10 August 2009

Old Singapore Quiz (10)

In front of the gate

Behind the gate

Today's quiz is about another old gate. (Earlier quiz here.) However, I must confess that I do not know who used to occupy the premises behind this gate, why the gate was constructed and why only the gate is left standing? Perhaps you could provide the answers to those questions? The gate seems to lead nowhere.

Questions:

Q1. Where is this gate located? Provide the nearest road name.

Q2. Name 2 nearby landmarks.

Clue:

The gate is located near the sea in the northern part of Singapore.

39 comments:

yg said...

victor, why do you like to give us this kind of question? just a gate (door) and no clues on the subject whatsoever. might as well show a toilet bowl like this one and ask: who has been using this? what does the toilet door look like?

peter said...

i have never been there before so I ask for clues. Which part of Singapore? Looks like someone's mansion, maybe English man's house. Victor you come here before for secret meeting?

Victor said...

YG, I would never ask my readers to guess anything about a public toilet. A public bathtub maybe, but not a public toilet.

Victor said...

Peter, I have already given the clue in the post. This is a public place, not someone's private mansion.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

I haven't the faintest idea! It's a passion... this search for places and spaces. Wow!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Could it be near the park at Pasir Panjang? Not too far away from the corner coffee shop that NUS students' go for chow?

Lam Chun See said...

I think it is in Sembawang Park; but I haven't been there for years.

Lam Chun See said...

On second look, don't think it is Sembawang Park. SP is rather undulating and have many old trees. Also don't think Victor wants to go that far from his 'territories'.

yg said...

chun see, in the north and near the sea, there are not many parks; two parks that come to mind are sembawang park and kranji reservoir park. unless, he includes pasir ris park.
andy, pasir panjang park is in the west.

peter said...

Of course I am guessing. The first photo has the sea as the background, so north = Straits of Johore.

Now 1) admiralty Road West near the SAF yacht Club or 2) former Naval Base area.

I can't think of any park in the west bcos all that is gone to PP Container Wharf.

Roger said...

Hi Victor. First time here, and I must say you have a creative blog here. Who can resist a challenge?

Victor said...

Andy, nope not Pasir Panjang which is in the Southwest. This place is in the north.

Victor said...

Chun See, you are wrong and then right. Or was it right and then wrong? Hmm...

Why can't I go out of my territories? Like Icemoon would say, I cavalry mah. :-)

Victor said...

YG - Tsk, tsk, tsk. I expect you to know this one as you claim to visit this area often. (Now that's yet another clue for you.)

Victor said...

Peter, good observation there. Yes, the first photo has the sea in the background and it IS Johor Straits.

Victor said...

Roger, welcome to my blog. You have a very well-written and interesting blog yourself. Hope to see you on 22 Aug. If you don't have the details yet, please ask Andy. Thank you.

yg said...

victor, even with those clues, it is still tough. first, the structure is not located in a public park. second, it is not visible from the road. third, even if you walk along the coast, you may not see it because of the tall grass and the shrubs. i wonder how you ended up in that area? did you go there after visiting the mosque?

peter said...

I doubt this is a public park. remnant of British Military occupation maybe. So I stick with main road as Admiralty Road West.

So can be somewhere in View Road area, Dashan Road area or Senoko Gas Work area bcos there were many bungalow houses here here near the SAF Yacht Club opposite to "HMS Suara" a wireless station (Canberra School today)

Lam Chun See said...

Ah .. I missed his last clue about being in the north of Spore. In which case Sembawang Park is very likely, becos it is one of the oldest parks in the north.

Peter is so observant to notice the sea. I saw only a white patch.

yg said...

chun see, if it was in sembawang park, i wouldn't have used the analogy of a toilet bowl (see 1st comment). this thing is in some obscure corner of s'pore which victor happened to stumble upon when he was on a don't-know-what.

Victor said...

YG said: "Victor happened to stumble upon when he was on a don't-know-what."

On a toilet bowl? Haha.

YG obviously knows the answer. He has given yet another clue - that the place is near to a mosque. Looks like I have to ban him from giving clues as well.

Anonymous said...

Near the bottle tree area just before Sembawang Park? ROGER

peter said...

Hmmm. I guessing of course. right side of former Naval Base....end of Sembawang Road?

yg said...

okay, i think i know the answers. the nearest road is jalan mempurong. the two landmarks are: masjid pertempatan melayu sembawang and bottletree village. there is also a pa water venture centre, just across the fence. bottletree village used to be the site of the sembawang seasports centre. (don't mix up bottletree village with bottletree park; the park is at yishun, ear the khatib mrt station.)

peter said...

This is a very popular dark lover's corner spot.

yg said...

peter, now i know why victor was there......to catch monkeys.

Icemoon said...

> This is a very popular dark lover's corner spot.

Could it be 'Money See Monkey Do' Part II in the making?

The gate photos were taken just before Part I was published. Maybe Part II is about 'sex in the wild', haha

peter said...

Nowdays no need for dark lovers' corner. Got free show on MRT. Even young couples (maybe icemoon's age group) already hugging, kissing and smooching. Sometimes I am not sure whether should I change my eye direction or continue looking, or same direction and close my eyes. Either way, couple dont care and other MRT commuters also don't care. Sometimes I see the hand touch touch private parts and then kissing even more after that.

Icemoon said...

Now we know why some people pretend to sleep on the train.

The best solution is to wear shades in the train. Nobody knows you are sleeping or busily looking at them.

Lam Chun See said...

No need for dark corners ...

Once I saw 2 young ladies kissing passionately by the roadside in broad daylight at Aljunied Road. Couldn't believe my eyes!!!

yg said...

victor, seems to me you have opened up the floodgates (at sembawang)to all kinds of nefarious activities - girl kissed girl; hand touching pubic, i mean, private parts; and commuters wearing shades voyeuring on the train.

Thimbuktu said...

I used to go to the Sembawang Park jetty to catch flower crabs when I once stayed at Sembawang Road 13 1/4 m.s. in the 1980s.

Phlogged a bit about it at:

here

At that time, the park was mostly frequented by the Sembawang villagers who went there to catch fish and crabs at the jetty. It was not yet "socially polluted" by people who do funny things there :)

yg said...

thimbuktu, i didn't live at sembawang but my friend did. his place was at scharff road, no more in the street directory. we used the trap to catch flower crabs at the jetty. those days, the crabs were so plentiful. i think we caught more than 30 crabs in one afternoon.

Thimbuktu said...

Yes, yg, I am familiar with the place names such as Ottawa Road, Falkland Road, Deptford Road, Wellington Road, Hobart Road in the Naval Base where the bungalows of the British officers are located. I used to roam around the place to pick fruits :)

Wow...30 flower crabs in one catch! That's enough for dinner for the whole family and friends.

Sean Francis said...

It's after Andrews Avenue leading to Bottle Tree Village(Jalan Mempurong,If I'm not mistaken)in Sembawang.I remember the house on my trips to William's Sea Sport Center(Before Bottle Tree Village took over) when I had to get to Seletar Island.It was a grand house and I think that it was demolished together with the nearby kampong,Kampong Wak Hassan.All that's left now is a piece of land with rubbish lying around.I still take walks there and the gate is the only relic that stands at this once lovely place.

Victor said...

Thanks Sean for the solving the mystery. It is indeed strange why they left the old gate standing.

Sean Francis said...

No worries...I was baffled myself when I saw it years later after the house was demolished.I guess it's just a reminder that nothing good or fun lasts forever...

Sean Francis said...

The only thing that lasts forever are the bulldozers that tear down places of our glorious past and the great times we all had in our youth...All for the sake of progress($$$)...which isn't meant for us anyway.

All that's left in the future is a hole in our history and souls.All we are left with are memories of these places and none for future Singaporeans to be part of.

Sorry if I'm out of context but it's only because I miss how Singapore used to be and how charming those places were.

Victor said...

Thanks for your thoughts, Sean. I couldn't agree with you more. One of the aims of this blog is to document the memories so that they will remain for future generations. If they care so much to look them up, that is.