Since The Little Drom Store was nearby, we decided to drop by there as well. I've been wanting to visit the store since I found their Instagram. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the store. I really love the amount of detail they put into the store, what draws me in the most is that they make Singaporean-inspired merchandise. They sell Polkaros and other artists' products there as well.
In the end, I got 6 earrings. A Pierrot themed 3 set by Polkaros, and three other Singaporean goodies by the store itself, I bought Ice-Kachang, Packet Teh and The Dragon. I also bought a small gift for H here because he told me he wanted something that reminded me of my childhood. I had such a hard time deciding what to buy because I wanted to buy too many things.
the lighting sucks.
I bought Fionna & Cake instead just because...
Walking around Dhoby Ghaut really made me feel nostalgic because it has been forever since I've been in that area. I used to walk to school every day from Dhoby Ghaut Station to Lasalle. There were a lot of flashbacks this time around while I roamed around Singapore with little sis.
We met up with mom and dad later on for dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant that we have been going to since I was 10 years old. Even though I always say that I really hate Singapore because of all the bad memories I have there, I can't hate it entirely still. I did spend most of my life here afterall. I will never call it my home but visiting for a couple of days once in a while is nice.
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On the day before I returned to Tokyo, little sis and I went to explore some new places. But first, we made our way to Tiong Bahru because I really wanted Plain Vanilla cupcakes. They're my favorite cupcakes in the world.
Little sis and I had lunch at Ah Chiang's porridge. I really miss Chinese porridge and especially this one because it's so nice and fluffy. Plus century egg? Yesssssss.
Tiong Bahru is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Singapore because of the cute shops, cafes, local food and old houses. It is one of the oldest residential estates in Singapore, I really love looking at all the old houses. I've never really appreciated things like this until little sis started working at a cafe here a couple of years ago.
We went to walk off the food by searching for Curated Records. Their collection of vinyl weren't impressive to me because they didn't have any of the bands I like. Mostly mainstream music. Only for a couple of exceptions like Dimmu Borgir, if you don't count Norwegian black metal mainstream.
After that, we did the usual and went to Books Actually, Woods in the Books and finally Plain Vanilla! To be perfectly honest, I like the back of Books Actually more than the books itself, haha.
More after the cut (+40 photos)
After we were done with Tiong Bahru, I decided to go the National Gallery of Singapore because it just opened last year. The architecture was stunning and the light shining into the gallery was really pretty. I still don't really fancy any of the artwork there, so the both of us just walked around without bothering to look at art.
We didn't spend too long there, next, we decided to go to Bugis by bus and we got on the wrong bus and ended up in Chinatown. A sightseeing day for the both of us, I wouldn't have minded walking around if it wasn't so hot. Under the scorching sun, I felt like my skin was going to burn off. Exaggerated, I know, but it's still pretty nice in Tokyo and I really hate the heat. I'm REALLY not looking forward to summer.
In the end, we took a train down to Bugis and walked to Haji Lane. Little sis found a pretty interesting store that she wanted to check out. We walked through the streets of Haji Lane first before going to Children Little Museum.
Children Little Museum is not located on Haji Lane itself but in Kampong Glam, just a five-minute walk from Haji Lane. It sits in one of the first two-storeyed houses in front of Sultan Mosque. It was nice walking through Haji Lane again even though I never buy anything from there, ever. Nostalgia. I would go to the cafes there pretty often in between or after classes a couple of years ago.
The sky was so blue that day but don't let it fool you, I was drowning in sweat. I think the only one other time I came to Kampong Glam was when I was bringing around some friends last year.
The entrance of the Children Little Museum already sticks out from all the other stores on that street, so it was pretty easy to locate it. The shop owner was really friendly and thank god my mandarin hasn't gone completely out the window, yet.
This looks like an "Old Mama" shop, which is almost extinct nowadays.
Again, this place made me feel very nostalgic. Some of the toys and the games sold here are the ones I played with during my childhood. From card games like Old Maid and Donkey to five stones. It really did make me appreciate Singapore a little bit more. The first floor was decorated with some old Peranakan clothes, porcelain bowls, plates, a very 1950's retro vibe.
There was a little museum on the second floor and it was only $2 for admission. The owner made me really feel like he was really happy to share with people his antique treasures. He told us that he gets tourists very often but he's actually happier when Singaporeans come to visit his shop because it shows him that people of our generation still care about the good old Kampong days. I haven't met anyone at his age, like him. Little sis and I were more than happy.
The dolls were kinda creepy, so little sis didn't bother looking here but there were a lot of old hidden gems in the glass cases. I enjoyed looking at all the toys that my parents probably played with in their childhood. Most of the toys displayed here are from the 1950s - 1970s. I think it would be nice to bring my parents here, but I doubt they would actually bother.
The metal rocking horse reminded me of my uncle's house in Bukit Timah. They have the same exact rocking house and when we were kids, my cousins and I would take turns to sit on it. I have a couple of baby photos with it, haha.
I also like how these "rocking" toys were displayed. Some I have never seen before.
There were some vintage comics as well. The orange telephone you see at the right side of the last photo was still used in the 90's. I used to call home from school using that phone. Each call was 10 cents for 3 minutes. Something the children of 2000s will never get to experience.
There were some old photographs next to the stairs on the way out as well.
We took a long time to go over everything properly and finally left after an hour or so. It was already evening during this time, so we were deciding what to have dinner. Little sis wanted to go to the library in Esplanade, so we took a train down. Which made me come to the realization of how many places we visited in a day.
Once we got to Esplanade, we went for a free exhibition at the Visual Arts space, curated by Hexaproject Japan. The theme of the exhibition was Hyper Japanesque, with works from various artists from Japan. Talk about being away from Japan and coming back to Singapore with a ton of Japanese fairs around the island.
The exhibition was really good though, I enjoyed the drawings and porcelain sculptures the most. I tried googling some of the artists but nothing came up.
We were so tired after this exhibition, we just stayed in the library hiding from the heat. Little sis was looking at some books and DVDs to borrow. I was so happy they had Song of the Sea! Also, like I already said, a lot of nostalgia at all these places because I also used to spend so much time in this library doing research for my art projects back in college.
We didn't know what to do after that and we were so tired from walking around the entire day, we decided to order KFC (lol) and went home. You have no idea how much I have missed fast food in Singapore. Yes, let me overfeed myself and die of heartburn.
This trip back to Singapore was peculiarly nice and peaceful. I had a lot of fun at the workshop and made some new friends. Exploring places with little sis is always fun. This time, I had a lot of flashbacks and I'm happy that I'm not that miserable, angry and bitter person I was all those years ago. I like the person that I am now, I'm reminded of how much I have built a life I want in Tokyo.
Singapore is my family's home but it will never be mine. I don't hate it as much as I did all those years ago but it's still not somewhere I would want to live for a long time. Japan has made me grow a lot as a person and it's here that I feel most comfortable in my own skin. I'm glad to be back in my tiny apartment in Tachikawa. I definitely love Tachikawa much more than Ang Mo Kio.
I can't believe it's already May and I have so much planned for this and next month, I hope I don't die of exhaustion. Being back in Singapore was a really nice break though, I was really happy to visit so many places again. And if you're wondering, yes, I did eat CHICKEN RICE. It was my main purpose of going back anyways. I will never take any photos of chicken rice because when it's in front of me, I don't stop to think, I just eat.
I sound like a glutton but it's chicken rice. I don't know when will be the next time I will visit Singapore, but till then...
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