Toa Payoh's Lorong 6 Dragon and Shuang Lin

Toa Payoh was Singapore's first HDB town, the public-housing kind most Singaporeans grow up in, and it still works like one. The town centre sits around HDB Hub, and behind the blocks of flats there's a monastery from 1902. Our pick is one slow morning here. Eat breakfast at Lorong 8, climb the terrazzo dragon on Lorong 6 before the sun reaches it, then take your shoes off at Shuang Lin. The only catch is the town park.

Toa Payoh Town Park covers 4.8 hectares at the corner of Lorong 2 and Lorong 6, lorong being the Malay word for lane, and it's where couples posed for wedding photos through the 1970s. NParks has closed it for redevelopment until 2030. The dragon everyone still photographs isn't in the park, though. It's an HDB playground on Lorong 6, and it's still standing.

Breakfast at Lorong 8

Toa Payoh Lorong 8 at 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh is the hawker centre, a hall of small cooked-food stalls, where the surrounding blocks eat. There are about 80 stalls plus a wet market selling fresh fish and vegetables, and it reopened after a two-month renovation in late 2025. Braddell MRT is closer than Toa Payoh for this one. Take Exit C toward Lorong 2 and it's a walk through the neighbourhood.

Each stall keeps its own days, so check the one you want before you plan around it. Nine Stone Avenue Seletar Sheng Mian & Mee Hoon Kway at #01-05 typically cooks from 6am to 2pm and rests on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Hai Kee Noodle at #01-59 is typically open 8am to 3pm and closed on Tuesdays. Da Lao Fried White Kway Teow at #01-23 typically runs from 8am to 1.30am, closed on Fridays, which makes it the one for supper, the late meal after dinner.

Monday suits this whole morning, since all three stalls typically cook that day and Shuang Lin opens daily. We'd eat around 7am, then walk over to the dragon. When you're done, return your tray to the rack. Kim Keat Palm Market at Block 22 Lorong 7 is a different centre, and NEA has closed it for repairs and redecoration until 13 December, so if your map sends you there, carry on to Lorong 8. Any HDB town runs on the same rhythm, and the HDB Heartland Walk is the self-led version: pick one town, say Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio or Tampines, and wander from a void deck, the open ground floor under each block, to the market, the town park and a kopitiam, the neighbourhood coffee shop.

The dragon on Lorong 6

The dragon stands in front of Block 28 on Lorong 6, across the road from SAFRA Toa Payoh at 293 Lorong 6. It went up in 1979, designed by HDB architect Khor Ean Ghee: a terrazzo head with a slide in its mouth and a body of coloured rings. It's one of the last playgrounds in the country with a dragon design, and a smaller version of the design stands at the Ang Mo Kio Dragon Playground on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. The dragon that used to sit on the town park's wedding lawn is gone.

We'd get there around 9am, while the rings are still empty and before the heat settles in. It's sand and full sun with very little shade, so bring water. If a child is with you, they'll be up the dragon's head before you've got your camera out. If you grew up here, you'll want the photo anyway. From Toa Payoh MRT, take Exit A and walk eight to 10 minutes along Lorong 6 toward SAFRA. Exit A's signs also point to the town park, but that's the closed one.

With a pram or a wheelchair, note that Exit D is the station's only dedicated barrier-free exit, while Exits A, B and C share a lift near Block 500 Lorong 6. Breakfast and the dragon sit nearer different stations, but Braddell and Toa Payoh are only one stop apart on the North-South Line.

Shuang Lin behind Block 26

Lian Shan Shuang Lin at 184 Jalan Toa Payoh is Singapore's oldest Buddhist monastery and a National Monument. It was founded in 1898 and built from 1902, and its Hall of Celestial Kings and Mahavira Hall were gazetted in 1980. It's free and open daily from 8am to 5pm, and Cheng Huang Temple on the same grounds keeps the same hours. The monastery office opens 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, and it's closed on Sundays.

We'd arrive around 10am, after the dragon, so you're done before the midday heat. It's a working monastery, so dress modestly and take your shoes off before you step into the halls. Photography isn't allowed inside the Mahavira Hall.

From Toa Payoh MRT, take Exit A or B, catch bus 230M, 235 or 238 at the interchange and ride four stops to Opp Blk 26. Cross the road and follow the walkway near Blk 27. If you'd rather walk from the station, it's 15 to 20 minutes on foot through the estate.

Chong Yang, the autumn festival when families honour their ancestors, falls on 18 October, and Shuang Lin marks it at the columbarium from 8am to 4.30pm. It's a family occasion rather than a sightseeing one. If your visit lands on it, give the columbarium to the families and keep to the main halls.

Sensory Park and Kidz Amaze

Toa Payoh Sensory Park on Lorong 5 is a short stop for little ones, with a fountain and sculptures, and the Blk 75 hawker centre is a short walk away for a snack before or after. Pair it with Lorong 8 and the dragon and a small child has had a very full morning.

When the rain comes in, Kidz Amaze at SAFRA Toa Payoh is the indoor playground across the road from the dragon. Entry is walk-in with no reservation, and adults pay S$5. Bring socks. It opens 1pm to 7pm on weekdays and 10am to 9pm on weekends and public holidays, so on a weekday it's an afternoon plan after lunch at Lorong 8.

Grass after the incense

If you still want a lawn after Shuang Lin, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is where NParks points people while the town park is closed. It covers 62 hectares along about 3km of restored river and is open 24 hours. The Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 entrance is five minutes on foot from Bright Hill MRT. We'd go after 5pm, once the heat has eased. The river gets a walk of its own in Bishan River.

If the morning has left a child with questions about faith, Harmony Centre at Masjid An-Nahdhah in Bishan is an interfaith gallery and a good place to take them. Call ahead before you go, and dress modestly, as you did for Shuang Lin. It's a short hop north, which makes it an easy afternoon after a morning here.

For a second monastery, Kong Meng San at 88 Bright Hill Road is also five minutes from Bright Hill MRT, and photography isn't allowed indoors. It needs a morning of its own, and Monasteries Behind the Blocks sets the two side by side.

Balestier's bak kut teh, a white-pepper pork-rib soup, is one road west, along with a villa that's closed until 2027, and the Balestier walk covers both. Before you go, though, walk back along Lorong 6 for one last look at the dragon. The town has pulled down plenty around it since 1979, and it's still there with a slide in its mouth.