City buzz

WHISTLE-STOP S'PORE HISTORY TOUR

THEATRE

Hotel by W!ld Rice

SINGAPORE theatre has never seen anything quite like it and probably won't for some time to come. Hotel by Wild Rice is a five-hour epic spanning 100 years of Singapore, from 1915 to 2015. It tells 11 incredible stories - one for every decade - of the various people who have lived in or passed through Singapore. Yet, this whirlwind journey through history is played out on a small canvas - specifically, in a hotel room. Also, its characters are mostly women and men who don't typically appear in government-sanctioned history books - such as a "comfort woman" from the Japanese Occupation, transgender prostitutes of 1970s Bugis Street, a Malay man railing against post-9/11 racial-profiling and a Chinese mother struggling to accept the idea of her daughter marrying an Indian man.

Written by Alfian Sa'at and Marcia Vanderstraaten and directed by Ivan Heng and Glen Goei,

By Helmi Yusof

Hotel was voted by virtually every reviewer last year as the best play of 2015. It returns this week and runs for a month at the Singapore Theatre Festival. The show is split into two sessions, and a single ticket gains you entry into both.Hotel plays at Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore Airlines Theatre, from now till July 24. Tickets priced from S$110 available from Sistic

DINING

Daisen Tori Nabe

IF you find the queues at certain collagen hotpot restaurants too long, there is an alternative. Japanese joint Sumire Yakitori House recently launched its Daisen Tori Nabe, or Daisen Chicken Hotpot.

Daisen tori is a highly reputed brand of chicken from Tottori prefecture. The chicken is bred for 50 days instead of the usual 40, which makes them plumper.

The birds are cooked for over 10 hours to produce a rich stock that has lots of collagen. Sumire imports the soup stock from Japan.

The hotpot soup base comes in the original white version, or in a red version which has house-made chilli paste added in. Each hotpot comes with chicken meat, chicken balls, prawns, fried tofu, enoki mushrooms, okra, zucchini and black fungus.

Diners can choose to add ramen noodles to the hotpot, or Japanese rice and egg to make a tasty porridge.

By Tay Suan Chiang

Daisen Tori Nabe is priced at S$26.80 for lunch (comes with two sides) and S$29.80 for dinner. Sumire Yakitori House is at Bugis Junction, #01-88/89. For reservations, call 6338-9963

MOVIES

13 Little Pictures

INDEPENDENT Singaporean film collective 13 Little Pictures have been wowing cinephiles at film festivals in Singapore and around the world with their genre-bending works.

If you have never had the chance to catch any, this is your chance as The Projector is set to showcase a selection of their most well-received features in July.

Each session will be preceded by a short and followed by a dialogue session with the filmmakers themselves.

The films include Liao Jiekai's As You Were, which was an official selection for the 2014 Tokyo International Film Festival; The Obs: A Singapore Story, about local veteran indie band The Observatory that was a sold-out sensation at the Singapore International Film Festival; and Fundamentally Happy, a big-screen adaptation of Haresh Sharma and Alvin Tan's award-winning play shot by Wong Kar Wai's regular collaborator Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express).

By Dylan Tan

For exact screening dates, timings and advance booking, check www.theprojector.sg

DINING

W Singapore's Sunday Remix 2.0 Buffet Brunch

WITH a techno soundtrack pumping in the background, W Singapore's Sunday Remix 2.0 buffet brunch has its finger on the party pulse before the weekend draws to a close.

The wide international spread - which balances healthy with guilty options from the hotel's F&B outlets SKIRT and The Kitchen Table - includes wood-fired pizzas, salads, cheese, grilled meats, seafood, dim sum, a raw bar and more.

They are prepared a la minute at live cooking stations for optimum taste and freshness. Party animals who are still in the mood and want the ultimate experience might want to check out the Bubbly Remix option (S$178++ per person) which includes free flow of house white and red, champagne and cocktails; plus access to the hotel's 1300 sq m swimming pool that has underwater music.

It's the perfect way to detox, re-tox and repeat as you recharge for the week ahead.

By Dylan Tan

Sunday Remix 2.0 takes place at W Singapore Sentosa Cove every Sunday from 12.30pm to 4pm. Prices start from S$128++ per person. For more info, check www.wsingaporesentosacove.com. For reservations: 6808-7268 or email thekitchentable.singapore@whotels.com

DINING

Aura Sky Lounge Champagne Brunch

TREAT yourself to brunch with a view, at the Italian restaurant Aura's Sky Lounge, on the rooftop of the National Gallery Singapore. Their new Sunday Champagne brunch offers a buffet spread of over 40 dishes at S$98++ per person, or S$148++ per person if you opt for free-flow Perrier Jouet champagne.

Highlights include a seafood bar with freshly shucked oysters, lobsters with butternut and prawns with beetroot, charcuterie such as parma ham, pancetta, soppressata, as well as live roasted meat-carving stations of either prime beef, lamb leg or pork leg. Of course, the dessert table features crowd-pullers such as tiramisu, caramel chantilly chocolate cups, coconut pannacotta, and a juice fountain.

The Aura Sky Lounge Champagne Brunch is available at 1 St Andrews Road, #06-02 National Gallery Singapore. It is available from noon to 2.30pm at the Sky Lounge on Sundays, at S$148++ per person with free flow Perrier Jouet champagne, or S$98++ for food only. Log on to www.aura.sg for more information