Everything happens for a
reason.
This trip was totally unplanned.
I was engaged in a big and life-changing project so going abroad to compete for
The Big Match was not the first thing on my mind.
However, something inside me insisted that I not miss this challenge.
I only booked my flight a few
days before that week. I even had to rebook a flight so I won’t miss the
briefing. I did not have second thoughts. I may have been both excited and
distracted, but I really wanted to do this.
So I did. (YOLO, and all that.)
PREPS
I prepared my recipes for both
guest shifts and the competition. For the Barstylez competition the format was
to make 2 different cocktails in 7 minutes. First is using 3 sponsor
brands with Bols Genever as base and the second one was to create your own.
Hands down to Shahmil Lin: the
judges for the competition were all legends in flair and mixology so I was
definitely in for a treat.
As for the guest shift I was
supposed to prepare three drinks using William Grants and Sons products like
Sailor Jerry, Monkey Shoulder and Hendricks. I decided to have the same recipe
in all three bars because I wanted to showcase local ingredients (kamias,
macopa and cacao nibs).
I also had to make some very
last-minute arrangements regarding where to stay while in Singapore. Big
shoutout to my cousin-in-law for letting me crash his place for this journey.
MAY 5
2:30 AM – Left my house in
Marikina. My flight was 5:10 AM. NOT A GOOD IDEA. The Grab Car I booked went
straight to the gas station to put some air for the car tires.
3:15 AM – Arrived at Terminal 3.
The queue was so long. I forgot to check in online. My heart was beating fast.
I didn’t want to miss my flight. The ushers made it a bit worse since they had
me switching from one line to another.
4:09 AM – Immigration. My luggage
was over by 5 kilos but thankfully I was able to pack my excess luggage into my
handcarry.
4:35 AM – Gate 102. I had barely
10 minutes til boarding time. Nevertheless I heaved a sigh of relief.
4:43 AM – Boarding time. I was
seated in the plane by 5:01 AM.
5:22 AM – Lift off!
I arrived at Terminal 4 of the
Changi Airport. Man, was it great! Big, clean and efficient. From there I rode
a bus going to the MRT. Unfortunately, as I carried my big luggage on my way to
the MRT, to my surprise, one of the wheels fell off! What a bummer! I had to
ask Shahmil Lin where to buy a new luggage. He told me about this place called
Mustafa (which I liked to call Mufasa).
Thing is the MRT is quite tricky
for a first-timer. I had to ask people twice since I got off the wrong station
twice. I was supposed to be headed to Botanical Gardens. As I arrived in
Botanical Gardens I decided to take a Grab from there to Mustafa since my
cousin (whose place I would be staying in) was not responding yet. I got off to
look for Mustafa, headed to the second floor where the bag section was and
bought a luggage that was almost similar to what I had but different in color
(goodbye, purple luggage, you have served me well). I was kinda bummed because
I haven’t even warmed up yet and I spent part of my budget right away.
My next mission was to buy sambal
at a nearby supermarket that looked like it had EVERYTHING from perfume to ice
cream to spices. But I had to ask five people from the supermarket where to
find sambal. For some reason they were a bit clueless. But I wasn’t about to
give up so I checked each aisle until finally I found it!
So now my question is, What’s
next? My cousin hasn’t replied yet so I decided to go to Hardrock Cascaden
since Shahmil was there already. (Also, I was already hungry and I wanted to
eat.)
I had a nice chat with Shahmil
and Pombar from Thailand. Pombar is also a flair competition organizer and
legendary flairbartender. I helped in preparing some of the stuff since it was
still early.
After an hour or so people
started coming in. New faces and familiar faces. The briefing started and
everything was clear. Finally my cousin replied and he fetched me. I was
staying at the Bukit Timah area which was around 15-20 minutes from Hardrock
which wasn’t bad at all.
So as you can tell, the first
night was all about preparation.
MAY 6
Second day was competition day!
I must admit I wasn’t super
prepared since I really had a lot of things on my plate. Nevertheless that
wasn’t an excuse.
I was contestant number 7.
Before my turn I struggled to
complete my stuff, especially the ice. For some reason, I thought there would
be a bigger cube. (Lesson learned, have one on standby.)
In my bar I had Steve from Employees Only
and Boo from Tess
Bar and Din Hassan. It was pretty intense but of course I was pretty
much used to holding a conversation with my guests. The thing was I was too
eager to tell them about what inspired me to make my drinks the way they were
that I had a tough time wrapping up. In fact, I went overtime for about 2
minutes which of course flustered me by then so I knew it would take a miracle
for me to land in the top 6.
In general, though, all of us did
well. I learned a lot just by looking at their presentation and final drinks on
display. And so the top 6 were announced and everyone was relieved. Since there
was no more pressure on my part now it was time to drink a few glasses with
some of my friends.
Incidentally it was also the week
of the much talked-about Singapore Cocktail Festival. Unfortunately, by 10
PM I was already in bed since it was a very tiring day.
MAY 7
Next day I decided to take a dip
in the pool. I needed the exercise as well as a little bit of cardio which felt
good.
May 7 was the finals for the
Cocktail Competition and the qualifying and finals for the flair round. It was
great to see old friends in the flair world and some who I finally saw in
person.
It was pretty intense as each
contestant had sick moves and I would always wait for the comments of Jeremie
Tan and his infamous line, “One man, two hands, four bottles…”
It was also a tight competition
for the Mixology part. A big congratulations to the winners!
!!!DOUBLE-CHECK
LIST!!!
- Mike Cheong Jit Hao, Singapore – Drinks Bar
- Linda Costa Rica, Singapore – Catchfly
- Amelia, Indonesia – Ismaya Group
- Toru Ariyoshi, Japan – Bee’s Knees
- Issyam As’ari, Singapore – Oxwell and Co
- Darren Lim, Singapore – Mythx and Myths Bar
For the flair competition, big
thumbs up to Luca Valentin and the other winners. I didn’t take videos of the
contestants since I was in the moment which was a better feeling than capturing
it.
So after the competition we all
decided to go to Skinny’s where we had the NightCap which was also a term for
industry night. We played pool and went to this other bar upstairs where some
of the guys chilled and played darts. I believe I got home by 4 or 5 AM. What a
night it was.
MAY 8
After breakfast I decided to go
to one of the masterclasses about the sustainable bartender sponsored by Monkey
shoulder and organized by Proof and Co which started 1 PM. It was a good and
insightful session.
After that I headed on to my
first guest shift to do my prep which was at Fat Prince
at Peck Seah. Thomas Sobota was there to help me out in my set up. Of course my kababayan Shallum
Recto was also working there so that made it quite fun as well.
For this first shift I was
introduced to using the sous vide since I haven’t bought my toy yet. I
am a follower of Dave Arnold so I was used to using my cream whipper for
infusions. But let me tell you that sous vide is pretty neat but time is
your main concern although I will definitely try and get a sous vide
machine for myself this year.
Their ice program was pretty on
point to think that it is generally a Turkish/ Mediterranean-inspired theme restaurant.
Their tea selection as well as jars were pretty dope to pair with their ibriks.
For this shift I was happy to attend to new guests and was happy to see old
friends.
Off the top of my head, I
remember Jeremy, Andrew, Kino Soh, Sam Kuan, Charlie, Tako Chang, Steve and
Symphony, Jeremy and Linda.
The nightcap for this evening was
at Smoke and Mirrors which was actually located in a pretty cool place. We were
on top of an art gallery! How neat was that? That night if I remember correctly
was gin-and-tonic night. I had the chance to meet madam Chacha again of Rabbit
Hole in Thailand. It was a great night as well meeting all these people from
the bartending and beverage industry.
MAY 9
For this day I started a bit late
since I wouldn’t start til 8 but since I had a feel of how my shift would go
from last night, I would say it was steady.
Radici Restaurant was located at Tanjung Pagar
and managed by Siva and headbartender Ruben. The only challenge with my recipe
was the infusion but all was taken cared of.
My guest shift also happened to
be Trivia Night. The place was actually packed and people were having my drinks
in groups which was really making me hustle but I liked the feeling. I even
started the day with three ladies sitting in my bar who were all teachers from
different countries! How cool is that? Later, two love birds whom I had met
earlier in the week joined me.
I decided to call it early since
it was a busy night.
MAY 10
An early day for me since I did
sleep early he previous night. I prepared what I can of my stuff so in case I
stayed late I can pack right away. By 5 PM, I went to The Wall,
left my stuff and had very late lunch first in the nearby foodhall.
At The Wall, it was actually a
light shift since I think everybody was spread out since there were also a lot
of guest shifts going on. But I did manage to make my drinks which were:
Airport, Pinoy in Singapura and Marinero.
I finished about 10-ish I think.
I decided to go home first and start packing. Took a shower and brought my
cousin to hang out for one last time.
Our first stop was Employees Only
where I met Captain Michael Callahan finally as well as Benedict Poh. This
joint was packed and rocking. After that we went to Shangrila Origin bar where
I met Adonis aka Tanggero. We had a very relaxing stop. After that we went to The Other Room
where I finally met Bob Louison of Pussyfoot
Saloon who is such a
gentleman. We then we went to get a nightcap at Ipanema. It was definitely
rocking with industry people.
MAY 11
As predicted I wasn’t able to
sleep since right after the nightcap so I started packing my stuff and left the
house at 6 AM. I arrived at the airport early, had a quick breakfast and was
even able to take a nap. The flight was on time and by 3 PM I was back in good
old Manila.
MY TAKEAWAYS
Transportation in Singapore is
not cheap. The standard fare from my place to everywhere else is between
12-15 SGD one way so do the math.
Enjoy the good food. I
wasn’t that keen on food tripping but I did enjoy eating what I can especially
this lumpia roll worth 1.80 SGD.
Take your supplements. If
you will be going on a drinking adventure like me, better bring supplements
like Milk Thistle, Berocca, and Olive Leaf Extract. Better yet just drink
plenty of water and drink IN MODERATION.
Get your own SIM. It would
be better to buy a local SIM if you are going to stay for a week otherwise be
prepared for expensive roaming charges.
Drinks in Singapore are also
not cheap. This is where it really gets tough. A standard cocktail costs
between 12-22 SGD. The cocktails are indeed properly done and are tasty and
well-balanced.
Changi Airport is world-class.
I did arrive and flew thru Terminal 4 which was the newest airport. I would say
it is the cleanest and most efficient airport I’ve ever been in so far so
cheers to Singapore.
Learn from diverse
nationalities. This is actually one of the reasons I came here. I learned a
lot by talking with and observing all the bartenders I saw and hung out with.
Learning their techniques and insights was what I valued the most.
Singapore is big yet small.
Singapore is so small that you can reach a destination for a maximum of 20
minutes. But as small as it is, the 5 days I spent there was not enough to
explore all the bars. In fact I think I only visited 10 in a 5-day trip. I know
of some who really went to more bars. This only means I need to come back next
year. :)
I probably spent more than I
should, but it was all worth it. Total spending was around P25,000 plus
P18,000 for the fare plus my roaming charge which probably reached P7,000. At
first one would say that it’s expensive but with all the things I learned and
brought back home to share, it was well worth the trip. Plus the fact that I
saved on lodging made it extra sweet.
So again, thank you Singapore,
thank you to all those who made this trip memorable, to those who gave me a
guest shift and to Barstylez who organized a worthwhile competition. Sakalapingpong!
