in this urbanised place
sometimes you should try going to places which you used to go like five or six years ago. today is the first time in like five years i walked through the back alleys at my old house at tiong bahru. it kind of gives an entirely new meaning to 'walking down memory lane', because you don't just start remembering things in the past, but you can also regain some feelings that you've lost for so long.
first was the big carpark. my old house was an apartment in the old flats of tiong bahru. those four-storey ones. and my block 78 was a u-shaped block, like a horseshoe. so in the horsehoe is the carpark. i remember i used to do skipping there. and when there were cars coming in i had to stop and move aside first. sometimes i also skip-run around the carpark. then i also used to play badminton with my sister there. and the shuttlecock always dropped into the stinky drain. then every year during midautumn festival all the neighbours and the children will be down there and we would take our lanterns and walk around the carpark in the dark and out to the roads. i remember my colourful cellophane fish lantern and my sister's was a squirrel. and there was once when i saw this paper box in the carpark and inside were a few kittens. and once i brought a bowl of milk down for a stray cat.
in the middle of the bend in the horseshoe block was an opening for cars to enter and leave. i remember the coffeeshop that was situated just at the opening. and how i sometimes came down by myself to buy meepok bu4 yao4 la4. and there was once i almost ordered the horrible meesua. and then there was one other store that sold rice and dishes. and i remember once i had a nice chicken wing. and supposedly they sold the chicken wing only on certain days. so once in a while i would try to see if i could get it, but until today i never got to eat it again.
down the back alleys was first the tiong bahru community centre. i remembered the earthworms that crawled at the base of the walls. and my first day at kindergarten. kindergarten classes were held at the community centre. and on the first day, i remember i cried and cried when my mother had to leave me in the classroom with so many unfamiliar faces. maybe that was the very first time i had to not be able to see my mother completely. maybe that was why i cried. then there was madam sim, my kindergarten teacher. can't remember much about her now, but there was one spelling test- my very first one - that i did like so badly. i only got one out of three right. and i remember the cooking lesson and drawing lessons i had in the community centre.
further down the back alleys was the coffee auntie's house. i remember sometimes i would be with my mother and she would go to the coffee auntie's house to buy coffee powder. then further down is this house that had a 'beware of dog' sign outside. there used to be a very scary dog that barked so ferociously when i was walking back home after violin lesson. then there was also this restauratn called 'por kee'. sounded like the porky fromt he bookworm thing. this restaurant has very nice butter prawn and sweet-and-sour pork. further down were some workshops that worked on rubber stuff. and around this area there's always this oily smell. don't know whether it's from these workshops or from the bak kut teh store nearby.
out of the back alleys, across the road, was another block of flats. at the corner was the egg store. i remember my mother used to buy eggs from there. there was grade 'a' to grade 'c' eggs. and they were graded by size. and my mother used to buy the big ones like one crate for $4.50. they also sold quail eggs. the small and high-cholesterol ones. beside the egg store was the snack store. i remember every week after my violin lesson, on the way home, i would by the yan yan biscuit with chocolate dip thing. last time it was quite big, but now the box looks very small. maybe it's because i'm so much bigger now.
after the stores, was the pathway down to the bus stop. i used to walk there every morning to take bus 33 to fairfield methodist primary school. can still remember having to wait so very long for that one bus. the old bus stop was the lousy shelter thing like the old old ones. i remember the big red ants that climbed the poles of the bus stop. but now the bus stop is like the new ones, the red pillar ones. on the right of the bus stop was 'sin hoi sai eating house'. this restaurant used to be flooded with a lot of people every saturday and sunday evening. supposed to be very famous for the black pepper crab, but i never tried before. there was once early in the morning when i saw chen liping filming outside the restaurant. she was filming the 'my mother-in-law is a witch' tv serial. the one in which she was ba1 ba1 la1 the witch. didn't get her autograph.
so today i walked so far, and took a bus from the bus stop and went home. in this urbanised place, are we all losing our memories of the past too quickly? next time i'll go to other places to get back more memories and feelings. everything that i've lost but don't even know that i've lost.
first was the big carpark. my old house was an apartment in the old flats of tiong bahru. those four-storey ones. and my block 78 was a u-shaped block, like a horseshoe. so in the horsehoe is the carpark. i remember i used to do skipping there. and when there were cars coming in i had to stop and move aside first. sometimes i also skip-run around the carpark. then i also used to play badminton with my sister there. and the shuttlecock always dropped into the stinky drain. then every year during midautumn festival all the neighbours and the children will be down there and we would take our lanterns and walk around the carpark in the dark and out to the roads. i remember my colourful cellophane fish lantern and my sister's was a squirrel. and there was once when i saw this paper box in the carpark and inside were a few kittens. and once i brought a bowl of milk down for a stray cat.
in the middle of the bend in the horseshoe block was an opening for cars to enter and leave. i remember the coffeeshop that was situated just at the opening. and how i sometimes came down by myself to buy meepok bu4 yao4 la4. and there was once i almost ordered the horrible meesua. and then there was one other store that sold rice and dishes. and i remember once i had a nice chicken wing. and supposedly they sold the chicken wing only on certain days. so once in a while i would try to see if i could get it, but until today i never got to eat it again.
down the back alleys was first the tiong bahru community centre. i remembered the earthworms that crawled at the base of the walls. and my first day at kindergarten. kindergarten classes were held at the community centre. and on the first day, i remember i cried and cried when my mother had to leave me in the classroom with so many unfamiliar faces. maybe that was the very first time i had to not be able to see my mother completely. maybe that was why i cried. then there was madam sim, my kindergarten teacher. can't remember much about her now, but there was one spelling test- my very first one - that i did like so badly. i only got one out of three right. and i remember the cooking lesson and drawing lessons i had in the community centre.
further down the back alleys was the coffee auntie's house. i remember sometimes i would be with my mother and she would go to the coffee auntie's house to buy coffee powder. then further down is this house that had a 'beware of dog' sign outside. there used to be a very scary dog that barked so ferociously when i was walking back home after violin lesson. then there was also this restauratn called 'por kee'. sounded like the porky fromt he bookworm thing. this restaurant has very nice butter prawn and sweet-and-sour pork. further down were some workshops that worked on rubber stuff. and around this area there's always this oily smell. don't know whether it's from these workshops or from the bak kut teh store nearby.
out of the back alleys, across the road, was another block of flats. at the corner was the egg store. i remember my mother used to buy eggs from there. there was grade 'a' to grade 'c' eggs. and they were graded by size. and my mother used to buy the big ones like one crate for $4.50. they also sold quail eggs. the small and high-cholesterol ones. beside the egg store was the snack store. i remember every week after my violin lesson, on the way home, i would by the yan yan biscuit with chocolate dip thing. last time it was quite big, but now the box looks very small. maybe it's because i'm so much bigger now.
after the stores, was the pathway down to the bus stop. i used to walk there every morning to take bus 33 to fairfield methodist primary school. can still remember having to wait so very long for that one bus. the old bus stop was the lousy shelter thing like the old old ones. i remember the big red ants that climbed the poles of the bus stop. but now the bus stop is like the new ones, the red pillar ones. on the right of the bus stop was 'sin hoi sai eating house'. this restaurant used to be flooded with a lot of people every saturday and sunday evening. supposed to be very famous for the black pepper crab, but i never tried before. there was once early in the morning when i saw chen liping filming outside the restaurant. she was filming the 'my mother-in-law is a witch' tv serial. the one in which she was ba1 ba1 la1 the witch. didn't get her autograph.
so today i walked so far, and took a bus from the bus stop and went home. in this urbanised place, are we all losing our memories of the past too quickly? next time i'll go to other places to get back more memories and feelings. everything that i've lost but don't even know that i've lost.
posted by ivan at 1:24 PM
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