SINGAPORE - Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.
Celebrate: Mid-Autumn Festival
Gardens by the Bay's annual Mid-Autumn Festival event returns on Wednesday (Sept 15) and runs till Oct 3.
At its Outdoor Gardens, get Insta-worthy family shots against a glorious set of sky lanterns "floating" up a Supertree.
Admission is free, but you will need tickets to enter the Flower Dome where you can spot adorable rabbit lanterns. Go to the Gardens by the Bay website for more information.
The Singapore Zoo also gets into the festive spirit with Mid-Autumn-themed photo spots. Visitors to its Rainforest Lumina experience - from Friday to Sept 19, 7.15pm to midnight - will each receive a free lantern to light up their journey.
Tickets cost $14 each for children aged three to 12 and local senior citizens aged 60 and above. Adult tickets cost $18 each. SingapoRediscovers Vouchers are accepted here. Find out more at the Rainforest Lumina website.
Eat: Mooncakes for a good cause
Four young artists from social enterprise The Art Faculty, run by not-for-profit charity Autism Resource Centre, have designed furoshiki wraps for Swensen's mooncake boxes. Priced at $48.90, each wrap comes with four halal mochi-snowskin ice cream mooncakes in flavours like Durian King, Sticky Chewy Chocolate and more.
Part of the sales proceeds will be channelled to the artists to support their work. Order by Sept 21 from Swensen's and Earle Swensen's outlets islandwide and online at the Swensen's website.
You can also support the patissiers from social service agency APSN Centre for Adults. Here, a set of two mini halal baked mooncakes - Osmanthus Oolong Tea with Pumpkin Seed and Pandan Lotus with Melon Seed - goes for $12. APSN helps provide allowances and employment opportunities for beneficiaries with special needs. To buy, e-mail APSN.
Shop: Singapore children's books in mother tongue languages
Enjoy up to 25 per cent discount on books in Chinese, Malay and Tamil at the Mother Tongue Languages Book Bazaar. It runs online at the Singapore Book Publishers Association website from Monday to Sept 19, and at the National Library Building.
This is organised by the Singapore Book Publishers Association.
You can also look out for storytelling sessions for children, book sharing and discussions. These will be streamed live on weekdays at 8pm and at various timings on weekends on Facebook and YouTube.
If you are planning to buy the books on-site, note that the bazaar is open to the public only on Sept 13 (Monday) after 4pm and on weekends from 11am to 7pm. Entry is free, but you should register in advance at www.eventbrite.com. Details at the Singapore Book Publishers Association website.
