So, the other day at Flower Dome there were a few species that caught our tsundere's eyes & I thought I should share some of her "top picks" here. Enjoy!

Above is our Flower Ambassador, Senjougahara Hitagi from the well-aclaimed anime, Bakemono Gatari. This is also my first figurine that has inadvertently ignited this collector's frenzy in me. She is a 1/8 scale EX figure by SEGA, released in 2012, 3 years after the show aired. And I've bought this... 2 years later. So much history eh.

Hitagi is gazing thoughtfully at a bed of Lupinus cultivar from America, and no, it wasn't named after Lupin the Third, since they have been consumed by Ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago.

The garden's current theme is Nursery Rhymes and the Lupins were generously planted under the "Little Bo Beep" section.

Just staring at these harlequin of colours brightens up my day!

Just beside it we have a cluster of larkspur (Delphinium cultivar) surrounding the big Daddy cow and another bed of vibrant purple ground covers that holds a resemblance to purple daisy (sadly I can't find the name of this flower) where the little ducklings were warmly nestled.

Next to the pathway dividing the flower beds we have "Baby Elephants." Truth be told, when I first saw them I was thinking about Thailand more than some kid's bedtime story.

After a long day of fetching water, they're taking a nap among the safety of the flowers.

 Here we have the favoured flower of the anime industry, Hydrangeas, in its different stages of bloom.

Have anyone seen before a black flower? Me neither, but look what I found! I was so fascinated that I actually sat by the pavement in front of it. This is actually pansy in a shade of purple so dark that it appears black. For ladies (and gentlemen alike) who wishes for your other half/ potential boyfriend to pay a little more attention to you, just send him/her a stalk. In the flower language, pansy means to think of you.

So mysterious, it silently draws you in and piques at your curiosity.

Hitagi & I have to argee on one thing - how is this possible? It is like a cousin of Delphinium 'Blue Jay,' except much more alluring and frolic.

If anyone has an idea what the above plant is, please let me know in the comment section below. I was so distracted by its colour varieties that it slipped my mind to ask for its name.

It is indeed a luxury and pleasure to be able to witness such a colourful array of perennial plants in a tropical country like Singapore, and I cannot begin to imagine the amount of maintenance cost & labour the garden is pumping in just to keep up this pretty front!

That's all for today's "Top Picks," please continue to love flowers and spread the art of flower appreciation!

xoxo

Today I'll be sharing a trip to one of Singapore's latest landmark (it changes almost on a yearly basis, so you really need to pay attention, the country's rich that way), the Gardens by the Bay at Bayfront. The green oasis was opened on 29 June 2012 and has attracted countless visitors since then, including The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It has since dominated the local postcards as the Face of Singapore and stirring up a storm within the media, with people reopening the discussion of Singapore's indecisive vision between "Garden in a City" and "City in a Garden."

Having recently acquired another figure, I thought I should disguise myself as a tourist and head down to borrow its landscapes.

The star of the day, Hirasawa Yui is my favourite electric guitar girl from the anime K-ON! She didn't come by easily - as this was a 1/8 scale, exclusive release (limited stocks available at limited outlets) from Kyoto Animation, I thought that was it, I should give up on getting on. Let's not forget this was released way back in 2011 and fellow collectors know most of the figures will be out of production once the pre-painted stocks are wiped out.

Just when I was about to give up, I stumbled upon the Hardware zone (local) forum and my god, someone is selling it, and it's brand new! So, I did the next sensible thing, I contacted the guy.

I was worrying my guts out when he did not reply my text until the next day, at 3:15 P.M., as I vividly remembered till now. We battered back and forth for the best price and finally, the deal was on and I was going to meet up with him near his place. I had to take train, change bus & travel across the expressway, but it was all worth it. Yui Yui you're so cute!

For this photo, I had to sit under the burning sun on the equally burning asphalt while I wait patiently for the right intensity of sunlight. I didn't know such beautiful lavender-like flowers can strive so well under such intense conditions.

When I was on the verge to melt, I chanced upon this bamboo cove with a huge and flattened white boulder in front of it, just in time for a time-out and to place Yui for this shoot. Ah, love the cooperative wind-blown effect of the foreground grasses!

With the hard part/ hot part over, it was time that I left the Heritage Gardens for the Flower Dome, a.k.a. air-con place. Above is the ticket for either one of the cool cocoon (the other being the Cloud Forest). Since I went on a weekday morning, there was no queue and I quickly entered.

One of my favourite shots of the day, this dreamscape of small white flowers reaching towards the gentle sunlight, with my Angel in the middle losing slightly lost, perfection.

Unfortunately they did not have a label for this flower, which I could not understand (they have for all the ones around this!) Here, Yui seems a little frightened by the gigantic petals around her.

Argh, the sunlight was not showing mercy here. It was mostly my fault for going so late (11A.M.) but it is hard to find such tiny petals that matches the scale of Yui :(

Another favourite shot of mine, the Daisy Valley~ They are pretty odourless too, somehow.

The floor of loose pebbles allowed me to hide Yui's base so I can show more of her fab stripe leggings <333

Yui looking camera-shy here as she hid among the red bursts of spring.

Flower Dome was having a showcase of Nursery Rhymes, which explains the Little Bo Beep that Yui is so fascinated with :o

Buuowww, I was in there for almost 2 hours and I was freezing by the time I left! Nevertheless, I am thankful for the awesome palette of perennial plants they have provided me and I shall end off with this advertorial shot of the Supertree, the landmark of GBTB. This scene feels like the ending of her performance, with the explosion of waterworks and bright lights stretching out behind her. After all, this figure is based on K-ON's first ending, <<Don't Say Lazy>>, a fitting setting if I should say.

That's all for today, thank you for dropping by minnan!