Reminiscing the pastel tinted memories of the Singapore ice cream man.
To all the Ice-cream Uncles in Singapore, thank you for creating such wonderful childhood memories for us. Seeing the yellow-and-red umbrella never fails to put a smile on our faces after a long day of school. We'll always be a kid when we see your ice-cream kart.
My Childhood
The anticipation everytime the minute hand creeps nearer to 12 just right before the school bell rings. The internal monologue of “ready, get set, grab your bags and go!” Charging out of the school gate and looking forward to seeing the man with a cart under the yellow-and-red umbrella, rain or shine, he’ll be there. He is the Ice Cream Man Uncle!!
Oo! The fond childhood memories of mine. Just thinking about it reminds me of the bold and pastel colours in the menu; with sooo many ice cream flavours. It’s like walking to a candy store as a kid, or in this case, under the umbrella of the ice cream cart. The flavours range from the usual vanilla, chocolate and ice cream to more exotic flavours like blueberry ripple, red bean and durian.
Need help with going down the memory lane with memories that come in pastel hues?
I’ll be taking you on a jaunt of the three different ways you can enjoy the ice cream sold by the ice-cream uncle.
The Wafer Biscuit
The huge block of ice cream slides in between two pieces of light brown rectangular-shaped wafer. It is really crispy on the first few bites and gives a slight crunch. However, nothing can beat the sun in this tropical island, not even the ice cream. After a while, I mean just a short while, the ice cream starts to melt and soaks into the thin wafer causing it to become soggy and a bit rubbery when eaten. So you better bring your ‘A’ game and push through the pain of brain freeze before your ice cream comes a puddle of water or find a cool place to have it.
The Cup
Having your ice cream in a cup would be considered ‘basic’ because with all the other options, why this? But the cup truly allows you to fully enjoy the taste of your chosen ice cream. Another perk would be not having to worry that you’ll get your hands dirtied as the cup collects all your ice cream drips. This is definitely the most convenient way of eating the ice cream but what’s the fun in that?!
The Rainbow Bread
To me, this is the best way to get the full experience of what eating ice cream bought from the ice cream uncle is like. The block of ice cream is wrapped in a slice of fluffy bread with pink and yellow swirls. The unique-looking bread is known as the rainbow bread because of the various colour patterns on it. It might be an unfamiliar texture to those who have not had it, but I’ll try my best to describe it.You can taste both the light and soft bread as well as the chilled ice cream on the first bite. When the ice cream starts to melt, the bread absorbs it and you’ll get moist bread. It might sound nasty, but trust me. It’s quite similar to the insides of a larva cake. It’ll also be the perfect time to feast on the bread as you get to enjoy both of 2 worlds! Most importantly, not a single drop of ice cream will be wasted.
Our Appreciation
These traditional ice cream uncles still exist in the streets of Singapore but the number of them has been slowly dwindling as it is definitely not an easy job for them especially during the pandemic.
The ice cream usually supplied from the brand Magnolia so the ice cream uncles have to ride their bikes early in the morning to collect the blocks of ice creams from the factory. They also have to prepare other things like dry ice. Despite the weather, they always wait for us outside our schools and their only goal in mind is to make us happy after a long day at school. Furthermore, selling these ice cream does not guarantee a stable income for them as one block of ice cream only costs $1.50.
Hence, if you ever come across an ice cream uncle, do support them and at the same time, rekindle your childhood memories by enjoying the refreshing traditional ice cream!
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