In a few minutes’ time, McDonald’s at King Albert Park will be no more and the Cold Storage there will be closed forever as well. That place is so special to me. I started going there in primary school with my friends and spent a lot of time there pretending to study studying for the exams throughout the years. I remember the train that moved around on the track suspended from the ceiling and how we got one of our friends to point at it and shout “The train, the train!!” during a session of Truth or Dare. I remember the playground and the party rooms. We even had a little party there for Xin before she went to the US to study. We were almost 20 then.
I remember the florist/ gift shop that we used to pop in and out of when we got bored of ‘studying’ and how we used to splurge on an extravagant bouquet when it was someone’s birthday. In more recent years, Adrian and I would buy ex-rental DVDs from Video Ezy, and after that unit became Island Creamery, we would go there for some ice-cream after dinner on Sunday nights. I remember buying lapis sagu from Bengawan Solo downstairs every now and then and when that became Chinta Manis, we would go there for breakfast once in a while and Anya would have her favourite chee cheong fun.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been eating at that McDonald’s since I was 12. We used to ask for tartar sauce on the side when we ordered fries and sometimes preferred to dip our fries into a hot fudge sundae instead. I still went to that McDonald’s all through JC, university and even after we got married. Often we were too lazy to park and eat so we just went through the drive-thru. I remember having breakfast there once when it was just Anya and the boys hadn’t come along yet. For some reason, she decided that the hot cakes should be on her head instead of her mouth.
When we were in secondary school, we liked to visit Cold Storage to walk around and buy random little things like sushi, fruits, snacks, etc. There was a courtesy phone inside that we would use to make some nonsensical calls. Over the years, it became one of the places Adrian and I would go to with the kids to get our groceries. Since it was open 24 hours a day, Adrian would make a quick dash there to get some essential items like diapers and milk powder when we ran out of them unexpectedly.
So many memories; I could go on and on. I will miss KAP very much. Some people think it’s silly to get emotional over a building, that there are dozens of other Mcdonalds and Cold Storages in Singapore. But KAP is more than just a building and it has accompanied me all these years as I grew from child to teenager to adult to wife & mother. I wanted to dig up some old photos taken there but didn’t have the time. I went with Adrian and the kids to take some photos there on Thursday, and then with Juan and Von on Friday. It’s so hard to say goodbye.
