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Welcome to Your Daily Dose, a daily column dedicated to what Time Out Singapore's editors are loving right now including food, music, movies, theatre, workouts, and more – all of which you can also experience form the safety and comfort of your home while Singapore's 'circuit breaker' measures are in place till May 4. Make the most of your home-stay by ticking off the 28-day plan we’ve set up.
Mid-way through the circuit breaker (and through this week of working from home), and we thought we'd have oodles of extra time to perfect our banana bread recipe or nail the latest dance craze on Tik Tok. While there are endless ways to make the most of our extra time at home, we've been switching things up by discovering and trying something new.
Yesterday, we connected with people around the world through Airbnb Online Experiences, ordered booze from smaller, indie brands through Selects, and got crafty with The Fun Empire's DIY Creative Home Experience Kits. Today, we're spending Earth Day's 50th anniversary with some fun online activities, learning spells through Harry Potter-esque classes (plus, going on a virtual ride through the Wizarding World), and marvelling at the artworks selected by 12 artists from around the world via Fost Gallery's online exhibition.
Earth Day
While today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, it's the first time it's gone digital where you can watch a livestream of the annual event with appearances by Zac Efron and Al Gore via its website. There are also various online events from all over the world to check out too.
Alternatively, cosy up on the couch for Apple TV+'s original short Here We Are: Notes For Living on Planet Earth, narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep. It follows a seven-year-old who discovers the wonders of the planet from his parents during the course of Earth Day.
Earth Day first kicked off in 1970 when people in the United States took to the streets to protest for environmental reform, and this year, the spotlight's on climate action. While we can't tap into our inner Greta Thunberg on the streets during the circuit breaker, we can learn a thing or two about being kinder to our planet.
Get the kids involved too. Science Centre Singapore is keeping Little Einsteins around the city engaged and edutained through fun activities on its website, Facebook and Instagram. In line with Earth Day, the kiddos can play a game of spot the difference to learn about the little practices in our daily lives that can make a good impact on our planet. They can also follow comprehensive guides on composting and recycling plastics to discover simple, eco-friendly habits to pick up while staying at home.
Hogwarts Is Here and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
If like us, you're still bummed about not receiving your acceptance letter from Hogwarts, here's a second shot at being a full-fledged wizard. Put together by die-hard Potterheads, Hogwarts Is Here offers the entire magical course directory including Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, as well as the history of the magic O.W.L.S exams and magical transportation. No school fees required, the virtual classes are free and allow 'students' to explore the material at their own pace. There are also real assignments marked and graded by 'the professors' in which house points are awarded – like the real deal (not that any muggles would know).
To get started, you'll have to choose your character, house, and backstory. Then, join or create a dorm based on your house for you to socialise with your private group of schoolmates. If being a student is too overrated for you, shake things up by transforming into a house ghost à la Nearly Headless Nick or any other magical character while learning to say "levi-oh-sa" and "levio-sah".
Take it a step further by going on an online school excursion around Hogwarts via a virtual Wizarding World walkthrough on YouTube. From the comfort of your belt-less sofa seat, enjoy the entire experience from waiting in the queue to going on the Forbidden Journey ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. The video leads you to Dumbledore's office, the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom, the herbology lab, and the Room of Requirement. Together with the online classes, you'll be saying "Accio, butterbeer!" by the end of the day.
Come Together by Fost Gallery
Fost Gallery is taking its art exhibition to the virtual space, and it's unlike your usual. From now until June 28, the online group showcase features 12 artists from around the world including Singapore, where each artist selects a work by another artist the group and presents the reasons behind the selection.
The showcase is inspired by John Clang's Being Together (pictured above) which is a series of family portraits where some members lived away from their family in Singapore. Despite being a decade old, the series still remains relevant, especially during these strange times when you're only allowed to leave the house for essentials or your job if you're a key worker – so that even means living apart from your family if you're not in the same house.
But all hope's not lost. There is a myriad of ways to stay connected online. And for one, Fost Gallery is connecting art lovers everywhere via the online exhibition which is free to view. Founder Stephanie Fong shares, "Life has to, and must, go on. So even though our physical space is closed, we are still continuing our programming, albeit accessible only online." Check out works by Singapore's Kray Chen, John Clang, Donna Ong, Ezzam Rahman, Wyn-Lyn Tan, Sebastian Mary Tay, and Ian Woo, as well as other artists from Manila, Hong Kong, Johor Bahru, and Karachi.