i know this posting is gonna make me sound so auntie, but still i'd do it. i passed by the new geylang serai market a couple of weeks ago and from what i saw, i told myself i'd visit the place someday. and i did so today!
i remembered so clearly the market before the renovation, or rather, for a long long time even before the renovation. gaylang serai market had been synonymous with geylang serai itself. a place where the singapore malay community congregates and where the malay culture thrived. also, the name itself reminds me of trishaws, singapura theatre (and all it's hindi films), kampong and squatters, and of the huge dirty river that flowed through it. those were my earliest memories of the place. the river is now a canal, the squatters have been replaced with hdb public housing and much of the old kampong charm is gone. but thru the many years of development, the old market stood and continued to be the center of all activities. until 2 years back when development caught up.
geylang serai market had always been a place that would tingle all my senses so very much. yes, all my senses. literally. i earliest memories of the market was when i was a small boy when we lived in paya lebar. back then, i would frequently visit the market with my mum and she would hold my hand tight as we meandered our way through the little lanes of the overcrowded market. it was a highly disorganised market where at certain sections, one could get a food seller selling his kueh kueh beside a fabric seller and they were all so closely situated, it would be impossible to escape if there were a stampede! and as a kid, i would be pushed and squashed about all over by the adult mak ciks and pak ciks but i could not do anything except to hold on tight to my mum and be dragged along by her. and of cos, i remembered how my feet would get wet from the dirty, wet broken cemented floor that was made worst by the fishmonger uncles splashing water all over the place. geylang serai market also reminded me of the many shops selling bales of clothes and colourful sarongs. was always awed by the splashes of colours. but above all, it was the smell that i cannot forget. it was (and still is) not easy to find a place that has so many shops grinding herbs and spices at the same place and selling them to eager housewives wanting to cook curries and etc (those in serangoon aka little india pales when compared to geylang serai market!). and my visits to the market would often end with mum buying all the traditional kuehs, goreng pisang and what have you.
yes! talking about kuehs... i had been thinking of kueh dodol for quite a while already. and it was such a coincidence that bee bee also started to have a craving for it. so this morning, while i was at the market, i decided to hunt for it. walked around the place, soaked myself in the sights and the smell... (oooh, i loved it so much!)... and finally found it at the second level hawker center. i was so happy to see it in it's traditional packaging and bought 4 sticks - 2 regular flavour and 2 durian flavour. it cost me s$26! hmmm, i was so sure that guy ketuk me but well, i guessed i was a willing victim. been looking for good kueh dodol for a long while and i could not let this chance off!
ok, that was a side-track... now, back to the geylang serai market. my later visits to the markets was after my family moved to marine parade. eventually, i would make my own trips there to buy sarongs (for myself and for my mum) and the kuehs. and of cos, our trips would end with mum and i taking trishaw back to our kampong a short distance away. that was a long time back. the trishaws have disappeared. and now, a brand new multi-storey market stands in its place.
well, my impression of the newly built market was that it had retained the cultural flavour. the whole architecture, the choice of colours, choice of cloth for the bunting, the roof, the type of shops, etc... the malay community continue to congregate there. but i would say, it has lost bits of charm of the old market. something was missing. perhaps, it was the ambience, or perhaps it was the fact that i need no longer squeeze my way through, or that there was no more stale smells... well, whatever, something was just missing. but well, on the whole, it was a good experience nonetheless. and i am glad i made my trip.
ps: i remembered aziz's advice about the car park (or the lack of it) and i must agree with him. the accessibility to the carpark is bad and there were not many lots nearby. but i was lucky for today's a weekday and there were some free lots readily available by the roadside.
i remembered so clearly the market before the renovation, or rather, for a long long time even before the renovation. gaylang serai market had been synonymous with geylang serai itself. a place where the singapore malay community congregates and where the malay culture thrived. also, the name itself reminds me of trishaws, singapura theatre (and all it's hindi films), kampong and squatters, and of the huge dirty river that flowed through it. those were my earliest memories of the place. the river is now a canal, the squatters have been replaced with hdb public housing and much of the old kampong charm is gone. but thru the many years of development, the old market stood and continued to be the center of all activities. until 2 years back when development caught up.
geylang serai market had always been a place that would tingle all my senses so very much. yes, all my senses. literally. i earliest memories of the market was when i was a small boy when we lived in paya lebar. back then, i would frequently visit the market with my mum and she would hold my hand tight as we meandered our way through the little lanes of the overcrowded market. it was a highly disorganised market where at certain sections, one could get a food seller selling his kueh kueh beside a fabric seller and they were all so closely situated, it would be impossible to escape if there were a stampede! and as a kid, i would be pushed and squashed about all over by the adult mak ciks and pak ciks but i could not do anything except to hold on tight to my mum and be dragged along by her. and of cos, i remembered how my feet would get wet from the dirty, wet broken cemented floor that was made worst by the fishmonger uncles splashing water all over the place. geylang serai market also reminded me of the many shops selling bales of clothes and colourful sarongs. was always awed by the splashes of colours. but above all, it was the smell that i cannot forget. it was (and still is) not easy to find a place that has so many shops grinding herbs and spices at the same place and selling them to eager housewives wanting to cook curries and etc (those in serangoon aka little india pales when compared to geylang serai market!). and my visits to the market would often end with mum buying all the traditional kuehs, goreng pisang and what have you.
yes! talking about kuehs... i had been thinking of kueh dodol for quite a while already. and it was such a coincidence that bee bee also started to have a craving for it. so this morning, while i was at the market, i decided to hunt for it. walked around the place, soaked myself in the sights and the smell... (oooh, i loved it so much!)... and finally found it at the second level hawker center. i was so happy to see it in it's traditional packaging and bought 4 sticks - 2 regular flavour and 2 durian flavour. it cost me s$26! hmmm, i was so sure that guy ketuk me but well, i guessed i was a willing victim. been looking for good kueh dodol for a long while and i could not let this chance off!
ok, that was a side-track... now, back to the geylang serai market. my later visits to the markets was after my family moved to marine parade. eventually, i would make my own trips there to buy sarongs (for myself and for my mum) and the kuehs. and of cos, our trips would end with mum and i taking trishaw back to our kampong a short distance away. that was a long time back. the trishaws have disappeared. and now, a brand new multi-storey market stands in its place.
well, my impression of the newly built market was that it had retained the cultural flavour. the whole architecture, the choice of colours, choice of cloth for the bunting, the roof, the type of shops, etc... the malay community continue to congregate there. but i would say, it has lost bits of charm of the old market. something was missing. perhaps, it was the ambience, or perhaps it was the fact that i need no longer squeeze my way through, or that there was no more stale smells... well, whatever, something was just missing. but well, on the whole, it was a good experience nonetheless. and i am glad i made my trip.
ps: i remembered aziz's advice about the car park (or the lack of it) and i must agree with him. the accessibility to the carpark is bad and there were not many lots nearby. but i was lucky for today's a weekday and there were some free lots readily available by the roadside.
3 comments:
Thank u BB... :)
i wouldn't say auntie... let's rather say... "Ah Soh".
And i must disagree, u were probably refering to the new sanitized Serangoon road. When i was living there (one street behind - not desker road, FYI!) was similar to what u said...and the Indian Mills for all the spices would choke u several houses away.
I once lost my mother in the market there & had to contemplate crossing Jalan Beasr & Serangoon road alone to get home. Mind u, it seemed - for me at that time - like trying to cross Nicoll Highwas/ECP (whatever) at peak time. I decided against it & eventually found my mother.....if not... i guess i would be probably have been a child labor slave in timbuktu.... & wouldn't have gotten to know u.
ha ha... luckily you move out early, i can't imagine you still living there and soliciting at desker! hahaha!
oh, i really love the smell of the spices! hmmmmmmm!!! so nice... but of cos, of cos, i can understand how you must have felt having to smell it daily. would have been a totally different effect!
:-)
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