48 Hours in Singapore: Gardens and More Gardens

Well, because of the toilet dilemma (see first blog), Cam and I ended up with roughly 48 hours to explore Singapore as opposed to the 72 hours we originally planned. We were only slightly deterred, however, and took this as a challenge to fit in everything we still wanted to do into two days. 

In my opinion, if you had to divide travelers into only two categories, it would be the doers and the relaxers. Doers see their travel time as an excuse to go on adventures and see and experience as much as possible, often seeking out things that are new to them and potentially outside of their comfort zone. Relaxers see their travel time as a true vacation to sit back and escape from the stress of work or daily life, and what they choose to do is largely familiar, dependable, and low-risk. It's completely possible to be both depending on the situation, and it can be nice to have a mix of the two, but I believe most people typically fall into one category or the other when it comes to how they prefer to travel. I grew up in a family of doers. Cam grew up in a family of relaxers. I am still very much a doer (who likes to relax every now and then), and Cam is kind of somewhere in between. So when I say we took this as a challenge to fit in everything we still possibly wanted to do in Singapore in two days, I really mean that I took it as a challenge, and Cam embraced his doer side and was largely enthusiastic but also along for the ride and slightly jetlagged. 

Had to take a selfie before heading out to explore on our first day in Singapore! This is probably the freshest you'll see us look the whole trip.

With that said, we both thoroughly enjoyed everything we managed to fit in during our short time in Singapore. Cam had previously lived in the city one summer for an internship during college, so he was really looking forward to seeing it again, showing me around, and checking a few new things off the list. I was looking forward to experiencing it for the first time. Cam, along with a few others we encountered both prior to the trip and during our time in Singapore, noted that Singapore was a smart choice to start our travels. The tiny island country, which is a city, a capital and a state all at once (it’s one of only three city states in the world), is a global city with incredible ethnic diversity. It’s a place you can easily navigate as a foreigner while still experiencing a unique culture, so it was a good way to ease us into the next four months. Plus, it’s just a very cool city. 

Day 1 in Singapore

We began our first day in Singapore at Gardens by the Bay, a tropical garden that takes gardens to a whole other level. This is the kind of garden that attracts people who don’t even like gardens, or plants for that matter. 

The Supertrees light up at night and are the site of Garden Rhapsody, the music and light show that has showings at 7:45 and 8:45 p.m.

When it comes to the creation of Gardens by the Bay, I imagine the unlikely duo of a star horticulturist and engineer came together and said, “Let’s access the peak of our talents to come up with something that will truly blow people’s minds,” and this was the end result. 

The Gardens by the Bay are technically free, but you do have to pay if you want to access certain attractions within the garden. We bought a ticket for the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, which were both 100% worth it. Bonus: they’re in massive, air-conditioned greenhouses, which gives you a nice break from the Singapore heat and humidity. The Cloud Forest is a mountain (the best way to describe it, it’s that big) made out of plants native to cloud forest habitats. Each level will take you higher up around the mountain to give you a different view of the plants along with the surrounding Gardens and Marina Bay. It feels like something out of Avatar– we were truly in awe the whole time.

The Cloud Walk at the top of Cloud Forest gives you amazing panoramic views.

The Flower Dome was also spectacular. We were there during the annual Chinese New Year floral display, which was honoring the Year of the Dragon with a beautiful themed garden called Dahlia Dreams. They also had an entire section for desert plants, which made this cacti lover very happy. 

In addition to the Wood Dragon, the Dahlia Dreams display featured four other dragons, each symbolizing the elements of metal, water, fire, and earth.

After Gardens by the Bay, Cam took it upon himself to continue embracing the doer mindset to show me around a few spots he thought were worth seeing within the city. We had a late lunch at Newton Food Centre, the hawker centre (open-air complex with a variety of food stalls) famous for its appearance in Crazy Rich Asians. We then explored Orchard Road for a bit (the endless shopping malls feel slightly reminiscent of the never-ending casino vibes you get in Vegas that try to trap you inside forever, never to see the light of day again), Clarke Quay, and Boat Quay, before returning to Gardens by the Bay to catch a showing of Garden Rhapsody, the evening sound and light show that takes place at the Supertrees. 

Newton Food Centre is seen as an overrated tourist trap by some, but we were able to avoid peak hours and the large crowds & lines for our afternoon lunch.

Orchard Road is a fun place to wander (shopping was not in the cards with our budget), but be careful once you got inside the mall, because it can be a process to find your way back out!

It’s important to note that, while my Health app says we walked 14 miles that first day in Singapore – doubtful, but fulfilling – I’d still like to give massive credit to the city’s MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) for letting us do all this in one day. There’s something about utilizing the public transportation in a new place that makes you feel like you’re really doing it– adjusting and adapting, embracing local norms, beating some unspoken test; it gets you acquainted with a city much faster and doesn’t make you feel quite as much like a tourist. We were very well-acquainted with the MRT at the end of our 48 hours in Singapore, and were reminded of how refreshing it is to experience adequate public transit. 

Day 1 Recap: 

• Gardens by the Bay: Cloud Forest and Flower Dome in morning and Garden Rhapsody light show at night

• Newton Food Centre

• Orchard Road

• Clark Quay 

• Boat Quay

Day 2 in Singapore

For day two in Singapore, we kicked things off with yet another garden! If you couldn’t tell by my reflections on Gardens by the Bay, I am a huge fan of gardens, particularly botanic gardens. I was an avid member of the Atlanta Botanical Garden when we lived there, was proposed to in the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix (only after Cam managed to pull me away from the self-guided tour I was intensely committed to), and will seek out any and all semi-noteworthy gardens in every place I visit. My love of gardens and plants probably comes from my mom, who will take frequent breaks on hikes/walks to bend down to take photos of any and all flowers that strike her fancy. (Shoutout to my mom, who I know is reading this.)

Singapore Botanic Gardens, not to be confused with Gardens by the Bay, is the first and only tropical botanic garden on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. While the setting is much more natural and less futuristic than Gardens by the Bay, it still has its own wow factor. We only spent a few hours here, but you could easily dedicate a whole day to exploring the property. The highlight is the National Orchid Garden, which requires payment for entry. With over 1,000 species of orchids and 2,000 hybrids on display, the collection is wildly impressive– I laughed at one sign that read “a taxonomist’s nightmare,” hinting at the extensive variety of the plant, which makes it that much more fun to explore the collection in the National Orchid Garden. The free parts of the garden are also more than worth your time (don’t skip out on the wetlands area). 

Some of the most stunning orchids at the National Orchid Garden can be found inside the Sembcorp Cool House, which is designed to emulate a high-elevation montane forest.

Views of the Keppel Discovery Wetlands within the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Following the Singapore Botanic Gardens, we made our way to Maxwell Station,

the starting point for our Singapore food tour. I highly recommend booking a food tour if you’re visiting Singapore, particularly at the front-end of your trip, as it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the city and get some tips on the local food for the rest of your stay. While many of the food tours offered in Singapore only cover Chinatown, we opted for one that covered Chinatown, Little India, and Arab Street, which I also highly recommend. You get a more complete picture of the diverse cultural heritage that makes up the city’s character while also getting to try even more delicious food. Most of the tours are offered in small groups– we were joined by three English professors living in Japan who were in town for a conference. And, like many of the other food tours, ours predominantly highlighted the hawker culture the city is known for. Across the three different neighborhoods and over the course of four hours, our lovely food host Jimmy guided us through 13+ tastings from food stalls and local eateries, starting with kaya toast in Chinatown as our “breakfast” (we ended up having kaya toast three times before leaving Singapore lol) and ending with knafeh (a sweet cheese pastry) on Arab Street as our dessert. One of the best things about these tours is that you end up trying all kinds of foods that you might not have known to order on your own. Plus, while you’re tasting and learning about the new dishes, you’re also getting the opportunity to dive deeper into Singapore’s culture. 

We spent the bulk of our food tour in Chinatown, where we had over 10 tastings, from kumquat juice and dumplings to chicken rice and fried bananas.

Day 2 Recap: 

• Singapore Botanic Gardens

• Singapore Food Tour in Chinatown, Little India, and Arab Street 

Day 3 in Singapore

We headed to Singapore Changi airport for our flight to Thailand on the morning of day three, but we made sure to leave a little extra time for one last Singapore must-do– Jewel, the airport’s very-own entertainment complex/garden space. (Yes, another garden!) We grabbed lunch at one of its many restaurants and spent some time admiring the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall that’s casually chilling in the middle of the Jewel and surrounded by a full-fledged rainforest. It felt very Singapore-esque and was a fitting finale for our time in the city. We didn’t have time for it, but you can also buy a ticket to access multiple attractions within Jewel, including the canopy park, walking net, and hedge maze.

Day 3 Recap: 

• Jewel at Singapore Changi airport

The Rain Vortex is the highlight of the Jewel and worth adding some extra time at the Singapore airport when you arrive or before departing.

Additional Tips/Thoughts on Singapore:

• When buying food from hawker food stalls, look for menu items with a thumbs up next to them. According to Jimmy, these are dishes that specifically got good reviews from local food critics. 

• It’s not super clear within the stations, but you don’t need to get a SimplyGo EZ-Link card in order to ride the MRT. You can pay with a contactless Visa or Mastercard or Apple Pay. If you’re doing the former, make sure to take the card out of your wallet each time you tap in, and always use the same card! 

• You can never experience too many gardens and/or too many orchids. 

• If you’re planning on visiting a hawker centre or food stall, bring a pack of tissues with you– they won’t have free napkins available, so it’s a BYON situation. 

• Durians are banned on MRT, as indicated on many signboards in the stations. If you’d like to try the stinky fruit, you’ll likely have to eat it on-location at a stall that sells it. 

• You can drink the tap water! 

• Singapore is much more expensive than other destinations within SE Asia. It’s still worth including in your itinerary, but budget accordingly!