May 9, 2026

May 9, 2026

To get our body clocks adjusted to the drastic time change, we thought we would start with a long walk through the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the small country's only World Heritage Site. It was a short subway ride away. The garden was started in 1859 by a British botanist to develop a strain of rubber trees that would thrive in this area. He must have been successful as the Malaysian Peninsula soon produced half the world’s rubber. Nearby Indonesia made the other half. That would be a problem for the USA during WWII when the Japanese captured the area. You can’t make Jeeps without rubber tires. Fortunately my fellow chemists rode to the rescue with a Manhattan Project scale effort to develop synthetic rubber.

The extensive Gardens are a joy to walk through. They are lush like a jungle but very well designed and very subtly manicured. It must take an army of gardeners to maintain. There are dozens of specialty gardens, like Rubber, Heliconia, and Ginger. There is even one designed to tell the story of the Evolution of Plants. The only drawback is the humidity. It is punishing. We are both dripping in sweat.

The Gardens are all free except for the Orchid area. Despite the abundance and variety of color, it was not my favorite section. Although the chilled Cloud Forest greenhouse was a well-needed break from the heat.

We exited the opposite end of the gardens and took another subway line southeast to Chinatown. When the British settled this colony they assigned the many different imported ethnic groups their own enclaves. Our first stop was at one of Singapore’s many signature Hawker Centers. They are essentially giant food courts. We chose Thai because that is our travel comfort food. The Green Curry was delicious but piping hot. And it took forever to cool in the stifling humidity.

We took some time out to shop the many stalls looking for a belt for me. It was surprisingly hard to find any kind of belt selection. We had almost given up when Aimee spied a shop selling exactly what I wanted. And they were on sale. I bought two for a bargain price.

We finished our time in Chinatown visiting two Chinese Buddhist Temples that seemed overtly commercial for religious establishments. The highlight for me was an out-of-place Hindu Temple. It was gaudily painted in a fashion that I think is common in southern India.

Aimee is thinking we overdid it for our first day, so in the early afternoon we take the subway back to our hotel to enjoy the A/C and rest our tired feet. The killer humidity is draining our curiosity.