Singapore 2024

Sunday17November

At the end of this afternoon, it is time for a new kind of tree climbing... Not climbing to the very top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel complex by its north or south face, but staying in the tourist setting offered by the SuperTrees...  

The Supertrees, vertical gardens, whose height varies from 25 to 50 meters, are covered with more than 162,900 plants. The artificial canopies or observatories are accessible via the elevator of the largest SuperTree.

The trunks shelter more than 162,900 plants. Their exoskeleton serves as a support for a collection of bromeliads, ferns and orchids.  

Suspended 22 meters above the ground, the "OCBC Skyway" walkway winds for 128 meters between several Supertrees.

Night begins to fall, the SuperTrees light up slowly, at the same time as the neighboring SkyBridge.

It is not the starry sky that appears, but the ends of the metal branches that light up their led-buds...

Let's go for the elevator that will take us to 22 meters at the level of the "OCBC Skyway" walkway.

The OCBC Skyway is 128 meters long. The lights are partly powered by solar energy collected during the day by photovoltaic cells.

It's not just the canopy that lights up, but all the city lights.

The Millenia Tower with its pyramidal roof and the Singapore Flyer Ferris wheel also have the right to their luminous coloring.

The Sands SkyPark even has its Christmas decorations under its hull.  

In the distance, the city's Christmas tree is already in place...

We won't go see it up close but it is part of the "illumi Singapore" festival. This "illumi Tree" 47 meters high is presented as the largest tree of lights in the world. Some 50,000 LED bulbs make up this sculpture. They are programmed to animate and offer changing visual paintings throughout the night.  

Every evening, the Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay become the backdrop for the "Garden Rhapsody" show. The lights of the SuperTrees animate in synchronization with a musical soundtrack.

Let's move on now to the Supertree Observatory at 50 meters height.

360 degree view of the Marina.

In the distance, behind us, towards the north-east, it is another spectacle that appears, very natural this one. The Moon rises like a morning sun, above the skyscrapers of the Marine Parade district.  

Back down.

And once again, the "Garden Rhapsody" show is played a second time.

We leave the super trees of lights and join the bay, on the other side of the Marina Bay Sands. Another show is about to start.

We pass through the gigantic lobby of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, where the work Drift by artist Antony Gormley is discreetly suspended. This immense sculpture, which extends over 40 meters long, is a three-dimensional matrix composed of more than 16,000 welded steel rods.

We arrive too late to see Marina Bay come alive to the rhythm of the sound and light show "Spectra". We will come back tomorrow evening!

No need for a sound and light show to enjoy the lights of the Marina...

Here we are in the The Shoppes shopping center which is an integral part of the Marina Bay Sands complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie.;

End of day in this restaurant of our Geylang district with this beef Sizzler. Within the dish, the small red peppers do not alert me in any way to what will follow. I seem to have eaten some before without worries. So I go light-heartedly with the first one... And there, it's the drama, it is undoubtedly a chili padi (Capsicum frutescens), or "bird's eye chili" with a value of 8 on the Scoville scale which has 10  . Despite its modest size, it is a veritable gustatory explosion worthy of the show "Hot One". I have a burning sensation that quickly arrives in the mouth inflaming and completely numbing my lips, my eyes can only tear pitifully... It was the literal incarnation of the local adage, "small but mighty", small but powerful...   I confirm!