Wednesday 18 June 2014

(Born in the 80s) Snacks From My Childhood :D



Did you grow up eating these snacks? If you did, you must be at least as old as I am. :D

Just as my mother misses the kacang puteh, sold in newspaper wrapping, that she used to eat as a kid, I remember fondly these snacks that I used to spend a large portion of my pocket money on! 

I would love to keep some of these in a time capsule for future generations to discover, if not for the fact that these are perishable. So, I'm documenting them right here!

Over the course of a month, the snack collection you see above grew. I purchased these snacks in Singapore, Malaysia and even in Taiwan when I went there for a holiday last month. Everything from haw flakes to Wang Wang biscuits; I ignored the calories and bought them anyway. :)

I enlisted the help of my photographer friend, Max Clyne, and we did a photoshoot in his home "studio". 


[The result] Perhaps I can print this as postcards:




But that's not all! I wondered what these snacks would look like if re-packaged as atas treats. So here's what I did...

Old School Snacks Reimagined #1:


[From left: really old-school biscuits with pineapple jam, cheese balls and Apollo milk wafer cream with iced gem biscuits on top]

Those pineapple jam biscuits were my favorites in kindergarten. I would look forward to these and banana pancakes at teatime. 

Then there are the cheese balls. I have to admit that I like the 'Super Ring' version more, because I can stack those up like rings on my fingers, and then eat them all.

The Apollo wafers are like the Asian version of tim tams. I don't know anyone who was born in the 80s but has not eaten an Apollo wafer during his/her childhood. 

And if you don't already know, there are a total of THREE ways to eat iced gem biscuits:

#1: Eat the biscuit first and leave the 'gem' for last (some would call this delayed gratification)

#2: Eat the gem first and leave the biscuit behind (others would call this instant gratification)

#3: Eat the gem and the biscuit at the same time (I call this being practical)

I tend to do #1 and #3. You? :)


Old School Snacks Reimagined #2:


[From left: Yan Yan biscuit fingers with chocolate dip, Mamee Monster, Wang Zai Ball Cakes 旺仔小馒头 with 'bangle candy' on top, and raspberry ripple ice cream topped with biscuit piring wafer]

My Dad still stocks Yan Yan in his snacks cabinet! The chocolate biscuit snack continues to taste as good even after so many years. 

And with Mamee Monster, it is easy to tell who is a newbie at eating this snack. The newbies immediately open the pack and add the seasoning. The experienced Mamee-eaters will crush the noodles before opening the pack, then add the seasoning, and grabbing the top, shake it lightly so the seasoning spreads out evenly. :D

Wang zai biscuits and "bangle candy" (or what my fiancé calls "imitation M&Ms") have also not lost their charm. Adults and kids alike love the 旺仔小馒头 and I think they are very addictive because I can never get sick of eating them. 

And finally, I topped the raspberry ripple ice cream with 'biscuit piring wafer' which I had cut up - it usually comes in round sheets like crispy popiah skins, in three colors.


{ Giveaway }

One lucky winner will receive this entire box of goodies, including my favorite Super Ring snack, Hello Kitty PEZ candy from Taiwan, a Push Pop, Wang Wang biscuits, Apollo wafers, and more! :D

You can also win this for a friend! :)


All you need to do is comment on this blogpost and tell me what your favorite childhood snack is, irregardless of whether I have featured it in this post. :)

Winner announcement on 30th June 2014. Good luck!

64 comments:

  1. mamee monster noodle...i still eat it on n off nowadays with my kids!
    jaime chan

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  2. I love the Super Ring & Dorameon Choco!!!!
    Celyn Huang

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    1. You'll be sad to know that doraemon and tora choco balls are no longer chocoballs. Bought both recently and they switch to just 2 pieces of yucky, punk cough syrup flavoured hard candy.

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  3. My Favourite was 旺旺! It's Savoury Soy Sause, sweet & crunchy taste always reminds me of my days as a child! Awesome Rice Crackers!

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  4. Ovaltine sweet is my favourite.

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  5. I love Super Ring, its still one of my favourite snack till today!! =)

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  6. Apollo is my favourite. I remember my mum only give me 30 cents during school time. Then I have to safe the money until Friday so I have extra money to buy more Apollo and eat together with my sibling. I miss those whenever I see Apollo. ��

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  7. My favourite is the Pola snack! I still stock this in my office drawer...LOL!
    Wen Hwei

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  8. My favourite is the Super Ring. I remembered my grandma would buy me the small 20 cents pack for me as a kid whenever she brought me to the playground so that I can have it while playing outside. :)

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  9. spotted a couple of the old school snacks that I've always loved and still eating them, e.g. pineapple jam biscuit, Yan Yan biscuit fingers, iced gem biscuit. But there's one that I really missed a lot, Kaka, but maybe it is too old for you to know :P

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  10. My favourite has always been Super Ring! Even now, I still crave for the cheesy taste of Super Rings! :D So yummy! But I always feel guilty after eating it! But it taste so good! :) I still remember the times when I ate Super Rings during school trip to Litlle India or Botanic Garden! HAHA So nostalgic~ ^^

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  11. Loved Mamee Noodles and Twisties!

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  12. I love haw flakes. I remembered I referred to them as "20 cent coin" sweet, and mum would understood what I meant.

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  13. I loved the 旺旺 rice crackers snack and the Mamee noodle snack.. =)

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  14. I like the lemon tablets. Used to buy a packet of 5 and savour it during class to keep myself awake in the poly days. Now they even have different flavours available, like lemon mint tablets wrapped in green wrapper. Those were the days!

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  15. i love the iced gem biscuits and 'ding ding' candy!!

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  16. My favourite is bee bee, it was selling at my school canteen at 10cents per pack.those were the days.

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  17. My favourite ! Bobdog Candy! Sweet tooth !

    Always fake it like a cigarette, placing it at the lips. *Smoking gesture*.

    So fun & so yummy ! :)

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  18. Apollo cost only 20 cents in my era and i always smuggle it to the class room. Delicious and cheap!

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  19. i love mamee noodle snack! not only then but now as well! yummy!

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  20. Waaah! CHEESE BALLS my favorite! <3

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  21. My favourite will be the beebee snack! It used to be just 15 cents a packet and I always buy them after school.

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  22. I love Apollo! It is so yummy and it reminds of Christmas because that has been a regular inside our Christmas stockings.

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  23. I love pola snack..i called it animal biscuits when i was little.i had to save money for a week and buy one pkt at the mamastore and finished it before i reached home. Love the saltish taste.

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  24. My favourite is Yan Yan dipped in strawberry! My mum would always buy me this to bring to the school! Although I didn't have the luxury to buy whatever I wanted, I would be very touched to see that my mum would always try her best to give me in her means. I hope to win the old school snacks for her to reminisce and we'll definitely have many precious memories to share:) Thanks Grace!:) <3

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  25. I love pola snacks... used to get it after school everyday... those were the days... ��������

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  26. Mitsuya Tasty Biscuit Stick will always be my ultimate favourite. Which reminds me, I gotta head down to Sheng Siong to replenish my stock. It smells really fragrant, love it.

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  27. I have always loved chocolate + peanut bars. When I was a child, I bought "Swiss Cups." In my teens, I liked "Chocobot," with a robot drawing on the wrapper. "Choc Nut" has become a popular brand, but I don't like it very much because it's not very chocolaty. "Hany" is dominating the market nowadays and I like it because it has a richer taste. :)

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  28. My favorite childhood snacks are the Sugus fruit candies and the iced gem biscuits! :)

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  29. My favourite snack is the beebee snack. I used to buy it on my way home from school as there is a mama shop under the HDB flat near it.

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  30. My favorite childhood snack was zebzeb corn puff. i used to get it every time my mom or dad gave me a 1 peso coin then.

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  31. my fave from the list is the push pop! Something else which is not there is anakmas, I think its an indonesian noodle snack with lots of flavor variations. that, and superman wafer, I like it better than apollo :)

    judithchen@live.com

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  32. I like Pocky chocolate and strawberry the best thing in snacks!

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  33. Pineapple Jam biscuits...all time favorite...

    Awesome giveaway ...Nothing could be more precious then childhood memories..

    Thanks

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  34. mamee monster noodle!! still eating them even i'm 22! nice!

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  35. Mamee monster! I loved the curry one, but it's no more now... Used to be 25¢ each when I was in pri school... In the 80s.

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  36. My all time favourite Yan Yan Chocolate Biscuits...even till now i am still buying and eating it..enjoying with my kids :D

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  37. my fave snack when i was a kid was the apollo and the ovaltinees!

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  38. Must be the gems biscuit! I remember eating this with my cousins and only eating the icing and giving the biscuits to my cousins! ^_^

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  39. I like mamee monster noodle! I still keep them at home for junkie time!

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  40. The yummy Pocky chocolate which I still love it now.

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  41. My favorite childhood snack is "HIRO" chocolate cake !

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  42. Wang Wang as it was eaten every weekend,seaweed for weekdays.

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  43. My fav childhood snack is xiao man tou.. when i was still a kid, my parents will buy the xiao man tou from the old skool biscuit tin where the shop owner will scoop the xiao man tou out into a bag and weigh it on the scale.. I will just take one and put it in my mouth without biting it... but just suck it like a sweet and let it melt.. LOL.. that was my fav childhood snack~♥

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  44. My favourite snack was HIRO chocolate cake, cause it was cheap (used to be 30cents) & could only afford it at that time for recess.

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  45. I love the simple snacks and titbits from Kinos, a Malaysian snack manufacturing company established way back in 1982. e.g. Kaka, Tora and Ding Dang

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  46. Do you remember Hiro Chocolate Cake? I love eating that in my younger days. It's only $0.50 back then. I found it few years back, the wrapper remains the same, But the chocolate cake size shrink a lot.
    Another one is Kaka, the one with 2 rooster picture on it. This is a MSG-laced snack from Malaysia.

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  47. Ding Ding candy is my all time fav sure buy it whenever I see it.

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  48. Polar snacks ! Snacks that brings me back memories of my childhood. Everytime where i will just bug my parents to buy for me to eat and also to fight with my brother to eat it . Cause these childhood sweets and tidbits are simply awesome, and nice ! Something that makes me remember of my time !!! It's cheap and even recess time i will just eat it ! <3

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