When you first find a secret spot it charms you…and even though it lies hidden from no one, just off the bustle of Orchard Road, Emerald Hill in Singapore feels like you’ve stepped through a door. Suddenly you’re away from the commercial hustle of the shopping malls and hawker center halls and on a quiet street one hundred years ago, searching for a tea merchant…or something stronger.
I was beyond tea time when I first walked up this hill, past shuttered doors and fanciful tiles. Guided in by swinging red lamps suspended from the ceiling I sat at a dark wooded bar in one of the townhouse lounges. I ordered an Earl Grey…Martini.
The fragrant bergamot evoked a calm, elegant frame, and the light citrus rose hips danced on my tongue. In silence I savoured the lavender sips and felt the ease of the afternoon sink over me…perhaps not as dramatic as the pull on an opium pipe but far less intoxicating…and far less forbidden.
Alone I finished my drink…and looked ahead into the future. Who knew I’d return five years later, with you?
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- Past tea time and onto Earl Grey…Martini
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- Red lanterns sway above a darkly wooded bar
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- Five years later, sharing another round, along with fish balls