Andrew had a brief trip back to NZ for a meeting. On the way there he had a short stopover in Singapore. With a few hours up his sleeve he headed into the city on the MRT to the Gardens by the Bay complex.
The complex was opened to the pubic in late 2011 and cost a billion dollars to build. And it seemed to be well worth the expenditure. A very good background on the gardens came from a 2013 article in the Financial Times FT: Worth the Gamble
The outdoor gardens are free and the two domes have a combined entrance fee of $28 Singapore (about NZD 28) After visiting, Andrew felt this was very good value for money. The area of the gardens, the number and variety of plants were substantial. They free outdoor gardens were being used by many members of the public – lots of pictures being taken and people having picnics.
There are 2 large domes. The first the flower dome, a cool/dry conservatory with garden from South Africa, the desert, the Mediterranean, India etc.
The second dome was a Cloud forest, is a Cool-Moist conservatory, with waterfalls and high ranging structures. You could look at the views from below, above, inside.
And if you looked closely you could see the ventilation ducts partially hidden in the foliage
There was art everywhere and the signage was very well done.
Outside there are enormous tree structures and suspended bridges.
