Commze

The Singapore Botanic garden is one of the most spectacular parks on the island.  It is a tropical paradise that is sent in the center of the city, and is a wonderful combinations of gardens, varying gardens of roses, desert plant-life, ferns and frangipanis along side the primary and un-tended natural forest.  There is a wide variety of species located within the garden, including many rare and exotic varieties of plant life.  There are more than twenty thousand orchids on display each day, with species from South and Central America, intermixed with ponds and fountains.  Outdoor concerts take place on Symphony Lake, and one can find any number of treasures in the shops throughout the garden.  All this is within walking distance of a fine dining French Singapore restaurant. The location draws many tourists throughout the year, and this month of August has something special to offer those who make their way to the garden.

The Galapagos Islands were not the only islands providing inspiration for the study of the theory of evolution.   Another scientist at the time, Alfred Russel Wallace had been traveling throughout Malaysia, was based in Singapore, and discovered the theory of evolution very close to time of Charles Darwin’s discovery of the scientific theory.  While Darwin was testing his theory on the Galapagos, Wallace was at work in Southeast Asia.  He conducted many hours of research, and extensively wrote about his explorations and discoveries of the Bukit Timah Hill Reserves.  Throughout his eight year exploration he collected more than one hundred and twenty-five thousands examples from different species of plants and animals, one thousand of which had never before been seen and were new to the scientific world.  He then collaborated with Darwin, and the theories were born.  The entire month of August is dedicated to this collaboration between the two men, and will focus on the achievements Wallace made throughout his lifetime.  This exhibit is appropriately housed within the Botanic Garden, it is open to the public and free of charge.

During my stay in the wonderful city of Bath, I found some very interesting things to do, like the new Therma Spa, checking out the Worthing Open House and eating at The Hole in the Wall. I only made plans to stay a day and a half in Bath, so I only booked one night with a Bath Hotel. I now wish I would’ve planned to stay in Bath for a week. What a beautiful place and there’s so much to do and see here, but I’m glad to have been able to do and check out the things I did do.

Like the Therma Spa, wow, what luxury. Luckily, I had enough money to really enjoy most of what the spa offers. I was booked in for four hours. I got to wonder through the pools and steam room. There’s even a roof top bath, really lovely. I found out that 4 hour was a bit much, but I wasn’t complaining about being pampered with massages and oil treatments all the way through. I spent the majority of my time at the roof top bath, floating in the sunshine. I do recommend, if you can, bring your own towels, two towels, they don’t mind, but they would rather charge you to use their towels. Oh, and don’t worry about the food, because it’s marvellous. There’s a little cafe that serves up some very tasty flapjacks. But, really, 4 hours is too long. Try booking 2 hours, I think that that will be much better.

Then, after spa time, I walked over to the Worthing Open House. I got a chance to see how artists live. They let me poke around inside their house. I could purchase original artwork, if I didn’t spend most of my money on the spa. But, that didn’t seem to bother the artist as they let me consume cake and tea. I got to witness really creative talent and when I left, I had a better understanding just how an artists mind works.

For dinner, I headed on over to The Hole in the Wall. A great local restaurant that is literally under the wall on George street. The staff made me feel extra special and the food was very reasonably priced, which was still good, cause the spa really did use up all of my budget. I ordered the rib eye steak which was served with apple potatoes. Really yummy and flavorful. I went back to my hotel room wishing I had more time here, but I did need to stick to my itinerary, didn’t I?