The Istana - Orchard Rd

This is one of the most unique Head of Government's palace i ever visited. Not the best but one of the unique. I visited the istana in an Open House session in Labour Day (a public holiday in Singapore). It's so crowded, full with peoples from around the world. This one smaller by size if you compare it with the Green House (Malaysia's) or others like Istana Bogor (One of Indonesia's President Palace), but the environment, is so good, its so green. The facility for public is good. I recommend you to visit The Istana and enter the inner building ( you need to pay if you are a foreigner). Even if you can't take a picture inside, its still statisfying you with the short tour too looks for the item, stuff, etc (mostly as souvenir from other countries delegation). I also recommend you to visit the istana's museum (heritage gallery) in front of the istana first or after the visit. P.S : you can take a look about The Istana's open house schedule in their website, but peoples say its always open in every public holiday. Bring your bottle drink, since there is a water refill inside, and don't bring any sharp item, or anything that can trigger security issues.

The istana is the official residence of the elected president of Singapore, the premise is open to the public during special occasions. Huge sprawling and beautiful lawn. you get a guided tour of the interior of the building as well. Usually the local school choir will have a performance witness by the President.

Nice place, fantastic gardens but why do they give EACH visitor a plastic bag for the security check that they immediately trash after? They should lead by example and stop this massive plastic waste.

As expected, Istana is very grand. The place feels like going in a nice golf course with a beautiful white palace. There are huge and well maintained lawns with ample amount of space to sit on grass (no seats there). When we went there, there were a lot of art booths and exhibitions on art and botany. The palace comes after a decent walk. The palace is super grand. The chandeliers are mesmerizing. Inside you can see multiple halls with gifts from different countries. It's interesting to see that. Overall must visit the place. I understand that the place only opens for 4 days in a year. So grab the next opportunity to visit.

Visitors from the 3-5pm slot were not allowed to enter due to “bad weather” even though it was bright and sunny. Time of many families wasted due to mismanagement.

Visit the the Istana on 7 May during their Open House. We reached about 8.45am and managed to gain entry at 9.30am. Once inside, we waited another 30min to purchase ticket for the Main Building. Both queues were long but still acceptable since it was before 10am where the weather isn't scorching hot yet. We had fun and it was good to visit the Istana at least once in our lifetime. In total we spent 3 hours (inclusive of the queuing time). Tips: Go early morning where queue is shorter.

The Istana, which mean The Palace in the Malay language. It was delightful to see the "Inclusive Garden" (previously known as Spice Garden) which consist of hard core path wide enough for wheelchairs, planters just the right height for wheelchair users with built in knee space. The low level water feature was mesmerising. It is worth the effort to decent the number of steps to get to the Lily Pond, the air is filled with scented honeysuckles. Apart from the graceful colonial style buildings complete with shutters, the matured garden set in undulating land which adds interest visually. The 42 hectares land during the colonial days was a nutmeg plantation, so look out for these trees. Other trees which may be of interest are coffee, Cocoa, Mulberry and pepper. Do look out for the next open day. Thank you for the opportunity for so many, to share the enjoyment of the gardens.

Consider putting up fans for the queues or increase the number of equipment and security personnel to screen the bags. Joined the queue at 2:30pm, only to clear the security past 4:45pm. Was much better in the past. Now that we are living with covid, and much of the world already adopting digital technology to improve the entire process. Shouldn’t we expecting a much better experience? Why can’t we schedule the visitors via virtual queues to improve their experience? No drinks for purchases in the main tent if you are in during the afternoon. Got to buy from a dodgy store that only takes cash. Making a killing from the monopoly and not being tracked. If you are thirsty, probably have to drink from one of the many pond or something. Hope there would be improvements in future.