Vesak Day

Today is a public holiday in Singapore for Vesak Day and this weekend will see many Singaporeans take advantage of the long weekend and travel to Thailand, Bali and Malaysia which are all short flights from Singapore.
Vesak day is sometimes referred to as " Budha's Birthday" and is observed by Buddhists. The day is actually the celebration of the birth , enlightenment and death of Buddha .
Vesak Day  celebrations can be observed in the main Buddhists Temple in Singapore - the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown and Lian Shan Shuang Lin Temple in Toa Payoh , which is the second biggest Buddhist temple in Asia.

Today will see Buddhists attending their temples before dawn for the ceremonies. Simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks will be offered at the feet of their spiritual teacher. Buddhists believe that performing good deeds on Vesak Day will multiply merit many times over. Many of the followers will also bath a small image of the baby Buddha in front of the altar by pouring over the statue. Most statues of the Lord Buddha are illuminated on Vesak Day, and the celebrations will conclude tonight with a candlelight procession through the streets around the temples.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Bathing the Stature of Baby Buddha

Inside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Tulipmania at Gardens by the Bay

Having just come back from the Keukenhof gardens in Holland I was interested to see the tulip display that the Gardens by the Bay were hosting for a few weeks here in Singapore.
The display in the Flower Dome exceeded my expectations and it was certainly reminiscent of the displays in Holland and gives visitors a showcase of wonderful flowering bulbs that don't grow in Singapore due to the tropical conditions. Some 20000 plants have being flown in and to keep them fresh the Flower Dome temperature will be lowered during the display.

Tulips and hyacinths

The display had to have a windmill

Double Tulips

More decorated giant clogs

Hyacinths and jonquils

Another windmill

The display in the Flower Dome

Great range of colours

Tulips in rows reminiscent of tulips fields in Holland

A display from Holland needs a bike

Decorated bikes

Tulips and jonquils

Decorated giant sized clogs

Plastic tulips lining the walkway to the Flower Dome

A plastic tulip lining the walkway to the Flower Dome