As an Eastie, I've never had much incentive to travel to Toa Payoh, apart from meeting friends at SAFRA Toa Payoh, and that was only a handful of times in my life. So, much to my surprise, when I checked Google Maps for the exact location of this iconic playground, it was actually located just opposite SAFRA Toa Payoh!
There are only a few such dragon playgrounds left in Singapore, and this one located at Lorong 6 Toa Payoh is the most famous. It was designed and built in 1979 by HDB architect Mr Khor San Gan, and was picked by New York culture blog Flavorwire.com as one of 15 amazing playgrounds in the world in 2012.
As our little business took off, we thought about what we were interested in pursuing when designing new products, and what first came to mind was making cold process soaps with a local flavour to it. Since according to the Lunar Calendar, 2024 is the year of the Dragon, we decided to make a soap inspired by this playground.
It took us quite a few months figuring out how to replicate the dragon's body and outline in soap form, but once it was done, it became the most adorable gift soap we have in our store!
We also took the chance to visit the smaller playground located at Lorong 1. There are other similar playgrounds located in Ang Mo Kio and MacPherson, which we hope to visit another day. If you're in the vicinity, do visit these cute dragons and show them some love!