Who: Singaporean actor Ebi Shankara, 35, co-host of Let’s Celebrate 2024 at The Promontory, the annual new year countdown show by Mediacorp held in conjunction with the Urban Redevelopment Authority‘s Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2024.
The free party, which starts at 7pm on Dec 31, features performers such as singers Iman Fandi, Jasmine Sokko, Navein Gunasekaran and Shazza, as well as singer-actress Tasha Low and comedians Kumar and Suhaimi Yusof.
Let’s Celebrate 2024 will be streamed live on mewatch and Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube from 10pm, as well as on Channel 5 from 11pm to 12.15am.
“How I spend my time has drastically changed in recent years. Being a parent takes up most of my weekends because that’s when the whole family gets uninterrupted time together.
So, my perfect weekend would start with me heading to the temple in the morning.
I head to Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple every Thursday, but I try to make it on Saturdays too. And when I do, I would go to MTR, which is Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, in Serangoon Road for breakfast. My favourite dish there is the pudi thosai.
Then it is quality family time. My wife, Nithiyia Rao, 36, our son, Sushanth, 2½, and I will either head out somewhere, or chill out at home playing with kinetic sand and watching his favourite shows.
He loves American YouTuber Ms Rachel and YouTube channel Cocomelon. We also watch his favourite Disney animated movie Encanto (2021) on weekends. He loves the songs in the movie and sings and dances to them.
After he has had his nap, my family would head to either my mum’s house or my in-laws’ to spend the rest of the day. After we get home, we put our son to bed and then, at night, it is our time to party.
By party, I mean we head out for dinner at our favourite spots such as PS Cafe in Dempsey Hill. We order fish and chips, truffle shoestring fries and chocolate banana butterscotch bundt cake. These are the must-haves.
We also love going for hotpot at Haidilao at Plaza Singapura.
Or we would go somewhere new, catch a movie or have the occasional game night with our friends.
Some weekends, we like to keep it quiet, and order food in, catch a classic Tamil film and enjoy each other’s company.
I love watching movies from the mid-1990s to early 2000s because those were the ones my wife and I grew up with. The songs from those films, and also the stories, were more solid and not so hero-centric.”
