I cap off my first full day in Singapore with a visit to the Raffles Hotel to visit the Long Bar… and try a Singapore Sling.

Because when in Rome Singapore, right?

A little backstory: the first time I ever heard of a Singapore Sling or Raffles was maybe two decades ago when my globe-trotting uncle brought back a t-shirt from this institution. The back of the shirt featured several graphics of a bartender making a Singapore Sling and I remember at a young age thinking it all looked so exotic. While planning my own trip to Singapore, I knew I had to stop by the Long Bar, if only to see in action what I’d first heard about so many years ago.

The Raffles Hotel is gorgeous and I’m sure I stick out like a sore thumb in my travel clothes and giant camera. But I do my best to keep a low profile as I duck around the hotel en route to the bar.

I finally find it… the Long Bar.

It’s less fancy that I expected inside because the place is full of tourists in all manners of dress.

A Singapore Sling at Raffles will set you back about $22 USD.

Yup. You read that right.

Rather than thinking about it as a total rip-off, I look at it as a photo opportunity…?

The drink itself is like any sugary, fruity cocktail I’ve ever had. It’s delicious but I wouldn’t call it special. The bartenders make these from a mix (which is sold in the gift shop) and bring them out about 30 seconds after you order them.

You, and everyone else, are in this bar for the same reason and management knows it!

While Raffles is a fancy establishment, the Long Bar is not — they serve peanuts and you throw the shells right on the floor.

Two final parting shots at dusk:

While you certainly don’t need a Singapore Sling experience to cap off your time in this country, I’m glad I partook if only to satisfy a curiosity I’ve had since my uncle gave me that shirt so many years ago.