Saturday, January 5, 2008

Tembusu Tree at Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Tembusu tree at Singapore Botanic Gardens has been identified as a heritage tree and is featured on the Singapore $5 currency note and in postage stamps.

Closer look at a $5 bill of Singapore, where you can see the famous tree.

The uniqueness of this tree is the long branch that grows out from the trunk almost touching the ground and we can actually sit or lie on it. I have fond memories of this tree where my siblings and I would climbed on this tree during our childhood and we had so much fun.

So precious is this heritage tree that it was protected against lightning damages. If you look closely you can view the lightning conductors.

Closer look at the hole in the trunk of the tree, we can actually put our head through the hole.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Singapore Botanic Garden

Singapore Botanic Garden has a very long history. You can view them at http://www.sbg.org.sg/aboutus/ourhistory.asp

This is the main gate of Singapore Botanic Garden and known as Tanglin Gate. This is not a black and white photo, the gate is grey and if you look closely at the tree behind, you can see the green leaves. The gate is very interesting with all the designs.

So what lies behind these beautiful gates. You need to follow my posts closely for the next few days to view them. I hope you will be fascinated by them.

Closer look at the designs of the gate.

The botanic garden is so big that I could only cover about half the garden. The garden is divided into the Tanglin Core, Central Core and Bukit Timah Core.

When the rain came, I had to leave without visiting the Evolution Garden. I guess I will visit the other half of the garden on another visit. Anyway, I was so tired and could not continue walking anymore.....lol. I really enjoyed myself taking photos of the garden and the beautiful flowers.

So you all could guess by now what my next few posts will be about by looking at the above signboard. :)

Thursday, January 3, 2008

East Coast Beach (Part 1-Shipping Route)

East Coast Beach is the longest and most popular beach in Singapore while the beaches in Sentosa is the next popular. Over at East Coast Beach, there are many great food stalls, seafood restaurants, different culture restaurants, water sport activities, BBQ, cycling and rollerblading. There are even chalets for holiday makers too.

The beach over here is so much cleaner than Pasir Ris. Though we can view the shipping route from the beach, it is not that polluted at this beach cause much efforts are done to keep this popular beach clean. At least I can see nice clean sand on this beach.....lol

The ships are further away but looked near cause I zoom on them. We used to be the busiest port in the world but that title has since gone to Shanghai. For more info. click here
Another closer look at these huge ships carrying cargos. The ships are not only passing here, they stopped here to refuel, stock up on food and water and ship repairs. These means good economy for us. I think we prefer good economy than nice beaches, we can alway visit nearby Australia for their nice beaches provided the sharks dont get to us first....lol

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Pasir Ris Beach (Part 2)

This is my second part posting of Pasir Ris Beach. Yes, the beach looked lovely with the coconut trees and the sea breeze make strolling on the beach a wonderful experience and relaxing but come low tide the sea is not very plesant looking.... hahaha....

But over at East Coast Beach, the beach looked better (will post photos later) but it is alway crowded during weekends with people cycling, picnic, bbq, etc while Pasir Ris Beach is quietier.

Pasir Ris Beach at low tide.
Guess what these people are doing at low tide? They are digging for worms and use them as baits for their fishing. The background of ships side by side is a ship repairing and building company. More of these ship builders are over at Jurong (west of Singapore). Pasir Ris is on the east side of Singapore.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Pasir Ris Beach

One of the way to relax in Singapore is to go to the beaches. I love going for a stroll or cycle along the beaches. Love the sea breeze and far from the madding crowd in the city. But sad to say we dont have lovely beaches like those overseas.

Well, Singapore used to be the busiest port in the world but is now second after Shanghai, so it is no wonder our sea is not beautiful with so many ships passing by. We can even view some huge cargo ships from our shores (will post a photo to show that in another post.)

Both Photos are taken at Pasir Ris Beach. Some of the popular activities here are cycling, camping and BBQ.