Gardens and Jails

We had decided to make the most of the day before being picked up for transfer to the airport at 7pm. Accordingly we had booked an afternoon tour of Changi Jail and Museum, and several different districts. The morning was to be filled with looking more closely at the strange stylised Supertrees in the Garden on The Bay. To our astonishment this was free. Mondays are gardening maintenance day and there were a huge number of people tending the plants, making sure the dead leaves were removed. I lifted some foliage to read a sign and I had scarcely moved away before a man with scissors was trimming it so that it was neat and readable. Neither Dave nor I profess to be gardeners but there was more than enough to keep us interested with odd sculptures and intriguing paths. It was easy to see a Chinese influence in the design of the place as there were different views hidden round each corner. The contrast between the gardens and the surrounding city was striking but it all fitted together so well. We decided to pay to go into the two large 'conservatories' in the park. The Flower Dome was impressive with different areas representing gardens from different parts of the world, intermingled with Festival decorations for Deepavali. However it was the Cloud Dome that really took our breath away. A massive 30m waterfall greeted us as we walked in the doors. It was possible to visit different levels inside the waterfall and then go out on walkways to see it from the outside. A fog machine billowed out clouds to give the feeling of being in tropical mountains. We could happily have stayed in there for much longer but time was creeping on and we wanted to visit the restaurant in the Supertrees. The Supertrees double as exhausts for CO2 from their biomass convertors. Ingenious! The largest has a restaurant at the top. Thankfully we are both happy at heights and were pleased to sit in the airconditioned restaurant enjoying a snack and cool drinks. The photo shows a tiny person at the base of the tree to give an idea of perspective. Changi jail was a complete contrast. Not that it is the original jail building but a museum dedicated to all those who were held by the Japanese during the Second World War. I was particularly interested in the quilts made by the women POW's. These were used as messages to let their menfolk know that they were alive as there was no communication between the men and women. Dave was fascinated but unsurprised to find that the locals were treated equally as badly as the POW's. A very sad time in Singapore's history and oddly fitting that we should visit when Remembrance Sunday is approaching. Our guide for this tour was a delightful Singaporean of Chinese extraction who was enthusiastic about all his talks. Despite having difficulty walking he set such a pace that we had to walk briskly to keep up with him. After the Museum Tour it was onto the Malay district and Arab Quarter, and he wove us in and out of markets, picking up produce and explaining what it was with great animation whilst the stall holders looked on with smiles and only slight bemusement. They were obviously used to him. Oddly we were not given enough time to buy anything so he was not getting any back handers for taking us there. He also delighted in proudly explaining how the Government organised housing for everyone in such a way that communities were integrated with one another and not segregated as they had been in the past. All in all a sucessful end to a interesting and delightful couple of days in Singapore. I have a lot of respect for the way in which Singapore seems to have taken challenges and worked to make the very best of things for themselves, visitors and the environment. If New Zealand is half as interesting we will still have things to talk about for years. Prepare to be bored forever, friends.