Posted on: Sunday, January 4, 2009
INNOVATIVE PRESERVES, LUXURIANT LANDSCAPING MAKE GARDEN CITY THE WORLD'S ENVY
The nature of Singapore
By John Lander
Special to The Advertiser
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Beautiful parks and exotic birds have earned Singapore the moniker "Garden City."
Photos by JOHN LANDER | Special to the Advertiser
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IF YOU GO …
• The Jurong BirdPark, www.birdpark.com.sg, and the Singapore Zoo’s Night Safari, www.nightsafari.com.sg, offer special events and bird spectaculars. Combo tickets cover entrance to the zoo, safari and bird park. Admission is good for one month to all three for the equivalent of $33. • The National Parks Board, www.nparks.gov.sg, organizes Singapore’s national parks and nature reserves with maps, information and history. The Singapore Botanic Gardens and the National Orchid Garden venues, programs and events are at www.sbg.org.sg. • Visit Chijmes Shopping Arcade (pronounced ‘chimes’) for a greener, al fresco, less fluorescent shopping experience. www.chijmes.com.sg. • After a long day of shopping at Raffles boutiques or Raffles City Mall, stop by the tropical garden at Raffles Courtyard and surround yourself with travelers’ palms and fountains while you enjoy an al fresco meal or a cold drink. www.singapore.raffles.com. • The Singapore Green Map gives the locations of the city’s attractions and patches of green outside the well-maintained parks. www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/user/5. • Singapore has an excellent tourism site, with downloadable brochures, maps, timetables, advice and suggestions for accommodations, www.visitsingapore.com. — John Landerm
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The Waterfall Aviary in Jurong BirdPark is the world’s largest walk-in aviary. The rainforest environment is home to 1,500 free-flying birds.
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Jurong BirdPark’s residents boast varied personalities and number in the thousands.
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Stepping outside Changi, Singapore's award-winning airport, you are greeted not with the usual concrete sprawl but with tidy landscaping and swaying travelers' palms. On the way into town, your taxi whizzes along a road that in any other city in the world would be called a parkway.
By early morning at the Botanic Gardens, the locals are already up. The young and fit jog through the park while their elders practice tai chi by ponds. Gardeners get ready for a busy day of preening, pruning and tidying up the 128 acres of Singapore's signature park. If you only have time to dawdle amid luxuriant greenery, this is the place to do it.
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