The Naturific Side of Singapore

Singapore has a reputation as a small but dense island full of high-rise offices, shopping centers and food stalls. While all of that is true, there is also a definitive green side to this little dot in the ocean. The government has made it a point to set aside plenty of space for parks and nature reserves not to mention all the lush tropical plantings that  provide not only beauty but practical shade from the intense sunlight here at the equator.

Botanic Gardens

Recently it's been my pleasure to start exploring some of these greeneries - not the least of which is the Botanical Gardens. Our friend, Art (from Thailand) and his mother, Alice (from Nova Scotia) came to Singapore for a brief visit that included a day-trip to check out the gardens. The site encompasses 32 hectares (nearly 80 acres) of land so it wasn't likely we would cover all that ground. Still we managed to see a good chunk of the western half of the park including a Ginger Garden and Swan Lake. But the big treat for me was the world famous Orchid Garden with seemingly endless varieties of orchids on display. My camera lens swung this way and that snapping one bloom after another! Check it out yourself here!

Mer Lion and the Esplanade

Another day I headed over by myself to The Esplanade Park, a small park nearer to the city center and the waterfront along Collyer Quay. This little gem held some surprising finds as well as some beautiful views of the venues there.

Lastly, a new group of lady friends and I headed to MacRitchie Reservoir for a leisurely stroll on a recent Tuesday morning and then had lunch at the small cafe offering local fare. MacRitchie Reservoir is one of four that surround a large nature reserve and protected forest that provide for freshwater catchment to support Singapore. The boardwalk along the water's edge makes for scenic, easy trekking. Then we turned into one of the inland trails that provide a well-worn dirt track and plenty of jungly tree-cover for shade. Along the way we spotted a foot-long monitor lizard and came upon a group of long-tailed macaque monkeys. They do warn you to be careful not to carry food as the monkeys can be aggressive but we stood watching them leaping about the trees without incident. In fact as hard as I tried you won't see them in any of these pictures as they were quite good at hiding up there!

On the whole I find myself in awe of some of the massive trees I've come upon as well as the abundance and variety of blooms incorporated in both urban and rural areas of Singapore. And I've only just begun to explore it all!

A Big Business Milestone and The Art Scene

Last weekend was a BIG milestone for John. His hard work over these last several months at locating and fitting out their new office came to fruition with the big move! The new place (here) is located on a lovely street of former shophouses. These literally used to be shops on the ground floor and the proprietor's home above where the family resided. Most of these are now renovated into businesses but retain their colonial character on the exterior. The new Veson office's make use of the third and fourth floor which will not only greatly expand the space available for the current group of colleagues but provide room for more employees in the future. There will even be dedicated space for client training, meetings and conferences. It's not ideal - yet! The current set-up provides only temporary desks and they are still a bit cramped in the upstairs loft until the final design and fitting out  on the main floor can be completed within the next six to eight weeks. You can get a better idea of the interior here. Still it's a great relief to be in this new space and for John to be able to begin to turn his efforts towards other pressing business needs. Big congrats to John!!

After all of that by the end of this week, John was more than ready for a break from work-related issues and we managed to do that by going to a concert on Friday evening. The performer was Stacey Kent, a jazz singer whom we first learned about from Peg and Vince. We have since grown to really love her and so were very excited to learn she was going to do a live concert here! Not only that but the concert hall here in Singapore was truly beautiful and had some of the best acoustics of any we've been to. In general, we think the art scene here is proving to be top notch. We look forward to more interesting plays and artists in our future time here.

Esplanade Concert Hall

Concert Hall Interior