A cycling date in Tiong Bahru Singapore on our compact foldable tricycles
The quaint and laidback Tiong Bahru in Singapore is like the childhood place a fifty year old would hang out in the 1970s. Fast-forward to 2019. Tiong Bahru is still the hangout spot for young people, with a huge selection of trendy cafes, book stores and even old estates with beautiful 1960s architecture for your next Instagram post.
The area has a unique old-school charm which is now hard to come across in a modernised city like Singapore. And it is a great picture postcard for anyone who wants to cycle around to relive your childhood memories or make new ones with your partner.
What better way to re-visit Tiong Bahru than on a tricycle made for adults and active seniorsm than use the CarryAll foldable tricycle, which enables non-cyclists, those who cannot cycle and cannot balance on two wheels and active seniors who want to rekindle their love for cycling after scores of years of not cycling.
The CarryAll tricycle has three 8-inch wheels, quick folds and unfolds in 15 seconds, and it is both MRT and bus-friendly. It has a compact fold and its folded size makes it easy for us to roll into public transport, park inside cafes and food centres without taking up much space.
Both Adam and I took a pair of CarryAll folding tricycles for our morning bike adventure in Tiong Bahru. I cannot cycle so the CarryAll tricycle is the perfect vehicle for me to use when I cannot balance on two wheels!
I found out that it is designed by George Lin, Founder of Pacific Cycles who is synonymous with designing and making recumbent bikes and tricycles that serve a greater purpose to society.
Getting to Tiong Bahru on our folding tricycles
Getting to Tiong Bahru was a piece of cake! We folded our tricycles quickly and rolled them into the Boon Keng MRT. It took us just 15 seconds to fold our tricycles and because of the two wheels on the sturdy wheelbase, we were able to hold the handlebars and roll our CarryAll like it was a compact vacuum cleaner.
When we got into the train, no one even raised their heads to see us roll into the MRT with our folded three-wheeled tricycles.
Upon reaching Tiong Bahru, we unfolded our tricycles and cycled to our first stop: the Tiong Bahru Bakery!
The journey was considerably fast thanks to our CarryAll folding tricycles. I couldn’t imagine trying to find the place on foot because the weather was scorching hot (as with the weather on most days in Singapore) and our tricycles made sure our ride would be seamless and breezy!
Even though there were a few slopes and turns to negotiate, riding the CarryAll foldable tricycle as a non-cyclist gave me confidence as I found the rear wheelbase sturdy and very stable during my entire ride. Despite being not being able to cycle or balance on two bike wheels, I felt safe and confident to ride the CarryAll from the Tiong Bahru MRT to Tiong Bahru Bakery even if I was alone!
Balancing was also not a problem since the three-wheeled bicycle had a large wheelbase which made for a smooth and stable ride.
Coffee and pastries at Tiong Bahru Bakery
All that cycling burnt plenty of calories, and boy, were we hungry! So of course, we had to replenish our energy with some delicious pastries and coffee!
My CarryAll snugged next to me by our table as we enjoyed our pastries and sipped our coffee like people of leisure.
Even during our meal, we could roll our foldable tricycles into the cafe and kept them beside our table. We didn’t have to park them outside and risk getting them stolen!
Visiting that famous oh-too-hip book store
Afterwards, we headed to BooksActually, a trendy book store that is also a strong advocate of Singapore literature and non-fiction. We were eager to check out some book titles that we have heard about in school. We rolled our CarryAll tricycles into the book store. Because our tricycles can fold quickly and become a small compact folded package to roll around in BookActually, we rolled the folded CarryAll tricycle around effortlessly and with so much ease.
Being able to bring my CarryAll folding trike around has given me some confidence and a peace of mind and it was comforting to know that my CarryAll foldable tricycle can be with me at all times when I bike.
The staff at the BookActually bookstore was also really cool and nice about it which made for a pleasant browsing experience for Adam and I and we plan to visit BookActually with our tricycles again!
Exploring the Tiong Bahru Estate on tricycles
Tiong Bahru is known for its interesting architecture, so naturally, we HAD to check out the old estate area and see for ourselves what the hype is about.
Needless to say, we weren’t disappointed. The buildings looked unique and different from a typical HDB flat, giving Tiong Bahru a distinct old world charm.
Little did we know that our cute as a button three wheelers were getting smiles and stares from Aunties and Uncles as they saw us having a fun time trundling around their estate. Our tricycles actually blended nicely with the old housing blocks because of their earthy bike colours.
We had such a great time cycling and exploring Tiong Bahru. There were many sights to take in and it was an interesting address for a leisure bike adventure. It was really easy for us to get around because of our tricycle’s large wheelbase. Our tricycles were even stable to ride and easy for us to make sharp turns.
With my CarryAll folding tricycle, despite not being able to balance on two wheels and not being to cycle for the past nineteen years, I now can go anywhere without having fear of falling off a two-wheeled bike and I can part commute on my tricycle and still hop into the MRT or onto the bus when I want to get to places!