psa: hell is closed on mondays

day 2

we started off the day with breakfast at s stall in the nearby Star building. we had glutinous rice which had some meat in it and bao. both 叉燒包 (bbq pork) and 蓮蓉包 (lotus paste). i can't ever say no to 叉燒包 and the 蓮蓉包 this time tasted a bit like molasses. nothing fancy but so dang delicious!

then we set off in search of haw par villa which is only three mrt stops from the hotel–easy peasy. the hard part is figuring out which way we need to go after exiting the station. we got turned around a little but saw these cute reminders to look both ways before crossing.

finally, we figured it out (it was back by the station, hence the station's name) and the adventure began. har paw villa, previously called tiger balm garden, is a park with many, many statues and dioramas showing scenes from chinese mythology, legends, literature as well as values of the three key chinese religions: 道教、佛教、孔教 (daoism, buddhism and confucianism). this is where the Burmese-Chinese creators of tiger balm (Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par) moved their business based on 風水 (feng shui). after the area was bombed in WWII and the land was declared public again, Boon Haw commissioned the statues and dioramas to share traditional chinese values.

the best known attraction here is Hell's Museum, which shows the ten courts of Hell in chinese mythology, but we missed it. i had overlooked the fact that many museums are closed on mondays. and i guess i'll never see hell 😭

afterwards, we took the mrt to the nearby university which is also focused in medicine. that was probably the busiest station i've seen so far. we grabbed a cold drink while we regrouped and since we had time, we moved the botanical gardens up a couple of days. we also took the mrt there and our goal was the orchid garden. unfortunately the mrt and bus stops are on the far end and the singapore botanical garden is so large that we certainly got our steps in. also, the main path to the orchid garden was being worked on so figuring out the alternative route was rough but definitely worth it. on the way, we grabbed a lunch of hainanese chicken rice, the national dish of singapore. it was great, but i am guessing when we find a stall specializing in it, it'll be even better.

the orchids were beautiful and there were some rare kinds i'd never seen before. there were some that needed a cooler environment and when we went in, an audible “ooh”. we will take any AC or fan we can get hahah.

even though we were tired and walked all day, i had one place on my list to fit in–southern ridges. we bused over to the path and walked a pedestrian bridge. and then of course the direction we picked was closed because of a slide, so we winged it (the map showing the alternative route was not helpful) and tried going in the other direction. we finally made it only to realize despite what i'd heard about its panoramic view (which i had taken as 360 view), it faced east and i was hoping for a good sunset. despite that, seeing nature so easily from the city is definitely one of my favorite parts. the clouds were cool and we got too see/hear the birds come out for their insect snacks.

observations

~there are lot of covered walkways near transit which is great whether to protect from rain or sun

~there are a bunch of wild hens and roosters roaming and an otter haha

♡蘇晨

pov: JV

You have to zoom in on the photo 2-up to see the otter - it was so funny to see an otter loping along the roadside!

Har Paw Villa had the feeling of a roadside attraction - hundreds of figurines in wildly shaped cement alcoves. On the property there is a small museum about a paper sculpture business that used to operate there. The family has retired and there is no one to take over the business - it's an endangered art.

The inventors of Tiger Balm had built a 1937 moderne style mansion on top of the hill at the park; they had to leave during WWII, and after the war the villa was so damaged that the had it demolished. The older brother was an astute promoter and had several automobiles decorated to look like tigers to promote his product; the one that is at the park today seems to be used to store cleaning supplies (check the back seat). He also owned several newspapers and built Tiger Balm gardens in several other countries.

Amusing directional signage.

And an adorable souvenir dragon.

The 200-acre botanical garden was FAB-U-LOUS and felt far bigger than 200 acres. More than 10,000 species of plants are showcased in multiple gardens - rainforest, healing, children's, bamboo, and the most impressive - the orchid garden. It's a world heritage site and the kind of place you could visit dozens of times and not feel like you've seen it all. The winding paths in the orchid garden alone could fill a day.

Singapore's transit system is easy to use and extensive. They're proud of it, and should be. You see a lot of signs with positive messaging:

Remember how I said the humidity was liveable? ha ha ha ha ha. it was about 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity and by the end of the day we had walked almost 11 miles. on the walk up to the viewpoint at the end of the day I was ready to puke or cry or both. by the time we got to the top it was sunset, and the breeze kicked up, temp dropped to 85. much better!

Things I'm enjoying most - a wide range of beautiful birdsongs; incredible diversity of plants; friendly and kind people; hearing Sophia's observations and narrative about Asian cultures.