Lunch at Rendezvous Hotel

My parents had their first date at Rendezvous Hotel in Singapore. This time we returned on father's day, well actually the day before.

Back then it was a three story hotel next to the Cathay on Bras Basah road where they watched a movie. When they were here we revisited the hotel and the restaurant that was still there. The food wasn't bad a little bit localised compared to the old days my Dad thought. I forgot to take a picture of the frontage which was preserved well. The interiors were similar as well, while originally the restaurant was on the ground floor in the wing of the hotel that now houses the coffee shop. It has since been moved upstairs but looked like it retained a lot of the 60s charm: tiled floors and walls, stone tables and old rickety wooden chairs. They of course had to have the requisite collection of old photos but I couldn't find an old picture of the hotel in any one of them.

We finished off the food, took pictures and headed to the museum for more nostalgia. One thing that impressed me about the museum is the care and attention they gave to the Malay movie business in the 50s and 60s which really took off from the Jalan Ampas studios in Singapore. The exhibit paid homage to the good ole days of Malay cinema including a multi part documentary featuring interviews with the producers and performers of that age. Highly recommended for anyone who's into old movies and films.

The history museum was comprehensive, but too long, I'd say if you actually could experience every single one of the exhibit it will take an entire day. It's a very photogenic building lots of things to snap at - but the presentation of the exhibit was the winner here. Every visitor is given an electronic device which functions as a tour guide and story teller for the exhibits. It was cool and easy to use, just way long winded and just too many things to listen to. So if you're on a schedule there's no need to listen to ALL the exhibits - I guess they do it this way so that they will get return visitors - it's impossible to pay attention to everything.