The Hin Hollywood Canteen has existed for 5 decades. It is due to close today, and the entire area redeveloped, marking the end of an era.
Hin Hollywood Canteen, or more affectionally known as the old Hollywood Canteen
It is with great sadness that my next post here would be on yet another demise of a familiar place in Singapore, after documenting the end of the KTM railway, but life being what is it, changes are inevitable and the old does go away and make way for the new, perhaps far too often than necessary.
The old Hollywood Theatre, once a movie cinema, a church, and now, a supermarket. My parents actually dated there before, over a movie.
The Hin Hollywood canteen has stood its ground behind the old Hollywood Theatre (also due to be demolished) for over 50 years, faithfully dishing out tasty delicious wholly Singapore fare in the form of “lor mee”, wanton noodles, duck rice, duck porridge, roti prata, Hainanese chicken rice and many other delicacies. For 5 decades, some of the hawkers have toiled daily from early morning, serving not just a population that lives around the Paya Lebar / Katong / Haig Road area, but also, for the first few decades, patrons of the old Hollywood Theatre where my parents used to date (standing just behind the canteen), and for about five years, members of City Harvest Church who used the old theatre as a place of worship.
Cooking wanton noodles - the owner has been there for 50 years, working at the same stall. Beside him was a friend the man and his wife integrated into their family.
The wife of the wanton mee stall holder - in the 2 trips I went, her shades were always on!
Crowds gathered to catch a taste of the delicacies sold here ever since it was made known the coffeeshop would cease to exist by the end of August.
Duck rice stall holder pouring oil into the wok as he prepares meals for a ravenous crowd.
Prata has been flipped and served here for years, but it is all coming to an end today.
Preparing and pouring coffee into a pot, the familiar aromatic smell of coffee early in the morning has always awakened the senses and prepared one for work. Today, Hin Hollywood coffeeshop will serve its last cup of coffee.
It was as a member of City Harvest that I was first exposed to this quaint eating place, and I remembered fondly, during the years from 1998 to 2001 (if memory serves me well, when I first joined the church and until the year when we shifted from the theatre to our own Jurong West building), eating and fellowshipping with my church friends before or after service, devouring the duck rice (my favorite), “lor mee”, wanton noodles, sharing stories, lives and jokes at the tables of this canteen.
Reaching for another piece of duck while preparing duck rice. The duck rice stall is one of those that have found an alternative place to continue their business. Not every stall has found a place - some stall holders are choosing to take a well deserved break while pondering their future.
Coffeeshop owner - he has not yet found a place to relocate his drinks stall business, preferring to take a break first.
Daily duck delivery
The wanton noodle was cheap and good. Trying paying only $3 for a bowl of wanton noodles at the many major shopping malls. I know, I've tried....
Coffeeshops are a tradition older than Singapore in this part of Asia. A cup of "kopi-O" was often revitalizing and the drink has even been immortalized in the song of a Chinese TV serial in the past.
But this is the year 2011, and this is the month of August, and more poignantly, it is 31st August today, and this is the last day of this eating place. There will be no more Hin Hollywood Canteen thereafter, and this place will live on only in pictures and in the fading memories of a generation of Singaporeans who have had the privilege of eating there.
Wanton noodles with steam billowing from the pot it was cooked in.
Crispy hot roti prata, ready to be eaten!
The "Ban Mian" stall - the "Ban Mian" (a form of noodle) was very popular with my church members and many of us have fond memories of the place!
Grinding "mee huen guay" (a kind of noodle) manually by hand - the women in this place worked as hard as the men, if not harder!
I also discovered many relics of an era long past – a time when things are made to be durable and to last for many years…. in this age of the throwaway disposable plastics, it is a rare sight.
An old kettle sits forlornly in front of the wanton noodle stall, as if reminiscing the old days. It is still being used today.
An unused old TV and VCR recorder sat in a corner of the coffeeshop. I can't help but imagine which it was like in its heyday, probably showing soccer matches of the Malaysia Cup to patrons gathering to watch our Singapore national team competing against the states of Malaysia.
Before iPhones, we actually have landline phones with physical buttons...
Time has now run out for this coffeeshop. The winds of change have finally blown and reached the Hin Hollywood coffeeshop. At the time of this posting, 31st August 2011, this is the last day of this coffeeshop which has existed for more than 5 decades, and has been around far longer than anyone of us have lived.
Winds of change have finally reached the shores of this quaint coffee shop.
Time has now run out for Hin Hollywood Coffeeshop. Today, 31st Aug, it would have served its very last customer and the place will be shut down for redevelopment.
Hand in hand, a couple crosses the road behind the canteen after one more meal at the Hin Hollywood Canteen.
Farewell, you will be missed!
This is the first part of my series on this coffeeshop. During its last days I made 2 trips to the canteen, both to savor its fine food, and also to have one last look at a place which defined a part of my Christian walk.
Watch out for part 2 of this series!
Edit: Part 2 of this series is now live!
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