here's the hidden gems
in Toa Payoh!
Episode 1: Toa Payoh Town Park
Developed in the seventies, Toa Payoh Town Park was a popular venue for wedding couples, especially those who wished to capture the style and fashion of the seventies. With a large pavilion, landscaped pond, rustic-looking gazebos and amenities such as open-concept restrooms, the park still retains its charm and beauty, and is a great place for families to gather for recreation.
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Families can take an enjoyable stroll or jog around the park on the brightly coloured pathways. Alternatively, they can sit at the gazebos under the willow trees and admire the cascading pools at the edge of the pond, the fountain pool around the observation tower and the trellises with climbing plants.
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Toa Payoh Town Park is located at the junction of Toa Payoh Lor 2 and Toa Payoh Lor 6. It is just a 5 minute walk from Toa Payoh MRT, and the Bus stop ID is 52009. There are various venues at Toa Payoh Town Park including the Open Lawn, the Pavilion and the Wisteria Trellis.
The Open Lawn at Toa Payoh Town Park is a good place for holding mini-ball games, teambuilding sessions or just playing a game of Frisbee. The Pavilion at Toa Payoh Town Park is an ideal venue for those who are looking to host a wedding, team building session or a birthday party. Located just next to the cascading waterfall in Toa Payoh Town Park, the Wisteria Trellis is suitable for holding activities such as tai chi, qigong, or yoga.
Episode 2: Playgrounds in Toa Payoh
The first playground we will be talking about is the dragon shaped sand-based playground used to be a popular design for playgrounds in Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh.
After 1993, they were phased out due to safety concerns and it is believed that this Dragon Playground located at Blk 28 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 is the only one of its kind left in Singapore!
It was designed in 1979 by Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) in-house designer Khor Ean Ghee (born 1935), who got his inspiration from the Oriental dragon commonly seen among the Chinese community in Singapore.
Beside the majestic dragon, there are two little plastic rides in the shapes of a seahorse and a pony for children to sit on.
The long body of the dragon is made of steel rails which form a passage for kids to get to the dragon head. Using the slide, kids can descend from the dragon head to the sandy ground.
Hidden near the famous Dragon playground in Toa Payoh is a T-rex guarding her eggs with her playful baby dinosaur.
The dinosaur playground consists of a huge brown tyrannosaurus, about 3m tall, with five white eggs by its side. Standing nearby is a smaller tyrannosaurus, likely portrayed to be its child. The kids who are daring enough, can climb up the back of the fierce-looking dinosaur.
In this old playground also lies a green platform in the shape of a stegosaurus. Different from other “normal” playgrounds, there are no swings, slides or monkey bars in this playground which sits quietly at old Kim Keat Ville.
The dinosaur playground in front of Block 27, Kim Keat Avenue was a project undertaken in 2000 by Hong Hai Environmental Art Private Limited, whose works also included the Teapot and Mushroom playground at Woodlands, and the seahorse and swordfish sculptures at Marine Parade.
You can get here by taking buses 57, 235 and 238.
Episode 3: Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery
This breathtaking monastery was established in 1898 and inspired by the Xi Chang Shi temple in Fuzhou, China. Two majestic gates frame the entrance, while further to the right is a seven-storey pagoda adorned with carvings. Inside the complex, shaded pathways lead from bonsai-filled courtyards to the monastery's three main halls, of which the Mahavira Hall is the most spectacular.
The Buddhist temple was built on a 40,000 square metres site owned by Low Kim Pong, a wealthy Chinese Hokkien merchant and devout Buddhist.
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To the left of the monastery stands the weathered Cheng Huang Temple, dedicated to the Town God, administrator of justice in the netherworld. The main hall was built in 1912, its thick beams stained from decades of incense smoke.
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The monastery and temple are about a 1km walk east of Toa Payoh MRT station. And you can take buses 57, 235, 238 and 535 to reach here as well.