Singapore, January 2014

One of the greatest sights in Singapore are two shell shaped conservatories.  One is for flowers and the other for plants  The one shown is for flowers, although the plants one is more exciting, there is no room for another photo here.  But you can see part of the giant scale of this building, and not only are there no pillars at all, but it is entirely air conditioned.  Even Singaporeans are surprised that a building of the magnitude with clear glass panels can be successfully air conditioned in hot Singapore.
The tree shaped metal objects are about 45' tall - large.  The are encrusted with orchids and other plants and vines.  There nine of them (I think, could be 12) and several are actually solar cells providing power to the multicoloured lights that make them a spectacular sight at night.
Right close to this large park is what Singapore calls a battery. That is actually a reservoir to collect run off water from the city-state and clean it for all uses.  Since Singapore and Malaysia parted ways decades ago, Singapore has had to play nice-nice with Malaysia because it depended on them for fresh water.  But over the past 20 years, Singapore has built so many batteries that it soon will be self-sufficient for fresh water even though it has grown so much.
You have to admire Singapore.  Iran has all that oil, but no refinery and has to depend on foreign countries to refine its oil.  Little Singapore has no oil, but one of the world's largest refineries.  They never lack for resourcefulness nor daring.
In the background, you can see ships in the harbour. You can see more ships at anchor here than almost anywhere else in the world.  They go on for miles.  They stop at Singapore for fuel, insurance, crew changes, and supplies.