Food Scene
Toa Payoh is chockfull of delicious eats, easily available at hawker centres, cafes and restaurants. One of the best places to go in Toa Payoh to get a taste of everything is the Town Centre. Some of the popular dining spots in the area include Toa Payoh Lucky Pisang Raja and Hawker Chan.
Shopping
For your everyday shopping needs, Toa Payoh Shopping Mall is the place to be. Conveniently located within Toa Payoh’s Town Centre, there are plenty of shops selling daily necessities.
For more dining options, swing over to Toa Payoh Hub, which is home to restaurants like Crystal Jade Kitchen. There are also a handful of enrichment centres here including Cristofori Music and MindChamps.
Search for properties for sale near Toa Payoh Town Centre and Toa Payoh Hub.
Health and Fitness
Fitness enthusiasts will enjoy the Toa Payoh Sports Centre, which is equipped with a tennis centre, a squash centre, a gymnasium, petanque courts, a sports hall, a stadium, a swimming complex, and more. The Sports Centre, formerly known as Toa Payoh Sports and Recreation Centre, was first built in the early 1970s for the 1973 South East Asian Peninsular Games.
For more options when it comes to sports and recreation pursuits, visit SAFRA Toa Payoh, which comprises various facilities to support your every endeavour, including dance studios, indoor badminton courts, barbecue pits, swimming pools, squash courts, and gaming rooms for mahjong, poker or blackjack.
Nature and Parks
Located at the junction of Toa Payoh Lorong 2 and Toa Payoh Lorong 6, Toa Payoh Town Park is best known for its 25m-tall Observation Tower and willow-fringed ponds. This space possibly brings back lots of memories for many locals as it was often used as a location for wedding shoots in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Observation Tower was built in 1972 and given conservation status by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in December 2009.
Known as the Toa Payoh Town Garden in the 1970s, the park spans 4.8ha of plant and tree life, manmade ponds, bridges, gazebos and trellises, pathways and pavilions. The main tree clusters here include Weeping Willows, Flames of the Forest, Angsanas and Bamboo.
These days, residents still use the park for exercises like tai chi and yoga.
Places of Worship
To meet the religious needs of the burgeoning population of Toa Payoh, a mosque, churches and temples were established in the estate.
Among them is the Masjid Muhajirin mosque, located along 275 Braddell Road. Opened in 1977, the original mosque featured an onion-shaped dome of the Persian-Indian architectural style atop its minaret, and also bore influences from traditional Minangkabau design. In 2006, the mosque was closed for renovations, and the building you see today features a floral (arabesque motif) – a hallmark of Islamic design – on its exterior wall claddings, glass panels, aluminium grilles and indoor carpets.
Another notable religious institution is none other than the United Temple, also known as Wu He Miao (Five United Temples), completed in 1974 to house five different temples founded during Toa Payoh’s kampong era. Located at 177 Toa Payoh Lorong 7, the temple was the first institution in Singapore to bring together temples founded by and catering to the Hokkien, Hainanese, Teochew and Cantonese communities.
A landmark in Toa Payoh, Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, situated at 184E Jalan Toa Payoh, is Singapore’s oldest Buddhist monastery. For their historical and architectural value, the Hall of Celestial Kings and Mahavira Hall here were gazetted as national monuments in 1980.
Lastly, don’t miss the Toa Payoh Seu Teck Sean Tong Temple along Lorong 6; the Sri Vairavimada Kaliamman Temple along Toa Payoh Lorong 8; the Church of the Risen Christ at 91 Toa Payoh Central; and the Toa Payoh Methodist Church.
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With new housing projects, recreational and social spaces planned for Toa Payoh, the estate looks set to become an even more attractive place to live, work and play after the rejuvenation efforts by HDB.
We expect the new housing developments to be much sought-after, given their central location, and the new developments and upgrading works are set to help energise the whole estate and make Toa Payoh even more vibrant for the community.
