Growing up in Singapore meant that an endless array of candy and snacks was never too far away. We revisit some of our favourites.
1. Apollo Milk Chocolate Wafer Cream
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Despite its very poor wafer to chocolate ratio (a weird, oily chocolate at that) its low cost meant that we could have 10 of them for every block of Cadbury.
2. Apollo Stick Wafers
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With an outer shell that melted in your mouth (and then stuck to the roof of it), and a chocolate filling that could find success if repackaged as a knock-off Nutella, one pack was never enough.
3. Choki Choki
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If Koko Krunch wasn’t enough to satisfy your koala mascot fix, there was Choki Choki. Chewing on plastic was never more enjoyable.
4. Cup Jelly
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So addictive were cup jellies that many of us had near-death experiences by partially inhaling them while rushing through a packet.
5. Ding Dang and Tora
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Who could forget those low-budget ads between cartoons on TV3? Sure, the chocolates were disappointing and the toys never worked as well as they did on TV, but back before Kinder Surprise, this was joy defined.
6. Haw Flakes
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Though most kids had no idea what a “haw” was (it’s the fruit of the hawthorn tree, from the same family as apples, pears and quinces) they were certain of one thing. You didn’t eat these one disk at a time, you tore open the paper wrapper and ate the whole stack all at once.
7. Hiro Choc Cake
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When faced with a deplorable school canteen meal, you could always count on Hiro to come to the rescue.
8. Ice (Ais) Gems
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More commonly known as “the small biscuits with swirls of icing on top”, this humble confection has provided memories for generations while inspiring debates on the best way to eat them – do you nibble on the icing first and then the biscuit? Or do you just throw the whole thing in your mouth?
9. Magic Rocks
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How do you take popping candy to another level? You add a lollipop. Why it was shaped like a foot remains a mystery though; a clever play on the idiom “put your foot in your mouth” perhaps?
10. Milo Nuggets
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From chocolate bars to those trucks that dispensed the beverage at sports days across the island, Milo was the drink that kept on giving. While not the prettiest looking things, Milo Nuggets made up for looking like animal droppings by providing a delicious dose of malty goodness.
11. Ovaltine and Horlicks Sweets
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A healthy sweet that followed our boys into National Service, you’d spend a minute eating it and half-an-hour trying to clean its remnants from your teeth.
12. Piring Wafer
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No respectable mama shop would be complete without these massive pastel-coloured wafers with a vague durian flavour.
13. Push Pops
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Back in the simpler times of the 90s, germs and saliva contamination were the furthest things from our minds, and who didn’t enjoy having sticky fingers? The number of bullies thwarted by the slogan “Don’t push ME, push a Push Pop!” is probably the same as the number of successful proposals made with Ring Pops, though.
14. WARHEADS
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WARHEADS were so sour they made your eyelids curl, but before you knew it, they suddenly turned sweet. That’s probably a good metaphor for life… or something. There was a hot version as well which was a bit of a joke for the Singaporean palate. For those who really enjoyed punishing themselves, WARHEADS also came in spray form.
15. Whistle Candy
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The wonder we got from whistle candies could only be undone by the disappointment of realising you couldn’t make noises with Polo mints.
16. White Rabbit Creamy Candy
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Never mind the melamine. No scandal could ever taint our love for the magical dissolving rice paper wrapper and the creamy block of chewy candy within.
17. Yan Yan
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Somehow or other, the makers of Yan Yan never included enough biscuit sticks to use up all the cream they provided; a problem that was easily solved with one swoop of a finger.
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