Wednesday 14 October 2009

Jalan Wijaya, Century Gardens, Johore Bahru

From 1965 to 1968, we lived at 103 Jalan Wijaya, Century Gardens, Johore Bahru. The picture shows my dad and me outside our house beside our Triumph Herald. In the background is a Wanchi Burberry which was the name for the umbrellas that you got over there which were made out of paper, bamboo and fish glue. They certainly smelled strange when it rained!
We had some great times at Jalan Wijaya and many of you would have read about my experiences in my book.
In 1990, on a stopover in Singapore on the way back from Australia, I decided to try and track down our old house. Once across the causeway, we got a taxi but he had no idea where Jalan Wijaya was. We were driving around aimlessly when, suddenly, there was a car crash in front of us and we had to get out. By sheer coincidence, we were right on our old street! It had certainly changed. There used to just be jungle at the end of the road when I was a kid but now there was a shopping centre, a leisure complex and even a Holiday Inn. We found our old house which now looked very run down and had rows of old drinks machines outside. The cold store and shops which were across the road were shabby and one looked burnt out. I wish that I'd had more time to explore and take photos. I often wonder what the area looks like now. I've found it on Google Earth but it's hard to see much. There doesn't appear to be any photos of Jalan Wijaya on the net. I see that the area is now known as Taman Abad. I'd love to go back one day and see what it's all like now and have a good wander around.


103 Jalan Wijaya in 1990

4 comments:

  1. Hey there... i was just surfing the net blindly like i always do when im bored and decided to google my old street for whatever reason.. Jalan Wijaya in Johor. I was born there and lived there till i was 11 when my whole family moved to Perth. Its been 10 years since then and I recently decided to visit our old house. We lived in 20, Jalan Wijaya and it certainly has changed. A lot of great memories though, and I know excalty what you mean about the smell when it rained!

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  2. I lived at 123 Jalan Wijaya and remember your dad.

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  3. I lived there in 1965, my husband was in the Royal Marines, My daughter was born in BMH Singapore....good memories.

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    1. I lived in Centary Gardens JB, my daughter was born in BMH Singapore 1965, and my husband was in the royal marines.









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