My parents love flora and for the longest time, my dad has been wanting to bring my mum to GBTB. (I remember him saying that when he first went there during the 2011 Flower Expo, which was held at one of the MBS convention halls and the GBTB Flower Dome. That was also my first time to the Flower Dome, together with ZX, his parents and Bielet.)
One of my favourite exhibits at the 2011 expo
Bielet just turned 1yo then!
Woah, I didn't realise I have aged so much since having kids. LOL
First time in the Flower Dome! (Yes, Bielet has fallen asleep in the stroller...)
Anyways, flashback aside. My dad suggested bringing the girls to the festival earlier this week so we all packed into the car and headed to GBTB after Bielet's class on Tuesday. #perksofnotworkinginoffice The Garden Festival was the perfect opportunity for our little family excursion, so off we went. First up, lunch at Satay by the Bay (ummmmm).
Photo opportunity at the nearby play area
The gungho father wanted to walk from our lunchspot to the ticketing area, but I stretched out one finger in the sun and protested dead against it. So we drove. (Later, one of the GBTB staff told us we made the right decision because it is a ten-minute unsheltered walk just to the ticketing area, where the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest are - but the festival is also held at The Meadow, which is another ten minutes and unsheltered too. I would have died in the heat, lugging the kids.)
Huge balls adorned with flower prints bobbing overhead to greet visitors
Bielet didn't want to take a picture, "Meimei got so many more flowers than me! I only got one." But we convinced her to sit still and we got this picture of the chaobin sisters. Sigh.
Then, the jiejie decides to amuse herself and pinch the chubbycheeks of the meimei.
Despite it being a weekday, there was still a rather long queue to buy tickets. We should have known better and bought tickets online... Anyways, my dad had the senior citizen concession, Bielet the student and the PA card got us an additional 15% off (Bieny went free) so our admission was only ~$57 for the Garden Festival and two domes. Not bad, right?
My parents did the photo-taking while I did the baby-carrying and pram-pushing (not really, we took turns but my hp batt was on the verge of conking so I couldn't take photos with it). I intended to bring the stroller because Bielet had outdoor day in school and would be really tired after, but I forgot.... Luckily, we managed to rent one at just 2 bucks. Yay! You can tell which photos which parent took by the different coloured watermarks (my dad's in blue, my mum's in pink). They took loads of pictures - did I mention they love flowers? - but here are a selection.
[Flower Dome]
(All above) My favourite orchids of the Garden Festival
Eh, don't know what was with the ballerina pose?
Love this pic! Now if only the girls were looking at the camera too...
Unflattering selfie, sia. This girl needs to learn her angles. Lol!
OF ALL THE PHOTO POINTS IN THE FLOWER DOME, MUST TAKE PICTURE AT THE EMERGENCY EXIT SIGN?!?!?! (This was taken when I went to change the baby's diaper *shakes head*)
[Cloud Forest]
Moving on to the Cloud Forest (first time for all of us), it was really chilly so we brought out the coats for the girls. My mum and I really digged the cold air!
It's not that I don't like flowers, but I much prefer wild greens. So this was my favourite of the two domes!
Bielet really liked the train!
Hands down my favouritest snap of the outing! Did you notice that even Bieny is getting in on the hand raising pose? HAHAHA
Bielet spotted the Children's Garden and was over the moon! (For the record, she fell asleep by the time we actually reached the play area. But of course, we woke her up!)
[Children's Garden]
Trying to get Bieny's climber instincts going. Ummm, not really working.
There are a lot more play areas to explore in the gardens. Adventure trail (with scarily steep slides imo), spider webs, an inward incline rock wall, suspension bridges etc. But the most popular has got to be:
THE WATER PLAY AREA! (Spot Bielet?)
Unfortunately, this mama also forgot to bring the girls' swimsuits but I always have a change of clothes for them, so I just let them splash around clothed. I did purchase a towel - at a ridiculous $12.
Semi-clothed for Bieny. The sticky girl needed a watering. Seeing as ZX would absolutely murder me for posting more photos of her this way, I chose the most decent looking (strategically positioned arm + squirt of water).
Bielet was happy to run around and get jets of water in her ears. Odd kid.
[The Meadow]
The main part of the Garden Festival is actually held here, but seeing as we headed to the domes and children's area before this, we obviously had a lot less time here. Wasted! We managed to view the exhibits under the tentage (garden table setups, fantasy gardens and miniature gardens) and some of the landscape gardens, but there were a lot more outdoor exhibits that we never made it to. I heard there's even a Frozen-themed garden display! But our energy level was already negative by the point so we had to miss it. The photos that I've seen on IG and other blogs are fantastic though!
Believe it or not, she bounded up enthusiastically to this windwill and barked for my dad to capture a shot. But turned out, her face was still as black as ever. BIELET, WHY YOU LEARN FROM YOUR PAPA!!!
My favourite garden table setup
One of the miniature gardens. Cute, huh?
We also got this group shot printed at the shop. It was $25 and almost half our admission tickets but it is so worth it, eh? I wanted the supertrees and fireworks background but Little Miss Bossy insisted on the Cloud Forest (this was even before we headed to that dome!) so we got this after all. (The actual picture is less grainy and obviously straight, but I'm a little lazy to retake and re-edit my instagram photo. So there.)
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