Category: Walking

Places to visit, ideas for walks

Healing Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens

I’ve walked through the Singapore Botanic Gardens many times now, and each time, I still find places to explore. One of my new favourite spots in the Gardens is the Healing Garden. I’d passed the signs which pointed in the direction of the Healing Garden many times before I took the time to venture in, and it is definitely worth the visit!

The Healing Garden has the same characteristics I find in many gardens in Singapore: it’s a verdant oasis of calm and beauty. But more than that, these gardens are a living encyclopaedia of more than 400 plants which have been used medicinally in Southeast Asia.

You can walk to the Healing Gardens from Botanic Gardens MRT Exit A, and there are a number of buses which stop outside the Gardens. You can find more information, including the opening hours on the National Parks website. Please note the need for caution, and for supervision of children when visiting, some of the plants are toxic.

A serene space at the heart of the Healing Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens
  • Is this a Banyan tree?
  • There’s lots of interesting information throughout the garden – for educational purposes only!
  • One of the entryways to the Healing Garden
  • Steps into the garden

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Sengkang Riverside Park

One of the highlights of the last year for me has been exploring all the beautiful parks around Singapore. Or I should say ‘starting’ to explore – as I know there are still many to be discovered. I am constantly amazed by how many oases of green can be found amongst the built-up environment. Each has their own unique landscaping and character, and Sengkang Riverside Park is an example of this. On entering the park, we could see the constructed wetland, and some lovely vistas. Further past the wetland, was my favourite feature of this park: the beautifully verdant groves of fruit trees. One exciting part of this walk was spotting a changeable lizard (which we first thought was a chameleon) lounging on a tree branch.

I also took a photo of this art installation, and look back at it every now and again. Commissioned by the National Art Council’s Public Art Trust, this work Anamorphic Vibes, by Adeline Loo and Cheong Yew Mun shows ‘courage’ from one side and ‘anxiety’ from the other. It’s a large work, so you have to walk and regard it from different angles to see the two words emerge. This sculpture helped me remember that, with all the tough emotions of this last year, and all the ups and downs, we are going through it together.

  • Cannot remember the name of this tree in the centre – but the flowers around were very pretty!
  • The changeable lizard
  • A circle of palms
  • Fruit and other trees
  • Fruit and other trees
  • Anamorphic Vibes, by Adeline Loo and Cheong Yew Mun

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Simply Creative in Singapore

I haven’t checked my last post, but it has been a long time between writings. Last December, we moved to Singapore. Pre-pandemic. Today isn’t a food post (although I could write plenty of those!) or anything about the home, it’s about getting out of the home, something we’ve all experienced bouts of longing for at various points this year.

From the oasis of the Ginger gardens, to the beautiful Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage emerging from its lake, my favourite place here has to be the Singapore Botanic Gardens! So here are some photos, some today, some from a few months back.

Some moments of beauty in a challenging year💜

Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore Botanic Gardens

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Weekend Places: Garden world

I’ve been meaning to write the next in my ‘Things to do on the weekend’ series for a while. Finally, here it is. We’ve been spending a lot of time at nurseries lately, and there is one which is my favourite: Gardenworld in Braeside. So here’s a post about the fun things we like about this nursery, and why it’s a great place to visit for those in the outer eastern suburbs.

Flowers 3Gardenworld 2Peacock and cyclamen

  Firstly, the range is huge! We have been looking for some particular kinds of proteas lately, and not many places we checked had the kinds we were after, but Gardenworld had heaps! The only difficulty was choosing. We ended up with a trolley full of susaras and pink creams, and now we’re looking forward to their colourful blooms in our garden next Autumn and Winter.

Gumboots
Anyway, the plants are gorgeous and plentiful, and there are homewares, succulents, pots…all kinds of things.

And…dinosaurs! Lots of fun for kids (although the giraffe
was our daughter’s favourite on our last trip). But the best nursery fun (for toddlers) would have to be jumping up and down…in muddy puddles…so do bring gumboots…

Finally, the cafe – it’s fantastic, with a variety of sweet and savoury options, and they make a good babycino!

Babycino     Gardenworld cafe      Cakes

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Weekend Places: Wheelers Hill Farmers’ Market

I have read a lot of blogs about fun places to visit with babies and small children, and they’re great. We all know little kids are not the best at sitting down and behaving in a quiet and orderly manner when out and about. So I am starting my weekend series of fun places to go on the weekend, toddler in tow, with a particular focus on locations further from the CBD, where there is room for kids to run, or something to keep them engaged and entertained!

First in the series is the Wheelers Hill Farmers Market. We have been a couple of times now, and it’s a fun, relaxed and small market, held in Jell’s Park on the third Saturday of each month. We love the fresh strawberries, and are totally addicted now to Sally McNally’s chutney – haven’t found another as good!

Grab lunch and a coffee; and there’s plenty of room for running around on the green hills behind the stalls!

 

Bonnie