After nearly a month in the snow the heat and humidity of Singapore was quite a shock! And, unlike most of the places we have been there isn't a great deal of free wi-fi. Still we had a vague idea of where we wanted to go from previous trips and had noted what buses we needed.
Lunch at the Tekka Centre was follwed by a bus ride to Dempsey Hill and a distillery tour and gin tasting at Tanglin Gin. We've done many a gin tasting over the years but can honestly say this was the most educational one yet.
We were greated by some friendly locals with welcome drinks of "moonshine" mixed with ginger syrup and soda water. Refreshing and tasty. We then joined our guide - an Aussie bloke from the Northern Beaches - who shared his knowledge and enthusiam as he showed us the distillery, explained how their modern still worked (quite different to the traditional ones but also more space efficient which is important in somewhere short on space), demonstrated the botanicals with sniff tests and a chat about what matched with with, and then guided us through a tasting. It was interesting to learn that spirit tasting should be done with no air in the mouth as this avoids that raw alcohol flavour and allows you to identify the different elements of each different sample.
We were fascinated to learn that Tanglin is the ONLY gin made in Singapore - that essential ingredient of the Singapore Sling. They do a modern and less sweet version of the cocktail, the Tanglin sling with Passionfruit instead of pineapple, as well as their own gin, triple orange liquer and bitters - I will have to return and give it whirl!
Our next stop, almost next door was (surprise!) a brewery! The Red Dot brewhouse was in a beautiful location and had elegant decor. A tasting flight was in order before the bus ride back to Geylang and dinner. Before Matt could look at every restaurant in a four block radius I made an executive decision that we were having things on sticks - Chuan - a northern Chinese style of skewers spiced with cumin, chilli flakes, a pinch of salt n pepper ans seasoned with sesame oil.
Geylang was originally one of Singapore's oldest Malay districts and our first stop on our second day was a visit to the Geylang Serai, wetmarket, spices, food court, and upstairs, cheap clothes and rugs. We then continued on to the Malay Heritage Centre in Kampong Glam (once a sultan's palace, Istana Kampong Gelam), which unfortunately was closed for renovations. Passing the mosque we stopped for coffee at a fancy coffee shop as the faithful were being called for prayers.
A wander through the fascinating Haji Lane provided ample window shopping opportunites, and for Matt, the most expensive craft beer of the trip (maybe this lesson is never buy fancy beer in a Muslim suburb?)
Heading out of town we proceeded to Newton Food Centre (as featured in Crazy Rich Asians) so I could try a Chicken Rice recommended by last night's bar staff.
We continued back to Little India for a walk around the streets and explored several of the shops.
Before we knew it, it was after 7pm so back we went Geylang where we queued for a table at the immensly popular Big Moustache restaurant for more Chuan. Staff were really helpful as we negotiated their booking system (only in Chinese) and menu (ditto but with pictures). Food was tasty, we may have overordered just a bit, but we actually prefered last night's restaurant.
Our last night in Singapore but we can't party hard to wind up our holiday as a seriously early start is planned for tomorrow with our taxi booked for 4:30am.
