Since we've been in Singapore we've spent most of our time, when not in the office, in the center: Orchard road, the Botanic Garden, the Marina Bay area, etc. It was about time we started explore the rest of the island.
We decided for the combo of the Chinese and Japanese gardens on the west part of the island. It took 45 minutes or so to get to the entrance of the Chinese garden. While getting there was pretty simple thanks to the well developed subway system, it still took quite a bit of time. The subway speed reminded me more of the RER in Paris than anything else. From the subway it was a quick walk to the entrance so I cannot complain much.
What we had not anticipated is that with the Chinese Lantern festival going on, the access to the Chinese garden was not free today due to the festival that was supposed to take place later today. I can't help asking myself why people coming in the morning should pay 12S$ to enter a festival that will only start 8 hours later. There was not much we could do there. Still we came all this way and there was still the Japanese Garden, which we were told could be accessed for free today. Just need to get to the other entrance.
That was easier said than done. Why, you may ask. Because once the access to the Japanese garden from the Chinese garden is closed, the other access is located on the other side of the lake, some 3 km further away. That's not much as a distance but with the ambient heat it makes the walk harder.
Anyhow, we came all the way so we had to at least see one of the gardens.
The more we walked the more we anticipated there would not be much to see in the Japanese garden. And there were not much indeed. Still it's a nice peaceful garden. Whether it's really Japanese I couldn't judge but it had enough Japanese cues to give that feeling to someone who's never been to Japan.
While the garden didn't make a big impression on me, something else did: a HUGE lizard. When I say huge, I mean it. It was easily 1m long.
What happened? Wolfram insisted we would walk on the red bridges. As I made my way toward the first one, I passed close to a tree and something moved. I screamed and while my heart stopped for a second the beast for rushing to the water, with Wolfram chasing it to get a picture of it.
I could have been dying there by the tree and my beloved husband is running after the creature to take a picture.
It turned out I nearly stepped on a mummy lizard which was taking care of her eggs, buried under the tree.
A little later I spotted another lizard, a bit smaller. Might have been the daddy. Curious we stayed a bit longer hoping to see them coming out of the bush where the mother lizard had been hiding since our encounter. Eventually she would have to get back to her eggs.
And they did both get out of the bush quickly swimming back to the land. I managed to get a shot at the "beast" confirming how big it was.
It's just crazy to think I was so close to such a creature. But again, now we are living in a tropical country. That might be like seeing a fox or a deer in Europe.
Still it scared the hell out of me.
We decided for the combo of the Chinese and Japanese gardens on the west part of the island. It took 45 minutes or so to get to the entrance of the Chinese garden. While getting there was pretty simple thanks to the well developed subway system, it still took quite a bit of time. The subway speed reminded me more of the RER in Paris than anything else. From the subway it was a quick walk to the entrance so I cannot complain much.
What we had not anticipated is that with the Chinese Lantern festival going on, the access to the Chinese garden was not free today due to the festival that was supposed to take place later today. I can't help asking myself why people coming in the morning should pay 12S$ to enter a festival that will only start 8 hours later. There was not much we could do there. Still we came all this way and there was still the Japanese Garden, which we were told could be accessed for free today. Just need to get to the other entrance.
That was easier said than done. Why, you may ask. Because once the access to the Japanese garden from the Chinese garden is closed, the other access is located on the other side of the lake, some 3 km further away. That's not much as a distance but with the ambient heat it makes the walk harder.
The more we walked the more we anticipated there would not be much to see in the Japanese garden. And there were not much indeed. Still it's a nice peaceful garden. Whether it's really Japanese I couldn't judge but it had enough Japanese cues to give that feeling to someone who's never been to Japan.
While the garden didn't make a big impression on me, something else did: a HUGE lizard. When I say huge, I mean it. It was easily 1m long.
What happened? Wolfram insisted we would walk on the red bridges. As I made my way toward the first one, I passed close to a tree and something moved. I screamed and while my heart stopped for a second the beast for rushing to the water, with Wolfram chasing it to get a picture of it.
I could have been dying there by the tree and my beloved husband is running after the creature to take a picture.
It turned out I nearly stepped on a mummy lizard which was taking care of her eggs, buried under the tree.
And they did both get out of the bush quickly swimming back to the land. I managed to get a shot at the "beast" confirming how big it was.
Still it scared the hell out of me.
No comments:
Post a Comment