Singapore's Botanic Gardens

So mum and dad book a day in Singapore in the wet season and decide to take us to the Botanic Gardens.

We arrived and began to explore the gardens by firstly going to the ponds which contained lots and lots of turtles as well as the usual array of birds.

Whilst we were standing there it began to lightly rain.  Mum and dad got their coats on as well as putting our raincover.

We continued along the paths going up and down the stairs as the rain got heavier.  It got so heavy that we sheltered under several large trees.  Then the rain got heavier and here was no sign of abating.

Mum and dad made the decision to run to a more permanent shelter which required them to backtrack a bit.

The rain continued to pour down but now it was even harder.  Mum and dad were soaked and so were all our luggage.  Alex and I were also getting a bit wet despite the raincover and mum's efforts to ensure that it remained on us.

Eventually we found shelter which was approx 5ft square.  Unfortunately, it contained another 20 people. 

We squeezed in just in time as the rain came down even harder.  This was very hard to believe.

Mum began to rummage through the bags searching for dry clothes for Alex and I.  She managed to find some so she then asked if she could use one of the 2 seats in the shelter to change us. 

We were stripped naked (even taking our nappies off) then redressed us in front of all those people. 

One lady (who happened to be a photographer) very kindly gave me a packet of peanut M&Ms.  I'd never had them before but they are wonderful.  She asked if she could take some photos of us (once we were dressed) and snapped me eating the M&Ms.

Eventually, we were the only ones left in the shelter as everyone else had disappeared into the rain.

"It's been over an hour and its not abating, even a little. We're going to have to make our way back to the airport."

This was easier said than done as it was still pouring down.

Mum and dad managed to get us to the main entrance but there was only a tiny bust stop like shelter with a map on it.  We sheltered there for 15mins whilst dad got our bearings.

From there we dashed to the main office buildings.  These were like large pergolas as they provide shelter from the rain but the air can circulate so that the mugginess of the tropics is minimalised.

We tried to call several taxis but none were answering. 

Eventually, (another hour) another couple had a mini van rock up. Mum asked the driver if he knew another driver who would be willing to take us to the airport.  He spoke to the couple who agreed that we could share the van if they were dropped off first.

It was kinda awkward as the traffic was jammed and we were in the taxi for over 1 hour before we managed to drop the other couple off.  Then it was another hour before we managed to get to the airport.

Once we were there mum and dad checked us in and then headed straight for the baby change area to dry some of our clothes.  Bad news for mum and dad was that their clothes were soaked so they had to get on the plane with the wet clothes they had on.

So we spent half of our Singapore day in the airport.