2 . Singapore Garden Festival(SGF) is the only show in the world to gather the world’s top award-winning garden and flowery designers under one roof. This “must-see” event will impress you with a wide range of displays and activities that have been planned specially for you. An experience of a lifetime awaits at the Singapore Garden Festival for you and your family. Mark your calendar today!

Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden

Worry that your child is bored? Sign him or her up for a guided tour in Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. It will stimulate a sense of wonder in your child as it promises a unique discovery and provides interesting learning experiences in a garden setting. Let your child explore and play so that they will learn to take care of plants and the environment while you admire the exhibits with a peace of mind.

Far East Organization Children’s Garden

Your child can have a fun-filled day with interactive games, water play features and educational programs in an abundant natural setting at Far East Organization Children’s Garden! The play zone contains play such as a sway(摇摆)bridge and stepping springs, and the Fish Fountain with an interactive landscape of water tunnels and different fish-shaped sculpture.

Marine Cove Children’s Outdoor Playground

Come and bring your child to the 3500-square-metr e playground suitable for children of various ages! It is located next to the beach, offering users open spaces and a good view of the sea. Your child can also join in the fun at a play area with talking tubes, fun mirrors and a drum set! The playground also has play equipment for children who are physically-challenged to play together. This includes special needs equipment such as sensory play panels.

3 . Friends always ask why I, a middle-aged woman with no athletic (运动) talent (天赋), travel to perilous places — the jungles (丛林) of Thailand or Borneo, for example, where the water is often unsafe and the food risky; places with infectious diseases, poisonous snakes and the wildest animals.

I never know how to answer. Nine years ago I suffered a stroke (中风). To prevent another stroke, my doctors told me, I’d have to take dangerously high levels of blood thinner (血液稀释剂) for the rest of my life and any travel would be risky (冒险的).

I had to think about what was important to me: family, of course, and friends. But then what? No matter how many times I thought about it, I could not be happy without travel. Then I had to decide how I might manage the risk.

The first real test of my travel courage came nine months after my stroke when I joined my husband, Jack, on a business trip to China. After we’d toured the remains of a Tang dynasty temple on a high mountain, Jack wanted to ride down on a toboggan (长雪橇).

Before the stroke it would’ve seemed like fun. But now? I hesitated. My mental klaxon (高音喇叭) screamed warnings about the consequences of a cut, a fall, and a crash. Then, gaining confidence from who knew where, I lowered myself carefully into the toboggan, which marked my adventure (冒险) travel come back.

In the years since then, I’ve traveled about twenty-five percent of the time. Through it all, my lucks held out — no deadly falls, no car accidents or serious infections. For me, adventure travel is a risk worth taking. Travel broadens my world and keeps me connected to nature. What’s more, saying “yes” to travel keeps me connected to myself.

4 . Travelling with friends can be an amazing experience where you could make lifelong memories or it could ruin your friendship.     1     Here are some rules you should follow to make sure your next trip with friends goes as smoothly as possible.

    2     Sure, you and your friends probably have some similar interests, but that’s not always the case. In an effort to keep everyone happy, go over travel plans and expectations ahead of time. Have each person categorize activities or sights into “must-see”, “want to see” and “would go if we have time”. Plan accordingly and make sure everyone can see some of their top attractions.

Communicate and respect each other. Everyone has personal preferences when travelling— from getting the bed closest to the bathroom or sitting in the airplane’s window seat. But sometimes things don’t go as you like. In this case, share your requirements directly with your travel companions.     3     Have a conversation when problems arise, for communication is the key.

Don’t disappear. When travelling with a group — or even just one other person — you may want some alone time. That’s completely fine, but make sure your friends know where you are and have a way of contacting you.     4    

Get off your phone. Of course, your friends will understand if you need to take a call from a family member, or in the event of a work emergency, but other than that, try to stay off your phone.     5     After all, the appeal of this type of trip is to spend time with friends. Just enjoy it!

For beach vacations that get you out of town and invite you and your family to dive into culture, consider a trip to Panama City. Here, you will enjoy beaches and city exploring. Book your stay at the Westin Playa Bonita, where you can book a room starting at $222 a night. There are various programs, including beach Olympics, star observation and Spanish lessons.

This place offers you quality time you can spend with your loved ones. Book your stay at Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, with rates for a family of four starting at $207 a night. Here, you can shoot baskets at the basketball courts, take a dip in the pool or teach your children beach yoga.

The West Coast is a great spot for cheap beach vacations, so tell your family to pack their bags for a visit to San Diego. A cheap $10 Uber ride from the airport will have you pull up at the Kona Kai Resort & Spa. Here, a family of four can stay in a Deluxe Guest Room starting at $159 per night. Your kids can practice cannonballs at the pool after a visit to the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

For west coasters who are growing bored with their background, fly to the islands of Hawaii. Stay at the Aston at the Maui Banyan, with a charge of $179 a night for a family of four. Here, you’ll see some of the best sunsets of your life while your kids play in the Pacific. And if you set about cooking a fancy meal, you’ll enjoy suites that come with a full kitchen.

6 . Some people love travelling while some prefer to stay at home. If you don’t love travelling, you can make a change now. Why?    1     Please read on to know more.

Travelling takes you out of your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is comforting.    2    When you step into new surroundings, you will learn about the world around you. Travelling alone is a great option. Some people might fear being on their own, but it can really help them grow.

    3    Are you afraid of water? If you are, go to the beach or a lake. Are you afraid of talking to strangers? If so, go to a new place and talk with people you have never seen. Remember, fear can be overcome.

Travelling is a good way to expand your mind. It gets you out of a routine and makes you use your brain, your ears and your eyes. While travelling, there are a lot of things that have to be taken in: new sights, new flavours, new noises, etc.    4    

Have you ever thought about travelling abroad as a volunteer? You can benefit a lot from this kind of trip.    5     Sometimes, you can even get all of your meals and accommodation for free. Volunteer tourism is becoming more and more popular. There are many ways to make a difference and benefit you at the same time.

7 . Some people say that city living in the 21st century is stressful and offers no advantages, but I don’t agree with them completely.

With the development of high-tech and the improvement of living qualities, more and more people crowd into the city, which leads to the uncontrollable urbanization(城市化). Because of this, some of the largest cities must be fairly oppressive(压抑的)places to live in if you are short of money or unemployed. However, for those with much income, a city provides colorful environment which enables people to enjoy their modern life. In that case, I believe the advantages of urban living far outweigh its shortcomings.

Regarding shopping, as for me, rather than click on the Internet to get what I want, I prefer to window shop. All kinds of shopping malls and supermarkets located in the city centre really content me. What’s more, a large city’s service even covers numbers of the surrounding towns and benefits many people.

In terms of entertainment, city residents are usually spoiled for choice, from amusement parks to sport stadiums; whoever you are will find exactly what you need. Maybe go to a concert tonight and visit museums tomorrow. City always contains various activities and is full of energy.

City also provides better opportunities with so many choices and challenges. Cities with universities offer high-standard education so that graduates from these places always get ideal jobs with considerable salary. Every day in the business district, you can see a fierce competition among those large companies, while there are exactly places that may give birth to talents.

Many people may complain about the traffic jam or pollution in the city, but I think with some useful measures to take, our city will be more habitable rather than stressful.

8 . You want to have fun and adventure and so you decide to travel somewhere to do it. Sounds like a simple enough thing. And basically it is. But what is adventure? That is the key here and the answer can be different for different people.

For those who love sports, adventure travel can have a whole different meaning than for those who like history. The physical travel types that you can find include such adventure travel as white water rafting ( 白 浪 漂 流 ), kayaking or climbing and hiking to some mountains somewhere. To the hiker, backpacking across Ireland might be their adventure. For this type of person, adventure travel almost always includes something physical. Often the goal is to push their body’s limits and test their individual endurance (耐力).

For those who less want to climb mountains, adventure travel might mean traveling to Nepal and taking in the local festivals. Wine tasting in Italy is also vacation adventure for the more relaxed traveler who enjoys peace and comfort. Anything that is opposite to the normal scope (范围) of the traveler’s lifestyle defines (定义) adventure.

Adventure travel is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all type of vacation. Adventure depends on the person’s physical limits, how much money the person has and what the person enjoys doing. Going beyond the normal is adventurous for many. If your life is quite busy, then sitting on a beach in the moonlight with your family might be adventure for you. The point is not what you do but that you have a good time and that it is an adventure for YOU — not for the person next to you.

Do not sit home this year when vacation time rolls around. Go beyond your normal routine and try something new. If you usually spend your vacation sunbathing on a beach, try hiking, instead, through the mountains. Look around you, think beyond your comfort zone and head out on an adventure vacation.

9 . These days a green building means more than just the color of the paint. Green building can also refer to environmentally friendly houses, factories, and offices.

Green building means “reducing the impact (影响) of the building on the land”, Taryn Holowka of the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., said.

According to Holowka, building accounts for (占了) 65 percent of total U.S. electricity use.   

But green building can reduce energy and water use. Also, the building are often located near public transportation such as buses and subways, so that people can drive their cars less. That could be good for the environment, because cars use lots of gas and give off pollution. Green building are often built on developed land, so that the buildings don’t destroy forests.

Marty Dettling is project manger for a building that put these ideas into action . The Solaire has been called the country’s first green high-rise building. According to Dettling, “We’ve reduced our energy use by one-third and our water by 50 percent,”

The Solaire cuts energy in past by using solar power. “ On the face of the building we have solar panels which change the sun’s energy into electricity,” Dettling explained.

The Solaire also has lights that automatically turn off when people leave the room. In addition, the building has lots of windows, allowing people to use the sun for light during the day. The Solaire cuts water reusing it.

Not everyone is eager to move into a green building, however. Some people think that things like solar panels cost more money than more traditional energy sources. Anyhow, Holowka said, “It’s going to be big.”

10 . As a boy growing up in India, I had longed to travel abroad. I used to listen to the stories my father would tell me about his stay in Canada and tours to Europe in the 1970s, with great interest.

My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting. We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and West Germany.

I have clear memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going abroad. I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt. We flew business class and even today I can remember the excellent service by the Lufthansa crew (工作人员). The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for someone like me, who is especially afraid of flying.

After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight. What a journey that was! All along the Rhine (莱茵河), it was simply an unforgettable experience. I had a sombre feeling on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.

Being the first airline to take me abroad, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart. Even today, I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline. Flying, in general, for me, has always been a terrible and painful experience. Flying on Lufthansa, however, is something I always have and always will look forward to.