We’re all familiar with warm, hearty oatmeal bowls topped with fruit. But, are you familiar with oatmeal-infused curry? Oatmeal art and craft? Here are 7 unconventional ways to benefit from oats!

Oats-crusted Mozzarella Sticks

Added nutrition in your favourite finger food is great, especially also when it increases your fibre intake.
Convenient and easy to make, all you have to do is mix the breadcrumbs with oats during the mozzarella-sticks-making process. A healthier alternative and less guilt, right?

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs and milk together
2. Coat each piece of cheese with flour, then dip in egg and then roll in breadcrumbs and oats
3. Dip in egg, crumbs, and oats again
4. Freeze before frying Freeze for 30 minutes before baking
5. Heat oil in a skillet and cook sticks for about a minute on each side, or until golden and before the cheese starts to leak Place on baking sheet on top of the oven pan
6. Drizzle butter over mozzarella sticks
7. Bake at 400°F for about 8 minutes
8. Drain on paper towels
9. Serve with sauce for dipping

Oatmeal-infused Curry Chicken Baked Rice

Bring oatmeal to the dinner table with this savoury curry chicken baked rice dish. We bet no one would be able to tell that the secret ingredient to this delicious dish is actually oatmeal. We know that oatmeal increases satiety, but your family members are bound to go for seconds for the fragrant, oatmeal-infused curry chicken baked rice!

Instructions:

1. Heat the water or stock in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat to a boil
2. Add the rice, broccoli, and cauliflower (Reduce the heat to low)
3. Cover and cook for 12 minutes
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and uncover. Squeeze the juice from the lemon half
5. Stir the chicken stock, milk, 2 teaspoons curry powder, blended oat powder and lemon juice in a medium bowl
6. Season with salt and black pepper
7. Stir the remaining curry powder, the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl
8. Pour the rice mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Stir in the spinach and peas
9. Layer with the chicken, soup mixture and cheese
10. Sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and the breadcrumb mixture is golden brown

Oatmeal Bath!

Oatmeal baths are great for soothing itches, burns, and sunburns. Inexpensive and natural, oatmeal is also known to offer relief from eczema. Pour a cup of blended uncooked oatmeal (instant oatmeal works too) into your bathtub after filling it with water. Soak in the tub for 15 to 20 minutes and you’re good!

It’s That Time Of The Month Or Day

Headaches and cramps suck, and oatmeal is a quick fix for that irritating pain. Cool the cooked oatmeal slightly and put it in a ziplock bag. This is optional, but you may add your favourite essential oils to the oatmeal (e.g lavender). Put the ziplock bag inside a cloth pouch and gently apply some pressure on your desired spot. This remedy is perfect for menstrual cramps, headaches or bruises.

Sunset In A Jar

This is a fun and inexpensive way to have a little art and craft sesh with your loved ones. Prepare 5 portions of oatmeal and food colouring in yellow, pink, orange purple and blue. Dye each portion with a colour. Lastly, have fun layering your jar with oatmeal dyed in colours of your choice. Aww, what a sweet momento!

Glue ‘n’ Pics

Acquire a thick sheet of paper that’s to your liking. Manoeuvre a bottle of white glue to the best of your ability and draw a picture on that thick sheet of paper. Then make it rain with the oatmeal flakes over the sheet. Shake off the extra oatmeal flakes and voila! Colour it up by adding food dyes into portions of oatmeal. Now you can pin up your child’s cute artwork on that corkboard.

A Fulfilling Meal

Blended oatmeal has the ability to thicken soups and stews. If you want to save up and/or create a delicious meal for your loved ones, including oatmeal into dishes is a great way to start. Thickening soups with oatmeal are way more wholesome and healthier as compared to using cornstarch and cream to not only achieve the same rich and creamy consistency but also to further enhance the nutritious value of soups!

Who knew that one of the healthiest grains on earth, oats, could contribute to interesting dishes and, fun art and craft ideas? Aside from all that, oats are really, really family-friendly. Get down and healthy (and artsy) with Quaker’s oats that are jam-packed with nutrients!

The post 7 Lesser Known Uses For Oats That’ll Blow Your Mind appeared first on Alvinology.

How do you motivate a whole family to keep fit together? Sign everyone for the seasonal National Step Challenge by the Health Promotion Board or just get everybody on to an evergreen Fitbit Family Account!

Either way, you would need everyone in the family to own and wear a fitness tracking device and Fitbit has a full range of fitness tracking products to suit the need of just about everyone – from the slim, sleek and light Fitbit Alta for those who are more fashion conscious to the waterproof and light-weight Fitbit Flex 2 for swimmers to the Fitbit Ace for children to the flagship Fitbit Versa.

I used to wear the Alta and alternate it with the Flex 2 when I go for a swim. Currently, I am using the Versa while my son, Asher, 7, is using the Ace. My dad uses a Fitbit Blaze and my mum uses the Alta. I created a Fitbit Family Account for the whole Lim family to keep track of everyone’s health and fitness.

My parents are both retirees and it’s important to ensure they maintain a healthy lifestyle for a better and longer lives. For Asher, I am happy that he is keeping fit from a young age, joining me every weekend for my routine runs or swims.

With our individual tracker, it ignites the competitive spirit in each of us, especially Asher who will deliberately make an effort to ensure he clocks at least 10,000 steps a day after I shared with him that this was my daily target. His aim is to clock more steps than me everyday and he would also check on his grandparents to egg them on to reach 10,000 steps a day.

The Fitbit Ace which Asher sports is Fitbit’s latest, and the first-ever fitness wearable for kids. The Fitbit Versa I am wearing is the brand’s top smartwatch and was launched earlier this year.

The Fitbit Ace comes in two vibrant colours – power purple and electric blue:

Each charge gives it a maximum battery life of up to 5 days. Asher typically depletes his battery in about 3 days. The Fitbit Ace is able to track steps, active minutes and sleep to foster healthy habits. It prompts with personalised reminders to move, making it more fun for the little ones and motivates them with daily or weekend challenges and collectible badge rewards.

Best of all, the entire family is now engaged where parents can view your kids’ activity seamlessly, creating a shared family experience on the Family App.

The Fitbit Versa I am wearing on the other hand, is Fitbit’s lightest, most intuitive smartwatch. It is all-encompassing:

• A personal trainer on your wrist: the On-Screen Workouts feature gives you personalised on-screen guidance for your workouts and adapting based on your movements patterns. I personally love the relaxation features.

• Now you can swim: The Versa is water resistant to 50 meters and it tracks your laps as well.

• Forget the wallet: With a built-in NFC chip that stores your credit and debit card details, it’s like wearing a wallet on your wrist!
• Customise it to fit your life(style): Add your favourite apps for fitness, sports, news, travel, transit and more, and customise your clockface from the huge database available – my personal favourite is the one with the Tamagotchi interface.

• Tracking that’s absolutely hands-free: Telling your tracker that you’re working out or sleeping really should be a thing of the past. Fitbit knows when you start an activity or end the day and automatically tracks it for you to give you unparalleled information about your health and lifestyle in the most seamless way possible

• And… Female health tracking

Yes the last attribute is not relevant for me, but for female users, the Versa has a female health tracking feature. What makes this piece of software so special is that it tallies physiological data collected from your level of activity throughout the day, movements in your heart rate and the data and pairs it with user inputs to create a predictive computation for your cycle – and you get to view all this from a glance at your wrist.

From the Fitbit Ace tailored for the little ones to the Female health tracking feature in the Fitbit Versa, Fitbit leaves no stone unturned when it comes to providing a holistic health and fitness monitoring experience for everyone in the family.

Fitbit is first and foremost a software company, and the more data it tracks, the better it gets at tracking lifestyles… It currently has over 5 billion nights worth of Fitbit sleep data, over 48 million runs, and over 159 million sports tracked, and it’s only just starting out with female health tracking.

If your family is looking to embark on a health and fitness journey together, why not get started with the Fitbit Family app and the slew of Fibit products that is catered to each member of your family individually. More details are available via the official Fitbit website.

Psst… if you are looking to buy a Fitibit device, now is the best time as the global 11.11 Singles Day Sale is just round the corner and Fitbit is running a special promotion together with online retail giant, Lazada:

Happy shopping! 

The post Fitness is now a Family Affair with the Fitbit Family Account appeared first on Alvinology.

THE GREAT MOSCOW CIRCUS is now in Singapore and we went to catch their opening night performance on 26 October.

Unlike the Great Moscow Circus of the past whereby animal performances were the main attractions, the Big Top shows are now all helmed by human performers, boasting to deliver to the audience, the world’s most dangerous and death-defying acts, including the Wheel of Death and the Motorbike Sphere of Fear.

We are glad the animals are no longer a feature, given the reported cruelty they have to be put through to ready them for performances. Human performers on the other hand, chose to do this as a career and can earn fame and fortune from it.

For the first time in over 10 years, the Great Moscow Circus returns to Singapore, direct from Moscow and the circus capital of the world with over 45 performers – acrobats, clowns, jugglers, daredevils – all circus stars renowned world-wide for their theatrical flair and breath-taking talents.

Our first impression upon stepping into the no-frills, non-carpeted and unadorned circus tent: this is the raw circus experience compared to their polished French cousin, Cirque du Soleil. After sitting down and watching the performance: It’s not 100% Muscovite, either. The acts range from Irish tap-dancing, American quick-change acts, a Canadian comic act who pretended to do magic – a mash-up of international talents.

If you’re expecting a polished Cirque du Soleil show like Kooza from July 2017, you need to adjust your expectations, because it’s not even like Toruk from May (earlier this year). This is about as raw as it gets for a circus show – with minimal stage design, lightings and abrupt music. There are not lack of talented performers though and they will keep popping in and out from behind a heavy curtain to surprise you with their assortment of tricks.

But it’s not to say that it’s not entertaining. Seven-year-old Asher thought that his favourite thing about the circus that night was the resident clown who appeared in between acts to provide comic relief. His second favourite act was the trampoline acrobats, who were the opening act that night, and his third favourite was the daredevils who ran and did acrobatic tricks within and on top of four spinning circles.

Our verdict?

Go for this if you like a wide variety of acts and a raw circus experience. Tickets are now available via SISTIC.

THE GREAT MOSCOW CIRCUS will be performing in Singapore from 25 Oct to 25 Nov 2018 at Bayfront Avenue. 

The post The Great Moscow Circus is here in Singapore and it’s all human performers appeared first on Alvinology.

My son Asher turned seven this year and we organised a Super Heroes themed birthday party for him. The centrepiece of the celebration was a customised Super Heroes themed cake which we got from BakeAvenue, a home-grown bakery brand in the heartland of Hougang.

What we like about BakeAvenue is that you can order a highly customised baked product from them at a very reasonable price. If you seen an existing cake design which you would like them to replicate, you can show it to them and they will quote you accordingly. Alternatively, if you trust them enough and prefer to be surprised by them, you can give them a brief and an estimated budget and BakeAvenue will work something out for you, hassle-free.

For Asher’s birthday, my brief to BakeAvenue was for it to be Super Heroes themed and enough to eat for 20 kids. Budget was set at S$300 for everything and that was it. They asked me who Asher’s favourite hero was and I told them he like Iron-man the best. I was given a choice of strawberry or chocolate filling cake, of which Asher chose the former. That’s all the details they need from me.

This was what BakeAvenue delivered on Asher’s birthday:

The cakes, macarons and cookies look amazing don’t they?

They tasted really good too and the kids love the rainbow interior of the cake, coloured with natural food colourings. The Avengers macaron toppers were a big hit and all the kids wanted to get their hands on them. Luckily, there were the smaller macarons to go around for those who did not manage to get the giant ones.

I was very satisfied with the work done and emailed BakeAvenue to request for a detailed breakdown of each of the items description to share here:

Super Hero themed Cake

The birthday cake was a 10-inch Strawberry Shortcake and hand-pipped according to the Avengers theme. It was topped off with 4 different Avenger characters (Iron-man, Hulk , Captain America and Spider-man) giant macaron toppers.

All the 4 macaron characters were intricately hand-piped and filled with chocolate. Even the Iron-man arc reactor at the front of the cake was made of macaron shell.

Cost: $160

Super Hero Macarons

The Avengers theme face macarons with the same four characters as the main birthday cake were also freestyle hand-piped. The macaron fillings featured a mix of flavours like Salted Caramel, Cookies and Cream, Chocolate, and Rose.

For BakeAvenue, their macarons cost would range from $3.50-$3.80 each, depending on the complexity of design.

Cost: $90

Super Hero Cookies

The individually wrapped Super Hero themed round cookies with various Super Hero edible images cost $3 each and were great as party giveaways. We ordered a total of 20. The kids love these and some packed theirs to bring home.

Cost: $60

BakeAvenue is founded and helmed by Kristin Chai, a mummy baker who turned her passion into a career by opening up her own brick and mortar shop and her mum, Irene Tan, a seasoned home cook and baker with over 30 years of experience.

They sell a wide range of baked products. Other than customised items, BakeAvenue also offer hand-crafted standard cakes (like Pandan Gula Melaka, Pandan Kaya Cake, Rainbow cake, Ombre cake, Strawberry Jelly Heart Cheese cake and more) and various selections of macarons, cupcakes and cookies. Visit their online store to find out more.

BakeAvenue has an established pool of regular customers who go back to them because of the quality delivered and their personalised service, all at a great value. They are one of the first cake businesses in Singapore to start making macaron topper cakes and as such, are one of the industry leaders.

Large-size macarons are not easy to make due to the brittle nature. For complex designs like the Super Hero characters, the difficulty increases a the designs have to be crafted entirely out of the fragile macaron batter.

Other than taking orders for customised macarons, cookies and cakes for all types of occasions from corporate events to birthdays to weddings, BakeAvenue also conduct baking classes helmed by Irene. All of their baking classes include BakeAvenue’s own home recipes, the ingredients to be used, baking equipment, utensils and packaging required. You don’t need to bring anything to the class and just to have to show up.

To make an order from BakeAvenue or find out more about them, visit their official website or pop by their physical store.

BakeAvenue Singapore

Address: Blk 6 Hougang Ave 3 #01-66 Singapore 530006
Email: bakeavenue@ymail.com
Contact Number: 88129040

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Friday 09:00 – 19:00
Saturday 09:00 – 18:00

How to get there:

Bus no. 53,72,81,87,112,151 or
Train to Hougang MRT and change bus no. 72 , 87 , 112 , 151 or
Take train to Kovan MRT and change bus no. 81 , 112 .

The post Looking to Order Customised Macarons, Cookies and Cakes in Singapore? Try BakeAvenue appeared first on Alvinology.

Pokémon fans can rejoice this Christmas, as Pikachu and friends are taking a trip to Singapore to bring us festive cheer! This holiday season, M Malls (the retail mall portfolio of Mercatus Co-operative Limited) will be decking the malls with an exciting Pokémon-themed Christmas.

From 16 November to 26 December 2018, AMK Hub, Jurong Point and Thomson Plaza choose YOU to be a part of their end-of-year festivities.

Packed with fun-filled activities and performances that bring the all-time favourite Japanese game and cartoon series, M Malls look to create an all-new Christmas experience that shoppers can look forward to.

Pokémon fans will be in for a real treat because Eevee will be joining Pikachu in the viral mascot Dance Parade! M Malls is proud to present the debut appearance and performance of the Eevee Mascot in Singapore.

For the first time, a group of 6 Pikachu and Eevee mascots as well as Santa’s Helpers will make special appearances and visit all three malls to say hello to shoppers for a chance to pose and take photos! Shoppers can also expect to be bedazzled by the Pokémon installations and Christmas decorations across all M Malls.

“We are excited and eagerly looking forward to Christmas as we welcome the well-loved Pokémon at M Malls. Shoppers can look forward to be transported into the world of Pokémon and have fun with their friends from the augmented world.” said Joanne Lim, Head, Portfolio Marcom of Mercatus Co-operative Limited.

Jurong Point decor

Bringing the Pokémon theme to a whole new level, Jurong Point’s décor will feature Singapore’s first life-sized “Pokémon Decorations”! AMK Hub and Thomson Plaza will also be transformed into a Pokémon wonderland with the malls adorning Christmas decorations with a joyous dash of Pokémon.

Get ready to whip out your cameras and capture fun shots with the life-sized legendary Pokémon and many other Instagram-worthy displays around the mall.

AMK Hub decor

Pokémon fans can also look forward to Pokémon-themed carnival games at any of the three malls. Simply spend $20 ($30 at NTUC Fairprice / Fairprice Xtra / Fairprice Finest) to redeem a game pass entry into the Pokémon themed carnival at the atrium of AMK Hub, Thomson Plaza or Jurong Point.

To top it up, AMK Hub together with travelling fun-fair Uncle Ringo, takes it up a notch, bringing carnival-esque action for the young and old. From spinning tea cups to the swashbuckling pirate ship ride, shoppers can simply purchase a ticket from $5 and begin your carnival adventure.

Calling all trainers! In lieu of Nintendo’s latest new role-playing video games (RPG) on Nintendo Switch – Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee, shoppers – young and old alike – can try their hand at the new game at any of the malls during the Pokémon-themed carnival games.

PROMOTIONS

Redeem a game pass to enjoy the Pokémon themed carnival games!

Spend $20 ($30 at NTUC Fairprice / Fairprice Xtra / FairPrice Finest) in a single same-day receipt to redeem a game pass to enjoy the Pokémon themed carnival games at any of the three malls!

AMK Hub and Thomson Plaza: 3 – 16 Dec 2018
Jurong Point: 10 – 23 Dec

Gift-with-Purchase: Exclusive Pokémon Gift Wrapper

(From 16 Nov 2018 onwards)

Wrap your gifts with a touch of Pikachu and friends! Redeem a set of exclusive Pokémon-themed gift wrapper and game booklet with $80 spent ($120 at NTUC Fairprice / FairPrice Xtra / FairPrice Finest). Whilst stocks last!

Gift-with-Purchase: Limited Edition Pokémon Tumblers

(16 Nov 2018 – 26 Dec 2018)

This Christmas, get toasty and sip on a warm drink in the Limited Edition Pokémon Tumblers! Shoppers can redeem the Limited Edition Pokémon Tumblers with every $160 spent ($240 at NTUC FairPrice / FairPrice Xtra) – in a maximum of 3 combined same-day receipts. There will be 6 exclusive designs to collect, whilst stocks last!

Gift-with-Purchase: Exclusive Pokémon Plushies

(3 Dec 2018 – 26 Dec 2018)

Christmas means more cuddles! Spend $300 ($450 at FairPrice Xtra / FairPrice Finest) to redeem a special Pokémon Christmas plushie exclusive to M Malls only – in a maximum of 4 combined same-day receipts. There will be 2 exclusive designs to collect, whilst stocks last!

The post [Pokémon fans alert] Gotta Catch ’Em All this Christmas at AMK Hub, Jurong Point and Thomson Plaza appeared first on Alvinology.

Are you or your little ones a fan of Roald Dahl’s children books? Arguably one of the best-known contemporary children’s books author, Roald Dahl’s stories are packed full of fun and adventures, complemented with his signature wicked twist. I grew up reading his books during my primary school days and my 7-year-old son Asher is now following in my footsteps, nosing through classics like Matilda, The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Come November and December during the school holidays, Repton Schoolhouse in Singapore is running The Roald Dahl School Holiday Programme which you can signed up for at S$50 per day or S$120 for all 3 days (All GST inclusive).

The Roald Dahl School Holiday Programme

The programme will feature fun-filled, packed days of stories, imagination, creativity, laughter and learning for children 4 years to 7 years. Each day, the children will focus on new material and develop their reading and writing skills as well as exploring their creativity in speech and drama and visual arts. The programme will conclude with a Roald Dahl celebration on the final day.

Dates:

27th – 29th November (Tue – Thur), 9am to 4pm
4th – 6th December (Tue – Thur), 9am to 4pm
11th – 13th December (Tue – Thur), 9am to 4pm

Fees:

FREE if you sign up by 18th November, Sunday
$50 per day or $120 for the 3 days. (All GST inclusive).

Limited Slots Available. RSVP early to secure your slot!

About Repton Schoolhouse

Repton Schoolhouse offers a curriculum combining the British and Singaporean education systems and traditions. The curriculum and programmes reflect the context and culture of Singapore and the school’s partnership with Repton School in UK, a school with a 450-year history.

Address

321 Alexandra Road,
#03-11 Alexandra Central Mall.
Singapore 159971

Contact Information

Email: enquiry@repton.com.sg
Telephone Number: +65 6801 0188

Header image from Metro/Quentin Blake. 

The post The Roald Dahl Adventure School Holiday Programme with Repton Schoolhouse appeared first on Alvinology.

If you are doing your Christmas shopping now, Dyson has got you covered. You can get a gift for him, for her and for the little ones, all from Dyson:

For HER:

Dyson Supersonic hair dryer special edition gift set with Dyson storage bag: There’s nothing quite like the gift of great hair. The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer enables fast-drying, without extreme heat damage or arm ache. The intelligent heat control system ensures the heat never reaches damaging levels, and the powerful Dyson digital motor V9 delivers powerful airflow to dry your hair quickly. A special storage bag means you’ll be able to carry your beloved hair dryer and attachments with you on-the-go.

Availability

The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer special edition gift set with Dyson storage bag is now available on shop.dyson.com.sg and major departmental and electrical stores for S$599. While stocks last.

PS: If you really want to spoil her, consider getting this 23.75 karat GOLD edition.

For HIM:

Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute +: Get your home party-ready, and clean up any messes effortlessly with the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute +. Launched this year, this lean, mean cleaning machine offers powerful suction, thanks to the powerful Dyson digital motor V10. It also features a new straight-line format with optimised airflow paths, for more suction power. Additionally, with a re-engineered battery pack, the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute + runs for up to 60 minutes on a full charge, meaning you enjoy a long, uninterrupted clean. A 40% larger bin capacity than the Dyson V8 cord-free vacuum means you’ll be able to clean more at one go, without having to make multiple trips to the dustbin.

Availability

The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute+ is available on shop.dyson.com.sg and major departmental and electrical stores at the recommended retail price of S$1,199.

Get the Dyson Cyclone V10 Dok and extra tools for S$53 (usual price S$199) with every purchase of the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute + on shop.dyson.com.sg.

PS: Check out why the V10 is not just an excellent gift for him, but also for you too when you get him to stay cleaning the house while enjoying it!

For the Little Ones:

Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan: Nothing beats gifting your little ones with clean air for their health. During the festive season, people are more likely to spend more time indoors than the outdoors, which worsens the problems of indoor air pollution. Breathe easy with the Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan. Everyday products like scented candles, air fresheners, deodorants and hair spray can be sources of pollution that is invisible to the naked eye. As a result, the air indoors can more polluted than the air outdoors.

The Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan senses these pollutants, captures them and projects purified air across the room. An on-board LCD screen, paired with a sophisticated set of sensors enables the machine to report on indoor air quality in real time. Trackable pollutants include PM2.5, PM10, VOCs and NO2. Set the machine to automatic mode and the Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan will respond autonomously to purify the air when pollutants are detected.

Finally – Air Multiplier technology, combined with the 350° oscillation capabilities ensures that purified air is projected across the room, so that everyone in the room benefits.

PS: Check out our previous review of the Pure Cool HERE and HERE.

Availability

The Dyson Pure Cool purifying fan is available on shop.dyson.com.sg and major departmental and electrical stores at the recommended retail price of S$899.

For a limited time on shop.dyson.com.sg, enjoy up to $400 off when you purchase 2 x Dyson Pure Cool tower purifying fans.

The post All I want for Christmas is Dyson Dyson Dyson appeared first on Alvinology.

School’s out and it’s time to plan activities for the littles ones they won’t be bored to tears at home. If you are still looking for stuff to do, Wildlife Reserves Singapore have it all planned out for you across their three parks at the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park and River Safari.

At the Singapore Zoo, the focus will be on dragons and mythologies, including a collaboration with HBO for the hit series, Game of Thrones while at River Safari, there’s an Escape Room theme, crafted by experts. At the Jurong Bird Park, penguins are the highlights for the holiday. More details are available below on what’s going on at each of the three parks.

Dragons & Mythical Beasts at the Singapore Zoo

17 Nov to 31 Dec

The flying reptiles of legend and other mythical beasts have descended upon Singapore Zoo. Not to plunder and destroy, but to awe and inspire.

Enter the Valley of Myths and come face-to-snout with 17 creatures from fantasy and folklore like the Unicorn, Phoenix and of course, Dragons from 17 Nov – 31 Dec 2018.

How could the legend of the one-eyed giant, the Cyclops, have originated from a modern living animal? Embark on the Creature Researcher Trail to find out how fantastical creatures were inspired by discoveries of modern animals, their appearance and the amazing abilities. See the legendary beasts come alive with animatronic movements and soundscapes, then uncover their real-life connections by visiting the animals that inspired them. Record your research findings in your complimentary trail map to redeem an exclusive prize.

Which animal can match the Basilisk’s ability to kill in a single glance? Take on the “Who inspired who?” challenges at the game booths to discover how the unbelievable powers of the mythical beasts were influenced by equally amazing adaptations of living animals. Complete all three challenges to redeem an exclusive collectible pin.

After basking in the glory of the larger-than-life dragons, don’t forget that real-life dragons do exist – meet the friendly Bearded Dragons at the Singapore Zoo during their interactive sessions.

The mythical beast-themed activities happen weekends of 17 November to 31 December 2018, and on Christmas Day.

Apart from fire-breathing dragons, Singapore Zoo will host some icy visitors from beyond the wall. In collaboration with HBO Asia, Singapore Zoo will for the first time ever, display a 3D replica of Viserion, the Night King’s Ice Dragon from the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. Mark your calendars as the Night King himself and his White Walkers will be making special appearances on 17, 18, 24 and 25 November 2018.

Between 17 November to 31 December 2018, local residents also enjoy greater savings online – receive 45% off second admission to Singapore Zoo with every paying adult.

More details are available on the official website.

Escape the River Safari Lockdown

17 Nov to 31 Dec

River Safari has been taken over by fearsome creatures, both big and small. Joining forces with Lockdown Singapore -Singapore’s leading Escape Game provider – River Safari will be transformed into a giant board game ruled by these fearsome river creatures; brave adventurers must save themselves, and you win a Pin of Honour when the quest is completed.

Designed for the family, adventurers can form groups of up to six participants to solve puzzles to escape. Pick up interesting information about these fearsome river creatures – such as the Green Anaconda and Tiger Fish – along the way. If that does not satiate your thirst for knowledge, sail along
the river banks and discover fun and fascinating facts during the feeding sessions for the Giant River Otter, Red-bellied Piranha and Electric Eel.

Get privileged behind-the-scenes access with River Safari’s new tours. Opt for the Amazing Amazonia tour to feed and learn more about piranhas, eels and stingrays, and discard your fears about these often misunderstood unique river creatures. Alternatively, go up close and personal with the manatees in the Manatee Mania tour to feed them their favourite vegetables and participate in
their target training. Try to spot River Safari’s animal icon, Canola the manatee too.

Grab a snake-themed donut or bread to recharge before you continue the adventure to escape from the fearsome creatures. Do also remember to snap a photo with Canola, the park’s manatee mascot, and take home a huggable plushie.

Sign up for a new Friends of Wildlife membership (individual or family) with the promo code FOWDB18 and enjoy a 10% discount and an exclusive collectible pin. This promotion is valid from 17 Nov – 31 December 2018 and while stocks last.

Local residents can save up to 15% when they purchase River Safari admission tickets online too. Visitors can hop on the daily Mandai Shuttle or Mandai Express service from the heartlands to reach River Safari.

More details are available on the official website.

Nothing’s Just Black & White at Jurong Bird Park

17 to 31 Dec

See black, white, and a whole lot more when you meet the penguins at Jurong Bird Park this festive season.

Discover interesting nuggets of information on these aquatic birds; chat with the park’s friendly penguin keepers to find out why penguins are black and white, and seize the opportunity to feed penguins by hand. Guests can catch the tuxedoed cuties excitedly chasing after bubbles as part of their enrichment, and win a collectible penguin pin when you complete games.

Bring the whole family to enjoy an evening under the stars, as Jurong Bird Park swings its gates open at dusk for a one-night-only movie screening of Happy Feet. Or, opt to spend a night with our penguins through the park’s Sleep with the Penguins Family Camp, where young guests can learn all about penguins in greater detail from a guide, and drift off to sleep next to their exhibit, while watching these flightless birds ‘fly’ in the water.

End your visit to the park by snapping a photo with the park’s mascot, and take home a customised penguin-themed bag or grab a penguin plushie. Treat the family to the park’s kid-friendly Christmas menu of pumpkin soup and meatballs, alongside a pop of cocktail jello.

Fancy visiting Jurong Bird Park more than once in a year? Guests can now sign up for a one-year membership at the price of a one-day full priced ticket. Be a Friend of Bird Park and enjoy complimentary tram rides on weekdays and 20% discount off food and beverage and retail purchases.

Sign up for a membership from 17 Nov to 31 Dec and take home an exclusive penguin collectible pin. Local residents enjoy up to 15% savings on admission tickets online.

More details are available via the official website.

In a special partnership with Wildlife Reserves Singapore, we will be giving out attraction tickets and plushies from each of the three parks during our weekly Monday giveaways! Follow us on our Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss them!

The post Holiday fun at the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park and River Safari appeared first on Alvinology.

It’s that time of the year again when parents are frantically deciding on which secondary school to register their kids for after their their PSLE.

How has your child scored on the PSLE? Did he or she get a score high enough to get into the school of their choice? Or are you just looking at which school they could get into now? We have the secondary school ranking based on the scores they require, updated from the 2017 list.

The schools with emboldened names offer 6-year programmes, i.e. Integrated Programme (IP) and International Baccalaureate (IB). As you can see from their concentration at the top of the list, these schools are pretty sought after by students with good grades and are not easy to get in.

Schools under the Special Assistance Plan (SAP) are also indicated below. Students in the top 30% of the PSLE cohort who take the Higher Chinese subject will be given bonus points, added to the T-Score, for admission to SAP secondary schools: 3 points for Distinction, 2 points for Merit and 1 for Pass.

Note also that there are some schools with affiliations, which means that pupils from the affiliated primary schools enjoy certain advantage in the posting exercise. The list of secondary schools with affiliations are listed at the bottom of this article.

List below is shared via Salary.SG:

RANKING

1. Nanyang Girls’ High School IP SAP (girls) – 264
2. Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) IB (girls) – 260
3. Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) IP (girls) – 260
4. Hwa Chong Institution IP SAP (boys) – 258
5. Raffles Institution IP (boys) – 257
6. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) IB (boys) – 256
7. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School IP SAP (girls) – 256
8. National Junior College IP (co-ed) – 256
9. Dunman High School IP SAP (co-ed) – 255
10. Cedar Girls’ Secondary School IP (girls) – 254
11. Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) O-levels (girls) – 254
12. Catholic High School IP SAP (boys) – 253
13. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School O-levels SAP (girls) – 253
14. St. Joseph’s Institution IB (boys) – 253
15. Singapore Chinese Girls’ School IP (girls) – 252
16. Victoria School IP (boys) – 252
17. Catholic High School O-levels SAP (boys) – 250
18. Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) (girls) – 250
19. River Valley High School IP SAP (co-ed) – 250
20. Singapore Chinese Girls’ School O-levels (girls) – 250
21. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) O-levels (boys) – 249
22. Cedar Girls’ Secondary School – O-levels (girls) – 249
23. Temasek Junior College IP (co-ed) – 249
24. Victoria School – O-levels (boys) – 246
25. Anderson Secondary School (co-ed) – 245
26. Bukit Panjang Govt. High School (co-ed) – 244
27. St. Joseph’s Institution O-levels (boys) – 244
28. CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) (girls) – 243
29. Nan Chiau High School SAP (co-ed) – 243
30. Nan Hua High School SAP (co-ed) – 243
31. Chung Cheng High School (Main) SAP (co-ed) – 242
32. Crescent Girls’ School (girls) – 241
33. Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) (co-ed) – 241
34. St. Margaret’s Secondary School (girls) – 241
35. Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) (boys) – 240
36. Swiss Cottage Secondary School (co-ed) – 239
37. Anglican High School SAP (co-ed) – 238
38. Chung Cheng High School (Yishun) (co-ed) – 238
39. Commonwealth Secondary School (co-ed) – 237
40. Ngee Ann Secondary School (co-ed) – 237
41. CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent (girls) – 235
42. Maris Stella High School SAP (boys) – 235
43. Yishun Town Secondary School (co-ed) – 235
44. St. Andrew’s Secondary School (boys) – 234
45. Zhonghua Secondary School (co-ed) – 234
46. Xinmin Secondary School (co-ed) – 233
47. CHIJ St. Joseph’s Convent (girls) – 232
48. Fuhua Secondary School (co-ed) – 232
49. Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School (co-ed) – 232
50. Presbyterian High School (co-ed) – 232
51. Clementi Town Secondary School (co-ed) – 231
52. Tanjong Katong Girls’ School (girls) – 231
53. Tanjong Katong Secondary School (co-ed) – 231
54. Temasek Secondary School (co-ed) – 231
55. Riverside Secondary School (co-ed) – 230
56. Dunman Secondary School (co-ed) – 229
57. Kranji Secondary School (co-ed) – 229
58. Holy Innocents’ High School (co-ed) – 228
59. Edgefield Secondary School (co-ed) – 226
60. CHIJ Katong Convent (girls) – 225
61. St. Patrick’s School (boys) – 225
62. Ang Mo Kio Secondary School (co-ed) – 224
63. Bowen Secondary School (co-ed) – 224
64. Evergreen Secondary School (co-ed) – 224
65. Geylang Methodist School (Secondary) (co-ed) – 224
66. Jurong Secondary School (co-ed) – 224
67. Bukit Batok Secondary School (co-ed) – 223
68. Gan Eng Seng School (co-ed) – 223
69. St. Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School (girls) – 223
70. St. Gabriel’s Secondary School (boys) – 222
71. Hua Yi Secondary School (co-ed) – 221
72. St. Hilda’s Secondary School (co-ed) – 221
73. Hai Sing Catholic School (co-ed) – 220
74. West Spring Secondary School (co-ed) – 220
75. Mayflower Secondary School (co-ed) – 219
76. Pei Hwa Secondary School (co-ed) – 219
77. Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School (co-ed) – 218
78. Pasir Ris Secondary School (co-ed) – 216
79. Deyi Secondary School (co-ed) – 215
80. Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School (co-ed) – 215
81. Queensway Secondary School (co-ed) – 214
82. Bedok View Secondary School (co-ed) – 212
83. Unity Secondary School (co-ed) – 212
84. Beatty Secondary School (co-ed) – 211
85. Chua Chu Kang Secondary School (co-ed) – 211
86. Woodlands Ring Secondary School (co-ed) – 211
87. Compassvale Secondary School (co-ed) – 210
88. Meridian Secondary School (co-ed) – 208
89. North Vista Secondary School (co-ed) – 208
90. Orchid Park Secondary School (co-ed) – 208
91. Peirce Secondary School (co-ed) – 208
92. Yuan Ching Secondary School (co-ed) – 208
93. Bedok South Secondary School (co-ed) – 207
94. Kent Ridge Secondary School (co-ed) – 206
95. Zhenghua Secondary School (co-ed) – 206
96. Bukit View Secondary School (co-ed) – 205
97. Hillgrove Secondary School (co-ed) – 205
98. Montfort Secondary School (boys) – 204
99. Woodgrove Secondary School (co-ed) – 204
100. Greendale Secondary School (co-ed) – 203
101. Tampines Secondary School (co-ed) – 203
102. Christ Church Secondary School (co-ed) – 201
103. Yishun Secondary School (co-ed) – 200
104. Jurong West Secondary School (co-ed) – 199
105. Seng Kang Secondary School (co-ed) – 199
106. Westwood Secondary School (co-ed) – 198
107. Admiralty Secondary School (co-ed) – 197
108. Jurongville Secondary School (co-ed) – 195
109. Juying Secondary School (co-ed) – 195
110. Naval Base Secondary School (co-ed) – 195
111. Hougang Secondary School (co-ed) – 194
112. Punggol Secondary School (co-ed) – 194
113. Regent Secondary School (co-ed) – 190
114. Bukit Merah Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
115. Changkat Changi Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
116. Dunearn Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
117. New Town Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
118. Ping Yi Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
119. Springfield Secondary School (co-ed) – 189
120. Assumption English School (co-ed) – 188
121. Bartley Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
122. Bedok Green Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
123. Bendemeer Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
124. Boon Lay Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
125. Broadrick Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
126. Canberra Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
127. Damai Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
128. East Spring Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
129. East View Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
130. Fajar Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
131. Fuchun Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
132. Greenridge Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
133. Guangyang Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
134. Hong Kah Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
135. Junyuan Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
136. Loyang Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
137. Manjusri Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
138. Marsiling Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
139. Northbrooks Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
140. Northland Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
141. Outram Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
142. Peicai Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
143. Queenstown Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
144. Sembawang Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
145. Serangoon Garden Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
146. Serangoon Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
147. Shuqun Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
148. Tanglin Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
149. Teck Whye Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
150. Whitley Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
151. Woodlands Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
152. Yio Chu Kang Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
153. Yuhua Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
154. Yusof Ishak Secondary School (co-ed) – 188
155. Yuying Secondary School (co-ed) – 188

AFFILIATIONS

List of secondary schools with affiliations and their cut-off points for affiliated students:

• Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) – 189
• Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 235
• Catholic High School – 240
• CHIJ Katong Convent – 201
• CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) – 201
• CHIJ St. Joseph’s Convent – 200
• CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 230
• CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent – 200
• Fairfield Methodist School (Secondary) – 200
• Geylang Methodist School (Secondary) – 195
• Holy Innocents’ High School – 188
• Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School – 200
• Manjusri Secondary School – 188
• Maris Stella High School – 226
• Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) – 220
• Montfort Secondary School – 188
• Nanyang Girls’ High School – 250
• Ngee Ann Secondary School – 226
• Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) – 216
• Singapore Chinese Girls’ School – 220
• St. Andrew’s Secondary School – 189
• St. Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School – 188
• St. Gabriel’s Secondary School – 188
• St. Hilda’s Secondary School – 188
• St. Joseph’s Institution – 238
• St. Margaret’s Secondary School – 200
• St. Patrick’s School – 190

Header image provided by Shutterstock.com. 

The post What is the Secondary School Ranking in Singapore based on the PSLE cut-off for 2018 intake? appeared first on Alvinology.

The unofficial ranking list of the top secondary school in Singapore based on PSLE cut-off scores is available online and we showed it to some parents to get their feedback. Here are five non-scientific, casual observations which they came up with.

Girls are smarter than boys in Singapore (at least at PSLE level)

The top three secondary schools in Singapore based on PSLE cut-off scores are all all-girls school – namely, Nanyang Girls’ High School IP SAP, Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) IB and Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) IP.

Scientifically though, this is probably due to the fact that girls generally reach puberty earlier than boys and are more mature in their thinking at the same age.

All-girls school dominate the top positions

Out of the top ten schools, five are all-girls, three are all-boys and two are co-eds. As you go down the list, it is still noticeable that all-girls schools tend to rank pretty well overall versus all-boys and co-eds.

For instance, even if you remove al the special program schools (IP, IB and SAP) and strip down the list to just O-levels schools, all-girls schools still dominate the top of the list.

All-boys or all-girls schools generally rank better than co-ed schools

Perhaps there’s some truth about not letting kids getting to know about the birds and the bees too early – it is very noticeable from the list that the all-girls and all-boys schools tend to clutter within the top 50 ranking, with the exception of a few outliers like Montfort Secondary languishing at 98.

Some O-levels schools are even harder to get in than the special programs IB or IP schools

Some parents obviously do not see it as a must for their kids to enter into the special 6-years program schools offering IP or IB fast-track to skip the O-levels, even if they had the grades to get in. There are pockets of O-levels schools that ranked better than IB and IP schools.

These include Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) O-levels, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School O-levels SAP, Catholic High School O-levels SAP, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary), Singapore Chinese Girls’ School O-levels, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) O-levels and Cedar Girls’ Secondary School O-levels, which all rank above the lowest rank special program school, Temasek Junior College IP at number 23 on the list.

Name of school seems indicative of ranking

Generally speaking, schools with heartlanderish names that are synonymous with HDB estates, particularly those in the suburban areas tend to rank lower on the list. Note that this is just a casual observation and is not scientific.

There are exceptions of course, with Anderson Secondary School and Bukit Panjang Govt. High School ranked a very respectable 25th and 26th on the list.

Do you have other observations of your own to add about the ranking list? Please share them with us in the comments below.

Header image provided by Shutterstock.com.

The post Five non-scientific trend we observed from the top secondary school ranking in Singapore based on PSLE cut-off scores appeared first on Alvinology.

CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND at Gardens by the Bay continues to light up this Holiday season as it welcomes visitors from all over the globe, today until December 26, 2018. The inception of this event since 2014 attracted almost 3.5 million spectators.

Everyone can now witness the seven-storey high stunner, luminarie mirror maze which is designed and handmade by Italian craftsmen using white wood from the south of Italy, making them one-of-a-kind pieces exclusively for show only at this year’s edition. There’s also a spectacular magic show by world-class illusionist Rob Lake and a brand-new Garden Rhapsody – The Christmas Special light and sound show at the Supertree Grove as well.

Christmas Wonderland famous attractions include a more extravagant Santa’s Grotto which showcases mesmerizing kinetic light installation from Germany, Singapore’s largest outdoor skating rink specially flown in for this event all the way from Switzerland and let us not forget the crowd-favorite Blizzard Time, wherein we can experience snow even though we are here in the tropics.

The event was officially commenced as Asia’s tallest luminarie Christmas tree located at the entrance of Gardens by the Bay was lit up by the by Guest-of-honor Mr. Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry for Singapore, alongside representatives Mr. Chaly Mah, Chairman of Singapore Tourism Board, Ms. Sarah Martin, Creative Director of Blue Sky Events, Mr Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of Gardens by the Bay and Mr. Felix Loh, CEO of Gardens by the Bay. Christmas Wonderland’s official adopted charity, Pathlight School, was represented also by students and Ms. Loy Sheau Mei, Senior Vice Principal.

Official light up of luminarie Christmas Tree with Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry for Singapore

As you stroll, at the carnival rides and games have a chance to be serenaded by Yuletide Sessions featuring a myriad of local talents including Joanna Dong, Rani Singam and Andrew Lim as well.

What’s more exciting are the unique gifts and treats that are also available at the Festive Market. Wherein, everyone can choose from a variety of exciting dishes from ‘Slice of SAVOUR’.

Admission to Christmas Wonderland 2018 starts from $4. Additional charges apply for some attractions within the fair. Visitors can purchase their tickets online at www.christmaswonderland.sg or onsite at the ticketing booths.

Price ranges from $4 if purchased online from November 30 to December 6 and $6 if purchased onsite, for December 7 to 13 tickets are for sale for $6 online and $8 onsite, and for December 14 to 26 tickets can be purchased for $8 online and $10 onsite.

Enjoy the sights and sounds in this Christmas Wonderland and experience truly authentic holiday festivities with your loved ones.

The post Bigger and Better Christmas Wonderland Awaits for 2018 appeared first on Alvinology.

Partnering with Tommillusions, family-style European bistro, Picotin Express, is offering live magic performances at their restaurant at 382 Joo Chiat Road over the upcoming weekends leading into Christmas.

To welcome the holiday season, Picotin Express introduced a line-up of family-friendly activities, including movie screenings for children, free games, popcorns and candy at its outlet in Joo Chiat, Picotin Express East Coast. There will also be celebrations at its Bukit Timah outlet on 9, 16 and 23 December.

At Picotin Express East Coast, live magic performances by Tommillusions is the key highlight. My son Asher and I headed over for dinner on 1 Dec to catch some magic, together with pizza for dinner. To Asher, these were enough to send him on Cloud 9, as he gets to enjoy two of his favourite things – magic and pizza (most 7 years old would list these two items as among their favourite things too).

The evening started with Tommillusions going from table to table to perform close-up, roving magic tricks, ranging from a series of card tricks to other tricks requiring audience participation and the use of simple daily objects like a ring or a pen.

Asher was thoroughly mesmerised by the magic tricks and ended up following the magician as he moved from table to table so he could catch every single trick performed.

What was impressive to us was that the magician was also able to make use of objects outside of his own props to perform magic tricks. Asher brought his own set of Sushi Go game cards and was very impressed by Tommillusions when he was able to make use of the cards we brought to do a few card tricks.

Tommillusions performing a magic trick with our deck of cards

Later in the evening, Tommillusions embarked on a series of non-stop magic tricks for 30 minutes on an impromptus stage setup. This was enjoyed by all the diners at the restaurants and involve several rounds of audience participations as well. Here, the magician performed a few of his more difficult tricks, including swallowing of balloons.

If you are looking for somewhere to bring your family and kids to be entertained while enjoying a hearty meal, check out Picotin Express and their live magic shows over the weekends. The shows come at no extra costs and are a value-add to diners. This will be happening in the following weekends leading up to Christmas.

About Picotin Express

Conceptualised as a family-style European bistro, Picotin Express serves European dishes and drinks, perfect for family and friends for all occasions. The name ‘Picotin’ was adopted from the French word for a ration of horse feeds – a name that reflects its roots as one of the first food and beverage establishments at the old Singapore Turf Club. The restaurant has branches in both East Coast and Bukit Timah.

About Tommillusions

Tommillusions is an award-winning magician who has done a lot of works for corporate clients in Singapore. He was also the magic consultant for numerous Mediacorp artistes such as Bryan Wong, Ian Fang, Romeo Tan, Rui En, Jeremy Chan, Brandon Wong and Li Nanxing.

The post Pizza and magic – what more can a kid want for Christmas?   appeared first on Alvinology.

Being a parent is hard. More so if your son is recalcitrant Singaporean teen turned American political refugee, Amos Yee. To familiarise yourself with who Amos Yee is, read our previous reports about him.

Yee is 20 years old now and an adult living in America and surviving off donations from fans of his social media channels like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. It seems he won’t be able to do so anymore as he has gotten himself permanently banned from platforms like Facebook and Twitter due to his pro-paedophilia advocacy work. It’s not like he did not receive any warnings. His YouTube account was deactivated earlier in May due to his pro-paedophilia videos, but he simply continue producing more such content on other channels. With such a bad reputation now in the online world, it is unlikely any other platforms would allow him to continue his advocacy works for paedophiles except in the cowboy communities of the deep dark web.

What a fall from grace for a boy whom Singaporeans have sort of a love-hate relationship with. Free speech champions in Singapore and human rights activists used to hold him up as an example of a victim of the curtailing of free speech in Singapore, but with Yee advocating for paedophiles these days, they don’t seem to hold him with such high regards anymore.

In fact, even one of Yee’s most ardent supporters, America-based human right activist Melissa Chen, is backpedalling oh her support and calling for Yee to be deported from the States back to Singapore. She even offered to personally escort Yee back. Here’s a video she posted lambasting Yee for his pro-paedophilia advocacy work:

Yee can count on one staunch supporter to be always on his side though – his doting mother, Mary Toh. After the video by Chen was widely reported by the media, Toh has lashed out at Chen on her own Facebook account, slamming Chen for her “intellectual dishonesty”:

Mary Toh’s retort to Melissa Chen in full:

“This is a response to Melissa Chen, the person who helped Amos with his asylum case but has since called for his deportation because of his views on pedophilia. I, as Amos’ mother feel obligated to post this (especially since all of Amos’ platforms (Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress) have been taken down):

There is a way to disagree with Amos’ positions on pedophilia (Which obviously I’m against), whilst not creating the negative PR against the free speech cause that was sparked by Amos’ case, that human rights activists in Singapore have fought for greatly, saying Amos should be ‘deported from the US’ because of his opinions on pedophilia is unintentionally doing just that. I probably speak for Melissa, myself and everyone involved in Amos’ case before when I say: the laws that got Amos imprisoned in Singapore (for criticising the Singapore Government and religion), I, Melissa and all the people who spoke up for Amos’ cause that are now feeling disappointed and horrified because of Amos’ views on pedophilia, we’re all still against those anti-free speech laws in Singapore. So I hope people don’t use Amos’ views on pedophilia now to try to demean the pro-free speech movement in Singapore that Amos’ case had generated, because those 2 issues are hardly related. Now I’ll get to Melissa’ reaction to Amos’ pedophile activism…

Melissa is a person who champions and surrounds herself with people who support platforming: the KKK, White Supremacists, Neo-Nazis and Alex Jones, people and groups that from my knowledge, advocate (and sometimes even directly cause) actual violence to people. Amos unlike those groups, has never advocated for direct harm to any child (if you have an actual quote that he did (that is not misrepresented or out of context), please show it to me), of course you can claim that although Amos does not advocate for direct harm, his positions would definitely contribute to harming children, fair enough I agree with that. However, it contributes to as much harm (if not less) than the KKK and Neo-nazi groups Melissa so righteously defends. The only reason I can think of why Melissa would criticise Twitter for banning nazis, yet subsequently call for Amos’ deportation, is because in America now it’s more popular to defend the ‘free speech rights’ of white supremacists and nazis, but not pedophiles (Bear in mind I’m against all these views, however I don’t think people just having these opinions is serious enough (unless it’s planning direct violence) to ever warrant being sent to prison over).

If Melissa were consistent with her views on ‘freedom of speech’, she would defend Amos’ rights to speak on the internet, but instead, not only did she lead the campaign that took down all of Amos’ online platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, WordPress), she is also apparently ‘offering’ to deport Amos back to Singapore. Really think about what that means: not only is she saying Amos should return to the country that has those oppressive anti-free speech laws that got him imprisoned there before, she’s also saying it’s alright for Amos to be sent to years of prison for the completely unrelated incident of escaping Singapore’ compulsory military, a compulsory military that Melissa herself is against.

Melissa instead of forming her views based on a consistent, logical thought process, instead receives her views based on peer-pressure. She is dishonest, she is intellectually dishonest, a farcry from the skepticism and willingness to engage in ideas (no matter how reprehensible), values that she claims to uphold. I feel like she made that video against Amos based on completely biased misinformation spread about him by haters, and I think she should really refrain from posting on the internet whilst menstruating. I heard that Amos has emailed Melissa asking for a private conversation to clear up any misunderstandings between both of them, so from a mother to her I hope Melissa accepts it. Melissa is right in that Amos can get erratic and unlikeable at times (As Amos’ mother I should know), but I think since the 2 years Melissa has talked to Amos, Amos has improved a lot in communication and social skills, so I think Melissa would be pleasantly surprised if she talked to Amos now

After Melissa speaks with Amos, I sincerely hope that she takes down her video, and then issue a public apology, because anyone who’s actually reasonable would know that this public statement she made is just embarrassing for her, and this is embarrassing in contrast to Amos, my son who now defends pedophiles, so you know it’s bad”

Toh is in a difficult position obviously. Her loving son has a blatant disregard for authorities everywhere and seem unable to maintain a proper human relationship with anyone, constantly biting the hands that feed him like his own parents.

As a mother, it is only right that she will always have a soft spot for her own flesh and blood, however wayward he may have become. However, this brings to question – is Toh just as guilty for how Yee turned out to be now as an adult due to her unwavering support and love for him? As the age old saying goes – spare the rod and spoil the child. We do not know how Toh interacts with Yee in their private lives and what sort of nurturing environment she brought him up in.

Nonetheless, at this stage when Yee is advocating paedophilia, maybe Toh should take a step back and consider the feelings of parents out there whose children are victims of paedophile crimes.

With regards to Amos Yee – we still think the best way to deal with an attention-seeker like him is to just ignore him completely. 

Header image of Mary Toh and Amos Yee via StraitsTimes.com.

The post Amos Yee’s mother, Mary Toh – Loving mom or enabler for bad behaviours? appeared first on Alvinology.

Have a blast this New Year the Japanese way with the exclusive events lined up at Liang Court starting today until 6 January 2019. Activities range from the traditional taiko drum performance to a bento making workshop.

On New Year’s Day, 1 January 2019, you may kick-off Shogatsu (Japanese New Year) with a bang with the Hikbiya Group taiko drum performance. It will then be followed by a sake opening ceremony and closed by a mochi pounding session. The festivities continue over the weekend with a Shishimai performance to invite good luck for the year ahead.

Event Schedule:

• 1 January – Taiko Drum Performance (1 PM); Sake Opening (1:30 PM); Mochi Pounding (2:30 PM)
• 5 January – Shishimai Performance (2 PM); Onigri Card Holder Making Workshop (4 PM)
• 6 January – Bento Making Workshop (2 PM); Daruma Breads Coaster Workshop (4 PM)

You can join the Bento Making Workshop, Onigiri Card Holder Making Workshop, and Daruma Bread Coaster Workshop with a spend $20 in a maximum of 2 receipts at any store to participate for free. Registration is at level 2 Customer Service Counter. Children under the age of 6 must be accompanied by an adult. Limited workshop slots available.

Shogatsu Specials

Also, don’t forget to snap a photo at the Japan New Year photo display located next to Dulcet & Studio for a chance to win $100 AsiaMalls vouchers. All you have to do is upload your photo onto Instagram (make sure your account is public), “Like” and tag @LiangCourt. The top 3 photos with the most number of likes win!

Additionally, AMperkz members who spend a minimum of $150 ($300 at Medi-Ya Supermarket) can redeem a limited-edition melamine plate featuring daruma dolls of different colours. AMperkz members can also enjoy a free temporary Japan New Year tattoo at the Atrium on 1 and 5 January from 12 PM to 3 PM.

The minimum spend of $150 is maximum of 3 receipts per redemption only. Limited to 2 redemptions per shopper per day. Redemption is available at level 2 Customer Service Counter from 10 AM to 10 PM daily. While stocks last.

You may sign up for free at Liang Court’s customer service counter located at Level 2.

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Kingsmen announced this month that it has embarked on a collaboration with Hasbro to launch TOYBOX, together with venue partner Sentosa Development Corporation.

TOYBOX is Hasbro’s first multi-brand carnival in Asia with support from Singapore Tourism Board’s Kickstart Fund. The carnival will debut at Palawan Green Sentosa, accessible from the adjacent Beach Station, starting 1 to 17 February 2019 from 10 AM to 10 PM.

The event promises to bring everyone’s favourite childhood toys to life including Transformers, My Little Pony, NERF, Monopoly, Cluedo, Baby Alive, and Play-Doh, as well as activities, live mascots, food, beverages, and merchandise stalls spread across the 4,800 square metre playground.

Here are some of the TOYBOX highlights:

1. Super Claw – an oversized twist on the popular arcade game which will find visitors become the claw itself to snatch toys and prizes.
2. Play Pool – a big inflatable playground and ball pit featuring My Little Pony and Monopoly’s brand elements.
3. Play-Doh Picnic Party – a picnic-themed zone where families can create their own pretend picnic spreads using Play-Doh.
4. Cluedo Tudor Mansion – guests can practice their puzzle-solving skills at this escape room modelled after the popular board game.
5. My Little Pony Rainbow Kingdom – fans of the animation can design their own My Little Pony figurine and even receive a My Little Pony-inspired makeover.

Admission is absolutely free! Games, activities, food, and beverages have their own coupons available for purchase. For more information and the latest updates on TOYBOX, visit TOYBOX Singapore official website or Facebook Page.

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After serving almost two years in jail due to her conviction in the City Harvest Church court case, former accountant Serina Wee has been released.

In a report by The Straits Times, she was released on December 21, days after she turned 42 years old on December 14, 2018. She, along with a few others, were serving jail time for breach of trust in handling funds for the Singaporean megachurch that amounted to millions.

Serina is the third guilty person to be released from prison concerning the case.

Now that she’s been released, do you think she will become the next big Singaporean influencer? Our very own Martha Stuart–only more attractive?

Photo from The Straits Times.

Read about how Singaporeans didn’t even care about Miley Cyrus when we had our own Serina Wee.

Who is Serina Wee?

Aside from being the former finance manager for the City Harvest Church, she used to be an accountant who had her own firm, Advante.

The trial which captured the attention of the Singaporean public was made even more spectacular as citizens would always stay tune for Serina Wee’s appearance at the courthouses, where they would see her walking around impeccably dressed.

Singaporean netizens had begun to call her their “goddess,” at the time, pertaining to her polished appearance whenever she would face her ongoing case.

Here are some of her looks during the trial.

Despite the stress of her trial, she always looks put together.

Her makeup is always on-point and her skin is amazing.

She also doesn’t look like she’s trying hard in any of these photos.

Her style will still hold up today, even after serving months in jail.

What do netizens say about her release now?

Singaporean netizens were quick to comment and encourage Serina on her release, with a lot of her fans beginning to call her their “goddess,” again, and even comparing her to a recent case of a woman released from jail after stabbing her husband. Take a look at some of the comments below:

This commenter notes that she looks incredible for her age.

Another commenter calls her a goddess.

Could she be the next big Singaporean influencer?

Without a single blog post or any endorsement or product photo, Serina’s name has become the talk of the town in Singapore. While people usually frown in disgust over people who have done jail time, this has not changed the public’s perception of Serina as a chic, put-together mom of three who just happened to be convicted of breach of trust.

Do you think she is on the right track to build an empire just like Martha Stuart did after she was released from prison for similar financial crimes?

With there style, her notoriety, and her looks, she could be on her way to gaining an even bigger following.

Take a look at her latest post, which was dated in December. According to her Instagram, she spent the days after her release with her family, and a lot of her supporters and friends wished her well and said that she can now move on from the previous chapter of her life.

What do you think of Serina’s release? Should she become an influencer? Or should she stay out of the spotlight? Let us know in the comments!

The post Serina Wee is free–could “The Goddess” be the next big Singaporean influencer? appeared first on Alvinology.

Beach resort, Angsana Bintan recently debut the Rangers’ Club, a new programme that aims to immerse children in an educational adventure which will enhance their overall development and communication skills, while learning important themes that align with the Group’s sustainability ethos to boost their love for the environment.

Rangers Club at Angsana Bintan

The Rangers’ Club is designed to encourage cognitive development and cultivate the spirit of outdoor exploration and adventure for kids between 4 to 11 years old, with a sustainability learning angle. Through multi-sensory activities using the five senses – sight, touch, taste, smell, sound – children get to actively engage their senses as they explore their surroundings and dive into activities that will allow them to learn about nature, while appreciating and caring for the environment.

During the last December school holiday, Asher and I were over at Angsana Bintan for a weekend getaway whereby he got to experience the new Rangers’ Club.

Upon arrival at the resort, children will be presented with a Rangers’ Club Passport during check-in. They are encouraged to collect stamps for their passport and join in the activities at various checkpoints within the resort’s compound and allocated outdoor spaces.

Every expedition will then be facilitated by the Ranger’s Club staff, who will challenge the little explorers to be proactive and inquisitive of their surroundings. Once all five stamps are collected, they can redeem a prize rewarded by the resort.

The club features a slew of free and paid activities, with many themed around sustainability and the natural environment. Asher started his adventure with a tour of the resort in the Young Photographer program. A staff at the club brought him to see the resort’s organic farm, sharing with him nuggets of knowledge about the various home-grown fruits and vegetables.

Asher on a photography tour with a staff from the Rangers Club

 

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Over the weekend, Asher got to try his hand as a photographer at the Ranger Kids Club at @angsanabintan resorts as part of their Little Photographer program. Swipe to check out some of the photos he took. The kids club at the resort offer a variety of complimentary or paid programs to keep the little ones entertained while the adults have their alone time. Visit the official website for details. Review coming up soon on #alvinology. #angsanabintan #bintan #banyantreebintan

A post shared by Alvinology.com (@alvinology) on Dec 13, 2018 at 7:15am PST

Pond for kids to learn about bio-diversity

Striking green animal-shaped shrubs at Cassia Resort

Other programs include the Ranger Trail and Nature Walk, whereby kids are brought on a journey to walk down nature’s path, climb on fallen logs, and explore the surroundings. Kids are also invited to examine animal tracks and homes, take pictures of them while learning to respect their habitats, listen to the chimes of birds and wildlife, and even discover the names of trees, plants, and animals the forest trails have to offer.

The young ones can proceed to create handiwork by collecting leafs from the forest, have a shot at creating their own kites and painting them Batik-style, create their own Engkrang – traditional coconut shell stilt, and even play Papancaken – traditional Sudanese bowling.

Some of the activities Asher tried out include having his face painted; painting his own tee-shirt and learning about spices and fruits:

Learning about spices

Rangers’ Club mascot is Felly the Turtle, an actual green sea turtle born on 28 April 2004 at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru in the Maldives. Felly was one of 30 eggs that survived out of a clutch of 150 eggs in a vicious thunderstorm. This little survivor has since become Banyan Tree’s globe-trotting mascot and a familiar face for the Banyan Tree sustainability and community initiatives.

Activities at the Marine Conservation Centre

Baby sea turtles

For kids who are curious about sea turtles, you can get to see them at the nearby Marine Conservation Centre at the neighbouring Cassia Resort. Here, baby turtles are bred to a certain size before they are returned back to sea for rehabilitation.

Rangers’ Club replaces the Group’s existing Kids’ Club and will be rolled out and established across all Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts by January 2019.

Asher had a lot of fun with the Rangers’ Club and even shared with me that this is one of the best vacations he had this year. Other than the Rangers’ Club activities kids can also also hit the beach at the resort or visit the facilities at the neighbouring Laguna Golf Course, Cassia Resort or Banyan Tree Resort which are all part of the same development by the Banyan Tree Group.

Asher at Laguna Golf Course

Asher at the beach

The pool at Angsana Bintan

Cassia has a foam party every Saturday by the pool and both adults and kids will definitely love it:

For food, if would like something more refined and in a quieter setting, head over to The Cove restaurant at Banyan Tree Resort, a short walk from the beach front or you can call for a buggy from the hotel reception to bring you there. The food is pretty good and they have a good selection in the kids menu too.

Kid’s menu at The Cove

These were the items Asher and I gobbled up at The Cove during our 3D2N stay at the resort:

If  you are thinking of booking a stay at Angsana Bintan, do check out their new Live for Family package which is now available for bookings. The package allows for kids to stay, eat and play for free. It includes the following:

• Accommodation
• Daily Breakfast
• Kids below 12 dine for free
• Complimentary extra bed / roll-away, where available
• Complimentary baby-sitting services (up to a stipulated time), where available
• Return airport transfers (car or SUV/MPV)

The room is pretty spacious and would fit a small family. This was the room which Asher and I stayed in:

Breakfast at the resort offers a wide selection of international cuisine and some local Indonesian delights:

There are lots of activities for the adults as well. While the little ones are at the Rangers Club, mummies and daddies can head over to Angsana spa for instance for some pampering and relaxation. It is conveniently located just beside the Rangers Club:

With Bintan being just a short one hour ferry ride away from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore, Angsana Bintan provides for a great family getaway over the weekend if you are short of work leaves.

For bookings of the Live for Family package, please email reservations@angsana.com, or visit the official website for more information.

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While interacting with strangers can be difficult, this 18-year-old Malaysian boy may still be wandering the streets now since he refused to ask for help.

In a news report by The Independent, the boy named Zhang Daming was staying with a friend in Singapore to find work. On December 26, he had borrowed money from his friend to buy lunch, and left the place he was staying at on Sturdee Road.

After leaving his lodgings, the teen then became lost and was wholly unable to tell buildings apart or re-orient himself to find his way back. he was also unable to contact his friend as he had left all his belongings back in Sturdee Road. He had no passport, mobile phone, keys, or identification to help him. All he had was the $50 he had borrowed from his friend.

Surviving on rice and water

So how did the boy survive on just $50? According to reports, the teen used the money he had to buy cai fan, one of the cheapest things he could eat, and subsisted on that up to the eighth day. He slept outside and used mall and restaurant comfort rooms to relieve himself.

When his only did run out, he resorted to begging for food from strangers. When he had collected some alms in the form of money, he would use it to buy water.

Even if he was now forced to beg, he still did not ask for help for directions or go to the police.

How was he found?

Eventually, though, his self-imposed traveling nightmare ended when a woman approached him. It was ten days since he didn’t return, and his friend had declared him missing. She asked him if he was the missing Malaysian boy that was being announced.

Once he confirmed that he was the missing person, the woman called the police. It was the morning of January 6.

The boy’s friend had put up posters of him missing and had alerted police.

Why didn’t he ask for help or go to the police?

According to the report, Zhang was painfully shy and dreaded asking for directions, despite the fact that he could ask for money or food eventually when he had run out.

He was also unable to locate any police stations. When he was found by the woman eventually, he was only 6 kilometres away from his friend’s house.

Where is he now?

The same report said that Zhang went home to Malaysia the same day that he was returned to his friend. When asked what his plans were, he said that he didn’t see himself visiting Singapore for a long time, perhaps so he would not remember the harrowing ordeal he had brought upon himself thanks to his carelessness and subsequent shyness.

While poor Zhang must have gone through the most terrible ordeal of his life, this could all have been avoided if he simply brought his phone and identification with him. What’s more, asking for help should not have been that difficult, especially if he had the desperation to talk to strangers to beg eventually.

Header image from Sin Chew.com, Malaysia

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You can throw your “I can’t cook” excuses out of the window forever; Here’s why — the Philips Avance Collection Airfryer XXL, your newly minted culinary saviour. In-case you haven’t already heard of the previous generations of Philip’s airfryer because you were living under a rock; it is the number 1 Airfryer globally, with over 7 million units sold worldwide. If you thought you were an over-achiever; you might have to think again; already being number 1, Philips took a step further to improve their existing product to make it even better than it already is; to solidify the product as the BEST airfryer ever.

We often associate the word “fry” with words like “unhealthy” and “fat” but guess what; the Philips Airfryer is here to change not just the way you cook, but also the way you think about words associated with “fry”. The new Twin TurboStar technology circulates high-powered hot air, creating a vacuum of “tornado” to burn through the fats, removing up to 90% of the fats in the food all while retaining all the good flavours and juices. The fats extracted would be captured at the bottom of the Airfryer, making disposal as easy as the cooking. (Don’t you dare tell me cleaning up is a chore now)

Just look at how easy it is to clean up!

In case you still think that “frying” is still unhealthy for you, the Philips Avance Collection Airfryer XXL can also bake, grill and roast — is it your culinary saviour now?

You might be wondering why Philips Avance Collection Airfryer XXL, just like pants size, the bigger the size, the more it can hold, this XXL Airfryer can cook up to 1.4kg worth of food at one go, that’s a whole chicken or 6 portions of fries! Making family-meal preparation a breeze.

It isn’t a bluff, we tasted the airfryed Har Cheong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken Wing) marinated with Miss Tam Chiak (Singapore’s food blogging celebrity)’s not so secret recipe (Link below). The crunchiness coupled with the sweet and salty after-taste of each juicy bite was something you would expect that was made by a chef’s tender loving hands. The taste was not at all compromised by the removal of the fats and oil; in fact because there was so little fats, I could sneak in a few more pieces without breaking my diet and in all honesty, I wanted more.

Not so secret recipe: https://www.facebook.com/misstamchiak/videos/245132616150373/

Apart from the Har Cheong Gai, we also taste-tested a Chocolate fondant cake. It still blows my mind that a Chocolate fondant could be whipped up with an AirFryer, the magic behind it was the Philips Airfryer’s bake function. The Airfryer baked fondant had a warm spongy exterior with silky liquid centre; oozing out chocolaty goodness which can easy be mistaken for a fine-dining restaurant’s desert menu highlight.

The Philips Avance XXL Airfryer is a real winner; not only does it help you prepare healthy food in a convenient way, you save a lot of time compared to traditional cooking methods; the mess is reduced to within the the Airfryer, there is no need to clean big pots, pans and ovens, the kitchen would not be smoky or smell like a hawker centre — which gives even the busiest of people the chance to cook their own meals and for families to focus more time on spending time together rather than cooking & cleaning.

You can find out more at:
https://www.philips.com.sg/c-p/HD9654_91/avance-collection-airfryer-xxl

Spend more time with your family and less time cooking.

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If you’re feeling bored and you want to pick up something new, art jamming might be your, well, jam. An increasingly popular activity, art jamming has earned love amongst many people in Singapore, thanks to its ability to destress. Art jamming lets you have unrestrained imagination (and paint) and creativity on a canvas, usually in a group of people. In case you’re already wondering where you can get started, we have 8 price-friendly art jamming studios lined up for you creative souls!

The Noteway (From $19.90/pax)

IG Photo Credit: @thenotewayartstudio

IG Photo credit: @thenotewayartstudio

Moreover, The Noteway Art Studio also offers sand art, terrarium, clay-making and brush-lettering workshops. Perfect for corporate team building, birthday parties, and even bachelorettes!

Address: 29 Tai Seng Ave, #06-09, Natural Cool Lifestyle Hub, Singapore 534119 (3 min walk from Tai Seng MRT)
Website: http://www.thenotewayartstudio.com
Email: hello@thenotewayartstudio.com
Phone: +65 90882158
Weekly Art Jamming sessions are held on:
Thursday 7-9pm, Friday 2-4pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm, Saturday 7-9pm

The Fun Empire (From $32/pax)

IG Photo credit: @thefunempire

If you’re looking to house a lot, a lot of people to art jam, be it corporate or a church gathering perhaps, The Fun Empire is the art jamming studio to go for. Did you know that they can host up to huge groups of 1000? You’ve found your fun caterer.

Address: 5B Guillemard Rd, level 3 Wing Fong Building, Singapore 399685
Website: https://www.thefunempire.com/
Email: hello@thefunempire.com
Phone: +65 6515 4146
Opening hours: 9am to 10pm (Monday to Sunday)

My Art Space (From $34/pax)

IG Photo credit: @myartspacesg

A studio located in the heart of Istana Park with a beautiful view, My Art Space is the place to go for art lovers seeking tranquility. Enjoy the relaxing music and ambience as you destress. Whenever you feel like hydrating, feel free to go for My Art Space’s free flow coffee, tea and cold beverages.

Address: 31 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238888
Website: https://www.myartspace.com.sg/
Email: info@myartspace.com.sg
Phone: +65 6222 1662
Opening hours:
10am to 5pm (Monday)
10am to 10pm (Tuesday)
Closed (Wednesday)
10am to 10pm (Thursday and Friday)
10am to 7pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Boulevart ($35 for 2 hours)

IG Photo credit: @krispykrimee

Novice or not, Boulevart welcomes everyone with open arms and canvases. If you’re already an artsy pro, enjoy your art jam session by yourself, or you could invite friends along to show them how it’s done. However, if you would like to learn some of the basics of art jamming, workshops are available as well!

Address: 1 Trengganu St, 3/F, Singapore 058455
Website: https://boulevart.com.sg
Email: enquiries@boulevart.com.sg
Phone: +658779 6362 (WhatsApp)
Opening hours: 
Closed (Sunday to Monday)
1pm to 8pm (Tuesday to Friday)
10am to 6pm (Saturday)

Utter Studio ($35 for 2 hours)

IG Photo credit: @utterstudio

Utter studio is super kid-friendly. So if you have children, or if you’re babysitting, look no further than Utter Studio. Utter Studio also offers many other workshops for kids and corporate groups.

Address: 18a Jalan Kelulut, Seletar Hills Estate, 809035
Website: https://www.utterstudio.com/
Email: info@utterstudio.com
Phone: +656612 0508
Opening hours: Opens at 9am

Art Jam @ Arteastiq ($48 for 3 hours)

IG Photo credit: @lorrainepeh.yoga

A boutique tea house, Arteastiq comes alive with their latest rave: art jamming, of course. At $28 for all students and senior citizens, you could go unhinged with your left-brain and make some serious masterpieces! Arteastiq also serves an awesome selection of tea, another thing they are known for.

Address: 333A Orchard Rd, Singapore 238867
Website: https://www.arteastiq.com/artjam/
Email: mandaringallery@arteastiq.com
Phone: +656235 8705
Opening hours:
11am to 10pm (Weekdays)
10am to 10pm (Weekends)
Timeslots: 11am to 2pm, 2.30pm to 5.30pm, and 6pm to 9pm)

Artify (Pay-as-you-wish, recommended: $35)

IG Photo credit: @artifystudio

At Artify’s studio, they offer “Liberty Art Jams” where one can pay as much as they choose to for 2.5-hour sessions. According to insiders, the recommended is $35 – in case you’re afraid to be deemed a scrooge. Artify donates 10% of their funds to help out people in need and to educational camps.

Address: Textile Centre #08-05, 200 Jalan Sultan, 199018
Website: https://www.libertyartjam.com/
Email: team@artify.studio
Phone: +65 9011 1431
Opening hours:
Closed (Monday)
Unknown (Tuesday and Thursday)
12nn to 10pm (Wednesday and Friday)
10pm to 6pm (Saturday)
11am to 6pm (Sunday)

Cups N Canvas ($35 for 2.5 hours)

IG Photo credit: @briar_rose_aurora

A bistro-cum-art studio, art jamming at Cups N Canvas is done laissez-faire. There are no facilitators watching over you. For those who would love some alone time, this place is for you. With a cafe right there, feel free to order some yummy bites and drinks for yourself as you unleash your inner Picasso!

Address: 139 Selegie Rd, Singapore 188309

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