1. Make: A coconut shake
Want to beat the heat but also skip the long queues? Try making your own coconut shake.
Online recipes abound and the main ingredients include coconut water, coconut flesh, coconut ice cream and ice. Blend all the ingredients, except the coconut flesh, together before adding the flesh for a second blend.
On TikTok, users have been putting their own twist on the treat. Some use coconut milk or ice cubes made of coconut juice to make it richer, while others go for vanilla instead of coconut ice cream.
To take things up a level, add crushed Oreos or top off your concoction with an extra scoop of coconut ice cream.
2. Immerse: Digital poetry experience
With plans for a Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble being shelved again, immerse yourself in this digital poetry experience titled HK-SG Digital Travel Bubble.
From the buzzy Mongkok market to an enigmatic temple by Kallang River, this series, co-presented by local non-profit arts organisations Sing Lit Station and The Substation, will transport you to nooks and crannies in both cities through the eyes of 16 poets.
Grouped into eight Singapore-Hong Kong pairs, they exchange photographs of their favourite spots at home. Each poet crafts a poem inspired by his or her own photograph and his or her counterpart's pick.
The project, which was launched in February, features writers from diverse backgrounds. They include published veterans such as Singaporean poet Yeow Kai Chai and Hong Kong-born poet Kit Fan, as well as creative writing graduates and migrant workers.
Sing Lit Station's general manager Charlene Shepherdson says in a media release: "The poems produced are a map of the intimacies of each city: vivid insights into the wistfulness, nostalgia and hope for a time to walk these streets again."
Info: Poetry's website
3. Watch: Drama miniseries Unorthodox
This four-part Netflix drama follows the life of a 19-year-old Jewish woman, who escapes from the constrictions of married life and her ultra-conservative community in Brooklyn.
Esty (played by Israeli actress Shira Haas) flees to Berlin, where her estranged mother lives, and pursues her passion for music. The stakes are raised when her husband Yanky (Amit Rahav) and his ne'er-do-well cousin Moishe (Jeff Wilbusch) try to track her down.
The show received eight Emmy nominations in 2020 and won for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series for German actress-director Maria Schrader.
Haas' riveting performance also makes the series a must-watch.
The German-American drama is loosely based on author Deborah Feldman's best-selling memoir of the same name, which chronicles her rejection of the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Info: Netflix's website
