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Features
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
Five things to
do today
Stay in and help ight COVID19. Enjoy a
virtual walk around Netherlands’ famous
lower garden, play indoor games with the
kids and more
Prisca Ang
THE STRAITS TIMES ANN - Stay in
and help ight COVID 19 by doing
fun, uplifting things to do each day.
Here are ive recommendations
from
The Straits Times
.
ADMIRE: THE NETHERLANDS'
FAMOUS FLOWER GARDEN
Feeling restless at home due to
the circuit breaker? Go on a virtual
walk around the popular Keukenhof
lower garden in the town of Lisse
in the Netherlands.
Admire fresh blooms in their
prime as the park's gardeners show
viewers around Keukenhof and talk
about their favourite spots and
lowers, such as hyacinths, daffodils
and, of course, the tulips for which
the Netherlands is famed.
The lower garden's seven mil-
lion bulbs attract some 1.5 million
visitors from more than 100 coun-
tries a year during tulip season.
It has been temporarily shut
down due to the Dutch govern-
ment's measures to contain the
coronavirus pandemic.
LISTEN: PODCASTS ABOUT
THE ENVIRONMENT
If you have cut down on plastic bag
use or started rejecting straws and
disposables at coffee shops, go
one step further by picking up new
insights into conservation and the
changing environment.
In
The Straits Times
' Green
Pulse podcast, environment cor-
respondent Audrey Tan and cli-
mate change editor David Fogarty
discuss topics ranging from the
bleaching of Australia's Great Barri-
er Reef to how the coronavirus pan-
demic is impacting sustainability in
Singapore's cleaning industry.
LEARN: COURSES ON INTERIOR
DESIGN AND HERBOLOGY
Spending more time indoors
and want to spruce up your
home environment?
Take an online course in interior
design and home styling, which
covers aspects such as design
elements, popular interior styles
and sustainable design.
Alternatively, learn to grow,
store and process your own herbs
in an online course on herbology.
These are among the courses
offeredonactivity-bookingplatform
GoLivMo. The website also offers
suggestions for virtual tours and
concerts users can watch at home.
PLAY: FUSSFREE INDOOR GAMES
WITH THE KIDS
If your children are begging you
to take them outdoors to play,
keep them entertained in the safe-
ty and comfort of home through
these three games using house-
hold items.
Enjoy a mix of hopscotch and
party game Twister, compete in a
potato sack race or have a friendly
bowling match using cups and
balled-up newspaper.
WATCH: SHORT FILMS ON ACTS
OF KINDNESS
A migrant worker inds himself
left by his employer to die in a
forest and a journalist challenges
newsroom convention to tell the
worker's story.
Based on real events, this is the
premise of
Ali Baba
, a short ilm by
director Randy Ang.
The heartbreaking 17-minute
work is dedicated to HealthServe,
a local non-pro it organisation for
migrant workers.
It is part of the 15 Shorts proj-
ect, a biographical series about 15
Singaporeans who went to extraor-
dinary lengths to help others.
The project is organised by
the National Volunteer and Philan-
thropy Centre - a non-pro it body
promoting a culture of giving - and
local ilm company Blue3Asia, in
collaboration with 15 Singaporean
ilm-makers.
Each ilm is dedicated to a char-
ity to which viewers can donate.
FROM LEFT: If you have cut down on plastic bag use or started rejecting straws and disposables at coffee shops, go one step further by picking up new insights into conservation and the
changing environment through podcasts; and if your children are begging you to take them outdoors to play, keep them entertained in the safety and comfort of home. Play fuss-free indoor
games such as Twister
Go on a virtual walk around the popular Keukenhof lower garden in the town of Lisse in the Netherlands
Take an online course in interior design and home styling, which covers aspects such as design elements, popular
interior styles and sustainable design