A Wonderful Afternoon at a National Gem

Yesterday (Sat), we finally decided to make good on our desire to bring kids into the nature and great outdoors, instead of always bringing them to

• Restaurants (NYDC and Kim Gary of Tampines One being perennial favourites)
• Library
• Supermarkets
• Shopping Malls

So, despite the fact that I would have liked an afternoon nap, result of too many nights of interrupted sleep and late nights, I gamely drank a cup of coffee, ate some digestives, while the maid packed the kids' bags, and since Jack seemed rather chipper after lunch (not having napped all day), and Caleb was awake, we packed them all in the car and drove towards Botanic Gardens. 

There is a funny reason why we decided to go Botanic Gardens instead of the many other possibilities in Singapore we would have probably chosen, e.g. East Coast, Gardens by the Bay, some park in Tampines.  The reason is (and I'm ashamed to admit it), as I was having lunch with a Siemens colleague, who happened to be a French lady who was living in Munich, I casually asked her if she had visited any areas of national interest during her brief stay in Singapore (she was here over a weekend).  She remarked that she had been to this wonderful garden, and it was truly beautiful, and the people who were behind it and upkeeping it were doing a wonderful job, and she spoke with such a glow in her eyes and voice that Eunice and I immediately thought she was talking about Gardens by the Bay, but she shook her head, and said no... and it turned out that she was talking about Botanic Gardens!  I was so puzzled I wanted to ask her what was so beautiful about it, but I held my tongue, as I had been there a few times and been utterly bored. 

That had piqued my interest in visiting Botanic Gardens again, but a couple more events pushed me over the edge.  One was a lunch talk I attended recently about urbanisation and development, some member of the audience asked about the importance of a hinterland in any city, and a panellist (a Dutch) immediately piped up "Very important, I mean, for sociological reasons, so people can get away from the city life, and for other reasons as well" and I mused to myself how alien that sounded to a Singaporean who was so used to city, city and more city.  There is no concept of rural area, or that there is a need to get away from the hectic pace of city life (at least not to me, though I do know of friends who travel to Malaysia or Indonesia every 3 months!).  Recently I also read in the papers about a preschool called Little Bunnies that was becoming increasingly popular amongst Singaporean expats, because they had no classroom, but brought kids to outdoor areas and fixed up a fence and it was their classroom.  And when I looked at the photo in the newspaper, the kids were indeed sitting before a teacher surrounded by nature. 

So the sum of all these little events was I resolved to bring my kids to some nature over the weekend, so that they would not only know indoor environments.  If not, they may not know how to appreciate nature anymore.  And didn't God make us originally gardeners?  So there is (according to Pastor Rony) an innate appreciation and love of gardens in man.  So, last Saturday we resolutely made the long journey to Botanic Gardens.  I had also called the weather information and they predicted "Cloudy" for Singapore and areas in Central, from 5-7pm, which was a green light for us to set out.

When we reached there, Caleb had already fallen asleep in the car, so we put him in the stroller, and wheeled him all around the garden.  Jack was still awake so we took turns carrying him, mainly the maid and me, and sometimes my hubby.  It turned out to be a very pleasant late afternoon.

Firstly, we realised as we walked that there was a denseness of trees and climbers, bushes and plants along the path, which I had not appreciated before.  The richness of the foliage and the different hues of green captivated me, and the fresh air (you know, the scent from being in a very 'ulu place', which smells of trees), coupled by the cool temperatures, made for very enjoyable walking.  There were also different types of flowers on some trees, if you stopped to look, and some of it looked so alien and out-of-this-world they just made me think of the words "weird and wonderful".  I never knew God had created such funny-looking flowers or fruits, and that they existed in tropical Singapore!  Then after a short stroll, we came to a crossroads and there seemed to be multiple attractions in both directions.  However I was attracted by the signs that said "Eco-garden" and "Jacob-Ballas Children's Garden", so having limited time, we started on that path.  Along that path, we came across some herbs/scent garden, smelled coriander, and saw garlic and pineapple plants, and saw bananas growing on a tree (which we excitedly pointed out to Jack, as he likes bananas and has never seen them hanging anywhere except on our kitchen wall and in stalls at the market). 

After walking a while along that path, we came to an open field, where people were picnicing or playing cricket, and eventually to a pond, which as we came nearer, looked like a scene ripe for a Monet painting - it was green, had some organic stuff floating on it, and many ducks swimming peacefully or standing on the edge preening themselves (I was surprised to see how many there were), 2  big black swans, and many tortoises, all swimming near the edge, where people were watching them.  This was way more wildlife than I had ever encountered in all my previous excursions to the Botanic Gardens and being an animal-lover, I excitedly brought Jack near to the water's edge to observe the wildlife.  But alas, he was more interested in chasing the pigeons which were nearby.  I sometimes wonder if he has a stronger hunter instinct than most.  Then, the peaceful silence was broken by increasingly alarmed cries of "no! no! no! no!" and a golden retriever had broken off from his owner (an Indian lady) and was making for the lake, and when he reached it, he waded in happily without hesitation, until he was up to his chest in water, and stood there looking quite content, a bit hesitant whether to chase the ducks or swans, and it was so funny.  Eventually he came out, shook himself all over, and trotted happily after his owner, who chided him half-laughing for providing "free entertainment" to everyone.

After that, we walked on and finally came to the children's garden.  I don't recall much of it, except there were some fake trees and signs explaining photosynthesis (Jack being too young to understand) and a playground which had a wall with funny shapes on it, which make different sounds if you strike on them.  Then we got out, and headed back.

On the way back, we were in for 2 pleasant surprises - one is that we managed to catch the different colours of the sunset through the trees - and it's been a while since I gazed at any sunset, and I was treated to a display of iridescent crystal pinks on the left, and light crystal blue and yellow on the right.  So beautiful.  And all the while breathing such fresh air and walking so much, I felt healthy and whole.

Then as we were reaching our carpark, we came across a band playing under a tree.  I approached them, wanting to my son to see people playing musical instruments (neither me nor my hubby play any at home), and realised how refreshing it was to listen to a band up close, playing live.  How clear and heavenly the sounds of a classical guitar being strummed up close!  I have always been content to listen to the radio or CDs, and was never one to be much into live concerts.  In fact the few I attended were disappointments, maybe cos they didn't sound as good as the CD and I was standing too far back to take a good look at the musicians' faces.  But here in the Botanic Gardens, listening to these amateur musicians jam away song after song, under a tree, which seemed to amplify their sound, under the fading light, with other bystanders standing nearby or sitting on benches, all appreciating the music, not wanting to be anywhere but here on a Sunday afternoon, I was blown away by the experience.  The powerful strums of the guitars, the harmonising of the vocals and the occasional strains of the violin, rising above the strumming of the guitar, gave a wistful, beautiful angle to the whole thing.  They weren't that good (the lead singer had a forgetteable voice, and sometimes the harmonising was offkey), but I couldn't help swaying from side to side to the beat.  I realised how much music is able to touch one's soul, and  I felt my spirit soaring.  One of the songs had the line "I'm not moving" in it and I wished they played more alternative songs. And after listening to 3 songs, we finally moved on.  This was followed by dinner at casa verde (I brought Caleb to the corner to watch the two men making pizzas through a glass window, and to see the many dogs sitting next to their owners, but alas, he was always gazing at the owners rather than the dogs - testament to his different personality from his brother - him preferring always the human face, while his brother focuses on anything that moves) where we managed to fill 3 stomachs to the brim with just $43 and even Caleb had a bit of bread, licking them off his hands that tightly clutched the bread, and then a trip home where Jack conked out.  A wonderful late afternoon at Botanic Gardens.  And we didn't even explore 1/5th of it!  Now I understand why people say the Botanic Gardens is a national gem, and why my Director mused "With Botanic Gardens, one really questions why we need a Gardens by the Bay?"