What's Up This Week

BRING MANHATTAN HOME

The year's Asia's 50 Best Bars will be unveiled online on May 14. Will Manhattan at Regent Singapore, which was second on the 2019 list, come out tops? Manhattan is temporarily closed, but you can still enjoy their cocktails from the comfort of your own sofa. All you have to do is buy the bar's bottled cocktails, from Dolcetto deli at the hotel. Pick from a wide range of concoctions that include the Chocolate Negroni and the Manhattan. These are available in 350ml bottles, and retail for S$118. Glasses and Manhattan's plush armchairs and mahogany tables are not included though. ~ Tay Suan Chiang

Go to shop.regentsingapore.com.sg.

COMIC RELIEF

When you're feeling down with all the gloom and doom surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak, take a break and check out some comics on Instagram. French graphic artist Jean Jullien, who has over one million followers on his Instagram account, @jean_jullien, shows off his playful illustrations to bring some light relief to the current crisis. For example, an illustration shows what it is like to be neighbours in 2020, while another is a picture of him wearing a mask and trying to blow out candles on his birthday cake, which he captioned Low Blow. Or check out @limhengswee, a Malaysian illustrator and his take on life during this period. ~ Tay Suan Chiang

ONLINE BAKING

With countries on lockdown and even if not, you're likely to see a lot of well-known chefs firing up Instagram with folksy home-made videos of themselves cooking simple recipes at home. There's Massimo Bottura live-streaming his daily dinners at 2am Singapore time if you have insomnia, Daniel Boulud making Hollandaise sauce to the sound of Italian opera, or Dominique Ansel showing you how to make idiot-proof banana bread. Closer to home is the Singapore-based @globalbaker aka Dean Brettschneider, who teaches you how to make simple bread rolls in a series of Instagram video posts that cover all the steps to making fluffy, freshly-baked morsels. If there's one thing good coming out of this pandemic, it's the community spirit shared by these chefs trying to bring some cheer and good food into your home. So, bake on. ~ Jaime Ee

SWEETEN YOUR DAY

Send someone a care package to show you're thinking of them this month as everyone hunkers down at home in the latest bid to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. Pantler has put together a sweet package of cookies and cake that you can send to friends, colleagues, employees or even yourself, to nibble away at your laptop or while binge-watching the latest hot Korean drama. For $50, you get a mix of cookies, madeleines, slices of pound cake, brownie and a choux puff, with delivery included in the price. Pantler is an independent patissier in the CBD - an area that's been the hardest-hit during this outbreak, so you'll be doing your bit to support small businesses as well. ~ Jaime Ee

Go to shop.pantler.com.sg.

POTTER ALCHEMY

With so much bad news dominating the headlines, a certain boy wizard is determined to bring some light in the dark - or, well, at least, his trustees do. The British Museum has decided to make its popular exhibition Harry Potter: A History Of Magic available online during this Covid-19 crisis. Muggles everywhere can now peruse various real-life historical artefacts related to magic, astronomy, divination, potions, herbology, alchemy and other Hogwarts subjects - some of which JK Rowling had turned to for creative inspiration. Meanwhile, the author has also shared with the museum some of her own drawings, manuscripts and synopses which she worked on whilst writing the series. ~ Helmi Yusof

Go to artsandculture.google.com/project/harry-potter-a-history-of-magic

ARTHOUSE ONLINE

Cinemas in Singapore may be shut until the end of the month but you can still get your arthouse fix as homegrown boutique distributor, Anticipate Pictures, moves its catalogue online. A selection of its past titles and new releases are now available on-demand 24/7 to rent or buy. Among the new releases are Portrait of a Lady on Fire (pictured) and Have a Nice Day. The former is a smouldering all-female-cast French period romance which won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival last year; while the latter is an edgy animated black comedy from Mainland China. Other titles coming soon include Ken Loach's award-winning gig economy drama, Sorry We Missed You; the Safdie brothers' (Netflix's Uncut Gems) slow burning thriller, Good Time and more. ~ Dylan Tan

Go to linktr.ee/anticipatepictures

FOR ART NOVICES

If contemporary art and design stump you, you might want to check out the online courses designed by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) on Coursera.org. One previously had to pay to stream a series of useful lectures on various art forms such as abstract art and photography. But MOMA has decided to offer these classes for free for the time being. You can enroll in as many courses as you like, but each takes 10 hours or more to complete. The fashion course, for instance, is 21 hours long as it explains to you the intricate details of 70 garments and accessories from around the world. ~ Helmi Yusof

Go to www.coursera.org/moma

SHARING AND CARING

IWC is rallying the watch community together via its Time Well Shared digital initiative. The online campaign will feature online lectures, speeches and webinars that promises to entertain and inspire people in these difficult times. Expect to watch IWC brand ambassadors like Tom Brady and David Coulthard; plus partners such as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1, Tottenham Hotspur, Laureus Sport for Good, and Antoine de Saint Exupéry Youth Foundation contributing content. "In these extraordinary times, we would like to reach out to people with a message of solidarity, hope and positivity," explains Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. The content will be accompanied by a button for viewers to make voluntary donations to the Save the Children foundation, with IWC taking the lead by making the first contribution. ~ Dylan Tan

Go to www.iwc.com and www.savethechildren.ch/timewellshared for more details