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13 Feb, 2008 - Finally after months of preparation and a loud (and I say loud!) YAAAM - SENG, our very first (and also Singapore's) historical pub walk, The Tipple Exchange™ was launched yesterday at the Asian Civilisations Museum by the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (phew, that was long) Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

 

And true to Journeys tradition, The Tipple Exchange™ was launched with none other than the grog ceremony! (Woohoo….) Representatives from our three partnering pubs – Mr Ross Glasscoe-Heaps from The Penny Black, Ms Elaine Teh from Archipelago Craft Beer Hub, and Mr Colin MacDonald from Molly Malone's Irish Pub, as well as Mr Bennett Neo from Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore), Mr Michael Koh of National Heritage Board, Minister Balakrishnan and not forgetting Jeya, he whom we call ‘Boss', combined their potions to concoct the cocktail most representative of Singapore and its history – the Singapore Sling.

 

After congratulatory toasts each ingredient was mixed in with our fingers crossed for the pub walk's roaring success (if anyone's interested to know, the Sling looked darker but tastes better than the original…), to the tune of the very Singaporean ‘YAM-SENG', which is Cantonese for “drink to (one's) success”. And with that the tour was officially on its way and everyone set off in their respective groups for the sample tour specially designed for the occasion. You might have noticed the Cavenagh Bridge trembling as we trooped across or seen us swaggering down Boat Quay scouting for the next drink. If we'd disturbed your quiet evening, we've two words for you, “YAM-SENG!”

 

Stories were shared, jokes bartered and laughter floated around the streets as we headed to first The Penny Black, Archipelago Craft Beer Hub and finally Molly Malone's. There we thumped our Guinnessesss through the finale for the evening as Gerry Cox, Molly's resident singer, brought us tune after joyous Irish tune. Word has it that even the Minister joined in with gusto and the lovely Mrs Balakrishnan was all smiles throughout the evening. Thank you, Minister and Mrs Balakrishnan, for enjoying the evening and making our day!

 

And to top it all off we were captured on Channel NewsAsia, the most watched news channel in the region! So we turned stars for a day as the camera rolled. Check out the following link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/328424/1/.html

 

As in all of our crazy outings, we took tons of pictures. Check them out below….

 

That's right! It's officially launched!

 

 

"Da Boss" Jeya giving his "words of wisdom"...

 

 

The Minister giving us moral support.

 

 

The fabulous turn-out. Thank you, folks!

 

 

Enraptured... What were they listening to?

 

The magic begins - Head Honcho pours in his quota.

 

 

The Minister gives his magic touch.

 

The Wise Men converse...

 

 

Sharing stories of past glories and exploits where it happened.

 

Into the back alley and beyond - we take a walk down Brokers' Alley.

 

The Minister trying out something distinctly local - pandan beer!

 

 

The bright lights of Boat Quay after dark. Whoever said Singapore had no nightlife?

 

 

'...so you see, that's how Molly came to save the day!' Mr Roland Nicolich (left), General Manager of Molly Malone's, giving Dr and Mrs Balakrishnan the juicy de-tales.

 

Good ales and good grub make for intelligent conversation and a great night out.

 

18 May, 2007 - Finally we got the Pub Walk off the ground to smashing start on Tuesday! And finally we got to see "Da Boss" Jeya in action! This definitely calls for a double celebration. As a result, I think we downed more beers than was usual (as you can judge by the photos we took below...)

And for our inaugural Pub Walk, we invited a few friends along to share our joy and pleasure, together with our Walkers.

 

Read what our very first Walker on the Pub Walk, Anne Alfredson, had to say about The Tipple Exchange™ (we should rightly give her a medal for braving it out with the boozers!)

 

 

Slightly thirsty already? Check out the tour schedule for more information and join us every Tuesday!

*PS: Please note that from 2008 this Walk now runs on Saturdays from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. See you there!

04 April, 2007 - An interesting episode happened on our regular Secrets of the Red Lantern™ Walk just last Friday. As part of the tour, we bring our Walkers to explore deep into the heart of the red light district of Chinatown. As Savita, our guide, was telling our Walkers to observe discreetly their surroundings, and warned that there might be strange, mysterious men trailing the group, hoping to lure the menfolk out of the group, one of our Walkers actually came up to Savita and very quietly whisper, "I think there is a big, tall man who has attached himself to our group, and is trailing us!" She looked visibly shaken and kept telling Savita not to look too openly. "What shall we do?" she pleaded. Savita looked towards the direction that the lady was referring to, and whispered, "Oh dear, what shall we do?" And lo and behold as the mysterious "tall, big man" stepped out of the shadows. "And what is Jeya, my boss, doing trailing our group?!" exclaimed Savita. For he was none other than Jeya, our Director! This broke the earlier suspense and by then, everyone had got over their fears, and had become a bundle of laughter where they stood. To hear more of such happenings, join us on our Secrets of the Red Lantern™ Walk every Friday evening! And stay tuned to read more of such exciting stories here at Journeys!

31 March, 2007 - Many apologies for disappearing for so long! So many things have been happening with the start of the New Year (both calendar and Lunar!). First up, we had some changes in the office make-up. We bade farewell to our dear Assistant Manager, Business Development, Marianne late last year. Henceforth we'll need to develop our business ourselves... Wait, it is our business after all! We'll definitely miss her jokes and banter in the office. We were nominated in the Tourism Awards yet again! Thanks once again to everyone who so supported The Original Singapore Walks®! This time, Geraldine got her long-overdue nomination for the award of Best Tourism Host - Tour Guiding. Though eventually she didn't win, we were happy to be there at the Awards for as the saying goes, to be nominated is recognition in itself! And we would never miss an opportunity to party and fill our bellies with beer! Check us out in the photos below!

Anyway if you've seen Geraldine in action we're sure you'll agree with us that she's an absolute winner!

Year: 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003