Jolene Hooy

Are you sick and tired of conventional cinemas? If the answer’s yes, then it’s time to escape those stuffy, cold theatre walls and hit up these alfresco movie spots in Singapore. Grab some popcorn – buttered or unsalted, that’s up to you – and strap in for a blockbuster night under a blanket of stars. RECOMMENDED: Upcoming movies in Singapore and the best alternative cinemas in Singapore

Don't be fooled by the stall's name – Tiong Bahru Yi Sheng Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee has been housed in Jalan Bukit Merah’s ABC Food Centre since 1993 and there’s still a relentless queue snaking around the shop ’til the late hours of the night, when loyal customers clear up the final few plates of this carby delight. It’s hard to pass up a comforting serving of Hokkien mee lovingly prepared by owner Toh Seng Wang, who has been dishing out his wildly popular prawn noodles for over 40 years. It’s an absolute treat to witness the 68-year-old – who’s as strong as an ox – raising his ladle high up in the air, showering the noodles with stock and working up a storm with his giant wok. His noodles are doused in a prawn stock that is painstakingly prepared every day, paired with pre-peeled juicy prawns and sotong. When he pops that huge wooden lid open – another sign that this place is legit – it won’t be long until you are greeted with piping hot noodles steeped in a rich crustacean sauce (and history). Yi Sheng’s humble beginnings date back to the 1950s, when Toh’s father would roll out the hearty dish in a pushcart along the streets of Tiong Bahru. The recipe was passed down to his son in the 80s and now Toh says: “I will never leave (this craft), I will fry until I can’t fry any more.” And don’t be afraid to ask for an extra serving of sambal. Trust us – it’s that tasty. Quite the traditionalist, Toh follows his father’s recipe to a tee, only making slight changes over the years t

The date: our daters had a meal at 665 Degrees Fahrenheit First impression War War: “Confident. He knows how to carry himself. When I sat down he asked, ‘are you blind?’ – it was cheesy but funny.” Jon: “I thought she was a tourist. The first thing she said to me was that she needed to pee. That was cool. I appreciated it.” Chemistry War War: “We have similar trains of thought and clicked well. I listened to his life stories and shared mine as well.” Jon: “There was definitely chemistry. We have a similar sense of humour – largely inappropriate. We fed each other appetisers.” Awkward moment War War: “Jon said he likes Kanye West and I like Taylor Swift. After that, he fed me a part of his steak that was more charred.” Jon: “Were there any? Everything turned into really aggressive flirting. She’s like a black belt flirt master.” Afterwards War War: “He wanted to bring me to a nice spot at MBS. We took quite some time to find it and got lost.” Jon: “We headed to MBS for a stroll. But we got lost at MBS looking for her bus stop.” Verdict War War: ♥♥♥♥ “We talked about having kids and naming our babies Salt and Pepper. I’m sure we’ll keep in touch.” Jon: ♥♥♥♥♥ “Is it really cliché to say seven hearts? She could be a great friend or, who knows, the mother of my children.”

Whether you're a tea connoisseur or just someone who fancies a frothing cup of teh tarik at your favourite hawker centre down the block, here are three places for you to steep in a rich mix of tea culture and history.

Fulfil your fantasies of being a musician, chef, artist, florist or calligrapher with courses that are designed to inspire and unleash the hibernating creative within you.

Jeffery Kong, 39Founder of Artisan Bricks What is Artisan Bricks? I’m a brick artist and Artisan Bricks is my company. I design and build customised artworks out of Lego bricks for my clients. The pieces can be anything from local landmarks to things from pop culture. How did you become a brick artist? It actually happened by accident at a low point in my life. I was working out of Tan Tock Seng Hospital because my dad was warded there. I had a lot of time to head out to Novena where I chanced upon a software called Lego Digital Designer, which brought back a lot of memories. When I was young my only real toy was a Lego set from my parents. So I tried the Digital Designer out, showed some of my work to friends and they started asking me to sell the pieces or teach them how to make their own. I felt like if doing this could bring joy to me, it should bring joy to a lot of people. Can you take us through the entire process from the initial design to the final creation? It starts with an idea. If I think it is worth pursuing and that it tells an interesting story, I make sketches of it on paper. When the draft looks good enough, I build it virtually with the design software and further refine it before proceeding to build it with real bricks. As I am building, I often improvise and adjust to taste, just like a chef. Sometimes I take it apart and start over. I spend a lot of time designing and usually plan it down to the very last brick. What do you love about being a brick ar

Laurent Bernard, 49 Founder of Laurent Bernard Chocolatier How did you develop an interest in pastries and chocolate making? In school, I trained specifically in pastries, ice cream and chocolate. I was most attracted to the produce and the possibilities of what you can do with chocolate because you can make ice cream, pastries and so on with it. There are different varieties of cocoa beans – it’s infinite! It’s extremely exciting. What do you love most about being a chocolatier? You can’t get bored because there’s so much variety. It’s very important to meet the farmers too. I can keep track of the bean, from the time it’s harvested to the time it’s served to the customer. What’s the secret behind your high quality chocolate products? The secret lies in the ingredients. It’s as simple as that. I like to keep the produce as pure as possible, without too much transformation. I need to have relations with the farmer – be it for cocoa, vanilla or hazelnut – I need to see the person face to face. I’m very old school. It’s a question of trust so you must go to the producer. When I was a kid living in France, we bought milk from the farm on the way home from school. So, I learned to buy everything from the farm because creating relationships with the producers is important. What is your proudest achievement during your career as a chocolatier? In the past 10 years, I have customers who frequent the café almost once a week, if not once a month. When I see young Singaporeans comin

Vikash Singh, 27 Professional gamer and coach at Chaos Theory Singapore How did you become a professional gamer? I started around 2009 with a then-popular game called Black Shot and played that competitively until 2012. When Overwatch came out in 2016, my friends and I formed a team and competed in our first tournament – we came in second. There, we caught the eye of our current manager, Zanthel Tan, from Chaos Theory – an e-sports organisation that supports players financially and with training facilities. How do people generally react when you share that you are a pro gamer? My girlfriend introduced me to her brothers by saying ‘my boyfriend is a pro gamer’. They were like ‘really? Is that a thing?’ She had to show them a newspaper clipping I was featured in to convince them. Take us through a typical day at work... We have a tournament every Sunday so we spend five to six days training. On our rest day, we analyse our mistakes. Overwatch is a very flexible game – making the wrong call at the wrong time will cost you the entire game. Even after training we still play on our own to sharpen our skills, aim and muscle memory. What are some challenges you face? We usually end up injuring our wrists. There are also neck and back pains to deal with. The level of stress is very high – the same for a regular sportsman – so some players do have breakdowns. Do you think Singaporeans are more accepting of e-sports as a profession now? Many may see gamers as lazy people who sit in

The lords and ladies of Bay Hotel humbly beseech you to its grounds at Rumah Rasa for The Feast of Fire & Ice. The Halal festive buffet menu is available from December 22 and is priced at $58 for lunch and $78 for dinner. Fill your belly with Walder Frey's chicken waldorf salad before you start breathing fire after having beef balls in sambal bajak, stir-fried slipper lobster in shrimp paste sambal and Drogon’s Fire Oysters. As the name suggests, these freshly-shucked oysters are covered in spices and torched. Dorne be afraid, you're able to adjust the level of spiciness if you can't take the heat.   Arya ready for more quirky items on the menu? Be on the lookout for Sansa & Arya’s Stolen Fruit & Dessert House, Red Wedding cake, and Three-eyed Raven mocktail – a unique concoction of rose, kiwi syrup and soda. There's also a Wall Carving carvery kiosk that dishes out a glistening leg of lamb tikka adorned with homemade mint yogurt and roasted Balinese turkey betutu, a classic Lombok Indonesia dish that will be freshly carved and served.  After all that fire, you'll need some ice so head over to Bay Hotel’s rooftop bar Propeller, which boasts stunning views of Sentosa and Keppel Harbour. Sip on The Mother of Dragons champagne ($18), with dragon fruit balls, that comes served in a shroud of smoke. Get your phones ready – we Rickon you'll get an insta-worthy shot. Bay Hotel, 50 Telok Blangah Rd, Harbourfront. 6818 6681, bayhotelsingapore.com. Daily noon-10.30pm.

Hundreds of Apple fans gathered outside the Apple store along Orchard Road yesterday afternoon and a queue snaked around Singtel’s headquarters from as early as 6am today. The reason? Apple’s highly anticipated 10th anniversary iPhone X launch. Say goodbye to the home button and Touch ID – the new iPhone X (pronounced 10, not ex) features a sleek all-screen design with 5.8-inch Super Retina HD display, as well as Face ID that unlocks your phone and activates Apple Pay. For those who detest detangling wires, the new wireless charging system is a feature you will appreciate. Another sweet catch is the 12MP dual cameras, perfect for taking that food porn shot in low-light restaurants. The new battery in iPhone X lasts two hours longer than the iPhone 7 so you won’t have to worry about the phone going dead. Get your hands on this shiny new piece of tech at all Apple stores and local telcos. The iPhone X retails at $1,648 for the 64GB model and $1,888 for the 256GB model, and comes in silver or space grey. For die-hard Apple fans who want to get a piece of the action without burning a hole in their pockets, Singtel offers attractive combo mobile plans that will take the hefty price tag down a notch. For a monthly fee of $95.90, users get to snag the 64GB iPhone X at $638 and enjoy 6GB of data. For more information on the iPhone X, visit Apple or Singtel.