Eye on Travel

Radio Guest List—Raffles Hotel, Singapore—December 20, 2014

raffles 2What legendary hotel opened for the first time in 1887, in a bungalow-style building overlooking the beach and the South China Sea; was at the forefront of technology in 1899–the first building in Singapore to have electric lights and fans; has been immortalized by writers including Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway, and Alfred Hitchcock, and is the birthplace of the Singapore Sling? The Raffles Hotel in Singapore! This week, the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show comes to you from Raffles Hotel, which is celebrating 127 years of operation.

Nicole Lee, food and travel writer and web content editor at Weekender, stops by to talk about the hot spots in Singapore and tells us exactly what to order when we’re there. Benny Se Teo, CEO and founder of Eighteen Chefs, explains what he’s doing to disrupt gang culture in Singapore, and Hermann Freidanck explains what Singapore Airlines is doing to ensure that food tastes delicious at 37,000 feet.

Click here to listen to the show, streaming live from 10 am until 1 pm ET on Saturday, December 20, 2014.

Call in with your travel questions at 1-888-88-PETER (1- 888-887-3837) or email peter@petergreenberg.com. (Write “ASK PETER” in the subject line)

Peter French, President of Raffles Hotel Singapore, tells us about “the great and the good” who have stayed at Raffles, and how these people were intimately involved with the local community.

Leslie Danker, Resident Historian at Raffles Hotel, explains the purpose of a veranda, tells us a “tiger’s tale,” and describes what it is that makes Raffles so unique.

Hermann Freidanck, Food and Beverage Manager at Singapore Airlines, teaches us about the science and finesse of creating award-winning airline food (and wine lists), and why food is different in the air.

Paul Ng, Manager of In-Flight Entertainment for Singapore Airlines, gives us a glimpse into the future of entertainment in the air—hundreds of movies, 24-inch screens, concerts, and personal video game systems.

Benny Se Teo, CEO of Eighteen Chefs, explains the origin of the company name and tells us how many hundreds of thousands of combinations of cheese rice are available at the restaurant.

Marie Hernandez of SeriouslyTravel.com tells us what phrase you’ll never hear in Singapore and how Singapore is getting back to the way it used to be.

Donna Brunero, Professor of Singapore History at the National University of Singapore, gives us a history lesson and confesses the two things that she just can’t get away from.

Daniel Tham, Assistant Curator at the National Museum of Singapore, divulges the crop that helped build Singapore and talks about what the National Museum of Singapore is doing to make sure that the stories of Singapore aren’t lost.

Ian Yap, Assistant Director for Reading Initiatives for the National Library Board, introduces us to the National Library Board and tells us the very best thing to have for breakfast in Singapore.

Nicole Lee, Food and Travel Writer & Web Content Editor for Weekender, divulges Singapore’s secret food spots that are so hidden (and so hot) that you’ll read about them in guide books.

By Jessie Marek for PeterGreenberg.com