Orchid welcomes and farewells

My vote for the best indoor display of orchids? The Orchid Garden and Koi Pond at Terminal 2 at Changi airport, Singapore . Just look at these photos ! Oh, and do click on them to enlarge. These orchids deserve your full-screen attention. I had to literally pick my jaw up from the floor where it was doing a great job of drooling all over the place.

For those of you haven't seen it before, the Orchid Garden seems to make everything else look like they're arranged around it. As if it were the raison d'etre of the airport itself. It probably is, for all I know... I can't think of a better welcome for an incoming passenger than to be greeted by this flamboyant display. Or, for that matter, a more memorable farewell !

Huge pieces of driftwood placed around the Koi pond are liberally smothered with the most amazing tropical orchids. Each area seemed to specialise in different orchids. The one in the photo above shows the Phalaenopsis orchids.

Here's a close-up . I didn't notice those little clips clamping the stem to a wire. No wonder they arch so gracefully.

I loved this one! Somehow the photo doesn't do it justice but believe me, it was truly beautiful.

Then there was this huge display of Oncidiums. Can you imagine a 10-foot tall drift of yellow? Or a zillion Dancing Girls (as they're also known) all nodding their heads at you?

Yellow looks great on Dendrobiums too. There was this big patch of yellow dends. which was really eye-catching. Somehow I always associate dends with purple or white so seeing this big patch of sunshine was really refreshing.

Mmm... I think I could go back to Singapore just to wander around the airport garden! They should put it up in the guidebooks as one of Singapore's best tourist attractions.

I loved the way the driftwood was arranged around the pond. This was one of my favourite spots, with a piece overhanging the pond. The Phalaenopsis look so healthy that I'm really jealous.

The photo below gives a better look at how the pond and garden harmonize. Believe me, it looks much, much more impressive in person but I just had to share this with you anyway.
Envy loves company, you know !