phronima

Unfortunately the Singapore Sling at the old Raffles is not as good (personally) as ones I’ve tasted else where in Singapore; I find the fruits a bit old and the drink quite watered down at Raffles, at least where I had it, in the courtyard. I had two more elsewhere and found them much more enjoyable and fresh

The original hot spring as been diverted to a covered bathhouse area where you have to pay on top of the entry fees. The only other hot spring outlet is an enclosed area where two pipes tapped into the spring and are set as a water feature of some sort. Again, you have to pay to try the spring water.

The spring water is non volcanic – so very little, if at all any sulfur,more of a carbonate thermal spring.

The original bath pools and structures remained and the history behind each of them is interesting. Due to the upcoming 2008 Olympics large renovation is underway. Curiously they didn’t fence of the construction area; tourists and workers share the same area, which I find a bit odd.

I hope the renovation does not further commercialise this historical site..

A tip I have for non Chinese speaking tourists – I find some of the guides are very poorly versed in Chinese history but they make up for it with wild story telling so make sure you know your history, unless you are happy to hear just stories they make up. And don’t worry, the average Chinese tourists get fooled by these type of guides too – the tourist guides are only there to make money, unfortunately, in any way they can