Mobile Food Sellers of Yesteryear

[halsey02]

Same here, only started going to the BC when it was conveniently located at Cathay building.

I only remember going to Rubber House(Shell) once. Unfortunately its history now, a victim of progress. Its where Hitachi building is now standing.

I think the youth of today are just too busy to go to libraries like the USIS(US) or Brit Council unless they are looking for info on univeties. I do . Remember seeing the USIS at top floor of MPH at Stamford Rd.

Was the United States Information Service (USIS) at the top level of MPH Stmaford?. Do not recall seeing it there?. All I remember is going in at the entrance of the US Embassy, show them the USIS membership card....

I think Brit Council remained at Clifford Centre for a while before they moved off... that was some years back....

 

[Papsmearer]

Used to have them, including the Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Dumbo & one Mickey Mouse from Standard Chartered Bank HK..plus my first copper made safe from Chung Khiaw Bank ( Tiong Bahru Branch)...sigh! you remind me, lost in a box during house moving...

Chung Khiaw bank copper piggy bank. That brings back memories. Mine was a rhino.

 

[halsey02]

Chung Khiaw bank copper piggy bank. That brings back memories. Mine was a rhino.

Sure bring back memories, use the black coloured hairclips to fish money from the 'safe' ( Coin box), mum held the key...; when I overspend for the month...the Chung Khiaw Bank Savings Account became United Overseas Bank Account, still maintained till today...of course not piggy bank!

 

[elephanto]

Chung Khiaw bank copper piggy bank. That brings back memories. Mine was a rhino.

another tiong bahru alumni :p ?
I got Chartered bank Donald Duck as a boy, also got HSBC Bronze lion also...

 

[elephanto]

Coming back to Food ....

when Rasa Singapura was demolished, an effort was made to keep this signature collection of hawkers together. if i am not wrong, all en-bloc moved to Turf Club first, but poor business there, in the end, all went their seperate ways ....

Same as Esplanade Satay Club, some went Chomp Chomp, some went Old Airport Rd hawker centre.....

Same as Waterloo Sarabat Stalls - one went to Waterloo St Coffee Shop (still there), some went to hawker centre behind bus depot opposite World Trade Centre (now haborfront), some went to the Transit Food Centre opposite LauPasat next to Robina House (now the Transit Food Place also gone) .....

Rather than waste money on PR firms coming up with stupid 'YourSingapore' slogans, STB should revive the Rasa Singapura Concept - make it Rasa Singapura II, with wide-ranging best-in-their-class hawkers all housed in an iconic architectural building......

 

[halsey02]

another tiong bahru alumni :p ?
I got Chartered bank Donald Duck as a boy, also got HSBC Bronze lion also...

Yeah!..Tion Bahru ALumni!..anywhere I was there for two short, memorable years....

There was a Chinese High School on top of the hill opposite Chung Khiaw Bank, what was the name?, I never knew?

Then the old subordiante court, became a passport office once...and now some childcare centre..

Down the road...was the School clinics...where all the school boys/girls have to go for their check ups etc..

that's Tiong Bahru....

 

[halsey02]

Coming back to Food ....

Rather than waste money on PR firms coming up with stupid 'YourSingapore' slogans, STB should revive the Rasa Singapura Concept - make it Rasa Singapura II, with wide-ranging best-in-their-class hawkers all housed in an iconic architectural building......

They going to waste another 'peanut' to come up with another name, and invite 'members' to tender for the place at xxxxmillion dollars, the food prices will be something like $7 for a 'or luat' and tell you that the oysters is airflownfrom New Zealand, the eggs are top quality local eggs with Omega 3, the flour is top grade Prima Flour, premium cooking oil from NTUC housebrand, using the latest kitchen from Mier and piped Indonesian Natural Gas...and so forth...

The days we all know are all gone...killed by GREED!...:p

 

[elephanto]

The Char Kway Teow old man & his son, knows me by sight....I get mine ahead of yours...if you had already ordered

The Ngor Hiang old man makes his stuff by hand...and that's what makes it so special..

For Bro halsey02, some familiar faces from Armenian St Corner Coffee Shop.......

 

[elephanto]

Yeah!..Tion Bahru ALumni!..anywhere I was there for two short, memorable years....

There was a Chinese High School on top of the hill opposite Chung Khiaw Bank, what was the name?, I never knew? kong xiong primary school behind apollo hotel on the hill ....

Then the old subordiante court, became a passport office once...and now some childcare centre.. yes, issue passports to enter Malaysia only - blue color cover

Down the road...was the School clinics...where all the school boys/girls have to go for their check ups etc..got dental clinics some more ...

that's Tiong Bahru....

Fill in your blanks all at once ....:p

 

[kingrant]

It's the Gong Shang Primary School. I don't think it was a high school. It had some sort of a zoo in it - cges of snake, and other animals. I studied there for 1 year in Primary One then transferred to the English stream Tiong Bahru Pr School. I won prizes for being the top of the class in Gong Shang, but I was also caned there (for pissing into the grass) by a matronly lady with a big cane who was the disciplinary mistress. They were the happpiest school lives I have had because they were carefree and I excelled at both schools.

There was a Chinese High School on top of the hill opposite Chung Khiaw Bank, what was the name?, I never knew?

 

[kingrant]

Anybody got pictures of the old RI at Bras Basah Rd and the Stamford Canal? Lots of passers-by would stop and watch perhaps a rugby game in progress or a softball game.

Used to look out the windows of my class at the Nicoll Hwy to wait for the lights to change. Those days, the middle carriageway was controlled by traffic lights so as to open to allow 4 more lanes to carry vehicles going into the city during morning peak hrs amd then to switch directions after 12pm to let vehicles clear from the city faster. The lights were manually controlled and traffic policemen had to be at both ends of NH to open and close the booms. Not as high tech as now.

 

[elephanto]

It's the Gong Shang Primary School. I don't think it was a high school. It had some sort of a zoo in it - cges of snake, and other animals. I studied there for 1 year in Primary One then transferred to the English stream Tiong Bahru Pr School.

Wow ! Ah King studied at Tiong Bahru Primary Sch! I lived nearby & have a cousin studied there too... I went to Tiong Bahru Pri Sch for funfair, coming from Eng Hoon St, there used to be a path leading into a single storied modern 'kampong' where many peranakan families stayed adjacent to the Central Expressway leading to AYE ... into the Silat neighbourhood, then this was like 'See Kar Teng' gangsters' lair, better dun pray pray ....of course, the other side is the slope going up to Bo Bo Tan Mansion - one of the rare few high-rise private apartments in Tiong Bahru...

So Ah King after PSLE go from Tiong Bahru Pri to RI at Bras Basah ?

yes, I remember the 3 carriageway Nicholl Highway, the central one at either ends have long steel swing barriers with hinges that can be closed at alternate ends to switch the direction of traffic....

Nicholl highway was a long expressway then by the sea, full of stone benches at intervals .... at your classroom overlooking Nicholl Highway, you must also be able to see NAAFI (laetr SAF NCO Club) Clubhouse with its swimming pools....

 

[elephanto]

RI circa 1960, i think Peninsula Hotel is being built in the background ...

RI Science Block ... note the Hotel New HongKong in the background (later known variously as Hotel Taipan, Allson Hotel etc)

 

[kingrant]

Yup! Sums it up there. As for the NAAFI view, the pool view was blocked by the main block. Guess I missed all the bikinis then.

You remember also we had one huge stone lion at each end of the Kalllang Bridge, and later they dunno what to do with them and dumped them all over the shop. Much like the Raffles statue. Anybody knows where the lions are now?

Wow ! Ah King studied at Tiong Bahru Primary Sch! I lived nearby & have a cousin studied there too... I went to Tiong Bahru Pri Sch for funfair, coming from Eng Hoon St, there used to be a path leading into a single storied modern 'kampong' where many peranakan families stayed adjacent to the Central Expressway leading to AYE ... into the Silat neighbourhood, then this was like 'See Kar Teng' gangsters' lair, better dun pray pray ....of course, the other side is the slope going up to Bo Bo Tan Mansion - one of the rare few high-rise private apartments in Tiong Bahru...

So Ah King after PSLE go from Tiong Bahru Pri to RI at Bras Basah ?

yes, I remember the 3 carriageway Nicholl Highway, the central one at either ends have long steel swing barriers with hinges that can be closed at alternate ends to switch the direction of traffic....

Nicholl highway was a long expressway then by the sea, full of stone benches at intervals .... at your classroom overlooking Nicholl Highway, you must also be able to see NAAFI (laetr SAF NCO Club) Clubhouse with its swimming pools....

 

[kingrant]

Alright man tks! You also from RI?

RI circa 1960, i think Peninsula Hotel is being built in the background ...

RI Science Block ... note the Hotel New HongKong in the background (later known variously as Hotel Taipan, Allson Hotel etc)

 

[elephanto]

You remember also we had one huge stone lion at each end of the Kalllang Bridge, and later they dunno what to do with them and dumped them all over the shop. Much like the Raffles statue. Anybody knows where the lions are now?

Seems these lions are fondly remembered by so many. First queried by Bro Halsey02 on another nostalgia thread & lions' current whereabouts revealed by bro postnew .... see link : http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=54178

Me RI boy ..... close by but not .... as I have revealed in another thread, me spent 10 years in bras basah vicinity, studied in St Anthony's Boys' Sch & SJI ... watching the furniture shophouses & Empress MoonCake disappear along Victoria St, Red House gone replaced by Carlton Hotel.....

When RI moved to Grange Rd, the field was left empty for a long while before DBS Land came in to build the Westins & Raffles City... so we went to play football at the empty Raffles fields .... remember the fierce Ortega Cup football matches traditionally between RI & SJI ?

Those were the days ....

 

[kingrant]

Such a pity! History lost forever, consigned to some obscure park! Then we create artificial instant history..

Seems these lions are fondly remembered by so many. First queried by Bro Halsey02 on another nostalgia thread & lions' current whereabouts revealed by bro postnew .... see link : http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=54178

 

[elephanto]

<object height="265" width="320">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_QCBeZi0bRI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="265" width="320"></object>70s Kodak Commercial popularises this song ....

PAUL ANKA lyrics - Times Of Your Life
<script language="javascript" src="http://www.oldielyrics.com/song_in_top.js"></script> Good morning, yesterday
You wake up and time has slipped away
And suddenly it's hard to find
The memories you left behind
Remember, do you remember

The laughter and the tears
The shadows of misty yesteryears
The good times and the bad you've seen
And all the others in between
Remember, do you remember
The times of your life (do you remember)

Reach back for the joy and the sorrow
Put them away in your mind
The mem'ries are time that you borrow
To spend when you get to tomorrow

Here comes the saddest part (comes the saddest part)
The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life

Gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life
Of your life
Of your life

Do you remember, baby
Do you remember the times of your life
Do you remember, baby
Do you remember the times of your life

 

[halsey02]

Fill in your blanks all at once ....:p

Thanks never knew the name of the school, I forgot the passport office was for the blue passport for Malaysia only..damn bloody inconvenience....you have two passport for for International ome for Malaysia, and one travel International go airport with blue one...hmmm, wonder who bloody idead was that..

Forgot about the dental clinic...thanks...

 

[halsey02]

Wow ! Ah King studied at Tiong Bahru Primary Sch! I lived nearby & have a cousin studied there too... I went to Tiong Bahru Pri Sch for funfair, coming from Eng Hoon St, there used to be a path leading into a single storied modern 'kampong' where many peranakan families stayed adjacent to the Central Expressway leading to AYE ... into the Silat neighbourhood, then this was like 'See Kar Teng' gangsters' lair, better dun pray pray ....of course, the other side is the slope going up to Bo Bo Tan Mansion - one of the rare few high-rise private apartments in Tiong Bahru...

cool:

Darn it!... I didnt go Tiong Bahru Pr Schl, like I had said, I spent two glorious years there...I knew the caretaker of the school there, they welcome me & introduced me to the delights of Punjabi Food, Chepatis etc...

BOBO SAN...was chummy with the contractor that was building the place...there was no rigid building regulation then...I use to take rides in the trolleys that carry cement up & down the building..better than the roller coaster of today... ha ha ha...

There werr prostitutes along the street where I live...back then...what I know about women?....my time , there was a rich man who died and his funeral procession was one of a kind...till today I have never seen, with street walkers, fire eaters...bands..monks....wow!