Raising a Glass of Singapore Sling to London Fashion Week

I am wearing a dress by Michael Kors, snake-skin handbag from Bali,

and shoes bought locally from Gripz

 

As a veteran of the London Fashion Week, in the past I even cut short my overseas trips, to be present in my beloved city and to witness the chosen shows. But this February, I am staying put in Singapore! I am, however, celebrating the LFW with a glass of – what else?!? - Singapore Sling, in the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel. Here, around  1913-1915, Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bartender (Hainan is a Chinese province) came up with a mixture of gin, cherry brandy (or Grenadine), orange, pineapple and lime juice, and the world fell in love with its smoothness, and a distinctive foamy top, accredited probably to Sarawak pineapples.

Some say that the current Raffles Hotel recipe is a modified version of the original, most likely changed in the 1970s by Ngiam Tong Boon's nephew.  Today, the bartenders don`t shake it in front of you any longer. Due to very heavy demand for the drinks at the Long Bar (on most days there are queues outside the door!) they serve pre-mixed drinks, which are blended (not shaken) to create a foamy top.

As you know I don`t queue as a principle - life is far too short to wait in a line! - and of course I didn`t break with this tradition while visiting the Long Bar. I simply figured out that around midday, less people would be thirsty, and walked in before the crowds started gathering on the terrace outside the door.