Location: Sembawang

Sorry, No Bags Provided – First Zero Waste Grocery Store In Singapore Wants You To BYOB

Let’s admit, if we had to pay 5 cents for a plastic bag at the supermarket check-out counter, we would gladly pay it.

After all, what’s 5 cents if it brings a whole deal of convenience for you. For most mothers, a plastic bag is used for more than just carrying their groceries home, it’s used to dispose our trash as well.

In fact, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Amy Khor mentioned on Tuesday (March 6), that “Imposing a charge or ban on disposable plastic bags and substituting them with other types of disposable bags is unlikely to improve environmental outcomes.”

[caption id="attachment_34221" align="aligncenter" width="1728"] Image Credit: Unpackt Facebook[/caption]

It’s a social enterprise that aims to spread the zero waste message and make packaging free shopping more accessible across Singapore.

Before going about your shopping, you will have to weigh your containers, jars or bottles on a weighing scale provided so that the weight can be noted down and excluded from your total bill.

After filling up your containers with food, you will have to weigh your containers again at the counter before making payment.

This encourages customers to head down with a “shopping list” in mind so as to curb impulse purchases and reduce waste.

As a start, the store will be selling healthier food options such as rice with lower glycemic index, organic pasta and superfood powders dispensed in large self-serve gravity bins to minimise individual packaging.

Goods will also be priced lower than regular high street items since they are packaging free after all.

They aim to expand the store offerings with consumer items such as body wash, shampoos and even stainless steel, making it the one-stop shop for green and sustainable living.

Once UnPackt is operationally stable, it aims to hire full time staff, with a preference for single mother and senior citizens.

The launch of UnPackt comes at a time when Singapore’s waste footprint has creeped into the mainstream consumer consciousness.

Just last year, it was reported that we produced more than 800 million kg worth of plastic waste – only 6% of which was recycled.

We can reduce plastic wastage if we all make the conscious effort to do so. Maybe hopping on to the zero waste camp is a brilliant decision at the end of the day.

Becoming eco conscious can start from simple daily things such as bringing your own takeaway containers and stainless steel straws. Tiny changes in our lifestyle can be cultivated into habits.

UnPackt is an amazing social enterprise that can hopefully move Singaporeans away from plastic wastage and being more eco-friendly.

Perhaps only then, will I believe that we’re truly a “Clean and Green City”.

UnPackt will open their doors Saturday, 5 May. Bring your own glass jars, containers and bottles and start on an eco-friendly, packaging free journey with them!

UnPackt
Address: 6 Jalan Kuras, Singapore 577724
Opening Hours: 9am – 8pm, daily
Website

Also Read Lift Your Spirits At The S’pore Cocktail Festival This May With Pop-Ups, Tastings, And Bar Battles

(Header Image Source: Unpackt Facebook)

If You Like Blackball, This Dessert Shop Will Have You Questioning Your Loyalties

If you’ve been to Taiwan, you’ll know that one of the snacks the country is well-known for is its Jiu Fen Taro Balls.

Sold along the streets of bustling Jiu Fen, these coloured balls are chewy and are served alongside other ingredients such as sweet potato and green tea balls, in red bean, green bean or sweet potato soup.

A party of flavours and textures, if you’re a fan of these dessert bowls and are a strong believer that ‘the more the toppings, the better‘, you’ll love Nine Fresh‘s local spin on the Taiwanese classic.

Nine Fresh

If this is the first time you’re hearing of Nine Fresh, you’re missing out!

Nine Fresh is a dessert stop that has been serving up quality cups of the delicious dessert for almost 5 years now.

That is, cups of grass jelly, beancurd, or ai-yu jelly (or a mixture of the three) heaped with beans (red bean, green bean, pinto bean, eight treasure bean), balls (mini taro ball, taro ball, durian ball), flavoured pearl jelly (aloe vera, mango, lychee, passionfruit), black pearls, and many more toppings.

At Nine Fresh, they’re all about keeping traditions fresh, and recently, they’ve done exactly that by rolling out 2 new series of desserts.

Nine Fresh Goes Local

The first is its Local Flavours series, which consist of dessert creations inspired by some of our favourite local desserts, including Chendol and Cheng Teng.

The Chendol Cup ($3.80) has a grass jelly base and is topped with green chendol jelly, attap seeds, red bean, and taro balls.

With (almost) all the ingredients you’d typically find in a chendol dessert, this is a far less sweet variant of the coconut milk-heavy dessert.

The Cheng Teng Cup ($3.80) also has all the good stuff you’d find in the traditional dessert: pong tai hai, lotus nut, barley, and sago. These are served over a wobbly ai-yu jelly base. And of course, you can’t forget the taro balls!

As durian lovers, our favourite is the Durian Yin-Yang, a half beancurd, half grass jelly base that’s topped with black sugar jelly dice, taro balls, and a generous scoop of rich durian puree – yes, actual durian flesh. The flavourful and creamy durian, combined with the array of chewy and QQ ingredients in the cup make it a winner – and all for just $3.90.

Singapore’s Favourites, According To Data

Another exciting addition to Nine Fresh’s offerings is the Fanspiration Series, a bunch of cups and flavours that are essentially customer-generated.

The best-selling flavour and ingredient combinations based on Nine Fresh’s data, gathered from its create-your-own-cup promo this year, you can’t go wrong with these flavours that are beloved by many, many Singaporeans.

Some of these items in this series include the all-black The Black Cup ($2.90), the all-white The White Cup ($2.60), and The Yin-Yang Cup ($2.90), which is half black and half white – at least when it comes to the base.

If you simply can’t decide between the bases (or love them all equally), the Aww In One Cup cup contains all three of them.

This cup comes piled with black pearls, taro balls, and mini taro balls on top. If you’re a first timer to Nine Fresh, we suggest you go for this so you can sample a little bit of everything and figure out which you prefer!

From there on, you can customise your own cup and create your own perfect combination of ingredients.

With so many decadent desserts out there, from rich chocolate treats to lava toasts, Nine Fresh is – literally – a refreshing change from the lot.

Priced very affordable from $2 to $3.90 for one of their pre-set cups, Nine Fresh’s desserts are a lighter option with so much to offer in the way of taste and flavour!

The next time you’re craving a refreshing dessert, make sure to pop by one of Nine Fresh’s 16 outlets – you won’t be disappointed!

Nine Fresh
Address: Find your nearest Nine Fresh Also read This Thai Bakery Is Baking Up A Storm Of Fluffy Loaves – And You Knead To Try It 

6 DIE DIE Must Visit Stalls For Lovers Of Seafood White Bee Hoon!

The seafood white bee hoon buzz is one of the latest food craze in our sunny island.

This unassuming tze-char dish has been around for ages in Singapore, with no one paying so much attention to it until now.

With so many wannabes in the market riding on the wave of the craze, it’s rare to come by stalls that genuinely know their stuff.

Here are some of the places we recommend for a good plate of our favourite local seafood white bee hoon!

1. Woon Woon Pek Beehoon

This small hawker stall at Changi Village Hawker Centre brings in long lines of customers every week.

Their speciality is the seafood that goes with its bee hoon. Choose from a top-up of fish, crab, prawn, crayfish or mussels. If you’re feeling hungry (or are in a group), you can try the seafood platter ($30 or $40).

Woon Woon Pek Bee Hoon
Address: Blk 2, Changi Village Road #01-52, Singapore 500002

2. East Seafood White Beehoon

Led by a chef with 30 years of culinary experience, East Seafood hawker chain prides itself on offering affordable seafood white bee hoon amidst rising seafood prices.

Image: facebook.com/eastseafood

With three hawker branches located in Toa Payoh, Hougang (Ciyuan CC) and Ang Mo Kio, they also offer great seafood add-ons with their bee hoon (crayfish, lala and crabs).

East Seafood White Bee Hoon
Address:
Blk 210 Toa Payoh Lorong 8, #01-06, Singapore 310210
Blk 407 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 #01-733, Singapore 560407
No.51 Hougang Ave Ci Yuan Hawker Centre, Singapore 538776

3. Jia Wei White Beehoon

Quietly tucked away in an HDB coffee shop in Jalan Bukit Merah (near ABC Brickworks hawker centre), Jia Wei brings a homey taste to its tze char specials.

Image: uncletehpeng.com

White Restaurant The Original White Beehoon is one of the pioneers of the famous Sembawang White Bee Hoon. Their version is dressed in thick sauce and copious ingredients (eggs, sotong, chai sim, and prawns – yum!). Beware of the long queues on the weekends!

White Restaurant The Original White Beehoon
Address: 22 Jalan Tampang (Opp Sembawang Shopping Centre) Singapore 758966

5. Hualong Fishhead Steamboat

Though not seafood white bee hoon specialists, Hualong manages to differentiate its rendition of the dish by making it drier than usual.

The seafood white bee hoon is served on an opeh leave, and topped with sliced cabbage, fried garlic and lime for flavour.

Complete your meal with one of their delicious dishes, such as fish maw soup, fried sotong and fuyong omelette.

Hua Long Fishhead Steamboat
Address: Block 347, #01-2142 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, Singapore 560347

6. Hong Yun Seafood

One of the more successful coffee shop stalls in Toa Payoh, Hong Yun is known for the crispy – and huge – pork lard that they generously scatter across several of their dishes. Same goes for their seafood white bee hoon dish!

Image: uniquelious.blogspot.sg

While you’re there, try out their sambal kangkong and potato leaves – shiok!

Hong Yun Seafood
Address: Block 124, Toa Payoh Lor 1, #01-459 Singapore 310124

What is it about seafood white bee hoon that keeps drawing customers – new and old – week after week?

Could it the salty rice noodles that make up the core of the dish? Is it the prawns and sotong that accompanies it? Or could it be the fragrant, hot gravy that tops it all off?

It’s pointless to think too much into it – just join the queue this weekend and find out!

Also, read Wanna Share? 7 Steakhouses With Portions So Huge, You Need To Call Your Entire Squad!

Rope Yoga & Kitesurfing? 6 Thrilling Sports For Adrenaline Junkies

If you’re an adrenaline junkie, chances are you’ve already tried some of the more uh, thrilling sports such as rock climbing and walking across elevated wobbly logs at the Forest Adventure. Compared to the usual void deck soccer and multipurpose hall badminton, rock climbing does sound pretty rad.

However, as true thrill seekers, completing the Forest Adventure alone just doesn’t cut it. What you need are some heart-pounding and soul-stopping activates that will get your adrenaline going. From cable skiing to car racing, we give you six thrilling sports that will do more than satisfy the adrenaline junkie in you.

1. Urban Skiing

With 2. Cable Skiing [caption id="attachment_11352" align="alignnone" width="897"] Source: Groupon[/caption]

Sure, we may not have the luxury of large open waters but that does not stop water sports enthusiasts from trying their hands at cable skiing. Instead of a boat, you’ll be pulled by a machine at speeds from twenty to fifty-eight kilometres per hour. Not exactly a pro? Fret not as the instructors will have you covered. So if you’re looking for a cooling yet thrilling activity, check out 3. Kitesurfing [caption id="attachment_11354" align="alignnone" width="1021"] Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Though a familiar activity to many water sports enthusiasts, some may be surprised to find this sport in Singapore. Conducted at either East Coast Park or Pasir Ris, spend your day navigating a power kite whilst skimming across blue sparkly waters. For the beginners, do expect to take a couple of hours/days before you’re able to fly.