Mama shops, scattered at void decks of housing estates in the 80s, were popular with Singaporean kids due to the wide array of toys, snacks and sweets. I was no exception and particularly enjoyed the pack of mystery bags where i always hoped to be surprised by what's within the thin layer of black plastic.
I am now closing to 40 years old yet i couldn't resist allure of 'mystery bags' when i walked past the two vending machines above, with photos of customers beaming with attractive wins like iPhone, game stations using just S$5!
Just in case you have assumed wrongly, i didn't force Alex to feed the machine. He loves being surprised and apparently, his confidence of lady luck smiling on him was sky high that day.
Now is the 'lottery' moment; key in the number for the takara box you feel you are fated for. Choose correctly and you would get a big win; wrongly and the value would likely be much lower than the five bucks you fed into the machine. It's a gamble.
Identical boxes with colour differentiation; blue or pink. I would have preferred something neutral like black, white, gray, silver or gold but i guess the operator has to make their products visually attractive to appeal to the increasingly picky consumers.
As expected, Alex got himself the blue one and i can sense his nervousness as he attempted to open the box. It's not a big sum for him although the draw lies with the thrill of getting stuff that's worth a lot more than the S$5.
Oh. Yes, that's the exact word going through our minds at the same time. It sure didn't look much even though we were hopeful there's more inside the zipped pouch.
Sadly, it's really just a coin pouch that might not cost more than S$3 at pasar malams but being a seasoned gambler (who occasionally visit the casino at Marina Bay Sands); he took the loss in his stride. Sometimes in life, you win some, you lose some.
Anyway, please recycle the empty box by throwing it in the dustbins by the sides of the vending machines!
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Location
Numerous and the one we went to was at
Suntec City Shopping Mall
North Wing Level 2
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