The Great Outdoors

Ever since S. Gabriel moved to Singapore and began posting beautiful pictures, I've wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens there. On my third full day, that desire was fulfilled. Wearing my appropriate Giving Tree/Lord of the Rings mashup tee, we grabbed our cameras and took the bus to the gardens, not far from where S. Gabriel spent years of her childhood.

 The gardens were much larger than I expected, to be honest. However, they were mostly empty, with few willing to risk the midafternoon heat like us. What can I say? S. Gabriel and I like to live dangerously.

As I expected from her photos, the Gardens were photo-op central--not just of flora, though, but also of the local fauna. None of the birds stayed still for long or were close enough for my wimpy point and shoot, but I did get some shots of a familiar form:

Not as fat as Calvin's, but still fun to watch.

We also took advantage of the scenery to sneak in some pretty pictures of ourselves and each other.

 It only got more picturesque from there.

 As the flowers grew more beautiful...

 ...we grew progressively sillier.

While our fellow tourists chuckled at our antics, Others were not so amused. In fact, one in particular looked down upon us:

Bowed by the weight of the heat and humidity, we left the Orchid Garden and our childishness (mostly) behind, grabbing some cold drinks and watching the turtles. And birds. And monitor lizard. But even that became exhausting, so we left the garden for an Island.

Island Creamery, that is. Not only is the ice cream superb (fresh made daily), but the walls are covered with photos of patrons. All you have to do is snap a selfie, stick your SD card in their printer, and then stick your photo on the wall. Unfortunately, we had a table in the center, so I couldn't creep on former customers, but S. made sure to point out a photo from her previous visit.

So once we finished our double scoops (inside-out Oreo and Berry for her, inside-out Oreo and Nutella for me, in case you were wondering), we took our photo. Well, S. took it, because she's actually good at taking these kinds of pictures. I think it's her longer arm. Or maybe it's raw talent.

These lovely mugs are now decorating the walls of Island Creamery.

Refreshed by our treat but still tired (and, for my part, pretty dehydrated), we took the bus back for more Bollywood and an early night.