The historic Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Photo by Bjí¸rn Christian Tí¸rrissen.
When we visited Singapore in 2010, one of my favorite stops was spending an hour or so in the Raffles Hotel Museum on the third floor of the Raffles Hotel.
The museum was filled with postcards, letters, photos and other memorabilia collected from prior guests immortalizing their stay at the ‘grand lady of the Far East‘ since its opening in 1887. These items were displayed in the museum along with photographs and writings of famous guests and visitors who stayed at the hotel.
I was looking forward to showing the museum to Mr. Jones, who missed it on our earlier visit.
We searched the second and third floors of the Raffles Hotel, and there was no museum. I later learned that the museum was closed in 2012.
Disappointed, we headed to the legendary Long Bar, the birthplace of the world-famous Singapore Sling, a gin and cherry-flavored cocktail created by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon around 1915.
During the major 1991 renovation of the Raffles Hotel, the Long Bar was moved from its original location to the second floor arcade of the hotel.
Some of the decor brings memories of the Golden Age of Travel, but today’s Long Bar is mainly a tourist trap.
The infamous Singapore Slings cost 28 Singapore dollar (SGD) each. Rumored to taste like cherry cough syrup, we choose a cold Tiger beer. (20 Singapore dollars for a pint.)
There’s a historic Tiger beer sign on the wall, and the beer goes well with the bags of peanuts that guests eat, tossing the shells on the floor.
As another option to the Singapore Sling, the Long Bar is now serving a collection of 12 different “Timeline Cocktails”, that celebrate different historical events that took place at the Raffles Hotel during every decade from the 1880’s to the 1990’s.
Have you visited the Raffles Hotel in Singapore? Did you drink a Singapore Sling?
Visiting Singapore? Check out these other posts on the city….
- Touring the Tiger Brewery in Singapore
- Eating Our Way Through Chinatown with Food Tour Singapore
- A Look Inside the Conrad Centennial Singapore Hotel
- A Little Walk Through Little India with The Original Singapore Walks
- Delicious Dumplings at Din Tai Fung in Singapore
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