Hidden Holland Village

Lorong Liput and Lorong Mambong

One Holland V - in the heart of Singapore’s bohemian (person interested in artistic and unusual things) enclave music, art and literature. A three-storey retail podium with a unique retail streetscape of dual frontage units

Warabi Mochi Kamakura

Thirsty and Sun-scorched birds 

Thambi Magazine store 1st marker of the game

Spent too much time guessing the first clue

Sweet treat awaits - Dalgona Latte but the owners offered as ice chocolate for non coffee drinkers

Complimentary ice chocolate from caffeine xpress 

Selfie

Strip Mascot

Wall mural @ little farms

Selfie

Understand from the stall owners that this game has been around 2 yrs ago

*From the 1930s to the 70s, a wave of women came to Singapore from China to seek work as domestic servants, or ma jies.* 🧹

*They had to go through the Sor Hei ('combing up') ceremony as part of their initiation. During the Sor Hei, the woman would have her hair combed up into a bun, like how the signature Sor Hei buns look. She would then take a vow of celibacy before an altar.* 🧎🏻‍♀️

*Here, tell my associate at the counter 'Ma Jie sent me' to receive a secret offer.* 🤫

Winning team made up of players from different agencies

$8.9 for 5pcs

Snippets of history

Clue 1

Clue 2

*Holland Village is known for its many food options, including this hawker centre that can fill people's stomachs for lunch or before they hit the bars; for a price lower than your average pint 🍻. This market and food centre was rebuilt in 2005, the photo you'll see later shows what it looked like before that.*

*Some popular options here include 363 Katong Laksa Holland Village Nasi Lemak and Ming Fa Fishball Noodles.* 🍜

*While choosing to eat his own vegan meals at home now, Sam loves grabbing a cup of coffee ☕️ with his friends here and still remembers the very first layout of the food centre and market here.* 1️⃣

*As you can see from the pubs and bars around you, Lorong Mambong is known as the most vibrant stretch in Holland Village.* 🪩

*You can thank the government for that - the Land Transport Authority installed gantries here to seal off the roads at night 🌃as an anti-terrorism measure in response to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.* 💥

*This inadvertently created a car-free partying ground, with the streets used for extra seating.* 🥳

*While this is now a good thing, Sam remembers how frightening it was when they first had to install it. He says: "It was scary to think that anyone could be a target. We were all so afraid."* 🙀

*As you can see from the pubs and bars around you, Lorong Mambong is known as the most vibrant stretch in Holland Village.* 🪩

*This mural is painted by Tell Your Children, a creative studio based in Singapore. 🇸🇬 They have several murals across Singapore and have also done creative works with international brands such Prada, MTV, Nike, and Netflix.* 🎨

*The Holland area is home to many murals, adding to the place's vibrancy 🌟. Some murals you could check out after the game include the Pop Art Void Deck Art Gallery by Social Creatives at Block 8, those in the void deck of Block 2, and the graffiti walls underneath the Road Bridge of Commonwealth Avenue.*

*You are currently standing on the grounds of the former Eng Wah cinema (where Holland Piazza is). 📽 An open-air theatre made up of arranged rows of benches; each bench was rented for 50 cents per show.* 🪙

*Opened in the mid-1950s, the cinema specialised in Chinese wayang, a traditional theatrical form brought to Singapore by Chinese immigrants as part of their religious rites. The cinema was demolished in 1985.*

*Sam still looks back fondly at his times at the cinema.* 🎞

*This mural uses Air-Ink™️ that is purified from air pollution to make safe-to-use ink, turning a harmful thing 👎🏻 into something useful. 👍🏻 Other than raising awareness of air pollution, Holland Village also has a few initiatives to promote other good practices.*

*The National Environment Agency initiated Singapore's OK in 2003 to promote good hygiene practices. 👌🏻 This was to minimise the risk of contracting the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and other viruses.* 🦠

*There is a sculpture park just opposite this road at Blk 12 Holland Avenue as a reminder of these practices. 😷 You can cross over to take a look at it later. Do take note that construction works may make the entrance harder to locate.*

*This row of houses is part of the Chip Bee Gardens estate 🐝, built for the British military and their families, where they were close to town and military locations like Gillman Barracks.* 🪖

*Here's a buried memory of Princess Margaret visiting Chip Bee in 1972, a year after the British withdrew from Singapore. 🇬🇧 Note the unused ground floor of the buildings then.*

*Sam's father used to hang out with many of these high-ranking British officials. 🪖 They used to come by the shop and chat for hours with him and his father. 🗣 He usually didn't know how important or high-ranking some of them were until his father told him who they were after they left.* 🎖

*Sam's favourite past time when he was younger was also playing "hantam bola" or "poison ball" in the open area where Raffles Holland V Mall now stands.* 🏐

*Bynd Artisan traces its beginnings back to 1942 when its founder Chan Koon Song started a small bindery workshop.* 📒

*The family business (now run by the third generation) has succeeded in keeping the dying bookbinding industry alive - no mean feat in the era of Amazon and e-books.* 📱

*Sam is also the third-generation owner of his shop. While he recognises the importance of not being stuck in time, he still believes there is value in reading physical copies of newspapers and magazines. "There are just less distractions," he says. "It's a different experience altogether."*

*I hope this clue didn't trick you 👻! Another common "trick" of Holland Village is that it is named after the country. Contrary to popular belief, Holland Village has no links to the country or the Dutch people at all.* 🇳🇱

*Most people were fooled by the iconic Holland Village Windmill (now demolished). 💨 Its name comes from Hugh Holland, a British architect living in the area in the 1900s.* 🙋🏼‍♂️

*The red marker in this 1940s aerial photo shows where you are now.* 📍

*Holland Village used to be a literal 'dead town' - the white spots dotting the landscape are tombs 🪦. The area used to be surrounded by thousands of graves of the Hakka Chinese; according to their beliefs, it is auspicious to bury the dead atop hills.* 🏞

*The tombs have long since been exhumed and reburied in a small patch of land at Shuang Long Shan Cemetery, which is only a short walk from here 🚶🏻 (you can check it out after you've finished the game). The caretaker, Mr Teo Ee Koon, tells me that their spirits continue to linger...*

*The planting of this rain tree commemorates a special occasion.* 🗓

*50 years ago, on the same day in 1963, Lee Kuan Yew planted a mempat tree at Holland Circus, kicking off a nationwide tree-planting campaign that continues today.*🪴

*Two years later, in 1965, Lee became Prime Minister of an independent Singapore. 🇸🇬 Singapore was (and still is) rapidly converting forests into concrete and buildings, so large-scale tree planting was needed to counter the environmental damage.* 🌱

*This tree is one of the last trees he planted: Lee passed away two years after planting it, having planted at least one tree a year around the island since that first mempat tree.* 🌳

*You're currently at the Thambi Magazine Store, a Holland Village landmark - where they brought in new titles of magazines and newspapers every day till they had to shut down.* 📰

*It was also the last mama shop remaining in the area and sold all sorts of things to their many regular customers including car batteries 🔋, children's toys 🧸 and snacks!* 🥨

*The business traced its roots to the 1940s when Govindasamy Periathambi (Sam's grandfather) distributed newspapers to the homes of British soldiers by bicycle.* 🚲🗞

*The picture shows the humble magazine store in its original location before it moved to its current premises.*

*If you have not, here is the petition to sign to show your support!* https://chng.it/ZNJ8wc9jGW

Leaderboard 

Team Windmill 9.36

Matcha Mochi 31.18

Team A 34.26

Team Suaku 1.11 hr

Sure Win Ah 1.12

Milo Peng 1.21

Holland Birds 1.09

MosBurger 1.26

Team 518 1.31

Blakck Knight 1.54

Horand in Holland 2.47

Green Fiens 2.47

L1R4 4.44

Hawker

Gantry

16

Open

Ai pollution

Banana

Tricks

01081978

Sor hei

Tomb

Lee Kuan Yew

Misc