Photo taken by Jon Van Tango (Flickr)

Are you visiting Singapore? Welcome  to our tiny red dot.

Are you going to be here long? No? Just in transit? What a shame. There are lots to see and explore here. Well, never mind, there's still some interesting places to see in one day. There's the Singapore Zoological Garden, or if you want a relaxing stroll in the city, you can try our Botanical Gardens.

The Singapore Botanical Gardens is opened from 5 am to midnight daily, so you might just want to begin the day with the birds chirping and the sun rising over the trees.

Its history

An Agri-Horticultural Society founded one of the oldest gardens, if not the oldest in Singapore, the Singapore Botanical Gardens at its present site in 1859. It then evolved from a leisure and ornamental park under the Society, under which flower shows and horticultural fetes were organized, to having a scientific mission when the colonial government took over management and care of the Gardens in 1874. Kew-trained botanists and horticulturists were then sent to administer the Gardens.

The Gardens have gone through many stages of changes in its history due to its dedicated administrators or directors.

One of its most well-known directors was Mr Henry Nicholas Ridley who came in 1888.

Ridley was the man who introduced the rubber trees to the Malaya's planters. He devised successful propagation methods and found a way to harvest commercial quantities of latex without harming or killing the trees during the 1890s and early 1900s.

His persistence persuasion of the Malaya's plantation owners to grow rubber trees on a large scale was generally ignored until the early 1900s when their coffee plantations were devastated by disease and these plantation owners desperately needed a new cash crop. It was also at this time that the automobile industry boomed, resulting in an increased demand for rubber.

Due to Ridley's foresight, the Singapore Botanical Gardens was ready when the rubber rush came. The Gardens had a ready source of seed supply since Ridley had turned the Gardens forest clearings and wasteland over to rubber plantation. The Gardens' revenue multiplied as the region became a major market for the rubber trade and the plants at the Botanic Gardens became the basis for Southeast Asia's rubber industry, an industry that generated fortunes.

Directors who came after Ridley had also each contributed their own marks in making the Gardens what it is today, a centre for research, education and conservation.

What to see at the Gardens?

The Singapore Botanical Gardens has many paths winding through its many gardens with different themes. Seats are provided at intervals for when you need to take a rest. Public facilities and amenities were also well provided.

Singapore Botanical Gardens can be divided into three main cores.

There is the Tanglin Core where one can find the Swan Lake and where the Vanda Ms Joaquim is displayed. The Central Core, where the Palm Valley is located with more than 115 genera and over 220 species of palms are on displayed, is also where you can find the “only piece of original jungle left on the island”. More than 314 species of tropical vegetation jostle for space in this 6-hectare of primeval forest.

Spreading over 3 hectares with over 60,000 colourful orchids on display, the National Orchid Garden is also situated in the Central Core. If you don't have time to visit other parts of the Botanical Gardens, you should at least visit this Orchid Garden. There is a small entrance fee but it is well worth it. The Orchid Cool House is also within this garden - a glass conservatory display of orchids and other plants from the tropical highlands.

The VIP Orchid Garden boasts of hybrids that are named after heads of states including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Lady Margaret Thatcher, celebrities and dignitaries.

The Bukit Timah Core is relatively new compared to the other two and it lacks the tall majestic trees you can find in the Tanglin Core and the Central Core. Here is where you can find the Children's Garden, bamboo, medicinal plants, fruit trees and other cash crops.

Photo by aymanshamma (Flickr)

Beautiful sculptures like the Girl on Swing above are scattered throughout the gardens to be enjoyed by visitors.

New attractions, such as the Ginger Garden, Evolution Garden, Coolhouse and the Children's Garden are being added to keep the Gardens relevant as a tropical botanical institution of international renown, a key tourist destination and a flagship park.

So, come, come and enjoy our beautiful gardens.

Home to more than 300 species of animals, of which 16% are threatened species including the white tiger, orang utan, golden lion tamarin, king cobra and Malayan tapir, there are now more than 2500 specimens in the Singapore Zoo.

Where do all these animals come from?

Other than animals that were sent to the Singapore Zoo through confiscation and rescue operations by the relevant authorities as well as donations, the Zoo tries its best to ensure that the animals it acquires were those born in captivity, which is best achieved by via direct zoo to zoo contact.

However, the Singapore Zoo also recognizes a legitimate need to obtain animals from the wild for various programs, namely, conservation breeding, education or basic biological studies, therefore it has to be confident that such acquisitions from the wild will not cause a decline in the wild population.

When to Visit?

Although the Singapore Zoo is set in a rainforest environment, meaning lots of trees and shade, the best time to visit it is early in the morning, when the weather is cool.

The Zoo opens its doors daily at 8.30 am and there is a suggested itinerary for visitors who wish to spend the morning there.

As the day warms, you may wish to take refuge in the Fragile Forest and enjoy the beautiful butterflies flying around you. If you stand very still, one may just land on you.

What to See?

There are many exhibits in the Singapore Zoo and the layout of the Zoo allows you to walk from one exhibit to another.

Our favorite exhibits include the Reptile Garden and the Fragile Forest. As the name suggests, the exhibits in the Reptile Garden includes, what else, reptiles! It boosts of some 400 reptiles representing 41 species, including crocodiles, Komodo Dragons, giant Aldabraand Galapagos tortoises, king cobra and Indian rock pythons.

Another favorite is the Children's World, which is divided into the Animal Land and Play Land. At the Animal Land, children can get close up to cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, ducks, geese and other domesticated animals. Children are also allowed to hold baby animals, under the supervision of adults, in the Pets' Corner.

There is also the Primate Kingdom where more than 100 primates from 11 species are displayed.

You will be surprised to know that animals are not the only things you will see at the Singapore Zoo.

There are also plant exhibits, which include the Heliconia Valley, where yellow, red, orange and pink heliconias can be enjoyed amidst the beautiful landscaping. The Tropical Crops Plantation, which is a highly educational place, has more than 50 species of cash crops, vegetables, spices and aquatic plants on displayed.

The Garden with a View, where the well-known orang utan Ah Meng was laid to rest, was designed in the French Renaissance style. It is a horticultural display designed to complement and contrast with the rest of the Singapore Zoo gardens.

Moving Around the Zoo

The best way to see the Zoo is to take a slow walk to enjoy what the Zoo has to offer, just be sure that you have comfortable footwear on so that you can explore the Zoo without the sore and tired feet.

A tram also takes you around the Zoo for a small fee. Various strategic stops allow you to hop on and off to enjoy the many exhibits.

And if you want something different, you can even take a horse-drawn carriage!

The Singapore Zoo is a great place to visit, as attest by these visitors to Singapore. Come and enjoy yourselves!

In order to avoid the traffic congestion at the Causeway, we made reservations with a tour agent who specialized in short trips to Malaysia. The package included transport from our home to the ferry terminal in Changi, ferry tickets transportation in Desaru, various entrance fees to places of interest in Desaru as well as a seafood lunch.

View of Changi Beach, Singapore from the ferry.

A van was ready and waiting to take us on our tour when we arrived at the Tanjung Belungkor Ferry Terminal in Malaysia.

Our first stop was at the Fruit Farm; where we saw many different tropical fruits including the dragon fruit, pineapple, wax apples, breadfruit and petai.

Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruit flower.

At the farm, we were also shown how honey were collected and given a brief talk on the curative properties of honey. Bottles of raw honey as well as pollens were also available for sale.

Next we visited the Ostrich Farm. The farm in Teluk Ramunia (Desaru) was set up more than 5 years ago. At the farm, you get to see how the life cycle of an ostrich is like. You also get to hold the ostrich egg (it's huge!) and even stand on it. The operator just wants to show you how hardy the egg is.

There were also various displays showing the different stages (from one day old ostrich to week old ostrich).

As usual, there is a shop selling ostrich relating products.

We were very hungry after the visit to the fruit farm and ostrich farm.

We were then brought to this Chinese restaurant where we had a sumptuous lunch of chilli crabs, black pepper crabs, prawns, baby octopuses and fish. Yummy.

After lunch, we visited the herbal garden. There were many varieties of herbs in this garden and we understood from the guide that the owner of the garden was often consulted on the types of herbs to use for various illnesses.

Some of the herbs found at the Herbal Garden

The owner was very kind and actually took us around the garden showing us the various herbs and explaining to us their curative properties and how to use them for various illnesses.

By then, it was almost time to leave for the ferry terminal for our trip. It was a most enjoyable and educational trip. My mother enjoyed herself and declared that she had a great day!