When you go to Singapore, they say that you have to go to the famous Raffles hotel and have a Singapore Sling--where it originated. It's outrageously expensive, but I guess they can charge $22 for a drink if they know every Singapore tourist is going to stop for it!

The one thing I didn't expect was the crunch, crunch under my feet as we got to our table. You see, there is a box of peanuts on every table, and as you eat through them, you simply drop the shells on the ground. The ambience makes you feel like you've stepped back in time, to days of sea farers on their way to Shanghai. It's dimly lit, so as you sit back and take it all in, you almost fall into a dreamlike trance until....

Whack! Our waitress, a pushy Chinese broad named Davina, brings the drink menu and loudly & insistently tries to push the Belvedere vodka specials. Since the Singapore Sling is what we want, we ask for that, but every time we pause, she pushes the Belvedere again. (Also since the SS has so many ingredients, we figure we will split some of them so we don't get too wasted.) I order water, which is met with an incredulous look, Stacy decides to split one of the Belvedere specials ($23) with her mom Sumie.

When the drinks arrive, there are two martinis. Stacy tries to insist that she only ordered one martini, but this communication is not received, somehow. In the end, I just take the martini, but am muttering about Davina's pushiness. Remembering I have a blog, I try to take a photo of Davina, but she insists she's camera shy. Then she gets wise to me and says, "I'm sorry, did I offend you?" For the third time, I point to the martini and say, "We didn't order this!" 

So she says, "Just drink this for now;  next time you come back you try something else."

I deadpanned, as only one pushy Chinese broad can do to another, "But we're not coming back."

She came back with little Raffles matches as souvenirs and some recipes.  Later, she came back and brought two Singapore Slings to us and comped them, with her apologies. I'm not sure if my friends were mortified at the Battle of the Chinese Broads, but I was a little embarrassed to have to do that in front of people. If it were just family, no problem--that's a typical day at a Chinese restaurant for us!

Well, it's still a "must do" when in Singapore.