21 Aug 2006

This being my second day in Singapore (read yesterdays blurb if you haven't already) I had a couple of things lined up that I wanted to do. The first thing on my agenda was go the National Orchids Gardens that I had seen numerous flyers for. So I hailed a taxi climbed in and told him take me to the National Orchid Gardens. He pulled out of the hotel onto the main road and then asked me again where I wanted to go. To the National Orchid Gardens I told him. Do you know where the orchid gardens are he asked me? Now me being an obvious foreigner, and him being a taxi driver, it seemed like a quite ridiculous question. How would I know where anything was? No I said all I know is that it is called the National Orchid Gardens, and there are many flyers for it in all the hotels. None of my other taxi drivers had ever asked me if I knew how to get somewhere, I thought it was understood that if you were getting in a taxi and you’re a foreigner you have no clue how to go anywhere. It’s supposed to be the responsibility of the taxi driver to know how to go places, and Singapore just isn't that big of a place, surely he had to know how to get there. Do you have one of these flyers he asked me in his heavily accented English? No I said, I asked you before I got in the taxi if you could take me to the National Orchid Gardens and you said to get in. Ok he says I don't know these orchid gardens I will call to find out where they are. Well that was a little comforting at least he didn't plan on driving me around until I could tell him how to go to some place that I have no idea where it was. He hung up his cell phone and said ok we go to gardens, maybe you know the name of the gardens? Well I said the flyers say it is the National Orchid Gardens that is the only name I know. Ok he says. After we had ridden about another ten minutes he says, ok you sure you know the name of these gardens? I tell him again that they are called the National Orchid Gardens and that is what it says on all the flyers. I'm a little annoyed at this point. OK he says and picks up his cell phone and makes another call, from his conversation I pick up that he is trying to get instructions. well I have no idea where I'm going to get dropped off but at this point I'm hoping it will be soon the meter is starting to add up and I don't really want to pay all that much to go somewhere I don't want to be. After a few more minutes we pull off the main road and onto a road that doesn't look like it leads to to-much of anywhere. Well were getting somewhere now I think to myself I'm just wondering where it might be. As we get to the end of the road it dead ends into a small loop with a sidewalk and small covered awing and a sign that says Botanical Gardens. Ok I think to myself, this doesn't look like the National Orchid Gardens; it doesn't say National Orchid Gardens it says Botanical Gardens. I've had enough of this driver though and figure I might as well see what is here and then find another taxi that does know where the National Botanical Gardens are; I mean the next one at least can’t get it confused with the Botanical Gardens right? I'm already there. I go into the gardens which turn out to be open to the public and quite fortunately free. Great I think Ill walk around here take a few pictures and be on my way. one path and 20 minutes later I come out at an area where 5 or 6 paths converged, there was a sign with a map of the gardens, a small snack stand, lots of people walking around and a building off to the right that said National Orchid Garden. Well I have no idea if the taxi driver had any clue where the National Orchid Gardens were or if he was just as tired of me as I was of him, but either way I seem to have gotten here. He certainly could have gotten me a lot closer though as there was a taxi stand not to far from the entrance of the National Orchid Garden. Oh well I've had a nice walk, and according to the map on the sign there is a lot more to the botanical gardens than I have covered so far. I spent the remainder of the morning walking around the different gardens before getting lunch at the snack stand. After my lunch I headed over to the Orchid Gardens which were not quite as free as the rest of it had been, paid my fee and took my time walking around the orchid garden. This was the main event of the gardens so to speak it was much more cared for and manicured then the rest of the gardens. There were many different sections to the orchid garden each specializing in a different variety or different climate zone. not all the flowers were orchids but there were lots of flowers, the last garden on the tour was a highlands climate which was quite nice as the garden was enclosed in a glass green house that was kept quite cool and had a heavy fog that dampened and cooled you just a bit but didn't really get you wet or cold. After my tour of the gardens my next stop was Jurong Bird Park, and just as the name implies its a park full of birds. The taxi trip there proved to be much simpler which I didn't regret at all. I wasn't all that impressed with the bird park as most of the birds were kept in small cages and many of the large birds actually were chained to the ground in small open areas that offered little escape from the elements and no ability to move freely. They did have some impressive aviaries though and what they clamed to be the worlds tallest man made waterfall at a hundred feet tall. I spent a couple of hours exploring the bird park and then headed out to china town for the night market. I did a bit of shopping and mostly looking around. There were no street performers this night and I had to fly out early the next morning so I called it a night around nine and headed back to my hotel.