In which area of Singapore did you spend your childhood?

[turboducky]

I grew up along 4B Bras Basah Rd till 9 (1977) & then moved down the road to 35, which is next to the old Cathay Photo Shop & Johnny Two-Thumb Tattoo parlour. Around 1992, I was forced out of that place cos you-know-who wanna 'redevelop' the area & of course, we didnt get paid with one of Mrs Goh's peanuts. Some of the neighbours decided to stay on after the deadline & somehow the place was strangely burnt down a few weeks later. I dont know who my MP was but my family was supporters of the Workers' Party at that time.

It was also the time when I was introduced to Longines & Alfa Romeo. My family has always been a fan of this brand & when I got my first pay cheque, I got myself a Raymond Weil, bought at Peace Centre, I think it was around S$220. My Dad drove a blue Datsun pickup & I always got to ride at the back, perhaps that's why I always prefer a soft top over a hard one. Seat belts were not needed cos there were so little accidents those days & some of my neighbours owned Alfa Romeos & there's where I got hooked to the marque.

Life was so much easier & my Aunt told me that if I worked hard enough when I grew up, I could buy my own Alfa Romeo too & perhaps a nice Longines to go with it too. I have many friends & all of us used to run around after school, to the National Library or the Aquarium at River Valley. We traded beer with Consulate among ourselves & sometimes, we would buy a pack of Sailors' Cut if we have some money. I really miss the days when there were no COE, GST, ERP & nobody will think that Orchard Road will be the shopping haven for tourists!!

[pegasi]

I grew up along 4B Bras Basah Rd till 9 (1977) & then moved down the road to 35, which is next to the old Cathay Photo Shop & Johnny Two-Thumb Tattoo parlour. Around 1992, I was forced out of that place cos you-know-who wanna 'redevelop' the area & of course, we didnt get paid with one of Mrs Goh's peanuts. Some of the neighbours decided to stay on after the deadline & somehow the place was strangely burnt down a few weeks later. I dont know who my MP was but my family was supporters of the Workers' Party at that time.

It was also the time when I was introduced to Longines & Alfa Romeo. My family has always been a fan of this brand & when I got my first pay cheque, I got myself a Raymond Weil, bought at Peace Centre, I think it was around S$220. My Dad drove a blue Datsun pickup & I always got to ride at the back, perhaps that's why I always prefer a soft top over a hard one. Seat belts were not needed cos there were so little accidents those days & some of my neighbours owned Alfa Romeos & there's where I got hooked to the marque.

Life was so much easier & my Aunt told me that if I worked hard enough when I grew up, I could buy my own Alfa Romeo too & perhaps a nice Longines to go with it too. I have many friends & all of us used to run around after school, to the National Library or the Aquarium at River Valley. We traded beer with Consulate among ourselves & sometimes, we would buy a pack of Sailors' Cut if we have some money. I really miss the days when there were no COE, GST, ERP & nobody will think that Orchard Road will be the shopping haven for tourists!!

The peanuts joke so long you still remember ah. Took me a while to figure out what you mean

Datsun pickup I remember. They are almost all blue in colour during those days. As a boy I always kpo and followed the provision shop's uncle to deliver rice/food and groceries to households far inside the kampong on his Datsun pickup. There were usually a few other kids as well and the uncle was quite happy that he had some free helpers to carry those stuff for him. I once jumped down from the pickup before it was completely stop, couldn't balance myself and got my legs injured. That was my first practical science lesson, about motion and force, haha.

[1xian1]

I love choa chu kang! been here since i born... 30 years already

[eastsider]

Hey Hiroki,

Just curious. Do you really type like that or u purposely 1....i know ur signature there stated ur english no good lah but the way u type funny lah

[yattokame]

parents stayed with grandparents at Ark Lane (gone now), opposite bugis junction. It was called "black street" back then I think. my maternal grandma looked after me till I was 5. Stayed at Kim Keat avenue. Miss the market there - now become shop N save with a coffee shop. the old market had tonnes of good food.... the ice kacang, the wanton mee, the yong tau foo, prawn noodles, it was around all the way up till 1996 or thereabouts.

I have read and heard stories about how on our final day, we will be brought to the place and time we were most happy. That helps to alleviate some of my fears with meeting my maker.

[Alexlow]

OMG that is one hell of a nostalgic photo!

[kt Lim]

Is the current laksa stall inside the big coffee shop at/near Sungie Road the same old one that you are talking about?

Which coffee shop u referring to?

The original Laksa is now taken over by the grandchildren located at e coffee shop opp the open field... Store is at one corner... The coffee shop nearer to Sungie is not e original one...

Cheers

[ten10]

Hello it's me again, let me continue my life story.

I got to know my wife and we loved to hang out at Kellini Rd coffeehouse. At the same time, she was staying above the coffeehouse. Before we were married, she was a student in Singapore. After I fell in love with her, I decided to move in into her place. She wanted to return to her country for a holiday so she brought me along to meet her parents. I felt so excited because this was my first flight and when I reached her country, her family welcomed me with joy. They treated me like 'King of Toa Payoh'. After returning to Singapore for a few months, before my wife graduated from school, her dad sent her a letter to give me stated that he allowed me to marry her daughter. I was very happy with the news I received and I proceeded with the marriage registration. I made a small reception to invite my close friends. Besides that, I did not forget to invite the children of the old lady who took care of me. After my marriage, I got a house of my own at Ang Mo Kio and I moved from Kellini Road to Ang Mo Kio and the best thing was that I had my first child in 2000. THE END (TO BE CONTINUED)

Hiroki-san, next time we have GTG at your house! We can eat sushi, have many geisha dancing and play music, drink sake and the next day we go whale fishing... how's that hiroki-san!

Sure the house can accomodate 500 members... so who's going???

[eastsider]

No need to apologize lah hiroki, i really curious thats y ask lo. Hope u r not offended by my ques ya

[eastsider]

before you go london you ask bring or not to bring your milgauss
what is my advice to you bring and buy insurance i the first sg roc
give your confidence advice to bring i hope that time you understand my bahasa
THE END

Hahaha. Yea i have it with me. I am in southampton now, 90min drive away from london. I wear it almost all the time unless if have to do heavy-duty work. To avoid watch kena hit by hard objects, i store in office locker lo. Didnt buy insurance though. Hehe

[Watcha]

My child time was at dover, ghim mo area.

30 yrs ago its so quiet n ulu. Full of greens. The deserted houses at rochester.
Secluded roads.

[pegasi]

Thanks for all the sharing!

So far we have read about members grew up in north, east, west and central. Anyone grew up in the south? Pulau Ubin? Tekong?

[turboducky]

The peanuts joke so long you still remember ah. Took me a while to figure out what you mean

Datsun pickup I remember. They are almost all blue in colour during those days. As a boy I always kpo and followed the provision shop's uncle to deliver rice/food and groceries to households far inside the kampong on his Datsun pickup. There were usually a few other kids as well and the uncle was quite happy that he had some free helpers to carry those stuff for him. I once jumped down from the pickup before it was completely stop, couldn't balance myself and got my legs injured. That was my first practical science lesson, about motion and force, haha.

Aiyah, it's probably one of those jokes that will go down in history as "did she really said that?' Yeah I thought that was quite funny at that time during the NKF saga.

I kinda miss living along Bras Basah Rd & my neighbours, it was a time when everyone knows everyone & we still could buy things on credit with a 555 booklet, who needs Amex? It was a also a time when we don't need any technology to live our lives, nowadays I see parents & their kids don't even talk much during meals & everyone is just on their iPhone/iPad. Sigh... anyway thanks for starting this thread, it got me thinking & started looking at my old photographs again. I actually scanned some old pix & saved them on my iPhone, just as a memory. Here are some, a pix of my first watch, a Raymond Weil, the place I spent most of my childhood playing marbles & trading cigarettes & my fav mama shop uncle, Thamby, a generous soul.

[pegasi]

Thanks for sharing the pics turboducky.

I actually bought a Veho 35mm flim & slide scanner some time back to scan my old negatives into soft copy only to discover that most of them have deteriorated due to humidity So I altered my project to use the 3-in-1 printer to scan the photos instead but have yet to get started. I have tons of old photos before the digital cam age but I hope to get this done within this year. I am not only preserving memory for myself but also for the next/future generation. I wish our family have kept more of those black & white photos...

[dammonekind]

Any bros here from Hougang? Along upper serangoon stretch?? I grew up around that area........