Fighting the Covid-19 blues: 5 things to do today
1 READ: International Booker Prize shortlist
Escape to different worlds with this year’s International Booker Prize shortlist, arguably the most significant prize for literature translated into English.
Titles include Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police (inset), about an island where an authoritarian government makes the people destroy entire categories of things, such as hats or bells.
Tyll, by novelist Daniel Kehlmann, follows the jester Tyll Ulenspiegel as he travels across Europe, trying to avoid the havoc of the Thirty Years’ War.
Netflix is adapting it.
You can get these books from str.sg/JYMW and str.sg/JYud.
2 BAKE: Make your own bread with four ingredients
Baking bread may sound like a tall order, but with these four ingredients – bread flour, yeast, salt and water – it is not hard to get started.
The process of mixing and kneading dough can be a stress-reliever and freshly baked bread will perfume your surroundings while you work from home.
For added flavour, stud your dough with an assortment of toppings, including cranberries, olives and herbs such as rosemary. But remember not to buy more than what you need.
Go to str.sg/JYjD for the recipes.
3 LEARN: Visit lesser-known spaces in Singapore
Explore the Republic’s nooks and crannies and hear stories about popular haunts in The Straits Times’ video series, Living City.
East Coast Park, for instance, has a small wharf that caters to customers with a taste for fresh fish.
It is the park’s last boat-storage facility, which houses 35 registered boats owned by fishermen here.
Meanwhile, Citizen Farm in Queenstown is leading the effort to understand the relationship between urban cities and food with its waste-free farming systems.
Go to str.sg/JYjz to watch the series.
4 WATCH: Spot wildlife on a safari livestream
Watch elephants swim, peer into a den of hyenas or catch a glimpse of the elusive leopard or lions (above) on livestreams from the andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve and Djuma Private Game Reserve, both in South Africa.
The livestreams run twice a day, for three hours each around sunrise and sunset, but you can also catch previous streams on YouTube.
Unlike a nature documentary, you are not always in the thick of action, but it makes the safari experience as realistic as it can possibly be.
Go to str.sg/JYjK to watch the livestreams.
5 GROOM: DIY manicure
Keep your spirits up with do-it-yourself nail wraps, which can be applied easily at home in under 20 minutes.
At least four local brands, such as Em.mezing Nails and Freshly Wrapped, have sprung up in the past two years, featuring designs such as Peranakan tiles and batik print as well as solid colours.
A set of wraps costs between $12.90 and $15. Go to str.sg/J4jW to find out more.
• Compiled by Clara Lock
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