Singapore Botanic Gardens (Go here before Gardens by the Bay) Free stuff in Singapore No 1.

No wonder this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While Gardens by the Bay is flashy, the Botanic Gardens (established in 1859) are more impressive. Allow at least 4 hours. Even if you are not into horticulture; the landscaping, sculptures, animal encounters (swans, monitor lizards, tortoises and otters) and the fact that it is free; makes this place a must for visitors to Singapore. Return at night for a totally new perspective (the only section not flood-lit is the rainforest trail).
Opening Hours 5 a.m. to midnight.
The National Orchid Garden has a $5 admission.
Closest MRT is Botanic Gardens (right next to Bukit Timah Gate).

Maps are available at all gates.

Swan Lake, look out for otters

Otter taking a short cut

Otter No 2

Walk of the Giants

Ginger Garden

Rain Forest boardwalk

1.5 metre monitor lizard in Symphony Lake

Kepppel Discovery Wetlands

Malaysia's Pulau Melaka - Ghost Town or White Elephant?

This is Riviera Hotel/Suites at the entrance to Pulau Melaka (Malacca Island). Row after row of empty shops and restaurants,  unleased or unopened. We were the only tourists in the area. The place resembles a ghost town.
In the streets around this man-made island it's the same story. The only activity seems to be the 'floating mosque'  (A little over 1 km from the island's bridge) and the construction on the second reclaimed land/island. A promised Ferris wheel was never built. A wildlife-encounter park looks abandoned. Security guards seem to be the only viable enterprise.