A Step Into The Past?

There is an area in a cosy corner of the island that used to be a colonial barracks. This area, and another rather prominent one that also used to be colonial barracks, has now been turned into a series of eating places. Incidentally the area is near my current office, within walking distance, if one does not mind the sun.

My youngest brother is back from Australia, so today my dear and I brought him there to eat. We chose this place Colbar for two reasons - one, it is rather popular among foreigners and local celebrities, and two, it is owned by one of my distant relatives and I have always like the design of that place.

Going to that eatery is like stepping thirty or fourty years into time. One never sees those kind of walls, floors and tiles anymore! It is just like a little wooden house that is painted up into a quaint eatery!

The eatery is not originally there. I remember it was further out the area, facing a football field. When our government wanted to get rid of the field and build a highway to link other highways (what's new?), the eatery was affected. But our government recognised it as a "remnants of the past", so thought of building the new highway around the eatery.

However, in the end, it was impossible to build the highway around, and since the highway had to be built, the eatery had to move. Hence, they actually took every wood, panelling and tile, shifted a bit further into the area away from the highway, and rebuilt the whole eatery tile for tile, wood for wood, to where it stands today.

Entrance of Colbar

The place specialises in Western fare, as well as local fare. I ordered bacon sandwich, my brother ordered hor fun and my dear ordered fried rice. We also had root beer and ice cream. There is even a shelf for books donated by customers, which I took back four. Being a place that caters to the Caucasian crowd, the books are of pretty high standard, like Somerset Maugham and P.D. James, even James Hilton, none of those local cheesy books!

Definitely this is a place I like to go again! Now I just have to see if any of my colleagues is willing to go there for lunch, after all, it takes just five minutes or so to reach that place from my office if one drives!

Bacon Sandwich

Hor Fun

Fried Rice

The entrance and exit (have not seen this kind of doors for ages!)

Weighing machine near the entrance (definitely a relic from the past!)

Part of the layout of the eatery

Interior of the eatery

The ceiling
(the fan was actually spinning but the photo came out looking like it was stationary)

Dividers dividing the eating area and the counter

The tables and chairs

The counter (see the television and the bottles?)