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Art Deco flats, a Monkey God, hawker breakfast and very good croissants.
About 3.5 hours, under 2 km and flat. Start at 09:00 at Tiong Bahru Market for a hawker breakfast, then loop the 1930s estate: a Monkey God temple, murals, a gift shop and more bakeries than is sensible. Shops open around 10:00. Ends with lunch and a glass at Merci Marcel.
Tiong Bahru · $ · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Start where the estate shops. The hawker floor is upstairs; downstairs the morning wet market is at full volume until late morning.
From Tiong Bahru MRT walk east on Tiong Bahru Road (8 min), or use Havelock MRT. Go for chwee kueh or lor mee, then a kopi.
Tiong Bahru · Free · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A bird-singing corner, a market with a fortune teller, and a cutaway of a family home, painted in 2016 on the walls of three blocks.
Start beside Block 71 on Seng Poh Lane, then cut through to Eng Watt Street and Tiong Poh Road. The three walls are a minute apart.
Tiong Bahru · Free · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Sun Wukong, hero of Journey to the West, gets his own shrine here. It began as an attap hut on a taro patch across the street.
A working temple, so keep voices low and photos discreet. Look for the monkey figures on the altar before you leave.
Order: A square sourdough doughnut
Tiong Bahru · $ · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A small bakery-café in Eng Hoon Mansions. The doughnuts are square and leavened with a starter over a decade old; sourdough sandwiches too.
Across the road from the Monkey God temple. Flavours rotate, so ask which batch is freshest, and split one if Jie Bakery is next.
Order: Old-school buns
Tiong Bahru · $ · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
The other side of the estate's bakery scene: pillowy buns, sandwich loaves and breakfast sets at neighbourhood prices.
At the top of Eng Hoon Street on Outram Road. Buns are cheap enough to buy three and decide later.
Order: Butter croissant and kouign amann
Tiong Bahru · $$ · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Mon–Fri 07:30–20:00; Sat–Sun 08:00–20:00
The estate's own branch of a bakery now found across town. Flaky croissants and laminated pastries under an old block's colonnade.
The queue moves fast; order at the counter and eat on the five-foot way. Merci Marcel next door is where this walk ends.
Tiong Bahru · Free · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A shady garden where residents sit and chat, built around a sculpture of a dancing girl. It is a stop on the official heritage trail.
Rest your legs on a bench. From here you can see the low, rounded walk-up blocks the estate is famous for.
Tiong Bahru · Free · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Hours unknown, check before you go
Built from the 1930s by the colonial housing trust, these walk-ups were Singapore's first public flats: curved balconies, spiral stairs.
Walk Moh Guan Terrace to Block 78, the horseshoe; a 1930s air-raid shelter lies beneath it. See the spiral stairs from the back lanes.
Tiong Bahru · $$ · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Tue–Thu 10:00–19:00; Fri–Sat 10:00–20:00; Sun, Mon & public holidays 10:00–18:00
A gift shop with taste: Singapore-designed prints, notebooks, ceramics, books and plenty of cats, at the top of Yong Siak Street.
Good for gifts that are not keychains. Its sister shop is on Joo Chiat Road if you head east later in the week.
Order: A cupcake and a flat white
Tiong Bahru · $$ · MRT Tiong Bahru (EW17)
Daily 07:30–19:00 (hot food last orders 15:50)
The brand's biggest shop, with a garden terrace. Cupcakes, brunch plates and a shelf of its own grocer line to take home.
Hot food stops at 15:50; cakes go all day. Take a cupcake for the road if you are saving room for lunch.
Order: Fish or mixed pork porridge
Tiong Bahru · $ · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Hours unknown, check before you go
A corner coffeeshop for smooth Cantonese congee topped with fish, pork or century egg. Simple, filling and very local.
Order the fish or mixed pork porridge, plus a you tiao (fried dough stick) to dunk. A cheap lunch before the last stop.
Tiong Bahru · $$$ · MRT Havelock (TE16)
Sun–Mon 08:00–21:30; Tue–Thu 08:00–22:00; Fri–Sat 08:00–23:00
Brunch by day and apéro by evening, with a glasshouse patio on Eng Hoon Street. Cheese boards, wine and long lunches.
Ask for the roadside terrace or the garden patio. A glass of white and a cheese board is the right way to close the loop.
Unofficial · not affiliated with TOKEN2049. Hours and prices change; check before you go.