WALKING THOUGH SINGAPORE’S TOURISTS DESTINATIONS - Part 4 The Long Bar - Home of the Iconic SINGAPORE SLING

​The Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel Arcade is home of the iconic Singapore Sling. It is the concoction of a Hainanese bar tender, Ngaim Ton Boon. 

It all started as a gathering hole for the community; gentlemen hangout drinking gin and whiskey while they watched the ladies come into the hotel lobby. Oftentimes the ladies joined them at their tables, so the concept of the long bar came about. 

In the early 1900’s, ladies were not allowed to drink alcohol in public. In 1915, this bar tender concocted a drink out of pineapple juice; added cherry liqueur and grenadine to get the pink color. The colorless gin was added unnoticed and people accepted this drink with a the pinkish hue as a suitable beverage for the ladies. 

And the SINGAPORE SLING was borne! 

Waiting at the veranda of the Raffles Hotel Arcade, it didn’t take long before we were seated in spite of the long queue of tourists trying to get in. We had time to take photos. 

As we sat, we noticed the small jute sack of shelled peanuts already on our table free of charge. This is in keeping with tradition when there were an abundance of peanuts from nearby plantations and the peanuts were on the house. 

What’s interesting is the absence of a receptacle for the shells; as we looked around, peanut shells were all over the place; on the tables, on the floor and everywhere. A tradition as well. 

Part of the bar decor were native fans attached to the ceiling that turned to and fro like they are making air circulate; a feature from the early days. 

When we gave our orders,I asked the server: “can you go slow with alcohol on my drink, like maybe put just half of the gin?” 

I wasn’t sure if I could take in the gin; besides we still had that river cruise and dinner afterwards. 

“Of course ma’am,. I can make you the original, sans the alcohol”. She pleasantly replied. 

While having drinks, we saw that most of the guests just ordered one drink, grabbed a handful of peanuts and they were on their way 

Just like me and my sister the  guests just wanted  to visit the Long Bar and have a taste of the Singapore Sling. No wonder one can get a table quick in spite of the long queues; most of the guests did not linger. 

Before we left, I threaded carefully to the restroom lest I’ll step on a peanut shell and slip. 

I thank my daughter in law, Tanya for bringing us there. It was a novelty to see the Long Bar and taste the Singapore Sling. 

“Today, the Long Bar is where visitors continue to undergo one of the true rites of passage of world travel- savoring the original Singapore Sling right where it was created more than 100 years ago” 

- from the published history of the Long Bar-