Tim sum treat at Red Star Restaurant

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The last time I went to Red Star was about 30 years ago, for a wedding dinner.  The venue was shared by three couples that night, so you can imagine it was chaos and crowd.  

This is what its normal self looks today.

Reminds me very much of the days when, on certain occasions, we would eat out with either of my grandmas at these crowded, bustling Chinese restaurants, including at Sin Leong, Dragon Phoenix and Lai Wah, Red Star’s contemporaries in the star Cantonese food quartet.
[Read here about the four disciples of Master Chef Luo Chen Seng of Cathay Restaurant and them inventing lohei!]

the four heavenly kings of Cantonese cuisine

Red Star, like Lai Wah and other restaurants, was badly hit by Covid.  I don’t know what “drastic actions” were taken but it is still around and looks like it is not doing too badly on a weekday.

Some of the staff look like they’ve been working here for decades and this is the only restaurant that I know still has push-cart tim sum.

We enjoyed our:

century egg porridge
char siew pau
fish meat balls
har kau
carrot cake
bean curd roll

Our meal came up to about $50, a reasonable price for above average tim sum.

Inevitably, eating tim sum causes our thoughts to fly to Hong Kong. [as does any mention of ‘four heavenly kings’ 四大天王 – translated article about how they are doing today; I don’t agree that Andy Lau was “really not handsome when he was young” but I totally agree that Jacky Cheung is the best singer of the four and in fact, I think he is the only one who deserves to be a ‘king’…  Who should the other kings have been?  Alan Tam, Sam Hui, Danny Chan, I say.  That’s another story…] 

Red Star is at:
54 Chin Swee Road, #07-23

Better make a booking if going during the weekend.

A series of firsts – evening at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

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First time at Shenton Way at night in a long, long time.

First time at this part of Shenton way in an even longer time. 

I didn’t know that Singapore Conference Hall is now the home of Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

Also never knew this building had sprung up where the old car park of the Conference Hall used to be.

My friend NH and I had thought we would have dinner at Cherki but it was fully booked for the night!  It would have been my first Peranakan fusion meal.  Well, too bad, that will have to wait.

There was hardly an open eatery around there (Shenton Way, Saturday night…) so we ended up across the road at Providore (OUE Downtown Gallery), which I’d never been to before.  My first time in a long while making do with something like “sausage bread” for dinner.  It tasted several notches better than the ubiquitous sausage bun that is found all over Singapore.  

First time attending a book launch – for Blazing a Trail in Nanyin, 80th anniversary publication of Siong Leng Musical Association.  Happily, we realised there was a pre-performance reception with ‘light’ food, so we had Part 2 of our light dinner.

why we were there I — book launch
view from the Auditorium level of SCCC

Who would have thought that my first Covid era concert would be a Nanyin performance.  Certainly not me but that’s how it turned out.  The auditorium was nearly full – mostly friends and families of the performers, I suppose, as this was largely a showcase of the young artists who have been training with Siong Leng.  Possibly the first big public performance for at least some of them.

I was reprimanded by the very vigilant and strict usher for taking this picture at the start of the first item.  They were slightly busy that night stopping people from taking pictures and videos.

why we were there II — Germination II: In Bloom

I’m completely new to this kind of traditional Chinese music.  It was interesting and I thought some of the pieces sounded a touch modern in some parts.  A bit of fusion has taken place here too, I believe.

Thank you once again, Siong Leng, for the invitation!

Let’s hope we’re hopping into a new year of better times!

Japanese food fix had – at Donburi King and Mitsuba

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Our final week of the year was well-represented by Japanese food at these popular and well-patronised restaurants that I was new to.

Donburi King

Donburi King is known for its rice bowls and seafood items.  It gets crowded during meal peak times as it is as small as an eatery in Japan.  Not that many eaters can squeeze in here. 

had to settle for a counter seat

Its specials:

not sure about the best town prices of oysters but there we are

What we had:

pork
cod, under all that mentaiko mayo

Donburi King is at #03-26, PLQ Mall

Mitsuba

Mitsuba is an a la carte buffet restaurant.  I don’t recall ever seeing a buffet in Japan but never mind.  The spread is ample for anyone who wants a bit of everything.  The bits come in bits.  

I’m sure this goes a long way in cutting food waste but if, say, you want to eat lots of gyoza, or lots of soba, you have to keep ordering but that’s not really something to complain about.  One should just enjoy one’s food and company, no?

robots help out with kitchen duties
and no squirrelling away bits of food to take home

Mitsuba Japanese Restaurant is at #03-88, Clarke Quay Central

I was definitely contented with the way these Japanese meals ended my year. Nothing like being in Japan, though.

Black and white, old and new – at Rochester Park

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Two giants now stand at the head of Rochester Park.  Park Avenue (but why does its website say it is 9 degrees in Singapore?!) has been around for about 10 years and Rochester Commons looks quite ready for action.

According to URA, this area was developed by the British in the 1950s for its military officers and their families.  Rochester Park was named after Rochester in Britain, which is part of Medway, after which Medway Park, not too far away, was named.  All along, I’d just assumed it was a British name and mostly only thought of Mr Rochester, but it is Mr Dickens who is associated with Rochester!

Rochester Park has been awarded conservation status and so these black and white bungalows are here to stay, though I’m not sure how the two giants contribute aesthetically or atmospherically to the area. 

Some bungalows have been spruced up and appear to be awaiting commercial occupancy.  

Some are desolate.  

Some have already housed businesses for some time.

This was the reason why I was there.  

Legendary at Rochester opened this year.  The food lives up to its reputation but is much pricier than it is at Jurong Point.  The restaurant is also much smaller and I was told it is near impossible to get a table if you don’t book one in advance.  

Rochester is definitely quiet on the outside, and a pleasant walk when it is not blazing hot, but inside the restaurant, it does feel and sound like a Hong Kong cha chaan teng – not as bustling as it is at Jurong Point but you still have to speak somewhat loudly to the people you are with!

hooks for your bags are thoughtfully provided!

Unless you cannot take too much noise, in which case a cha chaan teng is not recommended, you’d probably still enjoy the place itself and the food, of course!

Batik buffet – Batik Kita exhibition at Asian Civilisations Museum

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Batik Kita – Dressing in Port Cities boasted more than 100 pieces of batik, on display at Asian Civilisations Museum from 17 June to 2 October.  I made it there just a couple of days from closing day, dressed in batik to qualify for the half-price offer for those who turned up in batik!

To be honest, I was hoping for a batik banquet, despite paying only $6 for admission.  I enjoyed it for sure, but it didn’t feel like I was looking at a hundred exquisite pieces, and was more like a buffet.  Still, quite a feast.

our batik

Here are some of my favourite pieces from the spread.

Bangbangan biru hijo, from Lasem, c. 1920

Bangbangan pieces (‘red batiks’, because of their prominent red hues) were made in Chinese-owned workshops along the northern coast of Java.  Lasem was particularly well-known for producing these.

Courtly pieces from Yogjakarta, from the 1950s, 1920s, 2020 (bottom to top)

Courtly pieces from Cirebon, a bustling trading port and fishing hub from the 16th century.

Kain Panjang (‘long cloths’) by KRT Hardjonagoro Gotikswan (1931—2008), in the Solo tradition.  He was specially chosen by President Soekarno to design Batik Indonesia.

Batik halus (‘fine’) hand-drawn pieces, from Pekalongan, 1930s (bottom) and Lasem, c. 1900.

Batik biru (‘blue’) pieces from Pekalongan, where, from the 18th century, indigo was used for the blues.

Kain panjang pagi-sore from Pekalongan, 19502—1980s.

Pagi-sore tiga negeri (‘day and night’, ‘three kingdoms’) batik was first created in Solo in the 1930s, starring two contrasting designs (hence ‘pagi-sore’), and with a tri-coloured theme, influenced by The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Apart from those lovely pieces, batik used in official, formal and everyday wear was also featured, from the familiar, 

to unfamiliar,

to fashionable.

Ensembles by BINhouse

Outfits by Indonesian design houses – Milo’s Bali Batik

and Oniatta

Outside the gallery, at the more brightly lit foyer, were folksier displays and activities.

my creations!

Display by NAFA students

Outside the museum, in bright sunshine [what a downpour there was on race night!], F1 preparations were afoot, which might have accounted for some people fleeing indoors for the aircon. 

I tried my amateur best with the photos, contending with the dim light and my height.  Thanks to the exhibition labels for the information on the types of batik and the specific pieces.

Threads through time: the undercover world of dressmaking

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I seldom look at the New Arrivals shelf in the library but I did recently and grabbed a few books since they were ‘new’ and I’d be the first(?) borrower.  Although the war setting is not a favourite, I took The Dressmaker’s Secret by Lorna Cook (published January 2022), because I’ve been reading Code Name Verity (which happens to make a quick reference to Chanel No. 5).  Also, I’m interested in how authors craft stories based on real-life people and contexts.

The plot of The Dressmaker’s Secret is woven with known facts about Coco Chanel and her Paris atelier during the war years.  I didn’t know before reading it that she was a Nazi collaborator (she was outed for this in 2014, I found out later).  The story is interesting but what she did and why she chose this route (not the most important ideas in the book) interested me more.  I suppose we can say that survival was a particularly important motivation, and perhaps we can also say that for most (all?) collaborators.

More than 70 years after the war, it looks like Chanel is still doing well.  

What about dressmakers in general, though?

My mum recently told me that in her day, a thing to do when one received one’s salary was to go to the tailor to get new clothes made.  Who does that nowadays?  Retail and ready-mades have made dressmaking almost an underground industry.

Tailoring services (i.e. not for special gowns and suits) are not easy to find, and I discovered that shops with the word ‘tailor’ in their name just do alterations.  When I asked about custom-making clothes, one of the ‘tailors’ in such a shop looked aghast, then haughtily told me they generally don’t do it and if they did, it would be “very expensive, you know”.  

I’m a fan of retail and ready-mades, and it is true that bespoke tailoring is costly, but I wanted to have something made, so I was glad to find that Nancy Kong’s Vega is still around, she’s still there, and still kind and friendly!  

Nancy, whom I last saw more than 10 years ago, still has her stream of customers but she told me that it is not easy to hire people to do the sewing (one person cannot do all the sewing herself). She says there are many other jobs that girls can choose, so why would they want to spend time learning this craft or doing such a demanding job? 

I learnt embroidery and even my brother did cross-stitch in primary school.  In secondary school, we had Home Economics (previously called Domestic Science), where we learnt cookery and sewing.  There must have been many batches of girls who learnt basic sewing skills and produced a skirt and blouse in the lower secondary years (shocking that I was once capable of such things!), with some going on to take it for the O level.  I don’t know when sewing disappeared from the school syllabus, but now, there is only the cooking part (Nutrition and Food Science) for the O level.  

Lasalle College and NAFA do have sewing courses but otherwise, sewing in a more ‘domestic’ way seems slowly disappearing – not so many people like my mother-in-law (who occasionally sews some clothes, curtains and other homely items) or people who want to do this for a living nowadays.  

Who will take over from people like Nancy, Uncle Wellie and Elizabeth?

was surprised to see Dressmaker’s Lab at Haji Lane when I was at the Arab Street area; I didn’t get to meet the lady who runs the shop, who is called Sandra and whom I am told is good

Vega is at #01-07 Bukit Timah Plaza.

Cloth, colour, cuisine – at Kampong Glam

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As a teen, I tagged along when my friend went to Arab Street to buy fabric and other items to prepare costumes for a performance.  Years after that, I learnt that people got materials there for weddings, too.  Thus, I often think of Kampong Glam as glossy and sparkly. 

It’s still shiny these days, also gradually regaining its pre-Covid sheen, and so colourful!  Business owners are pleased that tourists and locals are slowly returning, though one of them did say that business wasn’t all that great even before Covid hit.

Business owners are pleased that tourists and locals are slowly returning, though one of them did say that business wasn’t all that great even before Covid hit.

A number of textile shops have been here for ages.

I suppose we can say that Kampong Glam has a little of the flavour of the 19th century bustling hub that it used to be, for Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Javanese, Boyanese, Bugis and others.

never knew about this shop, and that’s its actual name! Rich and good cake shop

For the intellectually inclined:

for wanderers:

Masjid Sultan

– stately and dignified.

This has been the site of the mosque from 1826, but the mosque was rebuilt in 1924, and subsequently renovated, expanded and restored.

Beside the mosque, the Ramadan bazaar is back this year!

It was afternoon and some vendors were preparing — the whole stretch smelt great!

Let’s hope we’ll see better days for all! 

More about Kampong Glam here

If I were a rich man – a peek at the past with Siong Leng and its Bukit Pasoh neighbours

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If I were a rich man, I might just like to buy a shophouse or two.  They look attractive and, according to The Peak, the value of shophouses has shot up by a whopping 900% over 15 years!  ‘Old is gold’, Colliers tells us.  If you have something like $35 million to spare, and can afford the maintenance, why not wiggle yourself onto the page of a history book?  

If I were a rich man in the old days, I might have felt quite at home just across the road from that pair of shophouses – at Ee Hoe Hean Club, one of the oldest millionaire clubs in Singapore!  Apart from their social and business networking, members of this club raised funds for local and overseas causes, such as China’s war against Japan and the building of Nanyang University.

Philanthropy is a traditional hallmark of successful Chinese businessmen, who would give back to society in some way, hence the efforts to support China as well as local Chinese migrant communities.  Even if they could not join millionaire clubs, they very likely would have supported such community groups, some of which still maintain buildings along Bukit Pasoh Road. 

Chin Kang Huay Kuan
Yee Clan Association

Here is where I was headed that day – the home of Siong Leng 湘灵, a performing arts group that specialises in nanyin (南音, “southern music”).  The association officially started in 1941 but nanyin can be traced back to the music of the Han Dynasty (206BC—220AD).  Eventually, it came to be associated with Quanzhou in Fujian province and is on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

For migrants, coming together to make music or listen to familiar music from their hometown would have meant a great deal, and the support of the well-heeled would also have been necessary to keep the group running.  Indeed, with their generosity and the vision of its late chairman, Siong Leng lives today, with a somewhat youthful new generation at the helm, and continues the work of preserving and passing it on to yet more youngsters.

portrait of Teng Mah Seng, Siong Leng’s late chairman
handwritten score by Teng Mah Seng, who was a prolific songwriter
donor records

In this conservation area, the facades remain, complete with old carvings on swing doors and carvings in relief, though many shutters are now hardly opened and balconies no longer used.  

it’s no disaster not using the colour wheel to match your neighbours’ frontage!

In the quiet, air-conditioned insides, we find a range of more modern entities and probably in some of these units, the stories of the past have long been forgotten, consigned as part of the hidden history of Bukit Pasoh.   

Life runs alongside time, often leaving the past trailing far behind.  Back then, who would have thought that an award-winning HDB estate would one day appear across the road – Pinnacle at Duxton, HDB estate on the rich end of things and dominating the million-dollar HDB listings!  

Hearty applause and pats on the back for those who protect the past and strive to keep its rich memory alive. 

Thank you, Siong Leng, for the invitation, congratulations on your 80th anniversary, and all the best for the future!

A quick history of shophouses in Singapore here

A quick history of Bukit Pasoh here

More about nanyin here

Siong Leng’s musicians online because of Covid, gorgeously dressed by Lai Chan

Stopping by Tanglin Halt

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Standing at the junction of Commonwealth Drive and Tanglin Halt Road, you can get a multi-angle social lesson about Singapore!

Part of Singapore’s first ‘satellite town’ Queenstown, these HDB blocks have been around for almost as long as the Queen has been queen, so it is sad to think of these grand old dames crumbling into rubble and then disappearing.  I was encouraged to read that some buildings at Tanglin Halt may be preserved but we don’t know what the exact plans are…

United Medicare housed in that low-rise building behind this construction site

This area, like some other parts of Queenstown, has a maturing demographic and right at the corner where I am standing is the Queenstown branch of United Medicare Centre, one of the nearly 80 nursing homes in Singapore (I thought there were more) that are sure signs of our ageing population.  It is a newcomer here and I wonder if its stay is not expected to be long, since it is just using the existing building, which was previously a temporary student hostel, and originally Queenstown police station!  The police station moved some years ago to swankier updated premises along Queensway.

At the head of Commonwealth Drive is the sight everyone from this area knows so well – a church and a Hindu temple side by side.  All Singaporeans also know how respect for other faiths is enshrined in our national pledge and it is certainly something I appreciate about our country.  Blessed Sacrament Church has been here since the early days of Queenstown, while Sri Muneeswaran Temple moved here a couple of decades ago from Queensway.

This post from The Long and Winding Road talks about birth and development at the church, with photos of how it used to look. As a building with URA conservation status, it cannot be rebuilt, so the current restoration works will spruce up the interiors and façade.  Blessed Sacrament Church has a unique spot in my life – it was where I occasionally attended Mass with my late grandmother and where, years later – ahem, I got married! 

I always thought Tanglin was named after someone but it’s the transliteration of “Tang Leng” (eastern hill) from Hokkien!  What’s more, “Halt” is because in pre-independence days, this area was the stopping point for trains to get authorisation to continue the northward journey to Malaya, and in later years, for express trains to Kuala Lumpur. Fancy that, huh?

We stopped hearing the passing trains when this stretch of the railway fell silent, with the relocation of the KTM station to Woodlands in 2011.  

Well, at least life at the church and temple area will not come to a complete standstill.  

These other parts, though, will make way for redevelopment.  Many people and businesses have moved out already, so Tanglin Halt is about half alive at the moment.

the high-rise blocks in the distance were built for the first round of Tanglin Halt en bloc redevelopment
once thought of as permanent fixtures of Tanglin Halt but now empty
where Dr Lily Neo practised for ages!
rare to see such tiled common corridors these days

The food centre is still operating but many of the shops near it have closed.

the husband will miss the fresh roasted peanuts from the store at the end of the row!
wonder if the lovely trees around here will get to stay

We’re not quite bidding farewell yet, but here’s a video that will probably bring tears to the eyes of anyone for whom Tanglin Halt means something.

A brief history of the area can be found here: Tanglin Halt – where the trains used to pass by.

Treasures at Tiong Bahru

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In times when one’s small country is reporting daily case numbers in the five-figure range, treating oneself to some happiness and peace of mind becomes a must. 

I bet we all have at the back of our minds the happy thought that one day (soon?), wrapped up tables and crossed out seats will be no more.  

We just hope that this happens at the right time and in the right way. 

Enjoying a snack and some me time, or a meal with friends, helps you remember better times and better things than tests, sanitising, how to isolate while staying at home and other such unsavoury issues.

We opted for something mild today

my, what a huge reminder to clear our trays!

and will keep our favourite stall here (Beo Crescent Market) for another day.

Tiong Bahru area is by no means empty.  Just about 15 people for the moment in this rice stall queue, will probably grow to twice this number or more later!  Life looks almost back to normal at this coffee shop! (Block 40 Beo Crescent)

Ah… Happy Oven next to it, for little bites of cheer.  

This bakery, well supported by celebrities and food bloggers, as you’ll see on its website, is known for its local twists, such as the ondeh ondeh and chendol cakes, and gula melaka roll.  

for us today – apple crumble, fruit tart and cheesecake (and so much for that light meal)

Finally, a big splurge on peaches and Oita oranges from Sin Kian Choon at Block 34, Jalan Bukit Ho Swee! 

There’s lots more at Tiong Bahru but that was all we had time for on this unexpected little trip there.