Fresh Durians, Ice Kacang, Old Marine Parade, Wonderland

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I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Come:

This nostalgia trip by Allan Thompson will certainly be one he can share with many Singaporeans.  Allan's "spreading the newspaper on the grass" experience is only too common with young Singaporeans who went courting in the 60s.  

Allan explains that he is "raking through the embers of my Singapore past and stirring up a few sparks which make me smile."  He has written many poems when he was in RAF Changi. "Perhaps it was the scent of frangipani on the balmy evening air or, more likely, the searing stench of a freshly sliced durian! I am keeping an interested eye on your marvellous blog."

So if you enjoyed his last 6 episodes about RAF Changi in the 60s and his stint with a guitar group then read on about his social life in Singapore:

"Does the Capitol (image right) still have those sliding seats? I remember my first-ever visit when I leaned back in my seat and thought I was about to be launched over the balcony.  I loved Singapore cinemas: the Capitol, the Lido, the Roxy and so many others, including the Astra at RAF Changi.  I never went to the cinema in Changi village but one of my friends did and he told me he got soaked because it started to rain and the cinema had no roof.  I don't know if that was really true, but I like to think so. 

I also remember the #Wonderland bar and restaurant on the East Coast Road  (image below) which was on the ground floor of a tall building called the Tay Ban Guan.  It was air-conditioned and very dark when you first went inside so that you bumped into tables.  Good fun!  

The old Marine Parade (image below left) was just behind it and I used to take my second girl-friend there for a walk in the dark and buy her an iced kachang (red beans) from one of the vendors.  

The local newsagent used to look very impressed when I bought a Chinese newspaper because he must have thought I could read the language.  But I actually bought the paper so that she and I could sit on it on the grass near the Katong Convent school (image below right) and watch the lights of ships in the distance. What a fraud I was." 

So as The Platters', Twilight Time, Cliff Richard's When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart and the Reyes Sisters', I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Comes (image record sleeve above left) were playing from a nearby seaside bungalow, Allan started to count the twinkling lights and stars. And that took a long time...

Do you have stories and songs you wish to share when you took that Tanjong Katong stroll with your girlfriend? 

# which became Fancyland later.

Image: 
Record Cover from Andy Lim Collection and Google.

Original article: 
Allan Thompson.  With naughty add-ons by Andy Lim. 
Copyright Reserved.

The Reyes Sisters: I Don't Care If Tomorrow... YouTube Video by Malaysiaboleh

Philips Record: 
EP The Reyes Sisters: A Ring For My Darling (by Tisana/W.King), I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Come; Valley Of Dreams (SG original by Terry Marsden), You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry.