I’m heading back to the southern hemisphere for a trip to the Indonesian island of Bali. My flight from Vietnam had a long lay-over in Singapore so I used the time to catch up with friends and check out the newly opened ‘Gardens by the Bay‘ eco-park.

The park is an impressive (if expensive) attraction in this otherwise concrete covered city-state. Spanning more than 100 hectares, the gardens feature futuristic towering ‘supertrees‘ (pictured here) that collect rainwater, generate solar power, and act as venting ducts for the park’s huge domed conservatories. In those vast conservatories more than a quarter of a million rare plants grow. There’s also a quite amazing waterfall structure within the ‘cloud forest,’ as well as educational exhibits centred around environmental issues and climate change.

Gardens by the Bay is still very new and will doubtlessly change as the plants grow and mature over time. The park itself is very much a tourist attraction as the costly admission fee would, I imagine, would stop locals from using the gardens in the same way they might use a more conventional park. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but should you find yourself in Singapore with a little time to spend, I would recommend a visit here.