Memory Lane

Singapore is developing so fast that one by one my childhood memories and places are being wiped out. Old memories are good and future ones may not be so we had better treasure it. The names of the roads and places are still there but everything or most have been transformed. 

I decided I wanted a bit of nostalgia so I came to Balestier/Kim Keat and Whampoa. Balestier is the main road and Kim Keat and Whampoa are parallel to each other. You get further down and you will reach Jalan Bahagia and Jalan Tenteram and across the highway of PIE Jalan Toa Payoh on the opposite side was where my paternal grandparents lived. My now defunct Kim Keat Primary School at Kim Keat Road was within walking distance to all neighbour children from all the above named places. My maternal grandparents lived in Jalan Kemaman (along Balestier Road) and this is where I grew up during the formative years. 

My first stop took me the Whampoa as I was thinking through my stomach as it was lunch time. Even as a youth and a young adult I have frequented Whampoa for the food. It is an unpretentious place for heart-landers. There are enough food stalls to pander to your mood of the day from either the main food centre side or the market food centre. From the main food centre you get the famous rojak or a good duck rice/porridge, fish soup and many others.

This time I was checking out the market side. The longest queue for food was at this "Lor Mee" stall. Tried it before, quite good but I have no time to queue. There are actually a couple of popular "steamboat" which are pretty good and I have patronised since young. Last time I was there, we had the pomfret steamboat. Pomfret actually has cholesterol so do not over indulge. 

Funny thing is a friend said he wanted to eat "Angel Fish" when he meant "Pomfret". It must have been a direct translation from his Teochew dialect to English that got corrupted along the way. You see those angel fish you rear in fish tanks are also called "cheo he" similar to pomfret. That is why we have Singlish which I am proud of. It is the ultimate amalgamation of our unique culture. I do not speak with an Australian, European or American accent but when I am not speaking good and proper English to other natives, I could easily slip into powerful Singlish effortlessly and then back again. 

We wanted something light so we tried this mee siam. It is a stall operated by an old Chinese couple.

The taste of this mee siam reminded me of the Indian mee siam which once operated at Taman Serasi near the Botanic Gardens. It has a light touch.

When we talk about Curry Rice it is usually about the Hainanese curry rice at Bukit Merah, Havelock Road, Telok Blangah, Tiong Bahru, Kitchener Road or Maxwell. 

I think I have make a good discovery of curry rice at Whampoa. Fresh ingredients, well cooked and it tasted so savoury. The curry has got oomph! 

The cabbage is soft, the braised pork is well marinated, sambal prawns has punch and just look at the curry. This plate is the only place in Singapore that should be flooded or what we call ponding. I have not even tried the pork chop and a return trip is definitely on the cards.

The main hawker centre is just adjacent.

All these good food on the market side is at Block 91.

I find that I had to do this walk about and the best thing that has been invented since slice bread or rather before bread was first sliced was the bread itself. Welcome to Sing Hon Loong Bakery. 

These are the best and most original bread that you could find and there are not many of these bread bakery around. I hope that they will be here with us forever. 

Forget about those rectangular and square bread in plastic bags with a "Best By..." date. Real bread cannot last long and can only get mouldy. In the old days, bread sellers would put a squarish and vertical box to store their bread and place on the back of his bicycle. There used to be a sweet tasting yellowish bread where they would slice open and spread a thick layer of "Planta" magarine.  

This shop has been around for ages and even before bread could talk. At the time, bread could only mumble. 

Actually Bread could sing when I see them. "Used to be my life was just emotions passing by". Let David Gates serenade you: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq3biClGRNk

After the row of shop houses from the bread shop, I found a row of houses that looked newer at the top and front but behind they were decrepit. 

Turning towards the main road at Balestier, you will find many new and modern buildings with old Singapore as a backdrop. The bus stop is really just a bus stop, I mean where buses will stop. That's all. They do not even have space for seats. No change when I was taking buses to and fro as a child. Ah...I am reminiscing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQWlL-jj5Q (Little River Band).

This is where the "Ruby Cinema" used to be  - opposite of Whampoa. This was where I caught the first Bruce Lee movie - The Big Boss. They would screen Golden Harvest movies here and all the giant movie posters that hung high up in front of the cinemas were all hand drawn. 

We made a stop at Lam Yeo Coffee. One of the old coffee powder supplier established in 1959. Lam Yeo means Nan Yang. 

It is a powerful testimony that we can be untainted by fashion, fancy, modernity or untouched and unaffected by time. The floor is as old as it is originally. All the cabinets are restored giving a very nice touch of nostalgia. 

Whenever I am here, I am sure to get some coffee powder. The owner was busy here preparing my order for a mixture of darker and stronger coffee beans more of our local palate with the lighter and more aromatic blend. Arabica, Robusta, whatever lah.

However, the latest gourmet upmarket coffee can be found here. Do not be fooled by the shop's appearance. Never judge a book by its cover. Coffee from Panama, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Brazil, Jamaica, Blue Mountain and Kopi Luwak (from the belly of Civet Cats who only eats the best beans). It is only $60 per 100g that is why I seldom indulge but it is really good - the aroma and taste. 

Better to rear your own civet cat. In Thailand, I heard they are giving coffee to elephants to eat and shit out and then process and sell the coffee. Tempering with nature perhaps but imagine the output! Plus you may be getting hyperactive elephants. 

Walking down the stretch is to me Memory Lane. I remember the time I knew what happiness was. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXGz5qVkMoA (Elaine Page)

I remember the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeiFF0gvqcc (MJ)

This was once where the "Hoover Theatre" once stood and a little later we have the "President Theatre" beside it. Hoover once screened mostly movies from Shaw Brothers. Before movie screening was halted, they were even offering re-runs of two movies for the price of one. You watch a movie, break for lunch then go back in. Shiok! Lunch break would be that street oppsite the cinema. That was where most of the original hawkers at Whampoa came from. That was why the famous rojak is called Hoover rojak.

This is where grandma's house once stood. There were two units out of four or five houses then. Today is it a apartment building with some six floors. Lots of people gave up, sold their land or got acquired in the old days or else we have many developers.

The old provision shops has been long gone replaced by a coffee shop. I was reminiscing. Memories of old keep flooding back. When adult banter on Sundays at grandma's place became dry, I would roam the streets. Fortunately, those days, there were not or have few paedophiles, or I would have handed them over to the police.

I  would visit a few book stores browsing books and magazines and when I find good ones about Bruce Lee, I would buy them. The Balestier market was very interesting for me then. There was a carrot cake stall where the man frying it has knuckles that are seasoned and black. I am talking about his knuckles not the carrot cake. I suspected that he was always punching a sandbag inspired by Bruce Lee. It cannot be that he was hurt by the carrot cake. But this market today is not "happening" as a food centre and now closed for renovation. Opposite this market was a shop house that sold what to me was great Cantonese wanton noodle. 

I find myself at Chan Huat. The best place for lightings. I always get my lights here. You light up my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNpGP8NwRy4 (Westlife)

Chan Huat probably has the most shops in Balestier.

So once again I got Chan Huat to light up my life. I found this plant which I love very much and wanted to grow one myself because I saw money $$$ growing on it. I told LK and James about it. 

I have done my tour of duty and now on the way back. Pegu Road was once famous for something we were all afraid of. Dentists. It was dental care for the public. 

The distinctive architecture has intricate designs and in detail too.

I have always found these houses lots of fun. Spiral staircases and all. You can really escape from fire but not just from fire.

When I got home it was tea time. I have to have that first bite.

Maybe I should start a business and this would be my logo. A bread with kaya and butter spread with a chunk at the corner bitten off. It could be the next big thing.