Places That I Grew Up In (Part 4/5)

Ang Mo Kio - Tomato or Red Hair Man’s Bridge?

Towns in Singapore are all named after people, terms and places.

 

Ang Mo Kio is no exception but I was surprised when I realized that it means ‘Red Hair Man’s Bridge’ instead of the one I have always thought it was – Tomato!

Cheng San Village where Ang Mo Kio New Town now stands was once a huge rubber plantation. The 1922 to 1932 world slump in rubber prices made many tappers and labourers turn to pig and poultry farming or market gardening. During World War II when Singapore was occupied, more people moved to Ang Mo Kio to take up farming.

This is a town I have always been acquainted with because I spent much of my childhood here staying with my late maternal grandmother during weekdays before I spent the weekend with my late paternal grandfather and grandmother.

Many have become memories because it has ceased to exist due to many reasons including modernization.

At the town centre, there used to be an A&W Restaurant where I always had Ice Cream Waffle, Curly Fries and Root beer Float after taking a bicycle ride at the track beside it.  I remember I always looked forward to going there during the weekend with the library at the back of my head.

Sadly, neither A&W nor the bicycle track is around anymore but only memories and photos from the past.

Another of my favourite has to be a Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun stall at the coffee shop beside the Broadway Plaza. I always dropped by there with my parents and used to wait up to 1 hour just to get the delicious plate with a cup of honeydew milkshake. Both stalls are also no longer around.

As I walked down towards the place I grew up in, I passed by the iconic KFC and the Mosque before I saw the big open space car park that led me to…the Community Centre.

I spent many hours playing basketball with my cousin during the late 90’s when I bunked in for a couple of years. I was told that this community centre was the first few with television in the main courtyard beside the main road.

Right beside the community centre is the mini town central of this area and you are right, I am walking towards the hawker centre and talk food!

I grew up eating Chicken Rice and remember clearly that there used to be 2 chicken rice stalls side by side ‘fighting’ customers on a daily basis. As I prefer the easy way out, I chose 226 Boneless Chicken Rice stall and has not turned back since.

As I ordered my ‘usual’ – Chicken Drumstick Rice with Braised Egg, I could not help but also looked towards my favourite indian coffee stall adjacent to the chicken rice stall. The kopi tarik has not changed much over the years (except for the white hair of the indian uncle!).

 

This is also the place I suspected I started my coffee experience around my life (leading up to the Starbucks experience) after my maternal grandmother mixed my milk with black coffee at the tender age of 3.

As I looked around me in slow motion, I realized nothing much has changed over the last 20 years even though people and events happening resulting in emotional changes.

Ang Mo Kio will always have a place in my heart as it brought me through the tender years of my life with wholehearted care from my late grandmother.

I am thankful to this town and the people that built my memories over the years. Do drop by this town and reminisce with me along this trail in history.

As I approach the final part of this series, it will also be a place that brought me through the later part of my childhood. Keep a lookout!

Ang Mo Kio – Where Memories all come together in a swirl
 

Signing Off,

I Eat I Breathe

Food ‘K’ Maestro  


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