Raffles Hotel

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in background

 On Wednesday, a whole bunch of us were picked up from the hotel and driven to MOM (Ministry of Manpower) – the government office for work/resident permits.  We had our photos taken and our thumb prints scanned.  By Monday our cards will be ready and all the necessary paperwork/permit work will be completed.  What took Greece 2.5 months to accomplish was accomplished in 10 days here!  And though I am quite pleased by this efficiency and I wouldn’t want it like Greece again I  have learned …

Everyone went their separate ways, now in a new area to explore.  Jasmine (the new art teacher at my school), Dorthe (pronounced Dorothy) and her partner Bruce and I all ventured out together.  Now I do see a smile growing on some of your faces as you read this… I was in charge of following the map and getting us to our destination…. I told them my friends would laugh and I am somewhat map reading deficient.  But we did make it to our destination of the famous Raffles Hotel.

famous hotel doormen

What a huge obstacle it is getting from point A to point B. There are so many places where you can’t cross the street and you have to use an underpass.  Once in the underpass it’s like a maze.  You would think you would just walk to the opposite side to where you were but honestly it’s not that easy.  Or most of them time you are brought into a mall and there you are most definitely lost.  It is truly unbelievable about how many malls there are here which have at least 6 floors and it is so difficult of finding your way back out again. (More about the shopping in another blog entry).

a building in the back

When we did finally make it to the Raffles Hotel, again it took us awhile to figure out that we entered the back of the hotel not the front.  The Raffles hotel opened in 1887 by the Armenian Sarkies Brothers as a modest hostelry.  The hotel continued to expand until 1915 where all the historical buildings were in place. It was in 1899 that the Main Building opened which was the signal of Raffles transformation into a Grand Hotel.  In 1991 after 2.5 years of restoration the Raffles Hotel reopened as it was historically in 1915.

This is the place where the famous cocktail the Singapore Sling was created and it is what one should have while there.  We however decided not to have the drink.  I have also heard there is a great High-tea here, so this will be my new “Grande Bretagne” hotel for my annual birthday tea!  We were not allowed to go inside the main hotel lobby as it was for “residents” only.

Jill, Jasmine, Dorthe, Bruce