Oh Gardens by the Bay. How many times I tried to visit you. You made me work hard, but it was worth it. Built on reclaimed land behind the Marina Bay Sands hotel, Gardens by the Bay is a man-made park, built as part of Singapore’s initiative to “green up” the city. It’s one of the few things I know I really want to do while I’m here.

On my first day in Singapore, I spend the morning site seeing on the river and harbor, and exploring Chinatown. After cooling down in my hotel room for a few hours, I head towards the gardens. About halfway there, thunder and lightening streak across the sky. Am I really going to go hang out around a bunch of tall, metal structures right now? Hmmm, maybe not. I turn around and head back to the hotel, calling it a day.

On day two, after walking the Southern Ridges and another cooling rest at the hotel, I take the metro to the gardens. It’s really cloudy and as usual, humid, but at least there doesn’t seem to be any lightening.

When I get to the ticket kiosk, just as I get up to the counter to purchase my ticket, they close the walkway due to inclement weather. What weather? It’s just cloudy! But apparently within the next hour or two, a rainstorm is expected. I understand that safety precautions must be taken, but it seems a bit absurd to close it so quickly. They tell me it may reopen later, so I sit around with several other people, waiting.

Shortly, the lights start to come on. It’s so pretty!

After an hour, I realize I’m not going to be going up onto the walkway today, but since I’m here, I might as well enjoy the lights. And sure enough, just as the sun goes down, the skies open up and the rains pour down. I hide under trees to stay dry and continue taking pictures.

Ok, I’m officially drenched. It’s definitely time to leave. But I’m still determined to get up onto that walkway.

Luckily on Monday, my coworkers are still fairly jet lagged, so we don’t work late. After we’re done, I drop my stuff off in my room and take the metro back to Marina Bay Sands. The weather is nice and I’m fairly sure I should be able to make it up the walkway today!

I head straight for the ticket booth and I’m in luck! For SGD$8, I purchase a ticket and take the elevator up to the walkway in the sky. And what a view!

I wonder what this place will look like when the plants have fully covered these structures. Then it will truly feel like a jungle.

I am able to time it almost perfectly to be here at sunset.

In my hurry to get here, I didn’t even bother changing out of my work clothes.

Yay! I’m so glad I got to experience this. Afterwards, I walk around the rest of the gardens that I didn’t see the night before. It’s such a peaceful and relaxing place once you get away from the main structures. Few people, it seems, venture beyond to explore the rest this vast park.

The gardens are a fun place to visit and I’m glad I made the effort to get here as many times as I did and make it up on the walkway. Realistically, many people may not be able to come back, nor would it be worth it, but I have many evenings free after work with little else to do, so for me, it was a good use of my time. I do recommend coming in the evening, when the temps are a bit cooler and you have the chance to see the sunset and the lights come on as it gets darker. It’s such a pretty, colorful sight.