As we age, one word that increasingly appeared in our conversations would be "childhood". Childhood memories are what we look back occasionally; sometimes happy, sometimes sad, but more often than not, it relives a period of time when things were simpler, and we were much more innocent.
Those memories were recalled fondly, especially my time in the village at Nee Soon. Of course, there were many other childhood stuff, and this particular shop at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Malaysia's Petaling Jaya, definitely managed to bring to me a nice, fuzzy feeling.
First thing that attracted my attention were the dozens of old school glass jars housing biscuits that I love so much, even up to these days! The pineapple biscuits, the ear biscuits, the jewels, and of course the biscuit stick that we used to soak in milo before devouring them!
Minimum packaging size would be 200 grams and pricing ranged from RM 3.50 to RM 7.00. They were extremely tempting and I am glad I was able to steer away from such sinful temptations! Thank good they didn't offer sampling.
My childhood sweets and packaged biscuits (Apollo wafer biscuits)! The original white rabbit creamy candies were incredibly popular when I was a kid, and do you know they have 15 flavors now?! My friends and I were just talking about the Satay Jelly Fish!
Back in my days, bubble and chewing gums were allowed and I guess people of my generation, and before, would remember the tattoo bubble gums! And who could ever forget the Hack sweets!? I recently got to try interesting Hacks flavors like Clove & Apple, and Mandarin & Ginger!
I don't recall this particular chocolate balls although I remember something similar that's called Ding Dang with a character that looked suspiciously like Doraemon, and the main objective of buying that snack was for the random toy in the packaging, not the chocolate balls.
Other sweets near the counter! While there are similarities between the childhood of Singaporeans and Malaysians (OMG, magic dust!), there were some items that I don't recognize, maybe exclusively sold in Malaysia.
Key difference of "Childhood - A Taste of Memory" is that the shop offers more than just childhood memories on sweets and biscuits. Chapteh was something some of my friends were good in; not for me as I have always been a clumsy person.
The bouncy balls! One would usually be enough but no, they came out with various colors so that one would have been too boring. The blue would need a yellow friend etc, and wow, a cloud pattern.
Those scared of balloons that burst would be happy with this kind of balloons that were literally almost like glue until you use a tiny straw to blow it up! Competition between kids then was who can blow the biggest balloon!
I haven't seen these for so long! They were in my childhood for a short period of time and they were a pain to use! As mentioned earlier, I am clumsy and toppling an opened bottle of glue is part and parcel of my life. I am so glad that UHU glue sticks were invented!
These looked familiar and during my time, they were actual blocks of woods that taught us A B C using animals. Damn, what is that creature for V? And how do you pronounce the animal for X? Isn't that just a bulky, armored rat?!
Scent beans were sold in bottles? I thought they were often housed in pens / mechanical pencils. I do remember multi-colored ballpoint pens with scents though. Acacia seeds on sale? Known as love seeds, they were popular between couples but you don't have to buy them, as there were plenty of acacia trees in the compound of Singapore's St Andrew's Cathedral.
Boy do I love pranks as a kid even though friends would tell me I am still quite the prankster now. Honestly, I have tamed down a lot. The disappearing knife and blood capsules were fun.
Aeroplane game, the marbles and the pick up sticks! Marbles were the de facto game when I was living in the village, where you need to have an eye for precision, and patience; neither of which I had since young.
These fine-teeth combs were not something we would want to see as kids since these were meant to infer that the person, for which the comb would be used on, had lice! Best treatment would be to shave your head but it's easier to do for the boys, than for the girls.
Vaguely remember these magic sticks although I might have confused with another stick that was more ribbon like and could be twisted to make various flower patterns.
Woah! I didn't know such soaps were still in circulation! Such designs wouldn't have been the preferred choice for people nowadays, I figured.
Way before my era; such facial powder were more for my grandparents' generations! Do people of my generation even use them?! Now, I am curious. Another related product popular with both my grandmothers would have been this floral water perfume that I didn't happen to see at Childhood - A Taste of Memory.
Matchsticks! Hmmm... The one common in Singapore wasn't the chilli brand. There's a logo of a bird and I found it online; the Satvik Sakerhets Tandstickor Wood Safety Match Sticks. That's hell of a long brand name!
Brick game! The craze back then was so intense; there were even mini consoles! Do remember these were the times when there weren't any smart phones and game boy consoles were quite pricey.
One not so fond childhood memory was the use of rotan on our soft, tender skin! My parents don't even need to hit us with the stick; just holding one in their hand would have made us compliant. When my parents were out of the house, a game my siblings loved to play was to find all the hidden rotans and throw them down the rubbish chute!
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Address
S-128, 2nd, Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre,
1, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Map
As above.
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