Country Article / Postcards
The Original Singapore Sling
Date: 03/09/2005
Visitors to Singapore can get to know the city by strolling through the wet markets, spice shops, and garland stalls. If you like, you can even have your fortune told by parrot, or your hand hennaed with a scorpion before visiting a Hindu temple.
Dear International Living Reader,
A resident of Thailand, I always enjoy my visa runs to Singapore but I have never been happy with the hotels, most of which are either too cheap and nasty or too expensive and impersonal. But this time I tried The Perak Lodge, after walking past it on my last visit here, and finally got it right.
The Perak Lodge is in a beautifully renovated two-story conservation building on a quiet street in the part of town known as Little India, Singapore's most authentic historical area. The standard rooms are basic but clean, with air-conditioning and TV, and they're a bargain for Singapore at S$70/S$80 (US$43/US$49) for a single/double, including a continental breakfast. There's a large public seating area with free tea and coffee available all day, and it's popular with all types of budget travelers, from grannies breaking the journey between New Zealand and Europe to backpackers. Best though are the staff who have to be some of the friendliest and most helpful in the business. Rooms can be booked online at www.peraklodge.com. As a plus, guests can get half price drinks at the Prince of Wales Pub and Beer Garden (www.pow.com.sg) just around the corner, if you show your key card.
Wherever you stay, while you're in town don't forget to visit the recently renovated but exotic Raffles Hotel (www.raffleshotel.com), where you can still order a Singapore Sling at the famous Long Bar--the same place it was first made in 1915. This is the only place in Singapore where littering is encouraged; you are expected to throw your peanut shells onto the floor.
John Seely
For International Living
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