Singapore Slings

So I had a quick weekend getaway in Singapore to visit an old and dear friend I hadn't seen in awhile. It really wasn't a shopping trip so you won't see haul posts here and even worse - I packed my camera but left the battery at home. *groans* So what was to be a lovely post on Haji St is now nonexistent. The pictures you see here were all taken by my friend's iPhone - bless him.

The highlight of this trip was a fun night out on the town - maybe a little too fun. There were some casualties and it all began at the Raffles hotel. I couldn't resist prancing around their chandeliered and white-staircase bedecked hall (above) in my new H&M dress. But what we were really there for were the Singapore Slings:

According to good 'ol Wiki, the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel before 1915. The original recipe, gleaned from the dubious memories of generations of bartenders used, Gin, Cheery Heering, Dom Benedictine, and fresh Pineapple juice.

Sadly, I believe the current version served at the Long Bar is heavily modified and even worse, made in an automatic dispenser. Ask for a cocktail and in a heartbeat you have a plastic glass with straw and cherry sweating on a coaster in front of you?

How does it taste? Vile. Like oversweetened cherry cough mixture. Getting the glass down was a chore and the lack of alcohol in it didn't help! I wish they'd at least stick to the fresh pineapple juice ANYTHING sour in it would have helped! Plus this evil concoction will set you back SGD$24.50.

I've had my compulsory cocktail at the Long Bar (which by the way is a strange mix of cheesy tourist luau and old grimy English colonial bar) and I'm never going back! Still it was one of those things that because of the company it becomes a shared joke, a 'survival' experience and hence a fun time.