Following the end of final exams at the University of Sydney I decided to extend my time abroad by traveling south east Asia for a few weeks. One of the benefits of studying in Australia is its relative closeness to parts of the world I have never explored. I planned on starting my trip in the island state of Bali, part of the Indonesian archipelago. However, Mount Agung, an active volcano in Bali’s northeast region, is currently on the brink of eruption. To avoid this impending disaster, we had to change our flights and instead decided to start our journey in Singapore.
Singapore is a sovereign city-state and island country, meaning that the city of Singapore operates as its own country. It is an extremely modern and clean city with excellent public transportation, the subways were the cleanest cars I have seen in any major city by far. Our first day in Singapore we walked along the riverway to the National Stadium. Built in 2015 this huge stadium is surrounded by a mall, 2 waterparks, an aquatic center and many other attractions. It serves as the sports hub for the city and promotes the active lifestyle popular in Singapore. In fact, at all hours of the day we saw people running or biking and it seemed like the entire city was in shape.
After the National Stadium, we walked the opposite way down the river towards the Gardens by the Bay. This 101-hectare garden in the heart of the city serves as a lesson to tourists and locals alike of the importance of preserving and working with the environment. We purchased tickets to tour the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome for $28 Singaporean dollars, which ended up being well worth the price. The Cloud Forest is a living mountain ecosystem covered in diverse vegetation, rare plants, and beautiful flowers. You enter the Cloud Forest near a tumbling waterfall and make your way up the “mountain” before exiting through a theater. On the mountain path, many signs describe the plants and animals that compose this rare mountain ecosystem and explain the threats it currently faces due to climate change and deforestation. The mountain is shrouded in mist every 2 hours, providing visitors with a surreal experience. At the end of the cloud walk we watched a documentary about the harms of climate change and the impending effects on the earth if we do not make drastic changes to our lifestyles. This eye-opening experience was interesting and educational. I really enjoyed how Singapore as a collective was focused on improving life for its citizens by working to preserve the environment and encouraging a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
Following the Cloud Forest we continued our journey to the Flower Dome, which is the world’s largest glass greenhouse. The Flower Dome showcases exotic plants from five continents in nine separate garden biomes. As a Christmas fanatic, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire Flower Dome was decorated for the holidays, including Santa’s Workshop, accompanied by cheerful Christmas music. This was a warming experience for me as I have been missing home, especially with the Christmas season approaching. Walking through the beautiful flowers while listening to Christmas music was a pleasing experience.
For our final stop at the Gardens by the Bay we decided to watch a spectacular Christmas Light Show under the Super Trees. I first saw the Super Trees while watching David Attenborough’s Planet Earth II but I never thought I would get to see them in person. The Super Trees measure between 25 and 50 meters tall and serve as vertical gardens that provide shade during the day and a light show at night. We caught the 8:30 show where the Super Trees seemingly danced with light in tune to Christmas songs.
The attractions at the Gardens by the Bay propagate the ideal that Singapore values the environment and its diversity. From what I experienced, this city-state strives to educate everyone about the beauty and importance of nature. This ideal is pervasive throughout the city; most of buildings are covered in vertical gardens and the highways are lined with trees and plants. Not only does this provide a unique aesthetic, it helps to clean the air and promote the environment.
Our next day we decided take a trip to Pulau Ubin to further explore what secrets Singapore has to offer. Pulau Ubin is a small island “village” a short boat ride from Singapore’s ferry terminal and provides a look at what the area used to be like prior to urbanization. Bump boats run from the ferry terminal about every twenty minutes, costing only $3 Singaporean dollars per person one way. Once on Pualau Ubin we rented mountain bikes for $10 from one of the local stores. We spent the next six hours biking through the entire island. It is heavily forested and home to many animals; we were able to see a family of monkeys playing in the trees and some wild pigs. It was awesome to see the isolated beauty of this island and watch local animals in their natural habit. At night we decided to go to the Newton Food Centre to try some local food. Newton is considered a “hawker” centre where shop owners of all types sell their goods. My friends and I split dishes to get the best variety of the local food. Our favorite, surprisingly, was BBQ stingray which I later found out is a local favorite. This dinner was a great way to cap off our trip to Singapore.
While getting a taste of Asian culture and exploring a new city, I was most impressed by Singapore’s devotion to improving the environment and the health of its people. The city streets were lined with well-tended trees and buildings were covered in vertical gardens and the local population was constantly encouraged to remain active and healthy. I hope to bring back some of this vitality for my own personal health and I wish one day that the U.S. will follow suite in a similar devotion to promoting the active integration of nature into our cities.
