Monday, September 15, 2008

hotel 81 rochor



this hotel located at the corner of jalan besar and mayo street used to be a popular drinking place for british soldiers during the pre-war days. today, it is called hotel 81 rochor.

what was its original english name? white house hotel

13 comments:

Icemoon said...

Erm .. Mayo Hotel?

Hey, this place was Kempeitai HQ. Satoru Onishi? used to be in one of the rooms overlooking Jalan Besar stadium. I'm not sure whether you can still do that, today.

Too bad they repainted the place. Doesn't look as "old" anymore.

yg said...

i think the kempeitai hq was at the former ymca. anyway, major onishi satoru featured in this book 'guns of february' by henry fei in which the hotel was mentioned.

Icemoon said...

Yes yes, I loved the book so much that I went to buy it.

It wasnt a HQ strictly, but I think they used it to coordinate the activities at Jalan Besar stadium.

Anonymous said...

the bdlg called "White Horse". anyway 1/2 the bdlg was knocked down to make way for the new Bukit Timah Road through Sungei Road. Opposite White Horse was an Esso Station - now the corner of Rochore Center where got zebra crossing.

Anonymous said...

white horse became Ban Leong Bdlg and now Hotel 81

Lam Chun See said...

I think Peter meant White House.

yg said...

yes, the white house hotel. in hokkien, it was 'pek kiong' and was a landmark of sort for me when i took the bus to bencoolen street.

Victor said...

I thought there's another building by the name of "White House" in Maxwell Road, next to the former Traffic Police Building?

Icemoon - Mayo Street is a long way from Jalan Besar Stadium. Wondering how a room in Mayo Street could have overlooked the stadium.

Icemoon said...

Hmm, in 1942 when buildings were lower, it might be possible. Not exactly that far, only 1 MRT station distance away.

It will be interesting to stay in the room used by the Kempeitai, and try to spot the stadium.

yg said...

victor, you are correct. there is a white house building in maxwell road.

icemoon, i was talking to someone who experienced the japanese occupation and he said that the building could have been one of its branch offices.
yes, if he had been in a room on the top floor, he could have been able to see the stadium.

Anonymous said...

Thanks yg/chun see for the correction. I must have been thinking of "White Label" whisky which has a horse as the corporate logo. Do you diagonally across at Rochore Road was the human waste collection center. Along side was the Singapore-Johore Bus terminus? Now is Foo Lou Shou Complex? The corner modern building was once a sawmill.

Anonymous said...

For the ultimate ''old hotel'' pictures, search www.flickr.com for ''Mitre Hotel''

yg said...

had read about how the owner was not going to sell the mitre hotel in the papers. then, in august, it was reported that he had no choice but to sell the place. i know the hotel is at killiney road but do not exactly where/which part of it.