Supertrees Grove
Saturday 28 March 2026
For the two days that Queen Mary 2 has been berthed at the Marina Bay Cruise Center, we have ventured out on two different ship organized tours, as our personal introduction to this island country at the tip of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.Not only that but we enjoyed a fabulous on shore grand gala event in the Roselle-Simpor Ballroom of the Marina Bay Sands Expo Center on Friday night. For the nine hundred or so of us “worldies” this party was centerpiece of the Queen Mary 2 Full World Voyage 2026. It was a lovely evening of food and drink, entertainment and dancing, as well as camaraderie. Yesterday morning our first tour was “Highlights of Singapore” which gave us a chance to visit the Civic District, get just a peek at The Raffles Hotel, admire the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore, near the Anderson Bridge and the Victoria Theater. Then we stopped for an opportunity to poke along the Esplanade or to cross the Singapore River via the Jubilee Bridge to visit the sculpture of the Merlion, a fusion of a lion and a fish which is a symbol of Singapore, an incredible city state where East meets West. We really appreciated the opportunity to visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and to linger a bit in the Chinatown Complex where we mingled with Singaporean Chinese going about their daily lives. On both days our guides talked a lot about the many challenges faced by a relatively small island with a population density of 22,000 people per square mile not the least of which is maintaining adequate green space. Singapore has risen to the challenge through multiple efforts leading to a city today that is known as a garden city. That seemed to be a theme for our initial visit to this intriguing place. Our first stop on yesterday’s tour was the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the country and it gave us the opportunity to stroll through the National Orchid Garden. With nearly an hour to explore on our own we wandered along paths to view orchid specimens from around the world while feeling totally immersed in nature and forgetting that we’re in a densely crowded urban space. Then today we visited Gardens by the Bay billed as one of the premier horticultural destinations in Asia, just a short ride from the port. We walked amid the iconic Supertrees that dominate the landscape in the Marina Bay Area before reveling in an incredible display of cherry blossoms in the Flower Dome, the world’s largest glass greenhouse. Before long then we were inside the Cloud Forest dome craning to admire the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. After a lift ride to the top, we were able to traverse aerial walkways with a very long view down. The current Jurassic Park theme gave the experience an increased level of excitement as we admired a world of amazing plants accompanied by the roar of animatronic dinosaurs. Over the course of our two day visit, we got a peek into a culture and economy that has transformed a small port city into a modern self-governing city that is a hub for global trade and finance since achieving independence on August 9, 1965 under the leadership of Lee Kwan Yew. Fellow travelers describe this carefully curated community as the “Jewel of Asia”, an “Economic Miracle”, and “Clean, modern, and friendly.” Without a doubt, this ultra modern, cosmopolitan city seeks to maintain a sense of tradition and quality of life while moving ever into the future. It has truly been a fascinating visit.
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