Christmas in Singapore - Day #2: ArtScience Museum, Gardens by the Bay & Marina Bay Sands

When our relatives were informed of our upcoming visit to Singapore, the first set of reactions from the ones who had been there were,

” When are you visiting Gardens by the Bay..?” and

” Don’t miss Gardens by the Bay..”.

Clearly, Gardens by the Bay seems to be the common favourite attraction and the one thats first jumps to mind. ArtScience Museum, Gardens by the Bay and MBS are situated in close proximity to each other, walkable distance and there is so much to explore, it can easily take up more than a day.

First stop, ArtScience Museum. The museum is owned and operated by Marina Bay Sands. It is housed in a curious white coloured, lotus-inspired building. This unique design gets your attention and you are eager to explore the inside. I am not going into the details of the exhibits we saw as they would have changed the themes for the new season. The exhibits in the ArtScience Museum were mind-blowing and what was exemplary was the fun and joy we got from participating and learning by doing rather than just walking past the exhibits as we are so accustomed to doing. It's a must see place and children will love it !!

But if you wish to read the same, please follow the link to the website www.milesandsmiles.net.in

That’s half a day well spent. Next stop, Gardens by the Bay – the horticulture marvel !! The major attractions are the twin domes – the Cloud Forest & the Flower Dome. The Cloud Forest Dome greets you with a 35m manmade mountain and waterfall. Its also the world’s largest indoor waterfall. After this spectacular sight, you just walk spellbound and enjoy the scenic display of trees, ferns, pitcher plants and the orchids. It also has a Crystal Mountain with stalactites.

The Flower Dome houses gardens from around the world – from a Mediterranean garden to a South African Garden to an Australian garden and many others in-between. It’s a world of perpetual spring with the flower displays changed to reflect the different seasons and festivals.

Being December, all the trees were lighted up and it looked like a Christmas wonderland. As a souvenir, bought a Risis natural orchid plated with 24k gold and palladium. It looks beautiful !! The Supertrees – the vertical plant displays – spectacular !! We also had a glimpse of their light and sound show in the evening, called Garden Rhapsody and being December it was a medley of Christmas songs.

For December, there is an added attraction called ” Christmas Wonderland” which houses a whole host of Christmas themed shows, rides, games, food and so on. But we had to skip this, we were running short on time and had to rush, as we wanted to cover Marina Bay Sands as well.

We walked to MBS and were greeted by the beautiful music fountain display. Mesmerised by the colourful display, we watched it in silence.

Once the sound ceased, we noticed this huge “wishing well” as it is popularly called. It’s an art installation of acrylic and stainless steel named ” Rain Oculus”, with a water spiralling in it and functions as a skylight and waterfall for the retail mall below. The water also feeds the canal in MBS.

The canal and the gondolas in the shopping mall was a surprise and a treat to watch. There are the expensive and exclusive brands housed in the mall. MBS was dressed in green and gold for Christmas.

We finished the day with dinner at a restaurant named Beanstro located beside the canal and after a while the water started gushing down from the wishing well above and soon there was a loud waterfall right beside us…prefect end to the spectacular day !!

Happy travelling,

Anju