Things to do in Singapore today

Be transported to tranquil lavender fields in France at Lady M this summer with their new lavender mille crepes, minus the travelling. You can also pamper yourself with their refreshed champagne afternoon tea – new items include the lavender mille crepes and chilled caviar angel hair pasta – amid lavender floral arrangements at all their boutiques. Each set ($60 per person) includes a glass of Bruno Paillard’s Première Cuvée Extra Brut champagne or a pot of organic hand-blended teas from Art of Tea. The lavender mille crepes and the updated afternoon tea menu will only be available until August 31, so make your reservations soon.

For an ultra-luxe experience, Lady M is also partnering with Maison 21G to offer a perfume workshop and afternoon tea experience ($531 for two) at Lady M Champagne Bar on July 1, where you’ll be able to create your own 30ml lavender-based eau de parfum. Book the Lady M x Maison 21G Perfume Workshop here. 

Slurp on shuck-ulent oysters at Greenwood Fish Market’s World Oyster Festival, which returns this year from July 1-31. This year’s edition boasts a record-breaking lineup of 32 oyster varieties from Canada, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, USA. You can get your briny fix a la carte (from $4.95 per oyster), or in a tasting platter ($109.95 for eight pairs of oysters selected by the chef) at both their outlets.  

Fans of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things can now travel into its eerie world at an immersive retail experience that will feature retail spaces littered across two levels of Bugis+. The main draw is The Encounter on Level 7, a 45-minute experience that invites you to step into the world of Stranger Things. The experience costs $39 per person on weekdays and $109 for a Priority Pass ticket that comes with an exclusive merchandise bundle. If your heart can't take the excitement, a mere $15 will give you access to the Starcourt Mall Area where you can shop for Stranger Things merchandise in an 80s-themed set-up. There's also a free-for-all area on Level 2, with fun photo booths and another retail zone stocked with select merchandise. Book your slots at strangerthingsencounter.com.

Celebrate 50 years of the Singapore Zoo with its Golden Zoobilee with a lineup of exciting activities in the months ahead. Already happening from now until August 27 is the kid-friendly Art-Zoo Happy Zoobilee trail – eight animal sculptures created for the event including elephants and orangutans will be on display in the zoo. Kids will also get to interact with tactile play elements and participate in activities including animal interaction sessions and craft workshops along the trail, which ends with a 21 metre-long inflatable art playground. 

From now till July 31, Boeuf, a steakhouse in Telok Ayer founded on a desire to serve up tasty meats that won’t break the bank, presents a special four-course Wagyu set menu priced at $99 for two diners – available all day on weekdays. The set menu comprises a Burratina Di Puglia salad, Wagyu beef cheek bourguignon, Australian Stockyard F1 Wagyu Picanha, and a creme brulee, served with an assortment of macarons and mini brownies, to finish.

You know the zodiac animals. But do you know how they found their place in the lunar calendar? Combining the art of puppetry and Chinese traditional music, this musical extravaganza brings the famous fable to life. The story goes that an emperor organised a race for all of Earth’s animals to participate. However, only 12 species turned up at the start line. As a reward for turning up, the emperor promises to name a year in the zodiac after each animal, but only with the order in which they would be placed to be determined by the race. With changes in tempo, textures, and timbres, you’ll find your heart racing too!

Hammocks were made for snoozing, until now that is. Every alternate Saturdays, buy clothes off hammocks at The Hammock Market. Scour through someone else’s wardrobe at the hammock section or shop curated pieces from established stores at the booths. Looking for something more than apparels? There is also an area set aside for local artisans to showcase their crafts. Think candles, pottery, handmade jewellery and many more. Vendors alternate every week so there’s always something new to look forward to. And if you think snagging something at half the price or less isn’t exciting enough, you’ll be delighted to know that free tote bags (worth $19.99) are also up for grabs with every purchase – while stocks last for the day. 

Sentosa will be transformed into a holistic wellness retreat from 10 June to 9 July. At the Zentosa Live Well festival, over 250 activities spanning five pillars of wellness will be on offer for festival-goers. Highlights of the event include a Discovery Walk, the Zentosa Festival Village, FeelWell (a new mental and emotional wellness zone), BondWell (which facilitates bonding and strong relationships with loved ones), in addition to returning experiences like PlayWell, EatWell, and RestWell. Furthermore, if you’re a fan of reality competition series Physical: 100, you can register for one of 100 slots for an exclusive meet-and-greet session with Choo Sung-hoon, who appeared on the show.

Don’t meet your heroes, they say, unless they are life-sized Marvel superhero statues! Jewel Changi Airport presents Avengers: Beyond Earth’s Mightiest, a Marvel-themed event that will be home to Marvel’s coolest superheroes from May 26 to August 13. Immerse yourself in the heroic world of Earth's Mightiest Heroes at Avengers Assemble @ Shiseido Forest Valley, featuring stunning 3D installations and interactive displays that will bring the Avengers to life. You can expect a 5-metre Iron Man statue, and photo-taking spots which include 3D displays, a 3-metre tall Captain America’s Vibranium Shield, and a 3.5-metre tall Thor’s hammer. And don’t worry, the other heroes are not forgotten as well – get ready to meet The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Black Panther. There’ll also be a Light & Sound showcase at the HSBC Rain Vortex where you’ll be able to spot your favourite Avenger as grand water projections. The showcase will happen at 8pm on weekdays (Monday to Thursday) and 8pm and 10pm on weekends (Friday to Sunday). 

Love board games and classic like Connect 4, The Game of Life and Hungry Hungry Hippos? You can now play larger-than-life versions of these games at Changi Airport Terminal 3. From May 26 to July 13, the departure hall will be transformed into the Hall of Games, a wonderland of physical and digital games based on popular Hasbro games. Buckle up in giant car pieces at The Game of Life driving simulator, where you have to dodge hazards onscreen while racing against the clock to gain points. Get tapping as quickly as you can at the Hungry Hungry Hippos digital game to feed the ravenous animals, or challenge a friend to be the first to connect four discs in row. And at the free Twister zone, you'll test your flexibility as you get all tied up in knots. You'll need a Gamer pass to play at the Hall of Games. It costs $5, but can also be redeemed free when you spend $50 in a single receipt at participating stores in Terminals 1 to 4. For more details about opening times, premiums, and passes, visit changiairport.com/hasbro. 

No stranger to the global art scene, Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta has encouraged many to see the world from the POV of the oppressed via large-scale sculptural installations since the 1990s. This week, she’s unveiling a gargantuan inflatable at the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden atop National Gallery Singapore. Named Untitled, the thought-provoking sculpture invites all to interact with it. With malleable material, two interlocked figures, and a multiplicity of meanings, it offers a visually striking and conceptually rich experience – a juxtaposition to the visual density of a bustling metropolis. A non-traditional way to view art? We're sold.

It's never too early to expose your little ones to art. Unlock their creativity with a multi-sensorial art adventure at National Gallery Singapore as it turns into a colossal warren of imagination. Themed Let’s Make a Better Place, the fourth edition of the Gallery Children’s Biennale decks the National Gallery Singapore with 11 art installations by artists around the world. Each installation spotlights one of four core values which include care, collaborate, imagine, and respect. These artistic concepts also highlight the relevant issues of today – in an easy-to-digest manner for kids, no less. Your young heroes can look forward to immersive experiences that go beyond imaginative play, inspiring them to take an active role in bettering the world.

No stranger to the global art scene, Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta has encouraged many to see the world from the POV of the oppressed via large-scale sculptural installations since the 1990s. This week, she’s unveiling a gargantuan inflatable at the Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden atop National Gallery Singapore. Named Untitled, the thought-provoking sculpture invites all to interact with it. With malleable material, two interlocked figures, and a multiplicity of meanings, it offers a visually striking and conceptually rich experience – a juxtaposition to the visual density of a bustling metropolis. A non-traditional way to view art? We're sold.

When you step into a contemporary art exhibition nowadays, it's usually decked with moving visuals. But prior to the sleek projection technologies we've gotten familiar with were early video installation works that broke out across Southeast Asia in the 1980s and 1990s. Travel back in time and navigate through the rich history of this popular medium at National Gallery Singapore’s latest exhibition. Stroke your chin as you observe the video artworks from pioneering artists including Apinan Poshyananda’s How to Explain Art to a Bangkok Cock, Dr Baharudin Arus’s Medium is the Message, and Chng Nai Wee’s Sin of Apathy. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for an egg-citing performance by some cock-a-doodle-doos!

Photography was first introduced to the world in 1839 and has since changed the way we view and document things. The exhibition Living Pictures zooms in on the impact photography has had on Southeast Asia. Follow the journey from when it first made its entrance into our region via the European colonists and used as a tool for archival, to the role it played in capturing portraits in the early 20th century. Then, fast forward to now, as it slowly advances into a medium for art and conceptualisation and eventually evolving to adapt to our current smartphone era into the kinds of photography we know today.

You don’t want to miss the largest exhibition by a Singaporean public museum yet, dedicated to ink master Liu Kuo-sung’s 70 year old artistic career spanning from the 1950s to the 2020s. Painter Liu spent his career discovering and advocating the modernisation of traditional Chinese ink painting through his art practice and writings. Showcasing 60 selected works that trace his journey and evolution as an artist, the exhibition highlights his innovations in modern Chinese ink painting and how he went beyond the brush to explore the physicality of ink and paper.

If streetwear is the name of your fashion game, then you know that sneakers are a step in the right sartorial direction. Ahead of the much-anticipated Sneaker Con SEA, the ArtScience Museum is making way for a large-scale sneaker and street culture exhibition that big-up creativity, self-expression and innovation. The brainchild of two massive sneakerheads – Emmy-award-winning producer Stever Harris and Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Steve Brown – the exhibition features over 100 limited edition sneakers, street art and design with crossovers into different genres of sports, entertainment, music, fashion and more. Feast your eyes on 50 murals and installations including works by American creatives such as McFlyy, Michael Murphy and Mimi Yoon.

Embark on a magical adventure with your little explorers at the Esplanade's interactive theatre series PLAYtime! Perfect for tiny tots and tykes between the ages of three and six, it features engaging productions that ignite your kid's creative and imaginative flame while encouraging learning through the performing arts. 

This year's programmes focus on themes of social and emotional development. Highlights include Us (Feb 2-Mar 12) which explores various emotions through movement, music and fun; Next up, Just As I Am (Apr 21-May 7) which is a theatrical dance performance about self-love; and A Prince, An Explorer and A Girl – The Story of Batu Bulat (Aug 11-27) which takes the audience on a fun island journey to discovering the importance of empathy.

After 17 editions of da:ns festivals, the dance celebration is ready to take things to the next level. Introducing da:ns focus. Spread across five weekends throughout the year, each part focuses on a particular theme or genre, and is jam-packed with exciting programmes, experiences and activities to get everyone involved – no matter if you’re a seasoned dancer or dipping your (pointe) toes into the scene for the first time. Mark your calendars for April 14 to 16 as it opens with the first set: EveryBody. The weekender focuses on work powered by inclusivity and diversity, so expect dance projects that empower all body types and abilities. Accessibility features for selected programmes such as Relaxed Environment, Sign Language Interpretation and wheelchair access are also offered.

Calling all art history junkies, this one’s for you. With over 300 works housed in the Supreme Court building, Between Declarations and Dreams looks back on the artistic impulses of Southeast Asian art, dating back all the way to the early mid-19th century. The curatorial narrative explores four main themes in chronological order – Authority and Anxiety, Imagining Country and Self, Manifesting the Nation and Re:Defining Art.