Down memory lane

Visited Bedok North Street 4 where I used to live. Really miss the hustle and bustle of the place. Totally heartland, just the type of place for the heartlander in me. I remember about 10 years back when as teenagers, two classmates and I were walking to my flat to do project. And one of them, who lives in the posh Toh Tuck area, commented: "Wah your house like Malaysia!"

My ex-neighbourhood is the place where tables and mats are laid out in front of the rows of shops on Sundays. On them are T-shirts/shorts/socks going at dirt-cheap prices, with aunties/uncles/children alike milling around checking out the best bargains. Salesmen with cordless mikes in the same row hawk their wares in broken "these-one-velly-good-I-never-bruff-you" English.

Ever the one to jump at an opportunity, my mum forced me to remove my shoe, which had a bit of sole hanging off (and which she had tried her best to use Saba glue to stick back). She handed it over to the salesman promoting this China-made glue which could stick jade/metal/leather/you-name-it, and said: "How about this?" Of course, with a chance to prove the authencity of his wares, he said: "SURE!"

So my shoe is nice and new again. And we learnt that to make sure things stick properly, you've gotta dust the dirt particles off before applying the glue. Of course, we didn't buy the man's glue.

Then I went a-hunting for that much-publicised chocolate cake shop "Chocabloc" after sms-ing an ex-colleague who'd bought something from there before. She gave me the wrong block (it is block 86 and she said 89) but with the right directions, so I found it! Who'd expect a much-raved-about shop by newspaper food critics to be tucked away in some mature HDB estate? The teenage girl manning the counter (think she's the owner's daughter) is quite pretty, by the way! :)

Unfortunately, I left the namecard in my pants, which went into the wash before I remembered to retrieve it! Shucks. Cakes looked good though, and they seemed very popular cos the owner didn't have extras to sell, as you had to place orders beforehand. Flavours include chocolate fudge and chocolate-and-durian. I will have to try them soon. Love chocolate!

As with habit, I walked over to this boutique, which offers a perpetual 20-per-cent discount. This means, you usually get items below $20. You can usually find some gems among the auntie-wear, which makes shopping really exciting! Saw a really pretty black bolero, in a soft cotton fabric with an attractive knitted pattern near its base! Too bad they only had one size and it was a little tight on the arms. Ah well.

Then I remembered the can-collecting ah pek who never seems to have a home. When I was still living there, I used to reserve my empty drink cans for him. He who wears an unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, berms that hang loose on his thin-frame, and walks around the dirty hawker centre barefoot. He's the type of ah pek whom you know is damn strong inside and will die if he doesn't work. But at the same time, you can't help feeling for him cos who'd want to see an old man like that working so hard? I actually used to be quite angry at the competition he was facing from the much-younger women who started collecting cans after seeing him at work.

Well, this ah pek was sleeping on his usual bed - the bus-stop seat! With that all-too-familar marketing trolley filled halfway with cans parked just next to him! Still no shoes, and still alive! Amazing. But how he's aged. I think he should be close to 90 now.

Will he still be alive the next time I return? I wonder.
Ah, life.