A Visit To The Gardens

I paid a visit to the Chinese Garden, and the Japanese Garden earlier this week. Although they have been around for ages, I never got around to visiting these gardens of interest. The Chinese Garden was built between 1971 and 1975. It is linked to the adjacent Japanese Garden, which was built in 1974 by a bridge. They have been through several ‘rejuvenations’ and developments since. The last big development was in 2019 and finished in September last year.

The government has done a lot to the area. Together with the Lakeside Gardens, they are now branded as the Jurong Gardens. Jurong is a district in western Singapore. It has a lake. On the island in Jurong Lake are the Chinese Garden, and Japanese Garden. The combined gardens have an area of 90-hectare.

Jurong Lake Gardens is Singapore’s third national garden and the first in the heartlands. “Envisioned to be a peoples' garden, it aims to be a community sanctuary in the heart of Jurong where families and the community can come together to experience the specially curated thematic gardens.”

I was there for just over an hour, managing only a cursory look of the place. If you want to visit all the attractions in the gardens, you need at least two hours. I believe I missed out on quite a few places of interest. I will definitely have to go back and have a look again.

If you are a fan of gardens, you would definitely love the Jurong Lake Gardens. Big, open spaces, serene, peaceful and idyllic, and well maintained foot paths. There are enough in the gardens to keep you interested. However, do plan your visit. The place is about seven kilometres’ walk. You might want to go in the early evening when it is not too hot. There are a couple of eateries if you are hungry, or thirsty after the walk and want something to snack on.

The Gardens aspire to be a showcase of sustainability, winning Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum for Super Low Energy buildings in 2021.

Here are some photos of the place from my visit.

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