Wednesday, December 01, 2010

A Walk in Hort Park (Singapore)

Short for horticultural, i cannot never pronounce the word "hort" correctly... unless it sounds exactly like "hot". Well, i wasn't too far from the truth as the weather can get really hot and humid this November.

I had some time to kill after lunching with the Teo sisters and vaguely remembered that a friend mentioned a place called "Hort Park" located near Alexandra Village.

It was supposed to be some gardens+research+educational showcase by the National Parks (Singapore). The reviews were mixed with some saying it was beautiful and others complaining it was plain boring.

Since it was a weekday with only a handful of visitors, i took the time to explore the park at a leisurely pace.

Just to give you a rough idea on the size of this park. It wasn't huge but it was big enough for to me to sweat like a dog!

A pond is essential for any park. Ask any primary one kids! Their paintings on gardens and parks will always include a pond (usually a kidney shaped pond).

As you can see from the two pictures, this clear pond had loads of fishes!

Most places will station a person to sell fish food in order to earn additional income. In Hort Park, a vending machine will do exactly the same job at a fraction of the cost!

Reading a Lesley Pearse book and sipping a glass of ice-cold coffee amidst the green and quiet surrounding would be the perfect activities for this area. Okay, it will be perfect if the area was air conditioned.

Almost like the infinity pool! Except you can't swim in such shallow waters!

Ever heard of a natural shelter? This is a man-made natural shelter. If only man-made natural seats were available for us to rest our feet.

Spot the hyperactive rodent?

Victorian style shelter that cosplayers will like as a background! Provided they can tahan the heat!  

You must take your time to explore each area, which wasn't easy for me with the glaring sun burning my skin! At times, i managed to chance upon something out of the blue! Like this scarecrow!

A windmill that didn't work and looked like it should belong to the scrap yard! Maybe it was part of the eco theme by the designer? Information displays were available to explain each theme; unfortunately i didn't have the patience to read! 

I was really anticipating to visit the enclosed butterfly garden. However, luck was not with me... It's open only on Saturdays. :(

This shelter was more like the ones we see in Singapore. Especially back in the kampong days!

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 The heat was making me grouchy and unmotivated to explore further!! I shall be back again to explore and take more pictures in the cooler (hopefully) month of December.

===> To be continued (i think) 

Location
33 Hyderabad Rd

Map
As above

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