Singapore Botanical Gardens

In my opinion one of the best places to visit in Singapore are the Botanical Gardens. Not only do tourist and locals have a large area to walk around, from a rainforset to views of local fauna, but it is free. I got up early in the morning, because I hadn't adjusted to the new time yet and I headed to the gardens. I spent the whole morning wandering around the gardens. It was quiet and very hot, but I enjoyed that natural beauty around me. I love gardens. The smells, textures and all the surroundings can be inviting. It isn't like taking a hike through an actual rainforest, but considering that I just jumped off a bus and found serenity in the middle of a large city was impressive.


I didn't take a lot of pictures, but you can see all the pictures that I took. I should also mention that there is a large orchid garden (which cost money) in the gardens. I did not make it into the orchid garden, because I had made plans to spend the afternoon and evening with my new friend, Craig. We explored Little India, a small section of the city that is rich in Indian culture. I was in search of a fortune-telling parrot, but I found out that he had a day off! We found Mustafas, which is a 24-hour mall.
We were walking around at 10pm looking for nothing in particular. The interesting thing about Mustafas is that it doesn't feel like a mall, but more like a very large oversized Kmart. They have pretty much anything you could ever need, and it most likely is piled on top of a very large stack. I think most people in Singapore must work in retail, because there are only about 500 malls, and Mustafas alone had an employee at the corner of every aisle. I assume they were watching for thieves, because the minute I picked anything up, an assistant was by my side. I'm not a shop-lifter, but I would imagine that might deter one.

We also got the chance to go inside an Hindu temple. Apparently every Friday night they have a special ceremony. We were allowed to go inside and see the happenings. A man was chanting and behind the main shrine we saw many men and women preparing food. I'm not sure what it was for, but it was neat to see. We also had a Indian dinner. I found out that I have not eaten enough Indian food in my life. Luckily for me, Craig has, so he could interpret the menu better then me. We had a delicious and very filling dinner for two.