Tag: Botanic Gardens

I have planned this Monday holiday months in advance. Because Tuesday is National Day, a public holiday. I have been wanting to have some time on my own, to reflect upon life and to simply admire nature, to be connected to the ‘bigger picture’. It seems that our souls need nourishment once in awhile especially when day in day out we are stuck in a corporate rat race.

In some ways I am happy that my wife needed to work today. When both of us are on leave, we would take our time doing very little, at home mostly. Nothing is wrong with that of course. A different kind of soul nourishment. A mutual nourishment.

After dropping my wife off to work at a quarter to nine in the morning, I drove to the Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO site.

This plan of mine did not get hatched until late last night. Botanic Garden always makes me happy. Be in as in Hong Kong when I was studying or in Singapore. Today felt like a makeup session for a birthday outing that I did not have.

Armed with a camera phone, a book, and a bottle of water, I felt happy even before entering the garden. It took me some time before I could find a parking lot by the street, right at the back of the children’s garden, which is on the far end of the map.

As expected, the day was warm and the air was humid. I got a bottle of water but I forgot to bring some suntan lotion. I got a book but I forgot to bring some insect repellent.

I love my new phone. Finally I could take some photos to commemorate my days, edit and upload along the way with GPS tagging. Six hours my phone’s battery has lasted. I was tired but delightful at the end of the trip.

So where was I? Yes, the parking lot.

I am amazed that so many people hang out in the Botanic Gardens on a working day (though I must say, many must have taken leave today like me). My plan was to have a nice breakfast inside the garden upon arrival. But since I was parking so far away, I took a stroll instead as I headed towards my first destination – a restaurant that serves proper breakfast.

First thing that greeted me besides the toilet at children’s garden was a group of old folks trying to exercise. That scene actually scares me. I am motivated to start doing some exercise asap. I hope my back would bend better than them when I am at their age.

Casa Verde is right in the midsection of the garden. Quite honestly, the food is very so-so. And it is rather pricy. But the decor is rather OK. I managed to find a seat inside the airconditioned section of the restaurant. I could sit outside though. But today was a warm day. Cool air was a welcoming sight.

So I order an overpriced egg benedict that cost S$16. An additional cup of what appeared as an instant coffee that cost an extra S$4. I still enjoyed my breakfast though, because today was a happy day.

Over breakfast, I have started reading The Devil in the Flesh by a French author Raymond Radiguet. A book I have borrowed from the library. I don’t know how anyone can read books these days. I was so distracted by my electronic devices.

Talking about electronic devices, what’s wrong with the world today?! Here I was immersing myself into nature, listening to the sound of the insects, of the birds, and of the wind brushing against the tree leaves (of course, the sound of construction nearby can be annoying). I saw waves and waves of people glued to their electronic devices playing Pokemon Go as though they were possessed, living inside a world of augmented reality.

It is very easy to spot Pokemon Go players (more so because I was once an Ingress player).

1. They are often in group talking to each other while interacting with their electronic devices.
2. They have a tendency to stop in some random spots again interacting with their phones or tablets.
3. At times, they look stressed (which is strange because no one should look stressed inside a garden).
4. They are oblivious to all that is around them. I bet even as Taylor Swift walks by, they would still look for those virtual beings.
5. Very often, you see them carrying a power pack to charge their phones on the go. Some would actually play with two devices (ah, good old Ingress days of mine).

Also, at times, these players (or hunters?) tend to cast me a suspicious look. As though I am there to steal their price.

Look, this is a garden. The only time I would cast a suspicious look to a fellow visitor is when he or she looks like a terrorist.

But then again, who am I to judge? I have lived through those insane time with Ingress (the step-father of Pokemon Go?). I am still spending a lot of time at home playing video games, even at my age. To my defense though, I think what is going on behind closed doors is none of others’ business (duh, my YouTube channel has betrayed me). Roaming in public places like Botanic Gardens in a zombified state, that is weird.

Or perhaps, I am the weird one. Because if I am to count the number of people whom I have come across playing Pokemon Go versus those who were like me enjoying the scenery and the ambient, we the real lifers are definitely outnumbered.

I got lost a few times inside Botanic Gardens. How often when you read a map by the roadside and even though it has “You Are Here” in a font and color that cannot be missed, you just not sure which road leads to where?

If I were to design roadmaps, I would certainly go that extra mile and draw two things right at “You Are Here”. A simple line to denote where the signboard is from a top down view. And a man or an eyeball showing you where you are facing.

One great thing about getting lost is – besides the extra exercise I so need (remember the old folks at the beginning of this entry?) – I came across places that subsciously I wanted to visit but I was not really looking for them.

Like a toilet and a place for food. The gift shop was a bonus.

By the time my late lunch was served, my colleague at work has already called me for help. The good news was that it was not something unexpected. I was mentally prepared. The bad news was that I was at least two kilometers away from my car, not counting the extra miles I would need to partake once I got lost. That is a story for another day.

Or not ever.

Work.

Ugh.

On another positive note though, I really enjoy reading Devil in the Flesh. It is about a young boy in love in great details. It is about a young boy in love with a girl who is with another man. It is about a young boy infatuated with someone older than him. All three, I can relate.

It all started with a milestone that our team has completed. Monday morning was declared as a half day holiday that was off the record. Nice! And since I needed to send Cynthia off to work anyway, I have decided to head to the Botanic Gardens (commonly misspelled by many including myself as “Botanical Garden” in Singapore) and read the new book by Paulo Coelho.

So I freed a beetle. It is always refreshing to keep in touch with nature. Back in the good old days when I was still schooling, I often head to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens (right next to where I studied) before school started and during lunch time – to study and to relax. At times, I visited the habitat of the monkeys and the gorillas and the birds and the plant after school. I sought after the solace nature provides, always.

And on that Monday morning, I took a stroll within the garden and pondered upon many things in life. I passed by the spot whereby across the grassland lay the trees that took 30-80 years to grow and blossom – an activity that involved the production of 20 million fragrant flowers and the plant died after such an enormous effort of flowering and fruiting. The name of the plant is Talipot Palms (Corypha Umbraculifera). When my mother and sister visited me in year 2005, that was the exact time when Talipot Palms blossomed. Today, the plant looks almost dead.

Nomine Si Nescis, Perit & Cognitia Rerum literally means “If you do not know the name of things, the knowledge of them is lost too”. This is inspiring as I seldom put in effort to remember names.

First thing I saw when I got out of the car park was … the building specially made for “Orchid Breeding and Micropropagation”. I have been to the Botanic Gardens numerous times and it was the first time when I witnessed how Orchid was being bred. Did you know how Orchid is being cloned in Singapore? There are altogether four stages that took place in four different rooms: growth media preparation room, transfer room, shaker room, and culture room. What fascinated me the most was the shaker room where tons of plantlets in clear crystal jars are being shaken 24×7 by machines. According to the literature, shaking the tissue in the nutrient solution helps to improve the supply of air and nutrients to the tissue. Since the tissue has no sense of gravity, the planetlets do not differentiate into shoots and roots but rather grow into more tissue. The stronger and bigger plantlets are then planted out at the garden. Quite an eye opener.

As I approached the Visitor’s center, the sound of nature slowly overtaken by the sound of school kids. Botanic Gardens surely is a popular place for kids to spend a morning at. I read my book inside a cafe and all of a sudden, a dog barked. Apparently, the dog was disturbed by the noise generated by the school kids. At that very moment, as I concentrated on the sound of the school kids – without fully understand the language they talked about – it sounded like the chirping of birds. Lots of sound and lack of ability to comprehend what they are trying to say.

Techers fed the kids McDonald’s meal. No wonder there are obese in Singapore.

I walked along one of the lakes and witnessed something shocking. A dead fish floating on the water surface was deemed fit for the rest of the turtles to eat. It was quite a gruesome scene when the body of the fish slowly diminished as time went by starting from its tail up. There was a horde of hungry turtles, for sure. And I had just cooked a live fish yesterday for dinner. I could not stand looking at that fish any more.

Trees in the garden are a big thing. There are different kinds of trees planted within the Botanic Gardens and some are adopted by well known organisations or individuals. Back in the city, trees are just for decoration’s sake. I was in my tie and shirt and I didn’t feel quite belong to this one big happy family at the Botanic Gardens. At the city center later in the afternoon, it was a whole different story. I felt being blended in. How strange. What we wear dictates how we feel and the need to conform dictates what we wear.

Nomine Si Nescis, Perit & Cognitia Rerum and learn the names. Each plant and animal was given a surname and a given name, did you know?

One morning, right before I started the car engine and began a rather unusual morning of enjoying myself at the Botanic Gardens on a working day, Cynthia pointed at the passenger seat window and said rather calmly, “Look, there is an animal outside”. The French calls it an animal. Apparently the Indonesian refers that as an animal too. But in Chinese and in English, I would rather call it an insect. Linguistically, any living being that is not a human being nor a plant is an animal. But that blob of protein with somewhat hard shell, hairy legs, and has a size of one and a half inches in length? I would call it an insect, a beetle to be exact. (Note: Cynthia countered and asked if I would call a frog an amphibian or an animal. I was tongue-tied.)

I thought that once the car left the parking lot, the beetle would fly away. But it didn’t. It just hang onto the window as our car sped onto the highway. From the feeling of indifference came a feeling of concern. If this beetle was to fly off in the middle of highway, chances were, it would smash itself onto the windscreen of an incoming vehicle and suffer a horrible death. I did not have the heart for that to happen. In as much as possible, I accelerated gently and braked gently. It is hard to describe but I felt as thought it was no longer just Cynthia and I who were inside the car, but this beetle too – as one of our passengers. How extraordinary in such an ordinary day! Since I was heading to the Botanic Gardens, Cynthia suggested that I should free this passenger of ours into the wild.

That made sense. After all, I did not think a beetle can make its home on a highway, nor in the city. A beetle living in a concrete jungle is a dead beetle in no time. All of a sudden, I related to our new friend. A friend whom I wanted to give him a name.

Me: Let’s give this guy a name.
Cynthia: Okay. What would you suggest?
Me: Anything. You pick.
Cynthia: How about Mr. Bee.
Me: But he is not a bee!
Cynthia: Bee stands for beetle.
Me: Fine. Mr. B it is then.

Throughout the journey to Cynthia’s office, Mr. B hardly moved. Hence I inquired, “Is he dead?”

“I don’t think so. I saw him moving his legs,” replied Cynthia. “Are you sure it was not the wind,” I countered. Cynthia did not reply.

And when we finally reach Cynthia’s office, Mr. B started to move around. I was actually worried that he might lose his grip and fall off the window. But he didn’t. As I was driving to the Botanic Gardens – alone – Mr. B made a turn when our car stopped at the traffic light and he faced me. As though he was trying to tell me something.

Of course I did not hear a thing! Was I hallucinating or what?! In my mind I said to him, “Hang in there buddy. We will reach your new home soon.”

As I reached the Botanic Gardens, I got out of the car with a piece of paper, walked to the other side of the car and observed. The heat wave from the engine and the tyre was unbearable. How did Mr. B manage to put up with that? Amazing. I scooped him off and gently released him onto a vast bush area. I hope that he will find solace in this new home of his.

In life, we come across different kinds of people. Most of the time, we are indifference to their existence. We may not be able to communicate because of certain barriers, but we may be in the same journey one way or another. Our destinations may not coincide, but however brief the interaction is, it can be life changing to some due to the things we do. It is how one treats the insignificance that speak ones character.