Singapore Garden Festival 2010

This was our family's very first visit to the Singapore Garden Festival! I was too caught up in my previous jobs and had  missed both events in 2006 and 2008 even though I had received complimentary tickets for myself and my kids...what a pity!

Nonetheless everyone was E-X-C-I-T-E-D! The kids wanted to see the mascots - Lindy Ladybug, Gary Grasshopper and Benny Bee. I was anxious about the display of my little retail space at the Festival Shop. My lone visit to the event on the first day to check on the initial setup was distressing and left me very upset and disappointed with the attitude of the lady in charge of the shop. (Well, that's another interesting story! and it is a blessing that I do not have any pictures to show the initial horror.)

Marked improvement in visual display on 2nd day of event

Above photograph was taken by SunflowerSG who had liaised with SGF for the consignment of Nature's Little Treasures products. I have made a mental note never to allow a third party to negotiate business on my behalf again, least they fall short of my expectations. This was a marked improvement to the previous day's horror but still, I expected better. Lesson learnt!

How does one feel when one steps into the Singapore Garden Festival? hhmmm....have you ever sensed the relief when you are in the midst of nature? That wonderful, peaceful feeling - exactly!

These were some my favourites:

Silver Winner, Floral Windows to the World - Rhythms of Nature
Designer: Janet Alesich (Australia)

Gold Winner, Floral Windows to the World - In The Beginning There Was Light
Designer: Alex Choi (Korea)

Silver Winner, Fantasy Gardens - Hommage Aux Jardiniers
Designers: Agnes Daval & Gabriel Milochau (France)

Best of Show, Floral Windows to the World - Design With Nature
Designer: Brigitte Heinrichs (Germany)

Web of 13 Million
Digital Photo Exhibition by Mr Kwek Leng Joo

Web of 13 Million - This was actually the first exhibit Ryan dashed into! This was a digital show but we found the 'tandrils' & 'flowers' more interesting.

On closer inspection, we realised that they were actually fashioned out of used plastic bottles! How beautiful :)

I am so inspired to make eco-friendly soaps out of everyday recycled materials - think tofu containers, milk or fruit juice cartons, jelly cups...I believe that with some brain storming, we can come up with a really long list of household items!

How we looked on the second last day of the Singapore Garden Festival 2010

That was how the shelf looked with one more day left on the show. Well, I hope the empty and half-filled buckets meant that most of our products have been sold. My family and I shopped in the Festival Shop for almost an hour and no staff approached to assist any curious (potential) customers, including myself. Most of the staffs were chatting among themselves or just standing and doing nothing.

So we decided to entertain ourselves alittle :)

Ryan and I have always had this thingy for frogs and he found this hairband lying around and popped it onto his head and ... C-H-E-E-S-E!

This lady staff was walking past and gamely posed for a photograph. The original staff taking care of this area gave a lame excuse and ran away when I asked for permission to take a shot.

Ryan, Aiko & Lizzy with Lindy Ladybug, Gary Grasshopper & Benny Bee hanging overhead :)

My favourite Oncidium Orchid - Golden Showers

We were tired and famished after walking through the entire 4th and 6th storeys of lucious floral and fauna. We truely enjoyed ourselves and the kids went home with their stalks of orchids (complimentary from the organisers, which I felt was a very nice gesture), stuff toys - Ryan chose Titoy, Aiko and Lizzy grabbed Sara the Botanicosaurus and "Sara goes to the Supermarket Garden" books and keychains.

Strangely, the staffs at the cashier counter of the Festival Shop insisted that we stuff all our purchases into ONE small carrier bag. Even when we showed them that the bag could not hold all our purchases, they refused to let us have a second bag.

Perhaps they wanted some free advertisement by making my kids carry their stuffed toys around the event area? Thinking back, I should have used the discount coupons given for my purchases instead of paying in full!


Nonetheless, I have marked Singapore Garden Festival 2012 in my calender for the year 2012. Despite some misses, this is still one event not to be missed.