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The roads around Geylang Serai have been lit to mark Hari
Raya (Eid). |
The annual Geylang Serai bazaar is back for the month of Ramadhan, featuring food, clothing, gifts and all manner of items that may be needed before Hari Raya (Eid).
The market, which used to begin right outside the Paya Lebar MRT exit outside Paya Lebar Square, is now concentrated around Sims Drive and the Haig Road area to accommodate on-going construction.
Go the long way around the construction by turning right once out of the train station, then looking for where the bicycles are parked once at the (closed) road. The path from the train station along the park connector to the market is clearly signposted - or just follow the crowd to the end of the construction hoardings, then turn right into the junction between Sims Drive and Eunos Road 5.
Alternatively, follow the signs going the shorter but messier way around by turning left once out of the train station towards Tanjong Katong Plaza and One KM Mall. There are bazaar stalls around both malls.
Some highlights:
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| The charity element was very much in evidence. Charity is encouraged in Islam and given during Ramadhan is considered particularly rewarding. A number of collection boxes were dotted around the market. Many were dedicated to the building fund for Khadijah Mosque. Built in 1920, the mosque is undergoing renovation. It is named after the lady who donated S$50,000 in 1916 to build it. |
Fashion & Accessories
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| Filigree brooches from about S$5. Silver tone is on its way out with golds, coppers and rose golds more in fashion though. |
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| Traditional Malay clothing for men on sale. Shoppers are welcomed with a life-sized cutout of a celebrity. |
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| Lots of leather shoes in traditional designs on sale. |
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| A barber right in the heart of the market, called the Shave It Club. They sell beard oil. |
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| Sixth Empire sells men's fashion online. |
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| Wendypeaches Henna is my absolute favourite henna artist, so am very pleased to see her stall. Read the blog post of my experience in 2015. |
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| Update: Henna cones on sale at WendyPeachesHenna. |
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| Update: My design cost S$8 per hand. These were drawn freehand by the henna artist, without reference to a pattern. These were not done by Wendy herself but I am very pleased with them nonetheless. |
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| The classic henna stall. It looks very much like the one that charged me S$20 per hand - S$40 in total - two years back, when I did not know what the going rate was. Kids, henna is not worth S$20 per hand. It should be noted that Wendypeaches Henna just next to it is charging S$5 per hand as an introductory price. |
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| There were a lot of social media links - for Facebook, websites, Instagram, and hashtags too. This one is for plus size fashion. |
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| Paper packets for Eid gifts at three for S$2 and up. |
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| More festive packets, this time from Sampulboy and designed by HijabNsuch. These were three for S$10. |
For the Home
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| There were more calligraphic artworks for sale this year. This one says Alhamdulillah. |
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| Table runners jostle with abayas. Traditional Arabic-style clothing was very much in evidence. |
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| Posters painted on wood. |
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| Making use of the high ceilings by displaying wicker furniture overhead. |
Food
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| Saw salmon burgers on sale for the first time. |
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| The classic kebab store. Several of these were dotted around the market. This one sold three cheesy chicken rolls for S$10. |
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| People have been raving about the coconut ice cream at the Geylang Serai market for years. Not clear if it's at Mama Coconut though. |
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| Variations on Battenberg cake. They also sell Snickers cake. |
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| Snacks galore at the market. Packs of muruku, a crispy savoury snack that comes in various formulations. There were various stalls selling savoury snacks for three packs for S$10 on the low end. |
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| Baked goods and nuts ranged from S$15 to S$25 a jar. |
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| This honey-based drink appears to promise make you cleverer. |
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| Bottled drinks packed in ice are on sale for S$2 each. Some were packaged at three for S$5. The pink ones are typically rose flavoured. Basil seeds are often added for Ramadhan beverages called air katira. |
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| While there were crowds around the churros and Ramly burgers, the longest queue belonged to the Over Dose stall. |
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| Over Dose even had a sign for queue management, with hashtags #OverdoseteamSG and #BazaarRamdanTKG-2016 |
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Update: Ad for the I Quit 28-Day Countdown 2016 at Kembangan MRT station. As fasting during the month of Ramadhan also includes no smoking during daylight hours, the month is one of the best times to consider quitting smoking. The I Quit 28-Day Countdown 2016 was officially launched by the Health Promotion Board on 28 May 2016, before Ramadhan 2016. Read the terms and conditions.
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| Source: StarHub website. |
StarHub is organising celebrity appearances at Geylang Serai on June 18. There will be special appearances and performances by Shaheizy Sam, Zizan Razak and others from 8pm.
There is also an Android app for the bazaar this year for the location of food stalls. According to Ashraf, developer of the Bazaar Geylang 2016 app, the idea for a mapping aid to the sprawling market was conceived when he was hungry and could not find the stalls he wanted. "I went down, took photos and made an app to figure out where everything is," he said in the description of the app on the Play store.
Ashraf calls the development of the app a 'mini-hackathon' as it was created over just three days. Inaccuracies are expected, and requests for edits should be emailed via the Play Store to FromSixtyFive.
Interested?
Download the app
Compare the 2016 bazaar with the 2015 bazaar
