For the benefit of the rest reader, here is his reply;
“1. The fish aqaurium is on the left arrow of the old photo. The bicycle shop is on the right arrow. The positions correspond to today’s backlane. In other words the new backlane which seems to extend from Joo Chiat Road to Marshall Road is a new construction. In the old days the backlane extended only up to the fish aquarium. To the left of the blue car was the staircase leading to Solid Gold Health Center on the second floor. I remember there was Ivory Health Center at GRTH – what it stands for I only can speculate to be Grand Rubber Trading House owned by Datuk Ng Quee Lam (maybe I am wrong on the name). On the second floor but going up by another staircase (nearer to Onan Road side) was a pools bar operated by my classmate Dennis Foo of St James Power Station around 1978.

The entry from Onan Road was for cars but people who lived in Joo Chiat also took this short-cut to get to East Coast Road. If you look at the condo today, to the left of the condo main entrance was the big carpark I referred to. The small carpark and TBG supermarket/departmental store is to the right. The demarcation of the fence and the backlane is the same as in the good old days. If I am not wrong it was $1 per entry and then rising to $1.50.”

Here is the photo;
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2058/2239891369_15613bc34a.jpg?v=0