Gardens By the Bay : Singapore Stories

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Coming back to Gardens By The Bay felt like returning back home, a place I’m no stranger to. Today’s visit was to view “Singapore Stories” floral display and I am proud to share this good news that Gardens By The Bay was awarded the 2015 Guinness World Record for the “Largest Glass Greenhouse”. 
Our country celebrates 50 years of independence this year. Our history is nothing compared to older countries such as China, United States or Germany. But we do have our own unique stories to tell.
 Right here, we have more than 8,000 orchid plants to bring 10 local folklores to life again.  From the iconic Merlion and the familiar Sang Nila Utama, to the lesser known legends of Tanjong Pagar, Redhill and Radin Mas. This garden landscape was designed by award-winning Singaporean landscape architect, Damian Tang who is also the Director of Design at the National Parks Board.

In this post, I am also very excited to share about the ten legends we have in Singapore which I hope it would be retold to our next generations so that this folklores get past on.

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A story for the young and old.
Relive the moments of the past as you walk through the Flower Dome.

We have 10 stories to be retold to our next generation… The story of Sang Nila Utama, Sisters’ Island, Bukit Timah, Redhill and many more. Who said we’ve got no history? Here’s a couple of stories I would like to share with you.

(1) Sang Nila Utama

Sang Nila Utama is the ruler of the Sri Vijaya empire in Palembang, Sumatra. As he was in search for a new territory, he discovered Temasek island. During his voyage, he encountered a storm that threatened to sink his ship. To save his crew, he threw his crown into the sea and this cease the impending storm. When he reach Temasek, he chanced upon a creature which looks like a lion and thus named this island Singapure which means ‘lion city’ in sanskrit.

(2) Sister’s Island

There were 2 beautiful sisters called Minah and Linah. While fetching water from a well, Linah met a band of pirates and the pirate chief fell in love with her beauty so he decided to marry her. The next day, the pirates returned and took Linah away. Minah swam after the boat but drowned so Linah jumped into the water after her in sorrow. The following say, two islands formed where the sisters had drowned and so ‘Sister’s Island’ was named.

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The exhibit also features some vanishing trades in Singapore such as coolie, Sam Sui women and Kacang Puteh Man.

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It was my first time visiting the Flower Dome in the late evening and the evening glow helps to create romantic feel to the place.

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The pure white orchids are called Ta Chung Green Jade as it is tinged with a light green tone over the throat, lip and lateral sepals of the flower.

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This is a Merlion sculpture designed by Lynette Wu, a game artist at the School of Interactive and Digital Media at Nanyang Polytechnic. Unlike our usual Merlion, her version of the Merlion has the grandeur and majestic aura of Poseidon which aptly reflects the upright and powerful stance of Singapore.

If you want to view the original Merlion statue which stands at 8.6 metres tall and weighing 70 tonnes,  you can visit the Merlion Park.This iconic figure was designed by Fraser Brunner in 1964.

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Catch the SG50 edition of Garden Rhapsody at the Supertree Grove that features our Past National local songs sung by an acapella group. The music is arranged by Bang Wenfu and vocals by locat artistes such as Robert Fernardo, Rani Singam, Benjamin Kheng of The Sam Willows, iNCH, Nathan Hartono, and Singapore’s future generation of musicians, Lou Peixin, Miin Tong and Glory Ngim.



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Complete the SG50 or Singapore experience with a dinner of local delights at Satay by the Bay where you can get a taste of the local cuisines like Satay,  Prata, Fried Hokkien Mee, BBQ Chicken Wings , Barbecue stingray and Chili Crab within the gardens. There are about 19 stalls serving local hawker fare along with 6 satay carts as well as a bar and bistro corner.
Gardens By The Bay

Ticketing Promotions

Local senior citizens (60 years and above) enjoy free admission to both Conservatories when they visit anytime between now and 31 August 2015. One accompanying caregiver can enjoy 50% off the ticket to both conservatories as well.

For tourists, one child enjoys free admission with every two adult standard double conservatories tickets purchased when they visit anytime between now and 31 December 2015. Guests have to print out the offer from Singapore Tourism Board’s Golden Jubilee page in order to enjoy the promotion.

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