here), but we were only there for a brief time as Hubby got grumpy due to the heat, humidity and crowds. And truly, the crowd was no joke. It was packed. 

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A post shared by yotsuba & clan (@yotsuba_blythes) on Mar 19, 2016 at 4:32am PDT

My second visit was to the 2017 Blossom Bliss (posted here), which took place in part of the Flower Dome conservatory. I was with Momiji, and we spent over 3 hours just at Blossom Bliss! It was so much more enjoyable than my first visit, and much more leisurely. 

Blossom Bliss 2017 in the Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay (27 March 2017, posted here).

After Blossom Bliss in 2017, I again passed through the SuperTree Grove, and was treated to the fantastic night view of the SuperTrees all lit up (posted on IG here). And because I'm directionally challenged and got lost somehow, I also got a nice night-time view of Marc Quinn's ginormous bronze baby Planet against our CBD skyscrapers (posted on IG here). 

Beyond that, I had not been back to the Gardens for ages. And...ohmygosh, and it's already 2020 and we're in the middle of a global pandemic. This time, I'm with a good friend, and we're both going to the Cloud Forest! Super excited. (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ I don't know...somehow I feel like the Gardens always has something interesting and exciting going on....

We still had about 30 mins to our time slot for the Cloud Forest, so we took a few photos under the 3 SuperTrees nearby. 

Naomi is amazed by the super tall SuperTrees (on IG).

One of the amazing sights in the Gardens would be the SuperTrees. They're not exactly my favourite spot, but I am always blown away by them. Always. There're 18 of them in the Gardens, separated into 3 clusters. The largest cluster is of course, the SuperTree Grove. But near the Cloud Forest dome is the smaller cluster of 3. Even then, they're pretty amazing. 

The SuperTrees measure between 25m and 50m tall. And as I've mentioned above, they are lit up at night, a sight that is pretty amazing. Though my personal favourite time is blue hour, when their lights come on but the sky is a deep blue. These concrete and steel giants are also designed to be eco-friendly and sustainable. Apparently 11 of them have green functions, and are fitted with solar cells to harvest solar energy. I hope that solar energy is used to power the Gardens.

Orchids, bromeliads, airplants.... the SuperTrees, a view of Marina Bay Sands.... Naomi is pretty overwhelmed (more on IG)

The bottom and sides of these SuperTrees are also covered with plants. So there was a profusion of orange orchids, bromeliads, airplants, and other plants. They made such a lovely backdrop for our girls in the photo shoot. So according to information on the Gardens, planted on the 18 SuperTrees are over 162,900 plants of more than 200 species of bromeliads, orchids, ferns, and other tropical flowering climbers and epiphytes. Wow.

Caramelaw's Hunnya among the orchids at the SuperTree cluster near the Cloud Forest (more on IG)

Naomi also had a go among the orchids. (more on IG)

Before we knew it, the 30 mins went by, so we made our way to the Cloud Forest dome. We did have a bit of a hiccup but that was quickly fixed at the Friends of the Gardens office.

The Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay (more on IG)

Walking through the automated gantry and into the dome is a pretty cool experience. And I also mean that quite literally. Upon walking through the doors, we are treated to a mist-shrouded ground floor. The cool temperature inside the conservatory was a wonderful respite to our warm, humid weather. The fact that it was a cloudy day kind of enhanced the experience of being in a montane cloud forest.

Naomi at the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (on IG)

Ah ha. I just wrote "montane cloud forest". Haven't used this term in ages. The last time I did was secondary school geography class.... The Cloud Forest is designed to simulate the cool and moist climate of the subtropical/tropical cloud forest that is around 2,000m above sea level, and contains plants that grow in the Asian and Central/South American cloud forests. (Yeah, the name of the dome is pretty self-explanatory.)

The 35m tall Cloud Mountain in the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (more on IG).

At 0.8 hectares, the Cloud Forest is a pretty large conservatory. The dome encloses 153,000m³ of space. The dome structure consists of 2,577 glass panels that covers a surface area of 12,000m². Yes, so much has been made about the fact that Cloud Forest and Flower Dome are the largest column-free glass greenhouses in the world. Also, they are designed to minimise environmental impact.

The main feature of the Cloud Forest (okay, besides the plants) is the 35m tall man-made mountain, the Cloud Mountain. From it cascades the indoor man-made waterfall, also specially designed to optimise the water and misty effects of the cloud forest habitat, while minimising acoustics. The indoor waterfall is supposedly one of the world's tallest. 

The Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay. 0.8ha, 153,000m³, 2,577 glass panels covering 12,000m², 35m high man-made mountain (also posted on IG)

The architecture aside, the vegetation in the dome is also breathtaking. As I said, the Cloud Forest consists of plants that grow in the cloud forests of Asia and Central/South American. A lot of that vegetation grows on the sides of the Cloud Mountain. Apparently, the Cloud Mountain was designed with some state-of-the-art organic wall system that recreates the "living skin" of a natural mountain. Whatever it is...the Cloud Mountain has got to be one of the most awesome vertical gardens out there. (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖  

Gorgeous festoons of maidenhair ferns in the Cloud Forest (more on IG)

Both of us ooh'd and aah'd at pretty much every plant we passed... Which means we made really slow progress through the dome because the Cloud Forest has thousands of plants. Statistically, both the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome have around 250,000 plant species!

Hoya plants in flower on the ground floor of the Cloud Forest (more on IG).

We really went nuts over the variety of plants growing in the dome. Another reason I kept stopping: there was so many plants that are popular and highly sought after by plant parents worldwide, some of which are considered exotics that are expensive or hard to get. This is paradise for plant lovers. Maybe both paradise and purgatory for plant parents. 

It took a superhuman effort to keep my hands to myself! Especially when I saw the many begonia varietals growing there. I can totally get why there are signs saying "Do Not Touch" all over the place. Ironically, I love plants but don't have green thumbs. But the Cloud Forest might prove too tempting and cause many wannabes like myself to fall headlong into plant parenthood. (OMG...this is another deep rabbit hole for me! Argh.)

These look like the Begonia Escargots and Begonia Black Mambo (more on IG). Just on the ground floor of the Cloud Forest alone we see a variety of exotic plants, many of which are popular and highly sought after by plant parents. This would be an orgasmic paradise for plant parents. 

It took a lot of effort not to whip out pen and paper and start listing the various species and varietals. Like the flowering hoya plants, begonias, philodendrons, alocasias, ferns, anthuriums, orchids, carnivorous plants...《《o(≧∇≦)o》》Okay! I NEED TO STOP LUSTING! (－‸ლ) 

That said, it is very clear that the plants in the Cloud Forest are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the plant diversity (and beauty!) of cloud forests. An amazing fact about cloud forests is their high biodiversity. 

Just a small section of the Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay, illuminated by spotlights after sundown. Begonias, bromeliads, ferns, orchids, anthuriums, alocasias, philodendrons, other aroids, blahblahblahblahblah too many to even list, and many that I don't recognise. 

Cloud forests are unique in our world. They make up only 1% of our global woodland. Although they exist in many continents (namely, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean), they occur only at altitudes of 800-3,000m above sea level. But this 1% is home to a high biodiversity that rivals tropical forests. Even more amazing is that cloud forests are home to many rare plants and animals that are endemic to the area, found nowhere else in the world. Especially the cloud forests in the Andes. Apparently, this high level of biodiversity and endemism is largely due to the unique local characteristics of each of these cloud forests. 

Caramelaw on the Treetop Walk in the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (on IG)

One of the purposes of the Cloud Forest conservatory is to raise awareness of cloud forests. Cloud forests—and consequently, their ecosystems and genetic biodiversity—are increasingly threatened by climate change, deforestation, and human development. The Andean cloud forests, for example, are home to many rare endemic species (many of which are still undiscovered/unstudied) due to its unique topographic complexity. In the last few years, the Andean cloud forests have been identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change and human development. In fact, because of the unique geographic features, and genetic diversity of cloud forests, one might even say that each cloud forest, in and of itself, is unique and different from other cloud forests. So it's not useful or helpful to simply think of cloud forests as a single natural habitat unit. Especially from a conservation standpoint.

Orchids in the Cloud Forest (more orchids on IG). Apparently the Cloud Forest has about 50 varieties.

Cloud forests are also home to the largest number of orchids in the world. In a way, this is not surprising, as cloud forests have the world's highest largest number of epiphytes. Many of these have yet to be discovered or studied. It is said that the Ecuadorian cloud forests alone has over 4,000 species, of which 1,300 are endemic. (Amazing fact: Ecuador occupies 0.02% of the land surface but is home to 10% of the global bird species, many of which are endemic to Ecuador's cloud forests.)

Apparently there are about 50 varieties of orchids among the vegetation in the Cloud Forest. I did take pictures of some, but missed a few of the more exotic and pretty ones along the way. So this warrants a return trip!

Orchids at the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also on IG)

Little orchids at the Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also on IG)

We also went through the new Secret Garden area in the Cloud Forest. It has a display of miniature orchids, some of which are native to the cloud forests of Panama and Costa Rica. The orchid blooms were so small that they had to be magnified. σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

The display of small orchids in the Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also  on IG)

The display of small orchids in the Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also  on IG)

The display of small orchids in the Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also  on IG)

The display of small orchids in the Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also  on IG)

In fact, Costa Rica's national flower is also an orchid! To be precise, the Guaria Morada, scientific name Cattleya skinneri, named by English horticulturalist James Bateman. Bateman was an avid collector and scholar of orchids. It's not a cloud forest orchid though, as it grows in the pre-montane zone between 500-1,000m above sea level.

The Secret Garden has about 7,000 plants of 135 species. With the water, and limestone rocks, it looks like a sort of limestone cavern in a lush forest. At some spots the ferns were sprouting out from the columns that in the lighting I first mistook them to be cycads. And... Holy s***! Begonia maculata! Are those Philodendron patriciae I see?!

The Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also on IG)

The Secret Garden, Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay (also on IG). 

We followed the path through the Secret Garden, which led us out. At some point, we came to a corridor that had little pockets in the walls, containing landscaped pockets of rocks, moss, lichen, aroids and other small plants, with glimpses of the garden in the background. Kind of like the use of shakkei but on a smaller scale. Room box scale. (＞▽＜)

Caramelaw's Hunnya. The blue-tint of the lighting at this part of the Cloud Forest makes her look even more otherworldly! (on IG)

Actually, Sheena and I both thought these little landscaped pockets would make perfect little dioramas for Blythes! The lighting in this area was not desirable for photography, however. Very harsh and blue. I took some pictures of Naomi there but with the lighting, she looked a bit like a hantu /pontianak. Was really too freaky, and totally unflattering picture of her. They do inspire some ideas about how a room box or terrarium could be created as a diorama for Blythe though! I'm kind of entertaining the feasibility of this, and wondering if I could do something like this for my new flat (when it's ready). Might be too ambitious on my part...and given my so-not-green thumbs.......... Anyway..... there's still quite some time.

So this is the end of our trip to the Gardens! Until then....next time~! Hopefully, the next visit to the Gardens will not be 3 years later. (◍ﾉᗨ˂̶◍)ﾉ"