Whampoa - Makan Place

I used to know many friends from childhood who grew up from the same vicinity. They were living in Kim Keat, Jalan Bahagia, Jalan Tenteram and later Toa Payoh. Oh yes, we mustn't forget Whampoa.

Kim Keat

Kim Keat used to have a primary school and behind it a vocational institute, a precursor to our current ITE. Primary school students are not allowed to go to the vocational school but I broke the rule once when I heard they had a canteen (known previously as tuck shop) stall that served the best mee rebus. It was true! The old houses just outside the school are low lying types, unpretentious and promoted good neighbourliness due to the way it was built. There was a pushcart stall peddling coconut and pineapple drinks just outside the school's main gate, you know the kind of pineapple where they let you dip in dark soy sauce with red cut chili in them and was every one's favourite? 

Just next to the school was a government clinic which nobody liked as we went there for our vaccination. The strong smell of medication and stern-looking nurses made us nervous. In those days, they were called "pek soon choo" in hokkien probably because they have a white coat of paint (pek), "soon" as in check-up? and "choo" means house. 

Right across the street, you would find lines of small terrace houses which are actually HDB units and when you went further in, you are in Jalan Tenteram and next to it - Jalan Bahagia. You won't believe this - once when the circus came to town, it was housed just opposite the school because there was an open field. We would walk past the circus after school just too see the elephants and horses. Oh boy, they really are stinky! From Jln Tenteram, you cross the expressway (PIE, Jalan Toa Payoh) and you are in Kim Keat Avenue where I used to lived as a young boy.

I discovered I could walk from school along where the low lying houses were, cross a bridge and I could reach my maternal grandmother's house in Jalan Kemaman off Balestier Road. One day while crossing that bridge, I hung onto the top rung of the bridge's wooden rail, lost my balance and nearly fell into the canal. At the time, I didn't know how to swim and could have drowned since it was quiet in the afternoon with few people there. I got lucky or was it the hand of God?

There was a movie studio there and in it dangling from the ceiling hung a giant fish! Just further down the street from Kemaman was once where the popular Hoover Theatre stood. Hoover ran Shaw Brothers movies while further up and across Balestier road was the Ruby Cinema (directly opposite Whampoa) which  screened Golden Harvest movies and where Bruce Lee's "The Big Boss" was screened to record crowd. Before Ruby is Pegu Road where it was once a government dental clinic. The entire road has old shop houses that were either book-stores, small businesses or biscuit shops. Balestier boys would know that at an old coffee shop at Martaban Road there was this "char siew" stall that made the best ever char siew gravy where the char siew was good but the gravy is out of this world.

I knew Whampoa from young as my paternal grandmother would take me there to buy "kali png" (curry rice). It was my first time eating curry rice and I have never stop since. It was so fragrant and they would just put all the gravy of each dish onto the rice too. Grandma would also bring me along when she went to a dentist at Ruby by trishaw and that was where I discovered the dry laksa where the texture of the gravy is like your dry beef noodle. 

Hoover

Opposite the Hoover, was a small road that became a food street. I remember vividly there was a "cheng tng" stall that made good cheng tng and great chendol. Once in a while, dad may bring me along when watching a night movie and we would eat from one that sells a very delicious duck porridge. There was also this guy who sells rojak from his push cart and he puts the rojak into a leaf held together by a couple of toothpick-like sticks. Because it was near to granny's place I frequented Hoover more. On lazy Sunday afternoons when the adults were bantering and if I found it boring, I would sneak out for a stroll to browse through Bruce Lee magazines, watch a movie at the Hoover or eat at the food street. There was a time Hoover gave you two movies for the price of one. You watched one, came out for lunch break and went back for the second.

Ruby

Ruby used to house a few food stalls at the lower street level and one of them was probably Singapore's one and only "dry laksa" which till this day is still unforgettable for me. All these above, have been completely wiped out except in my memory. A few years back I found the dry laksa from Ruby at the market side, not sure if they are still there now but quite a few have since relocated to Whampoa Makan Place for a long time. So here I was for a nostalgic walk-a-tuck.

That Rojak man selling it from a push cart is now a very successful hawker. There are many rojak stalls in Singapore and I have tried most of them but still think Hoover Rojak is the best! It has the best mix of sweet and sour, slices of jelly fish and oh the ginger flower makes it such a powerful come on.

I heard on radio recently a woman who called up to say that the other one behind is even better - "Mun Theng Fang". So I tried it as it has a shorter queue.

The old couple's rojak is quite good but I do not rate it the same as Hoover's. However, I would love to try out not just rojak but the "tau pok" and "yew char kway" with cuttle fish. This is another great way to do "rojak".

As time has taken its toll, I believed some of the old stalls have given way to new ones. I saw someone enjoying satay bee hoon which looked good so I ordered one.

I was looking for the old man who sold satay. His satay was tender and juicy and was authentic where the peanut sauce comes with pineapple. I could not find it and wasn't sure so we did the next best thing - satay bee hoon.

There was a constant long queue for this Hokkien Mee but they had two men inside frying it while the woman took orders and serve you your orders while standing high on a specially built metal stand.

There was a sing proclaiming that they were the winner of a 2010 contest for the best Hokkien Mee in Singapore.

How did this fare? While Kim's Hokkien Mee has very strong lard flavour, I like the Toa Payoh's Come Daily. This one is good, it was a lighter version and wetter. The chili is also different.

There are so much more to introduce at Whampoa Makan Place like the steamboat stalls, etc. but this fish soup stall is very good.

They serve chunky slices of "Batang" fish cooked at the right temperature served in a delicious soup.

There just wasn't enough space to to eat more and exploring the place on different days of the week at different times would be very interesting indeed. There is also market side to explore. On the way back, I spotted that "Last of The Mohican" bread shop along a row of old shop houses. This is the only type of bread we grew up with and I believe the only one without any preservative as it can't be kept for a few days without getting moldy.

Like the Terminator, I will be back!