14 things only ’90s kids in Singapore will remember

Nineties kids: our childhood is the best.

After all, we’re the kids who have gone through life when dial-up Internet was the norm and went on to conquer broadband internet, smart phones, and streaming platforms in the same lifetime.

And as ’90s kids who grew up in Singapore, our shared memories make us a unique breed compared to the rest of the world. As a tribute to our nation’s 57th birthday, let’s check off this list and see how many items on here you can relate to.

1. Rainbow-coloured Paddle Pop

“Paddle Pop, Paddle Pop, super duper yummy!”

Pretty sure you sang it in your head when you saw these words.

The pastel rainbow Paddle Pop was ahead of its time – we were already fans of this ice cream in the ’90s before its aesthetics became cool in the 2010s. Well, the ’90s kids were cool before unicorns were cool.

2. Milo Dinosaur

milo dinosaur
Credit: Bonkers The Clown / Wikimedia Commons

Every Singaporean kid knows Milo, but at some point, you’ll find that iced Milo is basic, so you zhng it to a Milo Dinosaur – and it’s life-changing.

Psst, foodpanda’s grocery delivery service, pandamart, has collaborated with local artisanal ice cream brand The Ice Cream & Cookie Co to bring back the Milo Dinosaur Ice Cream. Read till the end to find out how you can get your hands on it!

3. Gem biscuits

 

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Whether you prefer to eat the icing bit first or the biscuit first, there’s no doubt that gem biscuits are the poster boy for our favourite childhood snacks.

Craving for some gem biscuits now? Here’s a tip: you can get it on Chapalangdiam, which sells old school snacks. Have it delivered to your doorstep within the hour through foodpanda shops, an online marketplace by foodpanda that has a ton of your favourite brands, such as Guardian, Watsons, Xiaomi, and Miniso.

 

4. Potato Wheel Snack

Potato Wheel Cracker 1

These addictive snacks are great for sharing and fun to eat. There’s really nothing else that’s quite like it; we loved it as kids and still enjoy it now.

Potato Wheel crackers can be quite hard to find in stores these days, but did you know that you can get them from Brightfields? It is available on pandamart, foodpanda’s grocery delivery service that delivers as fast as 30 minutes upon order, 24/7. Talk about instant gratification!

5. Five stones

You’ve either bought yours from the school bookshop or got your mum to make them for you.

Either way, the five tiny fabric cushions are always in your pockets so you can whip them out for a game with your friends before the school assembly in the morning or during recess.

6. Zero Point

You spend all that time collecting rubber bands, trying to make the sturdiest and longest rope – and eventually you have a rep for being the “Zero Point” person that everyone would invite for games because they know you have the best rope in school.

Watch the video above to refresh your memories of the rules of this game.

7. Tamagotchi

tamagotchi

A keychain-sized virtual pet, Tamagotchi was what the cool kids in the ’90s played with. The objective was to raise an egg into an adult creature and it requires the player’s care for it to “grow”.

You attach it to your pencil case or your pocket and you’ll remember that sweet beeping sound reminding you to take care of it, taking away all the attention you should in fact be ploughing into your school work instead.

And after all that fuss, all ’90s kids will still one day go through the “tragedy” of waking up to find our tamagotchi pet “dead”!

8. MSN messenger

MSN Messenger was launched in 1999 and it was revolutionary.

Before, when we wanted to contact our friends, we called their residential phone. And then MSN messenger came about and we could chat with our friends for hours online.

Remember going offline then online again hoping to get the attention of your crush so he/she would message you first?

Or putting up a cryptic message or sharing the songs you’re listening to as your status, so you can have a conversation-starter?

We’re also very sure the “Contact online” and “New message” sound notifications still give you the fuzzy feeling today. Listen to them:

9. Nokia 3210

Nokia_3210
Credit: Michael Brandtner / Wikimedia Commons

Along with MSN Messenger came Nokia 3210 – the first mass market phone without an external antenna and was priced affordably so every teenager could finally own a phone that our parents didn’t mind getting for us.

Besides having a sleek, cool phone that we can now text (all kinds of cute forwarded messages) to our friends, it is also preinstalled with Snake (and other games, but we only played Snake anyway) that we spent hours playing and made it our personal goal to have the snake fill up the entire screen. That earned us bragging rights.

10. Netscape Navigator

Netscape_Navigator
Credit: Indolering / Wikimedia Commons

This was the first web browser we used, along with our dial-up connection, in the early ’90s. Google, who?

11. Autograph books

We passed them around the class to let everyone own a page where they share anything they want.

Usually, we jot down our personal details, contact details, and maybe a cheesy poem or two about friendship.

Birds fly high, hard to catch… if you can complete this, you’re a ’90s kid. Sorry, couldn’t make this one rhyme.

12. Class t-shirts / jerseys

 

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At some point, someone in class will suggest that you create a class t-shirt or “jersey” as a way to encourage team bonding or so that you can all wear it together for a certain event you’re attending.

You’ll appoint the most artistic person in your class to design it. He/she may do a caricature of each person in class or design a class emblem, along with a class slogan.

Who knows – you may still have it somewhere in your wardrobe and wear it as pyjamas today.

13. Britney Spears vs Christina Aguilera

You were either team Britney or team Christina – there’s no two ways about it.

While the two pop divas aren’t quite the same now as how we remembered them back in the days, we have to admit that we still have a soft spot for them in our hearts. After all, their songs have been on repeat in our Discman for a very long time.

For old time’s sake, here are their music videos we’re sure you’ll enjoy, whichever team you may belong to.

14. Neoprints

You might remember the Neoprint machines that were everywhere in the neighbourhood and that huge store at Heerens that had all of the latest and coolest Neoprint machines to check out.

For anything between S$4 to S$10, you posed and took photos with your friends, typed or handwrote a message, and printed out these precious photos, which you would then cut and share among those in the photos.

These were also momentos you’d paste in your letters and all over the inside of your wallets.

Celebrate what makes us Singaporean with these foodpanda deals

While we can’t turn back time, we can still celebrate the little things that make Singapore home, truly. foodpanda is here to give you everything you need this National Day month, including an abundance of local offerings that you can savour and enjoy.

Enjoy huge discounts in August

CRAVE
CRAVE nasi lemak

In celebration of National Day, you’ll get to enjoy up to 57% off selected categories or 30% off the full menu from selected restaurants when you order on foodpanda.

Restaurants include local favourites such as CHICHA San Chen, Swensen’s, Toastbox, Crave, and Makisan.

This promotion is valid from 11 to 31 August. Start ordering here.

Get free delivery when you order from hawker centres

foodpanda hawker centres

Feast on your favourite hawker dishes all delivered to your doorstep as foodpanda is offering free delivery for hawker centres between 22 and 28 August.

Best part? You can mix-and-match among stalls that are located within the same hawker centre, and have them within the same order so they are delivered altogether at once.

This is available with a minimum spend of S$25. No code required. Start ordering here.

Get your Milo Dinosaur fix

Milo Dinosaur ice cream

pandamart has collaborated with local artisanal ice cream brand The Ice Cream & Cookie Co to bring back a popular exclusive flavour – Pau-Pau Milo Dinosaur Ice Cream. The ’90s kid in you won’t be able to resist this delectable treat!

Psst, every purchase comes with a free pandamart ice cream spoon too!

Exclusively available on pandamart, while stocks last. Start ordering here.

This article is brought to you by foodpanda.