A Little Link To Home

Recognise the gentleman in the picture? Yes, that’s Raffles – Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles – agent of the British East India Company, Lieutenant-Governor of Java, keen naturalist, and also the dude who founded modern Singapore in 1819.

This is definitely a frequently-reproduced image of Raffles that many of us in Lion City are familiar with, and it was entirely serendipitous that I came to learn of the original's display at London’s National Portrait Gallery. It was painted by George Francis Joseph in 1817, and shows a confident, self-assured man. His legacy was immense, although he led a rather tragic life, losing his first wife and three of his children, and then dying early.

The New York Times this past Sunday published a travel guide to select attractions in London, and one of the mentions was the Portraits Restaurant, sited at the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery, affording a very good view of the city. Some weeks earlier, someone from class had also cited Portraits as a cool place to check out, and it was rather charming to be there in person yesterday evening.

A cocktail later, we were off to Café Emm on Firth Street for dinner. This little area north of Leicester Square and south of the British Museum and Bloomsbury is home to many little eateries. And as I march forth on my year-long mission to eat my way through London, regardless of what stands in the way, it may well be a place I’d return to very soon.