Singapore Botanic Gardens with Peko-chan

Earlier this week, I had a little girls' time-off with Sheena and 2 of our girls, her Caramelaw custom Floof and my PJ Dolls custom Peko-chan. After lunch we were supposed to go to the Museum of Ice Cream, but due to my oversight we couldn't because the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Yup, my bad. I could smack myself for not checking.... So instead, we headed over to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG).

Peko-chan and Floof at the Swan Lake Gazebo, Singapore Botanic Gardens (IG)

The cool weather after the late morning thunderstorm had long given way to a sweltering day when we set out for the Gardens. I can't believe we still walked there in the 31oC heat!

We entered from the Tanglin main gate and spent a bit of time at the the 157-year-old Swan Lake.

Swan Lake, Singapore Botanic Gardens (IG)

It was really hot so we took shelter under the Swan Lake Gazebo, an over 160-year-old Victorian cast-iron garden shelter that stands by the lake's edge. The gazebo was built in the 1850s for some house on Grange Road, then relocated to the SBG in 1969.

Sheltering under the over 160-year-old cast-iron Swan Lake Gazebo, Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo courtesy of Caramelaw.

The over 160-year-old cast-iron Swan Lake Gazebo, Singapore Botanic Gardens (IG)

I remember seeing several white swans, black swans, and loads of water lilies in the lake during the '80s. But I don't see many these days. Only 2 white swans on the lake. As for the family of black swans, not a peep here, apparently they're located at the Eco-Lake.

One of the white swans at the Swan Lake, Singapore Botanic Gardens (IG)

From there we walked the lawns, past some of our Heritage Trees, and arrived at the most iconic spot in the SBG: the 93-year-old Bandstand. This white octagonal shelter built in 1930 is another heritage structure that is full of nostalgic memories. It is also one of the most popular wedding photo backdrops in Singapore. I have some old photos of it, taken in the '80s and '90s, but my favourite one was taken around 2003 or 2004 with Hubby (then-boyfriend). But no, we didn't take our wedding photos there. In fact, we forwent that expense altogether.

The Bandstand, the most iconic structure in the Singapore Botanic Gardens (IG)

In the end, the heat really got to us, so we ended up sitting in the shade on one of the garden swings at the Frangipani Collection area. These swings are very nostalgic, definitely a part of our childhood where they were common in parks, gardens and people's backyards.

Even there we were not alone... There were several wild chickens loitering around the lawn, two monitor lizards foraging for food, and squirrels flitting from tree to tree. And Sheena had a little fun teasing the cock by occasionally going "cockadoodledoo".

Garden swings and wild chickens at the Frangipani Collection, Singapore Botanic Gardens

The poor cock had no idea it was us and started a crowing contest to assert its dominance. It did have rather beautiful plumage.

Where the chickens run wild... Singapore Botanic Gardens

So, our Botanic Gardens is indeed one of central Singapore's green lungs. Much was made of it in the process leading up to its nomination and inscription in 2015 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Even among Singaporeans, there were mixed views, although a majority favoured its inscription, considering its purpose and place in our history. It originally began as a private pleasure garden when it was first created in 1859, then around 1875, it evolved into a colonial tropical garden focused on plant research and public recreation under the management of the colonial government. The SBG's best known director would be the British botanist Henry Ridley, known for developing methods to harvest and commercially exploiting latex rubber, and for his identification of Agnes Joaquim's Vanda Miss Joaquim. The former was basically the seed for the entire rubber industry in our region, and the latter is our national flower.

Sure, it's humble or even underwhelming to some, especially when compared to other amazing city gardens, like London's Hyde Park, the Kew Gardens, NYC's Central Park and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Paris' many gardens (the Tuileries, Luxembourg, Palais Royal, Jardin des Plantes...), Tokyo's Shinjuku Gyoen and Higashi Gyoen, Stockholm's Djurgården and Rosendals Trädgård, just to name some off the top of my head. (Probably no coincidence that they're also ones I've been to.) But I love SBG's history and what it represents to us here, as a part of our heritage and definitely as part of our childhood. Plus our National Orchid Garden is not just some walk in the park; it houses over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids, and is said to have one of the world's largest collection of tropical orchids. The orchard garden is my favourite part of the SBG actually, and I'm planning to revisit it another day!