Adventures in Singapore: Chapter 8: The Southern Ridges & Henderson Waves

An interesting scenic walkway through the Southern Ridges.  Hers the nitty-gritty from the parks website:

The Ridges comprises 9 km of green, open spaces spanning the hills of Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park. It is an area steeped in history and is home to some of nature's greatest gifts of flora and fauna. It is also one of the best spots in Singapore to catch panoramic views of the city, harbor and the Southern Islands.

Henderson Waves, a structure not to be missed, connects Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park. Standing at 36m above Henderson Road, it is worth visiting for its artistic, distinctive wave-like structure consisting of a series of undulating curved 'ribs'. The other highlights of the Southern Ridges are the Forest Walk and Canopy Walk - bridges cutting through the Adinandra Belukar, a distinct type of secondary forest. Here, you can see a rich variety of flora and fauna. You can also observe birds in their natural habitats. Walk on the Ridges and take beautiful photos of wild flowers and birds.

Admire the beautiful skyline as you stroll across this 274 metre-long pedestrian bridge that spans Henderson Road to connect Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park. At 36m above Henderson Road, Henderson Waves is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. The bridge is also worth visiting for its artistic, distinctive wave-like structure consisting of a series of undulating curved "ribs". These “ribs” also double up as alcoves providing shelter to the public.

The bridge takes on a different look at night, with the wave-form illuminated with attractive LED light from 7pm to 2am daily. http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?Itemid=73&id=62&option=com_visitorsguide&task=attractions 

http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/docs/southern_ridges/SR_Henderson_Waves.pdf

The view:

Adventures in Singapore: Chapter 7: Flora

Singapore proved to be a Floral Dream.  Orchids grow outside, orchids grow wild - everywhere!  The tropical trees and plants were beautiful.  I love taking photographs especially interesting close up shots of foliage.  I have a vast photo collection of flowers and plants from my travels – I take the photo, not the flower!  Enjoy the photos of some of the most beautiful flowers!

Water Flowers

Tree Flowers   Orchids

Leaves

Adventures in Singapore: Chapter 6: Haw Par Villa

Haw Par Villa aka Tiger Balm Gardens is a very interesting place, off the beaten path, and certainly not a crowded tourist attraction – we enjoyed an almost completely private visit.  It was an educationally odd experience.  After the first bit of fun and amusing statues we got into more of the history, tradition and mythology, Emma  (5) started out ok, then after the Ten Courts of Hell Entrance – she didn’t proceed beyond the entrance – she cried the rest of the time, refused to get out of the stroller, kept her eyes covered, declaring this was a scary place (some was, mostly not). Ethne (3) on the other hand romped around, played in the tunnels, and enjoyed the adventure – even the scary and really odd parts!     

The park contains over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese folklore, legends, history and illustrations of various aspects of Confucianism.  The attractions include statues of the Laughing Buddha and the Goddess of Mercy, as well as dioramas of scenes from Journey to the West which retells the classic Chinese legend of monk Xuanzang in his search of Buddhist scriptures. The most well-known attraction is the Ten Courts of Hell, with gruesome depictions of hell, punishment, and reincarnation in Buddhist belief and Chinese mythology, all set in a 60 meter-long trail of a Dragon.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haw_Par_Villahttp://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/arts-and-entertainment/architecture/haw-par-villa.html 

I think it would make for an excellent Miniature Golf Park… an easy transition, highlighting history, tradition, and cheap family fun!        

             Yes, that is the statue of liberty in the midst of pagodas and Buddha shrines. See Emma and Ethne in the tunnel…          

History:  In 1935, brothers Haw Boon Haw and Haw Boon Par -- creators of Tiger Balm, the camphor and menthol rub that comes in those cool little pots -- took their fortune and opened Tiger Balm Gardens as a venue for teaching traditional Chinese values. They made more than 1,000 statues and life-size dioramas depicting Chinese legends and historical tales, and illustrating morality and Confucian beliefs. Many of these were gruesome and bloody, and some of them were really entertaining. But Tiger Balm Gardens suffered a horrible fate. In 1985, it was converted into an amusement park and reopened as Haw Par Villa. Most of the statues and scenes were taken away and replaced with rides. Well, business did not exactly boom. In fact, the park lost money fast. But recently, in an attempt to regain some of the original Tiger Balm Garden edge, they replaced many of the old statues, some of which are a great backdrop for really kitschy vacation photos, and ditched the rides. They also decided to open the gates free of charge.  http://www.frommers.com/destinations/singapore/A23799.html 

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