5 things to do today: Work off your Covid-19 weight gain, listen to Sammi Cheng's latest concert album and more

Stay in and help fight Covid-19. The Straits Times recommends fun, uplifting things to do each day

PHOTOS: STRONGFIT SINGAPORE/ YOUTUBE, NETFLIX, ALISON WEARING/FACEBOOK, SAMMI CHENG/ INSTAGRAM

1 TRY: A free stay-at-home workout

Mr Benjamin An. PHOTO: STRONGFIT SINGAPORE/ YOUTUBE

Yearning for yesteryear and anxious to work off your Covid-19 weight gain?

Mr Benjamin Ang, a dancercise coach who is also the founder of Strongfit Singapore, has developed a set of exercises called "Bencercise" to keep people active while they are at home.

The exercises are set to familiar tunes from the 1960s to 2000s, such as Take On Me, La Bamba and Bye Bye Bye, and Mr Ang has filmed these workouts in nature spots in Singapore such as parks. Each video is about 30 minutes and can be repeated.

The 48-year-old says: "Some students who came for my live classes love dancing to the nostalgic beat of songs from the 1960s to 2000s. Of course, my classes are now closed due to the need for safe distancing. But I hope that through these videos, we can still de-stress, exercise and keep positive even when we are at home."

Info: Strongfit Singapore's YouTube channel

2 WATCH: Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness

Joe Exotic. PHOTO: NETFLIX

As the title suggests, this American true-crime documentary miniseries on Netflix has enough intrigue, bizarreness and eccentric characters to keep audiences hooked.

The first episode is an introduction to Joe Exotic, the gun-toting operator of an Oklahoma big cat park, who has been accused of hiring someone to murder his chief rival.

No matter where you stand on the captivity of tigers in private collections, the murder-for-hire storyline, interwoven with all the strange goings-on in the underworld of big cat breeding, makes for great television.

Info: Tiger King: Big cats, guns and murder

3 BE INSPIRED: Sport's most unlikely champions

Skater Steven Bradbury. PHOTO: STEVEN BRADBURY/ FACEBOOK

In sports, you do not have to be the best all the time; you just have to be the best at the right time, and these six champions prove this point emphatically.

From 40-1 underdog Buster Douglas who beat boxer Mike Tyson; to skater Steven Bradbury, who savoured Olympic gold by simply being able to stay on his feet after all his opponents were involved in a pile-up; to Hinako Shibuno, golf's "Smiling Cinderella", these stories will have you believing you, too, could pull off a spectacular sporting feat. Just maybe.

Info: Your Daily Dose: 6 unlikely sports champions

4 ATTEND: A virtual book launch

Canadian writer Alison Wearing. PHOTO: ALISON WEARING/FACEBOOK

There is no book-signing or selfie with the author, but you can still have an enjoyable time listening to writers speak at virtual book launches.

Canadian writer Alison Wearing, for example, recently did a livestreamed musical storytelling performance of her new book, Moments Of Glad Grace: A Memoir, published last Tuesday. It is about ageing, familial love and the search for one's roots.

Info: Alison Wearing's book launch

  • Write in

  • We would like to hear from you, our readers, on how you are coping and keeping busy while at home. Please send us videos, pictures, stories, poems or other contributions at stlife@sph.com.sg or on ST's Facebook and Instagram accounts. We will curate and showcase some of these, including at str.sg/stayhomeST

5 LISTEN: To Sammi Cheng's latest concert album

Sammi Cheng. PHOTO: SAMMI CHENG/ INSTAGRAM

On April 16 last year, a video clip was released online showing Hong Kong singer Andy Hui cheating on his wife, singer Sammi Cheng, as he canoodled with TVB actress and former Miss Hong Kong first runner-up Jacqueline Wong.

The fallout was massive. Although Cheng decided to forgive Hui, the embarrassing scandal hogged headlines for months.

For hints of the incident's ripple effects, listen to Cheng's latest #FollowMi concert tour album, released in December last year and available on KKBox, Spotify and other online music platforms.

During one of the live performances, the tears flowed as she sang the song We Grew This Way.

Info: Sammi Cheng's latest concert album

Compiled by Benson Ang with input from Sazali Abdul Aziz

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 16, 2020, with the headline 5 things to do today: Work off your Covid-19 weight gain, listen to Sammi Cheng's latest concert album and more. Subscribe