Sassy Mama Family Field Trip: Tiong Bahru Market

Sassy Mama takes Tiong Bahru! Here’s how this mama tackled the Tiong Bahru Market

This week the not-so-intrepid field trippers decided to stick close to home due to a prolonged phase of extreme toddler whininess which currently renders any remotely ambitious outing, a total disaster. So it’s off to hipster haven, Tiong Bahru, but more specifically, to check out Tiong Bahru Market, and assess whether it has more to offer than our local market at Redhill… Also, I was drawn by the whisper that great organic veggies are on offer!

Kids and wet markets are always a good combo – there’s plenty to see, lots of action, and great potential for snacking involved. We started off by fortifying ourselves with some juicy, sweet clementines from a fruit stall, then had a great wander through the aisles of flowers, eggs, meats and fish, and fruit and veg. By wet market standards we’d arrived quite late (at 8.30am), so the morning rush was calming down and we were able to talk to stallholders and take our time with purchases (necessary if you’re dragging a slooooooow toddler around with you!). While it’s tough to get a discount on quoted prices, most stall owners will throw in some extra goodies that they’ve got surplus of, mostly limes and chilies!

We soon discovered the Zenxin Organic stall (#01-194/195) and picked out some fresh green vegetables for juicing. Although you can order Zenxin veggies online (here), it was nice to get the chance to check out the selection first-hand which made me feel more comfortable to order from their website in future.

The tofu stalls were also surprisingly entertaining, as we came across some tofu in the shape of angry birds and some other characters (above), so we bagged up some of these for tea in the hope that they would encourage a bit more food experimentation! Around the edges of the market there are lots of great little shops selling dried grocery items, so we picked up some rice paper wrappers and sheets of nori for homemade sushi.

Once the Market’s appeal started to wane (not before I’d considered buying a Gangnam Style-themed onesie for my baby), we headed out into Tiong Bahru proper to seek out coffee/babyccino. As Tiong Bahru Bakery was closed (how do I always go there on a Tuesday?) we checked out Orange Thimble, where I gulped a little at the price ($10 for an iced latte and a babyccino that was served at scalding temperature). The staff were really friendly though, supplying extra iced gems when requested!

On our way home we popped into Books Actually for a little browse (where we spotted the below!), then off to take the MRT home, ‘cos if there’s one things toddlers like more than snacking, it’s different methods of transportation!

Next time… We’ll be a little more adventurous, but this is a great outing for wee ones with limited attention spans (and mamas in need of good coffee)!