Fun for the family

There’s something for everyone in the family this week as we celebrate the Children’s Day weekend

Picnic without packing

Bee’s Knees at The Garage

Packing for a picnic doesn’t have to be a dreary affair. Make a beeline for the Bee’s Knees at The Garage and grab one of their new Picnic Buzz-kets at the Botanic Gardens. Created in conjunction with local event services company Packdd Singapore, each picnic basket offers a fully equipped picnic set-up including decorative picnic mats, a foldable table, fluffy cushions and battery-operated candlelight.

Depending on your company for the day, choose from three baskets, featuring a luxurious full meal, light snacks or even a charcuterie board with wine. Pick up a Light Bites Picnic Buzz-ket (from $60, for two) with a choice of two items from a list of six-inch pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and salads, along with sides to share and drinks for two; or a Brunch/Dinner Picnic Buzz-ket (from $70, for two), with a choice of the eatery’s Signature Pinche Chicken Sandwich.

For a more spirited affair, the Vineyard Picnic Buzz-ket (from $80, for two) offers a selection of cheese, charcuterie and wine. For a small corkage fee, bring your own bottle and your basket will come with wine glasses and a wine opener. Also available are upsized baskets to feed a larger group of four to five people.

This Children’s Day, book a large Picnic Buzz-ket (for four to five pax) from Oct 2 to 4 and receive a complimentary Kid’s Basket filled with Truffle Tater Tots, a juice box and a kid’s toy or activity set. Available daily from 8am; book a day ahead via their website at www.thegarage.sg/bees-knees/picnic-buzzkets.

 

An unusual liquor

MO Bar

First, there was alcohol in mooncakes. Now, MO Bar is flipping the equation and putting mooncakes in alcohol. Ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival on Oct 1, the bar at Mandarin Oriental has concocted three limited edition cocktails based on traditional mooncake flavours, available while stocks last.

The Whisky Oolong Milk Punch pairs scotch with clarified mango and pandan, with Oolong mooncake; the Matcha Mule is made from Match mooncake vodka, lime cordial and ginger beer; and the Single Yolk Old Fashioned sees bourbon mixed with distilled single yolk mooncake and bitters.

Each 140ml bottle is priced at $18, with all three available in the Mooncake Cocktail Collection ($50). Available through the Mandarin Oriental online shop, get a bottle of your choice with a tin of single yolk mooncakes from the hotel at a special price of $25. Visit the bar’s online store at www.singapore.mandarinorientalshop.com/collections/mo-bar-cocktails.

 

#BMWRunsforPink

Oct 5 to 11

Take part in a virtual run from Oct 5 to 11 with #BMWRunsforPink, a collaboration between BMW Group Asia and the National Cancer Centre for Singapore (NCCS). Established in 2005, the NCC Research Fund supports innovative research into cancer diagnosis and treatment.

BMW Group Asia will donate $1 for every kilometre tracked on the GPS-enabled exercise app Strava between Oct 5 and 11, up to a goal of 3,000km. All participants will receive a certificate, and the top five runners with the longest tracked distances will receive prizes from BMW Group Asia. The campaign is also accepting donations online via Giving.sg at www.giving.sg/campaigns/BMWRunsforPink.

In theatres now

Return to the silver screen as large cinema halls here welcome up to 150 patrons starting Oct 1. Catch these films out now at Shaw Theatres islandwide. 

Pinocchio (Fantasy)

With this groundbreaking live-action film shot in Italy, Matteo Garrone creates a rich fantasy world of mystery and wonder, filled with luminous, funny and touching moments.

Geppetto, an old woodcarver, receives a piece of wood perfect for his next project: a puppet. But something magical happens — the cheeky puppet begins to talk, and can walk, run and eat like any young boy.

Geppetto calls him Pinocchio, and brings him up as his son. But Pinocchio is easily led astray, tumbling from one misadventure to another as he is tricked, kidnapped and chased by bandits through a fantastical world full of imaginative creatures, from the belly of a giant fish, to the land of toys and the field of miracles. His loyal friend, the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair, tries to make him see that his dream, to be a real boy, can never come true until Pinocchio finally changes his ways.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (Comedy, Drama)

This comedy re-imagines Charles Dickens’ classic ode to grit and perseverance by giving the Dickensian tale new life for a cosmopolitan age with a diverse ensemble cast of stage and screen actors from across the world. Starring Tilda Swinton, Aneurin Barnard, Gwendoline Christie, Dev Patel and Hugh Laurie, Emmy-winners and Oscar-nominees Armando Iannucci and Simon Blackwell lend their wry, yet heart-filled storytelling style to revisiting Dickens’ iconic hero on his quirky journey from impoverished orphan to burgeoning writer in Victorian England.

Made In Italy (Comedy)

A heartwarming father–son story set in glorious Tuscany, bohemian London art
ist Robert (Liam Neeson) returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Micheál Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. Neither expects to find the once beautiful villa in such a state of disrepair.

As Robert and Jack painstakingly restore the villa to its previous glory, they also start to mend their relationship. The future may now look quite different and surprise them both.

Ava (Action)

Ava (Jessica Chastain) is a deadly mercenary who works for a black ops organisation, travelling the globe and specialising in high-profile hits. Her career takes a bad turn when a job goes wrong. With a botched hit, Ava is told to take a hiatus until the heat blows over, but the head of the organisation has ordered a hit on her to ensure nothing traces back to the company. Ava now has to save her family and herself from multiple threats, while battling her own demons.

Rogue (Action)

Megan Fox tackles a thrilling new role as a battle-hardened mercenary in this explosive action saga. As team leader O’Hara, she leads a lively squad of soldiers on a daring mission: rescue hostages from their captors in remote Africa. But as the mission goes awry and the team is stranded, O’hara’s squad must face a bloody, brutal encounter with a gang of rebels – and the horde of ravenous, enraged lions they encounter.