10 interesting things you can do at Singapore Botanic Gardens you probably didn’t know yourself

Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:53 pm

The Singapore Botanic Gardens might just be one of the country’s most nostalgic dating sites and place of many happy memories but many of us still may not know that there are some interesting activities that can be done at this UNESCO site.

Here are 10 of them, have you done these yet?

Fish feeding at the Green Pavilion
If you have kids with you, you can bring them to the Green Pavilion near the Tanglin Gate where you can buy fish food from a dispensing machine and then proceed to feed the hungry fish at the nearby ponds.

Enjoy some alone time by the Saraca stream

Image: tripadvisor.com
Image: tripadvisor.com

This happy little brook is located just inside the Singapore Botanic Garden’s Tanglin Gate. It offers a nice shady spot to spend some time enjoying the gentle sounds of the flowing water.

Walk through the Hanging Roots Passage

Image: guidegecko.com
Image: guidegecko.com

Do you even know there is a spot like this in the Botanic Gardens? I certainly didn’t. Hold hands with your loved one and take a step through to get a feel of how it must have been like to live so close to nature.

Try to control the direction of the Swiss Granite Ball

Image: sbg.org.sg
Image: sbg.org.sg

I cannot for the life of me remember where this is located in the park but apparently, it is a rather grand sight to behold from afar. This massive ball attracts both kids and adults who try to turn it in the direction they want.

Catch concerts and live band performances at Palm Valley and the Shaw Symphony Stage

Image: Singapore Tourism Board
Image: Singapore Tourism Board

Many people come here in the early evenings to just lay back and chill amongst the flora and fauna while enjoying the fresh, cool breeze. Some conduct picnics and then there are others who come to watch plays, musicals and live band performances.

Walk through a waterfall cave at Ginger Gardens

Image: metropolasia.com

The reason behind the name of this place is because ginger is being grown in this section of the park. Many a kid and adults have trudged through the cave behind this waterfall and taken pictures to pretend they really did walk through one. It’s usually just an illusion of getting drenched, which more often than not, doesn’t happen.

Learn about Jurassic plants at the Evolution Garden

Image: wikipedia.org
Image: wikipedia.org

This is another spot I didn’t know existed. Part prehistoric movie set, part history lesson, the Singapore Botanic Garden’s Evolution Garden traces the development of plants from ferns to flowers. Take a walk through this garden with the kids to step back in time and understand nature from a different perspective.

Learn about orchid breeding and conservation

Image: sbg.org.sg
Image: sbg.org.sg

If you have wondered how the Singapore Botanic Gardens grows such beautiful orchids, you can head over to the Orchid Breeding and Conservation Biotechnology Laboratory to find out more. This is also where many celebrities and royalties have laid claim to orchids that now bear their names.

Find out more about various herbs at the Herbarium

Image: sbg.org.sg
Image: sbg.org.sg

Most definitely the only one and largest one in Singapore, the Herbarium houses about 750,000 specimens and collections are from around Asia, with the most extensive collections from Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia that date back to the 1880s. This is THE place to visit if you want to find out everything of the herbaceous kind.

Visit the Library of Botany and Horticulture

Image: sbg.org.sg
Image: sbg.org.sg

Seriously, you don’t have to be a botanist or a plant expert of any sort to come here. The fact that there is even a library in the Singapore Botanic gardens is already enough to get me there to check it out. Containing a large collection of old and new books and periodicals on, what else, botany and horticulture, materials here are only for reference and not for loan. So don’t you try your luck in sneaking a good one out!

Top Image: sbg.org.sg