I’ve visited Singapore many times. Whether I’m en route to another South-East Asian destination, making a stop before continuing on to Europe, or just having a standalone mini break, I’ll take any opportunity to squeeze in a few days in the Lion City. So much so, my friends joke it might be time I was granted citizenship (I wish).

While I’m still finding new experiences in my tried-and-tested favourites such as Chinatown, Civic District, Little India, Kampong Glam and Gardens by the Bay, I think it’s time to explore a new area.

I like getting out early, while the streets are quiet and before the humidity and heat take hold. And I’m partial to a hawker-market breakfast (roti prata from Ar-Rahman Cafe and Royal Prata at the Tekka Centre in Little India, mm-mm-mmmm).

A local has pointed me in the direction of Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre. This neighbourhood has been on my radar for a while, so her breakfast recommendation is just what’s needed to spur me on to pay it a visit.

My hotel, Grand Park City Hall, is a five-minute walk from City Hall MRT station. With direct MRT connection to the airport, it’s a good area to be based in. Four stops on the East/West (Green) line take me to Tiong Bahru MRT, and after taking Exit A, less than a five-minute walk sees me outside the market.

Developed in the 1930s as Singapore’s first public housing estate, Tiong Bahru’s streets are lined with beautiful examples of pre and postwar heritage-listed Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture. Its buildings feature clean lines, rounded corners, pristine white walls and accents of red and brown.

While the main entrance to the market echoes these themes, this is a newer version of the original market building and actually only dates back to 2006.

There’s a large wet market on the ground level. I enjoy wandering round stalls selling a lovely selection of orchids and cut flowers, and others with an impressive array of fruits and vegetables.

Upstairs it’s a light, airy and spotlessly clean space, with plenty of seating and an excellent selection of hawker stalls to choose from.

The local tip for breakfast is chwee kueh from Jian Bo Shui Kueh. There’s a queue when I arrive, which is always a good sign, as is the cluster of Michelin Bib Gourmand awards displayed on the stall’s window (it’s open from 7am, seven days a week).

It costs me $S3.80 ($4.20) to buy a paper-wrapped parcel of five mini steamed rice cakes topped with deliciously sweet, savoury and spicy preserved radish (cai poh). I wash it down with a very good cup of iced teh tarik from a nearby stall.

Other breakfast-worthy dishes would be fried oyster omelette or chee cheong fun (silky ribbons of rice noodles dunked in hoisin and soy sauces and sesame oil) from Tiong Bahru Fried Oyster Omelette. This stall is only open for breakfast at weekends, otherwise from 12.30pm on weekdays, and closed on Thursdays.

It’s a hard no from me on pig’s organ soup but don’t let me put you off — Koh Brother Pig’s Organ Soup stall was first awarded The Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2019 and has retained it ever since (open from 9.30am every day except Monday).

After breakfast, I set off to explore the neighbourhood. There is a 10-stop guided heritage trail which spans 2.5km around Tiong Bahru. I dip in and out of the trail, but I’m content to meander, soaking up the relaxed atmosphere and enjoying the interesting architecture.

Architect Alfred G. Church designed many of the neighbourhood’s buildings, taking his inspiration from the aerodynamic form of trains, planes and ocean liners. The result is striking apartment buildings with smooth white walls, curved facades and flat roofs, some featuring horizontal “speed lines” of red and brown brickwork and nautical elements such as porthole-shaped windows and spiral external staircases.

An abundance of green tropical vegetation planted along covered walkways outside the buildings softens the edges of the stark white walls. The five-foot ways provide shade as I walk on, noticing interesting details like a window grill filled with trinkets and scraps of paper advertising Alice’s shine and shoe repairs (“cash payment please”, “sport shoe cleaning” and “dog belt repair too”, they say).

Further on I walk under a selection of wooden birdcages suspended from the ceiling. This scene reminds me of Singaporean street artist Yip Yew Chong’s Bird Singing Corner mural, which I find on Seng Poh Lane. Art imitating life, or vice versa? Either way, it’s a scene from a bygone era — birds in cages and their owners sipping kopi (coffee) would have been a common sight outside Tiong Bahru’s kopitiams (coffee shops) when YC was growing up.

YC spent plenty of time playing around the streets of Tiong Bahru when he was a child — his cousins lived here. As an adult, he was drawn to the clean white exterior walls, using them as an outdoor canvas for his paintings. In addition to as Bird Singing Corner, he painted two other murals here.

On Eng Watt Street I find Pasar And the Fortune Teller, his tribute to the area’s hawkers past and present (pasar is Malay for market) and a real-life fortune teller who used to sit outside the market.

I love the detail YC puts into his murals, and this one is no exception. As well as the depiction of a fortune teller providing a reading to a customer, there’s an Indian hawker selling food to two women, one wearing a Chinese-style outfit, and one sari-clad. A child reaches out to a cat which sits nearby. Another hawker prepares laksa while two customers eat bowls of the spicy coconut noodle soup. An unwrapped parcel of chwee kueh cai poh sits on their table — I wonder if it tastes as good as my breakfast did this morning.

Further on, at Tiong Poh Road, is Home. I like the way this mural is framed by the building’s crisp white pillars, in front of which colourful plants and flowers bloom, making it feel like you are catching a glimpse through the window into a real home.

Home depicts YC’s memories of his own childhood home in Sago Lane, Chinatown, and shows a man relaxing in his living room, surrounded by typical 1970s items.

I stop off at Seng Poh Garden where the heritage trail sign points me to the Dancing Girl statue, which was created by sculptor Lim Nang Seng, whose best-known work is the Merlion at the Esplanade. It’s an abstract piece of art — I can almost picture an Indian dancer with billowing skirts but the stone sculpture is often compared to a swan ready to take flight.

The Horse-shoe Block building (Block 78), which straddles Moh Guan Terrace and Guan Chuan Street, is particularly striking. It also houses a 1500sqm, 1600-person air raid shelter in its basement. The property was built in 1939, and in preparation for the inevitable war with Japan, the shelter was incorporated into its design. Thankfully, the block never sustained a hit. On a brighter note, the building also accommodates one of Singapore’s oldest surviving coffee shops, Hua Bee.

Also part of Block 78 is gift shop Cat Socrates, a treasure trove of homewares, stationery, jewellery and accessories, as well as tasteful Singapore-themed souvenirs and cute cat-themed items.

There is a lovely selection of independent cafes and shops in Tiong Bahru. One I’ve been keen to find for a while is Yenidraws & Friends, which sells Singapore-inspired homewares and gifts featuring designs by Yeni, a Singapore-based stay-at-home mum and self-taught illustrator. I’ve bought pretty tea towels decorated with Yeni’s artwork in Changi Airport before. Today, I buy a couple of her colourful shophouse prints to brighten up my kitchen walls.

I’ve enjoyed my first visit to Tiong Bahru. As I walk back to the train station I pass Tiong Bahru Bakery, which is well known for its exceptional pastries, and Today Restaurant, which is selling a braised duck set for $S6.90. There’s more to explore, and my appetite has been well and truly whetted.