Over the weekend, I heard about this Vintage Cars exhibition at the old Tanjong Pagar Train Station, and I thought of bringing the kids to check it out. My kids are not exactly fans of cars, but I thought vintage cars might be a little more interesting. Turned out, they were interested in them for a grand total of 5 minutes, and spent the rest of our time there walking the abandoned train tracks, which was just as much fun actually.
What greeted us at the entrance of the train station was a super cute red volkswagon! It was amazingly well maintained for a car that's made in the 1960s!
Anyone could take a free ride in it, and of course we did! When would we have a chance to sit in such a vintage car?
Such a very lovely car!
There are two rows of seats inside facing each other, and there is also one more passenger seat next to the driver, so this car can fit many people! I have to say the girls were not as excited about the ride as Papa Isaiah and I. =P
Next to the volkswagon was a vintage Vespa that comes with a passenger seat even! My girls looked way too cool with the helmets.
The main exhibition area was on the train platform area. Where there used to be crowded coffee shops packed with people waiting to board their trains, this whole place looked desolate now. But the moment I stepped into this area, it brought back so much memories of the past to me. I've taken the train from this train station many times before, and most of the train rides were late night train rides to Kuala Lumpur. Oh, so nostalgic!
Now that the train station is no longer in use, all except a short stretch of train tracks had been removed. I thought it was a good move to leave a short stretch of the tracks for people to take photographs and also to experience walking on the tracks themselves. Truth be told, as a kid, I've always wanted to do that! But of course, never had the chance to. There were always warning signs with red skeletons telling us how dangerous it was to go down to the tracks.
My girls walked up and down the tracks a million times. I was initially a little worried they might trip and fall because of the many little stones and rocks and the gaps in between the tracks. Then I decided to take it easy and just let them enjoy the moment. We were not the only parents with that idea in mind. Lots of kids were having fun too.
I like how the railway looked - with lots of overgrown grass and rusty-looking tracks. They are amazing testimonies of history!
To us, the Tanjong Pagar train station was a symbol of our childhood and many holiday memories. To the kids, it was one mega playground! They were happy just treading around. After all, it's not everyday that you get to walk on train railway tracks!
We did take a quick look around at the vintage car exhibition. There were quite a lot of amazing looking vintage cars, and most of them were very well maintained. The girls thought they looked very strange, especially those with very long bodies or weird-looking wipers. Haha.
On the platform, there were also several stalls selling vintage and retro stuffs to match the theme of the place. Love these tins of biscuits. We can still find them in our neighbourhood nowadays, and we still buy them every now and then.
Check this out! Baby Jayne saw it and asked me what it was. haha.. totally not her era.
Many varieties of very retro sweets and titbits on sale as well. I saw a man who bought one of each - Must be reminiscing his childhood real bad. =P
Look at this stretch of the grass where the tracks used to lie. Now they are all removed, and covered with grass. It was a good place for the kids to run around, most of them playing foam aeroplanes and birds - one of the retro toys on sale there as well.
I bought one for Joey as well. Sharing a slice of my childhood with my daughter. :)
Baby Jayne was more interested into the little buns, and we sat on the railway platform watching the other kids play. I reckon not many people know about the exhibition, so the place was not crowded at all. Nice and quiet place to relax.
Joey managed to fly her foam bird many times before it crashed to the ground, broke its tail (and eventually body) and RIP about 15 minutes later.
The foam bird in its full glory before it was gone.
I always appreciate opportunities for my kids to catch on to a piece of history, especially the part of history I went through myself. So glad that many people including myself had the chance to stroll in this train station that has served us for so many years. It felt very magical being in that place again after many years.
The kids especially loved it when Daddy held their hands as they tried to balance-walk on the tracks. It was their moment. :)
As I was walking out of the railway tracks, I passed by these interesting stuffs on the ground. Surely, there is beauty everywhere around us, but not everyone can notice them.
A decoloured leaf with lots of veins.
Pretty vines with zig-zac leaves.
It was a nice and short getaway for us on a Saturday afternoon. We didn't do much, but it did much good to my soul. :)
