Accidental Tourist of Singapore - 2015: Raffles Hotel Walk of Fame 29 Aug 2015

I had the rare privilege of taking a walk around Singapore's grand dame, The Raffles Hotel when they opened the hotel for a walk designed as part of its line-up of activities to celebrate the Singapore's Jubilee Year. My good fortune as I managed to secure a place on its last Walk of Fame scheduled on 29 Aug 2015.

Gazetted in 1987 as one of Singapore's national monuments, this grand lady of the far east was first made into a hotel on 1 Dec 1887 by the Sarkies brothers who were Armenian hoteliers. The Sarkies Brothers were successful hotel proprietors - they owned Strand Hotel (Yangon, Myanmar) and hotels in Penang, Malaysia including the Eastern and Oriental Hotel.

The tour started inside the hotel lobby, which dates back to 1899. We were given many glimpses into rare historical facts of the hotel as we walked through its ground such as:

• it being the first building in Singapore to have electric lights and fans.
• it was originally facing the sea which by the 1930s was facing reclaimed land.
• the name of the hotel was given during the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria of England - it coincided with the year the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles was unveiled at Padang in 1887.  
• it started as a 10 room bungalow before undergoing several renovations over the century into what we now see, a 3 storey main building.
• the main building was designed by famous architectural firm, Swan and Maclaren. This firm also designed other national monuments, such as the Victoria Memorial Hall and Goodwood Park Hotel.
• the main lobby was once its main dining hall, which converted to a dancing (and even skating) hall after dinner.
• the tiles that were previously in the main lobby are now displayed at the Tiffin Room and the Raffles Grill

  

• the now famous tag-line of 'Feed at Raffles' was originally coined by famous English writer, Rudyard Kipling who visited the hotel in its 1st year of operations. He actually said, 'Feed at Raffles and sleep at the Grand Hotel de l'Europe.' Grand Hotel de l'Europe was another grand hotel back in those days but in the passage of time, his quote was shortened to 'Feed at Raffles'.
• the famous Tiger incident in 1902: The real story is that the tiger escaped from a nearby performing circus and hid under an elevated restaurant with raised platforms called the Bar and Billiard Room although many would recall this story as one of the tiger hiding under one of the Billiard tables instead. Riding on such an amazing story, the hotel had, on the 99th anniversary, made a live tiger was part of the hotel's celebrations in 1986 to coincide with the lunar new year of the tiger.
• The story of how the silver beef wagon in Raffles Grill was buried by the staff of Raffles during the Second World War in order to preserve it from the enemies and we were allowed to admire its beautiful silver in pristine condition.
• I learned that the Raffles gift shop was once the Horse stables as the guide said that a skeleton of horse was found on the location during the hotel's restoration.
• The origins of the signature cocktail of Raffles Hotel (and a key drink for those visitors to Singapore), the Singapore Sling. It was concocted back in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bar captain for the ladies who were not allowed to drink alcohol in public. That gave a reason for why the drink is colored like fruit punch.
• Singapore's famous late Orang Utan, Ah Meng was chauffeured here to eat breakfast with the late Michael Jackson who visited Singapore in 1993.

My good fortune continued as I was allowed to go into Sarkies Suite, one of its 2 Presidential Suites where Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Jackson may have resided when they were in Singapore. I and the rest on the tour, wooed and wowed at all the beautiful furnishings (including the original carpet that lined the main dining (now lobby)) and ornate pieces of furniture and marveled at our good fortune to have visited this room which would have cost around S$1,300 to stay each night.

The tour ended at the Hotel's Hall of Fame, where the photographs of famous personalities like Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Somerset Maugham, Prince William and its original visionary owners, the Sarkies Brothers, hang proudly on the wall.  

You can :

• get more facts and figures about this grand dame at http://www.nhb.gov.sg/places/sites-and-monuments/national-monuments/raffles-hotel
• access a Youtube video on this tour here.

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!

Accidental Tourist @ Raffles Place, Singapore's Commercial Hub

Who would have thought that a walk around Raffles Place is actually a walk down Singapore’s history?

I got a local history lesson from the online research carried out on Raffles Place.Some trivia to wet your appetite: 

1. Raffles Place was formerly called Commercial Square and was designated for commercial activities by Sir Stamford Raffles himself back in 1822 as part of his Raffles Town Plan. The rectangular centre of Raffles Place was often referred to as Raffles Square. 
2. It was the first reclamation project in Singapore as it was swampy land next to the Singapore River. An old photograph of this place is available at http://pictures.nl.sg/ece740d4-2c9d-4e22-b90b-2526482e0b0c.aspx.
3. Part of the history of this place resulted in the naming of the streets such as Market Street and Chulia Street (know earlier as Kling Street) were named after Dr Jose D'Almeida, the surgeon, who had his dispensary and his business firm of Jose D'Ameida and Sons in Commercial Square.” 
4. Singapore’s very own (and oldest department store) John Little started their operations here in Commercial Square back in 1845. An old 1890s photograph of John Little in Raffles Square can be seen from http://pictures.nl.sg/8b573ddb-a7f7-43a8-8acf-24babe88ebd8.aspx 
5. In 1858, Commercial Square was renamed Raffles Place. The sea came right up to the buildings on the south side of the square then, many of which were godowns with jetties that allowed cargo to be loaded and unloaded directly from boats. From 1857 to 1865, the land by the south side was reclaimed for commercial use. This new land became Collyer Quay. 

During World War II, and on 8 December 1941, Japanese planes made Raffles Place one of their targets of destruction. 

On 12 December 1987, Raffles Place Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Station was opened with accesses from each end of Raffles Square. The station's entrance has detailing reminiscent of the John Little Building's facade dated 1911 which was fashioned in a Spanish style.

More trivia can be found at the following websites:

• ·        On the history of Raffles Place: http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_864_2004-12-30.html
• ·        on the WWII bombings: http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_7_2005-01-25.html& http://sgfilmhunter.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/location-scouting-in-british-newsreels-made-before-the-japanese-occupation-of-singapore-1938-42-part-4/

Trivia on the buildings that you will see once you step out of the Spanish style main entrances/ exit points that face Raffles Gardens aka Raffles Square aka Commercial Square:

• The 60-storey One Raffles Place (formerly known as Overseas Union Bank Centre and OUB Centre was officially declared open on 8 August 1988 (the auspicious triple 8 number thought to bring good luck in Chinese belief) by  Singapore's then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Ye.It was the world's tallest building then, outside of the USA. (more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OUB_Centre). 
• A few interesting facts about 67 floor skyscraper, UOB Plaza One is that it shares the same architect,KenzoTange Associates with its co-tallest building title holder, One Raffles Place (more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UOB_Plaza).It also houses Masjid Moulana Mohd Ali Mosque which is unique as first, it is located underground in basement one of the UOB Plaza – controversial as to some Muslims, this is not good as it is located “in the bowels” of the earth and second, it is the first mosque that was built to serve people who lived and worked around Raffles Place (more info http://web.archive.org/web/20070312202636/http://www.nhb.gov.sg/PE/FOF_2003/sites_moulana.html 
• Republic Plaza is the newest kid on the threesome block of tallest skyscrapers in Singapore, having only been built back in 1995. Located at the southern end of Raffles Place in the Downtown Core, the central business district of Singapore. At 280 metres (919 feet) tall, it incorporates earthquake proof features despite Singapore being relatively far from earthquake zones. More info at "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Plaza_(Singapore)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Plaza_(Singapore).

These and many more buildings surround the Raffles Garden – for the whole list, hop over to http://www.smrt.com.sg/Trains/NetworkMap/RafflesPlace.aspx.The place constantly rejuvenates itself as the new Ocean Towers is undergoing reconstruction as I pen down these thoughts and will only add on to the exciting new skyscrapers that I see springing up almost overnight at this location.

Till the next time, onto theworld and beyond!