Posts Tagged ‘international flights’
Singapore Botanical Garden
Looking for a visual feast and serenity inducing beauty? We suggest the Singapore Botanical Garden located in the south east Asian country of Singapore. This is one of the countries national treasures and features a collection of breathtaking and rare Orchids. The garden is open 5 am to midnight everyday of the year. General Admission to the park is free, Admission to the National Orchid Garden within is $5 for adults $1 for seniors and students and children are free. As far as travel attractions go, this one is extremely easy on the wallet.
The main feature of the Singapore Botanical Garden is National Orchid Garden. This garden is home to 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids. Within this garden are several divisions that house the different types of orchids in their correct environments. Burkill Hall houses many hybrid orchids the VIP section contains those named after notable visitors. The Orchidarium is the place for true orchid enthusiasts and has only natural species on display in a tropical setting. Fragrant orchids like Vanda Mimi Plamer can be found in the Tan Hoon Siang Misthouse. Other sections include, Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice Bromeliad House and the Coolhouse, which holds orchids that would be seen in tropical highland forests.
Within the grounds of the Singapore Botanical Garden you will also find a small rainforest. The rainforest is older than the park itself. You can also visit the Evolution Garden in the core of the garden. It tells the story of the evolution of plant life on Earth throughout the ages. There are also three lakes, Symphony Lake, Eco-Lake and Swan Lake all within the Singapore Botanical Garden.
If you have children, you may also want to check out the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. This is a fun place for children to explore, learn, and have fun. It is Asia’s first children’s garden and has a water play area, playground, tree-houses, a maze and more. There are plenty of opportunities for young minds to grow interactive exhibits that show how photosynthesis works, how plants are used for dyes, herbs, and beverages. One very interesting feature of this garden is the sculpture named the “Mystree”. From afar it appears to be tree however as you get a closer look it is revealed to be made up of 500 human figures forming the tree.
Trying to figure who flies there? Delta currently has international flights to get you where you want to be. Don’t forget your passport and camera for a trip you are sure to remember. For more information about the Singapore Botanical Garden visit their site at: http://www.sbg.org.sg/index.asp.
Tags: Children's Garden, hybrids of orchids, international flights, Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, Mystree, National Orchid Garden, national treasures, Orchidarium, Orchids, rainforest, Singapore, Singapore Botanical Garden, Tan Hoon Siang Misthouse, tropical, tropical highland forests, vanda Mimi Plamer
Stranded No More
New US legislation has been approved providing a time limit to airlines for how long they can hold you on a flight while on the ground. This new rule states that airlines can no longer hold passengers on grounded jets for longer than a three hour time span. This rule applies only to domestic flights, international flights are subjects to other regulations.
This comes after many incidents involving airline horror stories of such occurrences. Consumer complaints have been growing over being stranded and the media has been giving it more coverage. Continental Airlines was fined along with two regional carriers for stranding passengers on a 50 seat regional jet overnight. The price tag for this mistake was $175,000. This is the first time that airlines have seen repercussions for tarmac delays.
Airlines have fought such legislation from taking place believing that the amount of time should be at their discretion. Putting a time limit at three hours for ground delays could make the airlines’ operations even more congested and cause more misconnections which forms a greater ripple effect in terms of airline operations.
The airlines are given a few provisions concerning this matter and only time will tell how far they will be allowed to stretch them for their benefit. These are exemptions for matters of safety or security. The other exemption comes at the discretion of air traffic controllers. Basically if the air traffic controller says that a return to a gate for deplaning would cause a disruption of airport operations, then the time limit could be waived.
Having rights as a passenger is a great thing, no one wants to be stranded for hours without an end in sight. However, perhaps there is a bit more to be considered. What if the flight could takeoff for it’s destination after three hours and fifteen minutes, but due to the time restriction they are forced to return to the gate. Now, passengers have been deplaned as per regulation and hours are added to their delay that a little more time and the pilot’s discretion might have avoided. Perhaps there is no perfect solution to the issue, but this may not be exactly the victory that airline passengers believe it to be.
Tags: air traffic controller, airline horror stories, airlines, airport operations, Continental Airlines, domestic flights, flight, international flights, jets, legislation, passengers, regulations, Stranded