Singapore Recap – Jan/Feb 2024
It was -5F/-20C in Minnesota when my husband and I departed for the airport in January. Our first challenge of the upcoming trip was how to dress so as to not freeze on the way to the airport but not melt upon landing in Sydney some 21 hours later. It was, of course, peak Summer down under. The answer was layers, because the answer to weather related clothing questions is always to dress in layers.
(Photo: Flowers in the Flower Dome at Marina by the Bay. With home in the dead of winter, I gravitated towards as much color as I could find.)
Our final destination was Singapore. I’m not one for “signs from the universe” but it was clear, for a variety of reasons, that we needed to visit Singapore. In July of 2023, the Singapore Tourism Board sponsored a Singapore Residency at Tales of the Cocktail, which we were able to attend a couple of times during our week at Tales. The drinks we tried were unique, beautiful, and featured flavors that are unique to Southeast Asia. While Singapore was already on our radar – the Tourism Board should be pleased because the taste of Singapore cocktails left us wanting more.
“In 2023, TOTCF and STB highlighted the extensive drinks industry talent of Singapore with features on the TOTCF website and social media platforms; a variety of events celebrating the 2023 Spirited Awards Singaporean nominees; and a Singapore Residency at TOTC2023.” https://talesofthecocktail.org/get-involved/singapore-x-tales/
The next nudge towards a trip to Singapore came when I was continuing work on my spreadsheet of The World’s 50 Best Bars and ran some new statistics to see which cities were most represented. It turned out that (at the time) just eight cities represent over half the all time rankings on the list. (As of the October 2023 list, it’s now nine.) Of those eight, the most represented that we hadn’t visited yet was, you guessed it, Singapore.
And finally, the airfare gods shone upon us with a screaming hot Delta SkyMiles deal to Sydney (thanks Thrifty Traveler! (<–Referral link, but check them out either way.)) that was still quite reasonable if we adjusted it to fly into Sydney and out of Singapore. The only catch was “having” to go to Australia, again. It was a sacrifice we were willing to make, and extended our “layover” to include a few days in both Sydney and Melbourne, both cities we fell in love with on our trip in 2022. (And also both cities in the aforementioned top nine of 50 Best represented cities.)
Singapore won me over in ways I didn’t expect. Leading up to the trip, I had expectations of fairly formal service styles being the norm, probably because of the photos of stunning spots like Atlas and Manhattan. With many hotel bars on the list, a lot of the photos we saw were of bartenders in the classic coat and tie uniform behind the bar. While that style of service exists, the majority of spots we went to had a casual style of hospitality and genuine friendliness.
(Photo: The stunning and world famous Gin Tower at Atlas.)
As for the drinks, they lived up to the tastes we got at Tales. I had a cocktail that tasted like my favorite peanut dipping sauce for spring rolls – but somehow turned into a bright and balanced drink. We had drinks using fresh pandan, which is revelatory after only having dried. There was a highball with goat milk and custard cream, drinks made with the same Kaya jam we enjoyed for breakfast most mornings, and a Bamboo made with aged sake as well as brown rice sake. We had exotic de-constructed percolated cocktails and a familiar gin and tonic made with gin from Northern Minnesota.
Singapore blew us away with its food, drink, and friendliness. I never got used to the Singapore heat, but I fell in love with the warmth of the hospitality. The only problem is our growing list of places where we want to be regulars – science really needs to work on the ability to beam yourself anywhere in the world. Thankfully, several of the friends we made on the other side of the world will be at Tales of the Cocktail this summer and we look forward to seeing them again. (But maybe they can come to Minnesota in January some day? Just to even things out.)
(Photo: On the left, the aforementioned “peanut sauce” cocktail.)
Anyway, here’s the full rundown of bars from the whole trip.
- 14 days on the ground
- 2 nights, 11 different bars in Sydney
- 3 nights, 9 different bars in Melbourne
- 9 nights, 28 different bars in Singapore
January 22, 2024
- Hart’s Pub (pints and lunch while waiting for hotel room)
- Cantina OK! (Fruit)
- Bar Planet (Popcorn)
- The Caterpillar Club (Food)
- Lobo
January 23, 2024
- Re- (Lunch & Drinks)
- Shady Pines Saloon (Peanuts)
- El Primo Sanchez (Dinner)
- Maybe Sammy
- Double Deuce Lounge
- Cantina OK! (Fruit)
- Old Love’s
January 24, 2024
- Caretaker’s Cottage
- One or Two
- Above Board
January 25, 2024
- Byrdi
- Black Pearl
- Bar Bellamy (Dinner)
January 26, 2024
- Gimlet at Cavendish House (Lunch)
- Apollo Inn
- Heartbreaker
January 27, 2024
- Travel Day
January 28, 2024
- Cat Bite Club
- Sago House
- Gibson
January 29, 2024
- The Long Bar (Peanuts)
- Jigger & Pony
- Republic Bar
- Nutmeg & Clove
January 30, 2024
- Draftland
- Last Word
January 31, 2024
- Atlas
- Manhattan
- Origin Grill & Bar
- The Backdrop
- Analogue Initiative
February 1, 2024
- Fura
- Stay Gold Flamingo
- Native
- Puffy Bois
February 2, 2024
- No Sleep Club
- The Elephant Room
- Tippling Club
- Night Hawk
- Sago House
- Cat Bite Club
- Oriental Elixir
February 3, 2024
- 28 HongKong St
- Sugarhall
- Barbary Coast
- Raffles Writers Bar
February 4, 2024
- Compendium Spirits
- Cat Bite Club