Tag: food

Sling and Fling

Sara MarshallLeave a comment

⚲ Singapore 

And suddenly, it was my last day in Singapore!

Once I was packed and checked out (with the help of a human this time), I put my luggage into storage so I could go off and explore Singapore one more time.

My first stop was the Marina Bay Sands Hotel to visit the observation deck right at the top of the building, with stunning panoramic views of the city – and as some of you will know, I love a panoramic view! It was also quite fun to have an aerial view of the cycle route we took the day before and see, in one go, just how much ground we covered. But I think my favourite thing was seeing the Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay from above. Being next to them, more at eye level, during the light show the night before made them feel so tall (they’re between 25-50 metres!), so being even higher than them felt like I was looking down at the miniature versions they had by their model Christmas train tracks!

After soaking in the city views and plenty of sunshine, I returned to Gardens by the Bay to do the treetop walk. This is where you walk along a sort of bridge walkway between two of the Supertrees. Although the views weren’t necessarily as panoramic as the ones I had seen earlier that morning, there were still impressive views of the gardens themselves. What I really loved was being at eye level with other trees of the same height. I also found it fascinating to see the base of the trees (or stem/bark) up close and how they were constructed and made up of all sorts of plants. The walk also offered a unique view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel – and it was quite entertaining to think that I had just been up there looking down on where I was moments ago!

While I was up there, I got a message from my American pals from the day before saying they were heading to the Raffles Hotel Long Bar for a Singapore Sling and inviting me to join them. This felt like far too good an opportunity to pass up, as this was the birthplace of the original Singapore Sling.

When it was invented back in 1915, it was socially unacceptable for women to drink alcohol in public. Bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created the drink and disguised the gin with cherry liqueur and grenadine, making it look like a fruit juice and therefore giving women the gift of drinking in public without being caught. As many of you know, I love me some gin, and I also love me some feminism, so a cocktail combining the two was right up my alley!

As well as enjoying a delicious cocktail, it was really fun to see their iconic mechanical cocktail shaker in action. Made of cast iron and hand-cranked, it is designed to shake and make up to 18 cocktails of the “Sling” variety at a time. The drink itself was delicious and very refreshing on such a humid day and was garnished with a lovely slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

I hadn’t got to the cherry before the waitress came to clear the glasses and, as she took mine, I asked to keep it. She held the glass out so I could take the cherry and, very unnecessarily, apologised! I told her not to worry and happily ate it without thinking much of it. Moments later, she returned with an entire glass filled with cherries. It was very unexpected, highly unnecessary, but so lovely and thoughtful – and a delightful little treat!

The other iconic part of the Raffles Hotel Long Bar experience is the peanuts! At your table, you get a bag of peanuts to snack on to accompany your beverages. However, you are not given a designated bowl or container to discard the shells. Instead, you are encouraged to fling them onto the floor.

At first, we felt odd doing so and made a neat pile on the table, only for a waiter to come and sweep them onto the floor for us! Eventually, we got into the spirit of it and joined in with the tradition. It dates back to the early 1900s, when the bar was a favourite hangout for plantation owners who treated the floor like the great outdoors. Today, guests are encouraged to toss their peanut shells straight onto the ground, creating a nostalgic, crunchy carpet that feels wonderfully out of place in such a high-end hotel. It’s a rare, cheeky nod to the bar’s rugged colonial roots – and honestly, there is something incredibly satisfying about making a mess in one of the world’s most famous luxury hotels! It is also the only place in Singapore where you are actively encouraged to make a mess and litter – do this anywhere else in the city and you could be met with a hefty fine!

Once we had had enough to drink and made enough of a mess, we headed over to Chinatown for lunch before I set off to the airport to head to New Zealand. My original plan had been to get to the airport super early and explore all the fun things to do there, as I had heard it was all part of the Singapore experience. However, I was having such a lovely time with my friends and decided that was better than spending hours in an airport by myself.

I did, however, still arrive with enough time to explore and got to see the indoor waterfall – the largest indoor waterfall in the world, with the second-largest being the one at Gardens by the Bay!

I couldn’t quite believe how quickly my time in Singapore had come to an end. Whilst it felt strange to be leaving so soon, I was incredibly excited for what was to come in my New Zealand adventure. I suppose there will be more on that soon…

Much Love, 
Sara💛

Song of the day: Gin House Blues, Nina Simone. I was originally thinking of doing the SOTD as a Britney hit, because I as loving the throwback and nostalgic feeling I got when walking by shops, but sitting in the Long Bar, sipping on a gin based cocktail had me thinking otherwise. All I could hear in my head was Nina’s voice saying “Somebody give me my gin!” And so, this song wins the day! ( I mean also, it’s Nina so she wins everything lets be honest!)

“Happy Happy”

Sara MarshallLeave a comment

⚲ Singapore

(Apologies – this is a long one! Although I think we all know I’m more of a short story long kinda gal!)

It suddenly dawned on me that I only had one more day in Singapore, and there was still so much I wanted to do. However, being the indecisive human that I am, I couldn’t choose just one thing. So I opted for the most logical option: a bike tour of everything! Well, almost everything…

The bike tour was supposed to be a four-hour tour, hitting most of the main spots and learning about the history of Singapore as we cycled around. It was just me and two Americans on the tour, and the three of us, along with our tour guide Aaron, quickly built up a good sense of banter and camaraderie – so much so that even after an hour, we were already running behind schedule! Aaron didn’t seem to mind too much and eventually asked us if we had plans later, as he had no tours that afternoon. As none of us did, it turned into a six-hour tour, plus a stop under a bridge to hide from the torrential rain!

Another fun little part of the tour was when we asked Aaron about the metro announcement that happens when pulling into each station that we all agreed sounded like “Happy Happy!” It turns out the Malay version of “Mind the Gap” is “Berhati-hati di ruang platform”, which sounds a lot like Happy Happy! This soon became a running bit, with us sporadically saying “Happy Happy” at random intervals to reassure Aaron we were OK and not too tired from all the cycling!

We started off riding along the esplanade to arrive at a scenic view of Marina Bay, taking in iconic views of the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands (including the iconic hotel!). The Merlion is Singapore’s mythical mascot and represents its original name, “Singapura”, translated as “Lion City”. The fish’s tail represents Singapore’s beginnings as a fishing village, whilst the lion part references a Malay legend. It is said that a Srivijayan* prince landed at Temasek (old Singapore) around the 14th century, saw a strange, majestic creature, and was told by his minister it was a “singa”, meaning “lion”, leading him to name the island “Singapura”, or “Lion City”. We were also told that, in hindsight, it would have been very unlikely that a lion would have been there and that it was more likely to have been a tiger. However, some people say the minister didn’t know the Malay word for tiger and so stuck with lion. I personally think Lion City sounds better and don’t think “Mertiger” rolls off the tongue quite as easily!

We rode through historic neighbourhoods like Kampong Glam (the Muslim quarter) and Chinatown. Some highlights included seeing the oldest Chinese temple and learning about how to enter and exit properly. There are three doors at the entrance and, traditionally, you should enter through the left and exit through the right, saving the middle doorway for the gods. The temple itself was beautiful and ornate, and the way its upkeep is maintained was highly impressive. It also had a wishing well in the centre, where you can ring a bell for a specific blessing, which I thought was really beautiful.

I also really enjoyed learning more about the street art I had seen the day before. There is one specific artist, Yip Yew Chong, who likes to illustrate what old buildings or areas may have looked like. He also always includes an interactive element, such as an empty chair, so passers-by can become part of the mural. Oh, and he loves cats, so there is always a cat hiding somewhere!

In Kampong Glam, we saw the mosque and learned that when it was originally built, the community was asked to donate to help fund or decorate the building. Some gave silver, some gave gold, but those who could not afford either gave glass bottles. The bases of the bottles were then removed and used as tiling around the outside to show that every contribution is important and valuable within a community. When we were first told this, we were too far away to see it properly, but seeing it up close moments later was very special. It was also a good reminder that sometimes it’s the simple things in life that mean the most. Whether it’s a message checking in on a friend that takes two seconds to write, smiling at someone as you walk past them, donating a glass bottle, or accepting and celebrating a glass bottle donation – it can make a world of difference!

Chatting happily whilst cycling, we also rode through the more colonial section and learned about Stamford Raffles, a British colonial official who established a free port in Singapore and turned what was a small Malay fishing village into a thriving, multicultural economic port. Whilst this was not without some classic problematic British colonialism, it essentially paved the way for what Singapore is today. There are multiple things and places named after him around Singapore, most notably the Raffles Hotel, which is the home of the Singapore Sling cocktail (more on this later!).

One of the most interesting things we learned was that a lot of Singapore is made up of “reclaimed land”, meaning sand (and lots of it!) is added to raise the existing land level above sea level, creating more usable space to build on. It was also fascinating learning about how housing works in Singapore, particularly how public housing and allocations are organised. We also passed a school that had a poster saying it uses “the rogue method” which, as a teacher, fascinated me. Definitely need to look into that!

Towards the end of the tour, we were suddenly hit with a torrential rainstorm and took refuge under a bridge for about 40 minutes to wait it out. Whilst slightly inconvenient, the rain was very impressive, and it was quite cool seeing the visibility go from poor to brilliant as the storm passed over us. We then cycled on the F1 track (or at least a very small section of it, as most was cordoned off for the marathon) before heading back to base. Because of the rain, it felt like we were cycling through rivers, with water coming up to our shins at certain points!

After bidding goodbye to Aaron, my new American friends and I headed off to find some food… and a Singapore Sling! I had been told by my Auntie Karen that I had to have one on her behalf, and I always like to follow through on a promise! The experience was also enhanced by the great views.

Once we were fully fed and hydrated, we headed down to Gardens by the Bay and explored both glass domes. It was wonderful. We saw beautiful flowers and plants, a magnificent waterfall, and they even had a Christmas train – well, several trains – and the whole setup was highly impressive, and even included miniature versions of the Supertrees!

I then stayed behind to watch the light show they do every night where the Supertrees are. As my new friends had gone the night before, they showed me where to stand so I could get a good view and not have to pay! Not only was it great to get a free viewing, but it also meant I was at eye level with the Supertrees and could stand on a wall to watch. This meant I didn’t have to worry about someone tall blocking my view, which tends to be a regular issue for me. The show itself was spectacular and the perfect way to spend my last night in Singapore!

I then went back to the hostel (via a lit up Marina Bay Sands Hotel!) and packed – excited to be flying to New Zealand the next day!

Much Love,
Sara  💛

*Part of the Malay Empire

Song of the day: This is Me, Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman). As we were leaving the bike tour, we passed a public performance stage and saw a group of kids from a local music school doing a sound check and they were singing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring song about being brave and accepting who you are, even when others don’t. But the moment felt more special as when my former head teacher at Swiss Cottage left the school, we made a music video for her to this song, signing the lyrics with the kids in makaton, and it was truly beautiful. So seeing the song being performed live was a very lovely and uplifting moment.