Read this blog: The one where we view a thousand different gins
Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st March 2025
The forecast for our time in Singapore was not good. We arrived in the dark in torrential rain and were told to expect several days of monsoon weather. Robert therefore researched places we might like to go which were undercover or inside.
The following morning after breakfast [see Dish of the day] we set off to see the exhibition The Art of Banksy:“Without Limits”.
This was a real treat. As you enter, a useful timeline of the artist’s work sets the scene before you walk through the exhibition [see also Video and Selfie of the day].
Certain images and motifs recur, including the Banksy rats which appeared, amongst other things, as little red carpet doorman at floor level. It has been said that Banksy uses the rats to represent anyone who feels rejected by society.
Banksy’s work often subverts more traditional forms of artistic expression, for example classical statues are reimagined as suicide bombers.
Bathroom is a working from home [WFH] project produced during the first lockdown. It was first revealed on Instagram and features a series of Banksy’s signature rats creating domestic havoc.
Appropriately, given the monsoon conditions outside, his rats are also depicted with umbrellas.
We chose not to carry umbrellas but it is a sign of how torrential the rain was that Matilda opted to wear both her emergency poncho and her waterproof: a fact which seemed to cause Robert some amusement. We both found that our waterproof coats were no longer keeping us completely dry.
On our last visit, Matilda had read about the Atlas Bar in the lobby of Parkview Square which despite its decorative bronze and lacquer Art Deco splendour was completed relatively recently in 2002.
With a gin tower including over 1,000 different varieties Matilda decided that she needed to visit the Atlas Bar. Matilda remembers her childhood when the only two brands of gin which were readily available were Beefeater and Gordon’s. Her mother subscribed to the marketing slogan “It’s got to be Gordon’s”.
It is not possible to book if you only want to sit at the bar for a drink so we were advised to go at midday when it was likely we would get a seat.
The sumptuous interior did not disappoint.
Robert regretted opting for beer as it both smelt and tasted of vinegar. We assumed that gin or cocktails are more commonly ordered here and there is not a very high demand for beer and so very little through-put. Matilda was happier with her Sipsmiths and Fever-Tree G&T.
We felt Anne Kemp, whose funeral we had attended remotely whilst in Jakarta and who loved a G&T, would have enjoyed a tipple here and we raised our glasses to her.
There were several mezzanine floors in the Atlas Bar and Matilda was able to go upstairs for an aerial view.
Robert pronounced the Long Bar at Raffles to be preferable purely on the basis of the quality of the beer so Matilda is hopeful she might have another Singapore Sling if we are passing through again.
The outside of the building is also impressive, even in the rain.
From here we went to Battlebox, but unfortunately we would have had to wait almost two hours for a free entry time. Matilda was interested in paying for the audio tour which would have meant that we could enter there and then but all the headsets were already in use and we had not brought our Apple AirPods with us. We decided that our best option would be to return for opening time the next day and bring our own audio equipment.
While we were in Fort Canning Matilda wanted to go and see the Raffles House as she had seen directions to it on the signposts. This turned out to be a modest bungalow built for Raffles during his third visit to Singapore where he lived with his family and his sister’s family between 1823 and 1824.
Raffles himself described it as ‘a very comfortable house’ with an ‘interesting and beautiful’ view although this must have changed considerably since then.
Fort Canning Park would be worth another visit in better weather as it occupies the land where Raffles established Singapore’s first botanical garden in 1822 and many of the specimens survive.
We walked down towards Clarke Quay.
Several streets here have been converted into pedestrian malls and the old warehouses have been painted bright colours.
The waterside is home to many bars and restaurants and an historic mansion has been converted into a music venue.
Having refreshed ourselves with a cold beer and watched the turtles in the water, we decided it was time to return to the area near our hotel and go in search of some food.
Video of the day:
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
Route Map:
