two numbers

Weekend again (the same weekend as in the previous post), we were at the food centre at Chinatown complex looking for something to eat. Singaporeans' popular food, chicken rice, can be found at several stalls. Fish-head meehoon and steamed fish-head are also popular dishes at this centre.

Then we saw a stall with the name 五五廿五. It sells fish-ball mee. This number 5525 and another number 6636 seem to stick to my mind.

6636 was the car number of a former colleague. It came out first prize and I heard he won quite a big sum.

5525 was the car number of a retired school principal. I couldn't remember if it came out in any 4-D draws. What I remember was there was a staff function there was a game in which prizes were given and one of the questions was 'What is the principal's car number?'.

Several hands were raised and those who answered said "5525". Wrong, said the compere, you have to say the letters on the left and right of the number too, otherwise the principal will be unhappy. Surprisingly, many did not know the letters. Finally one young man got it right.

5525 and 6636 are also quite unique. They have 3 same digits and the number formed by the last 2 digits is the product of the first 2 digits. ( 5 x 5 = 25, 6 x 6 = 36 )

If you have not been to this food centre before or if you are a foreigner thinking of coming here, here is a little information for you:

The food centre is at the second level of Chinatown Complex which is facing the Buddha Tooth and Relic Temple, a tourist attraction. It is quite big with a few sections and there is a wide variety of Chinese food. If you come during evening peak hours on weekends, most likely you will have to wait for half an hour or more if you order dishes at some well-known restaurant-type stalls.

That was how long we waited for the food - pork rib king, fish slices fried with vegetable and braised sea cucumber with mushrooms and toufu. (There were only two of us.)