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SINGAPORE: Gardens by the Bay


I'll start with dinner at Mikuni in the Fairmont Hotel, a ridiculously expensive Japanese restaurant.  So why did we go there?  Convenient, and we haven't had this type of cuisine for many weeks.  They had a special, for S$100 (divide by 1.3 for U.S. dollar), you will drink champagne, beer and sake.  Mind you, you still need to pay for the food,  A few photos.

How much did this cost?  Too much, but almost worth it.  Breakfast was an Asian buffet...and free.
Then on to our tour of Garden by the Bay.
  • 250 acre nature park, which first opened in 2012.
  • I just happened to be in Singapore when this happened, so dropped my wife's ashes off at a special location within the site.
  • Not yet built in 2012 were the two domes we visited, Flower dome and the Cloud Forest.
    • Flower Dome is the largest (3 acres) greenhouse.
    • Cloud Rarest replicated the cool moist conditions of various parts of Asia and South America.  A special Avatar experience is featured here.  Has the highest indoor waterfall in the world.
  • Also in the Garden are 18 tree-like structures with heights up to 160 feet which perform unique environmental functions.
  • There are various themed gardens.
  • We saw no insects or bees in these domes and someone asked how are the plants pollinated.  They have a huge nursery located close by and there is of transplanting.
If you can read upside-down, we are in the Orange 1 tour.  And no, people on the Regent tour were a whole lot older.  Here are the photos I took:
They bought from France a 1000 year-old olive tree which blossomed and fruited.
Filming was occurring and this actress gave me two fingers.
My knee hurts.
Dog walking services are popular here.
Excellent tour.  We then went to pick up lunch at Din Tai Fung.  They are from Taiwan and have 119 restaurants in 15 countries, including U.S, West Coast states.  Ate in our room watching CNN.

We have a Grand Chinese Supper tonight, and tomorrow move to the Marriott at Tang Plaza.

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