By Tan Wen Xuan
Let’s face it – half of the summer holiday has gone by. What will you do for the remainder of it? Perhaps you’re planning to apply for an internship on LinkedIn? Or maybe you want to take on a part-time job to earn some pocket money?
Most of us would probably spend our holidays on either option instead of taking some time to recharge ourselves during the holidays. As such, here are five unique ways for you to have a memorable and relaxing break before the semester starts!
1. Join part-time events
Credit: Funworks SG
If you’re looking for a quick way to earn cash but want a short-term commitment, why not join a part-time event at Funworks? Well known for organising team building programmes, Funworks hires part-timers under its event crew to implement interesting and meaningful events for its clients that range from schools to companies. Part-timers are paid approximately $30 to $50 for facilitating these events, which last for approximately two to 3 hours. As such, Funworks is a good choice if you want to strike a balance between working and spending time to pursue your hobbies during the holidays.
Moreover, if you want to boost your chances to get your dream job, joining Funworks’ part-time events allows you to interact with people of different backgrounds. This hones soft skills, such as communication and leadership, which are highly important for most jobs in the future. Interested candidates can apply through Funworks’ official website, where they will be added to the Funworks Telegram group chat that alerts them about the company’s latest events to create meaningful memories among their audience and themselves.
Alternatively, if you enjoy spending time with kids, you can consider joining part-time events at Lollibox, a corporate office that organises workshops for families and children. Lollibox currently offers a wide range of jobs from mascots to event crew. Some of these positions last for a few days and pay $9 an hour minimally, so you may want to apply for these positions on Indeed or contact the company through its email before they are snapped up.
2. Explore new areas in Singapore
With the ongoing GST hike, you may be upset that you can’t spend your holidays exploring different places overseas. Not to worry, for Singapore has plenty of interesting sites to visit, especially when you’re on a tight budget. While Singapore is well-known for attracting locals and tourists alike with its shopping malls, checking out these uncommonly featured sites can help us better appreciate Singapore’s unique places by bringing us on a journey down memory lane.
Credit: TheSmartLocal
Located in Kampong Glam, the Vintage Museum in Singapore is easy to spot as it is shaped in the form of a camera, with its lens being the entrance to an eye-opening exhibition. Here’s a fun fact – the Vintage Museum is the largest camera-shaped building globally! But that’s not the only reason to pay $20 for a visit.
Featuring a wide variety of cameras that range from drone cameras used during World War I to spy cameras camouflaged as cigarettes or walking sticks, the Vintage Museum allows visitors to observe how photography has evolved over time in History. Unlike most museums, the Vintage Museum allows visitors to hold some of the cameras and use them to take pictures. If you’re a hands-on person, this might excite you as you can get to fidget with the cameras’ different functions to better understand how they work.
Credit: Vintage Camera Museum Singapore | Instagram
Apart from cameras, the Vintage Museum also has a Click Art section by co-founder A.P Shreethar, which features several famous paintings and historical figures such as the Mona Lisa and Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. We think it’s worth it to experiment with various shots if you have an eye for photography or just want to learn more about it.
Credit: TimeOut
Alternatively, if you’re feeling nostalgic about your childhood, perhaps you might wish to visit the Watermelon Playground at Tampines Central Park to relieve some exciting memories of the past. Inspired by the old fruit farms that were once discovered in Tampines, HDB architect Mrs Lee-Loy Kwee Wah designed the Watermelon Playground along with the Mangosteen playground, which allows kids to take shelter or play a game of hide-and-seek.
Comprising a cross-section and a watermelon slice, the Watermelon Playground’s cross-section features a slide and a set of stairs that allow both adults and kids to play and have fun. If you wish to take a short break from playing, the watermelon slice has a swing that is converted into an immobile bench that allows you to rest for a while. You can also snap some pictures of the bright-coloured playground and post them on Instagram or keep them close to yourself as a momento of your visit.
Additionally, the Watermelon playground is just a stone’s throw away from Our Tampines Hub, so you can always head over there for a quick bite after your visit.
Credit: Thought Catalog | Unsplash
Did you know that taking up a hobby makes you feel less stressed? A study in the USA showed that 75% of the participants’ cortisol levels, a stress indicator, fell after they engaged in artistic activities. Pursuing your hobbies can help you enjoy your life by doing something that interests you. Moreover, you don’t have to be an expert in doing a hobby, as the study highlighted that the participants’ level of experience with making art did not affect the results significantly. For me, I enjoy writing as it allows me to express my thoughts by weaving interesting ideas and themes in a poem or a story. Pursuing my passion for writing also helps me to feel less stressed about schoolwork and other problems I may encounter in my life.
Credit: Tan Wen Xuan (left), Autodesk Instructables (right)
If writing doesn’t interest you, you can spend the holidays learning a new craft. According to Samuel Tsang, an origami teacher from London and author of The Book of Mindful Origami, origami helps people to be happier with their lives by releasing their need for perfectionism. Although making some origami models requires many steps and can be overwhelming, origami doesn’t have to be a complicated activity at all! Plus, origami models can be a personal gift to brighten someone’s day, and a unique way of showing love and appreciation to someone, whether it be your family, friends or even a complete stranger.
In fact, origami can be as simple as folding stars out of thin paper strips! You can either buy paper strips from bookshops or be environmentally friendly by tearing the unused parts of rough paper with a ruler. That being said, feel free to refer to the instructions above to learn how to fold paper stars
Credit: Kenny Eliason | Unsplash
If you’re lost on how you can start pursuing your hobbies, workshops are a great platform to get your creative juices flowing! Having an instructor to guide you on the fundamentals can help you get some inspiration on how you can embark on your various projects or brush up on your existing skills. Moreover, by joining these workshops, you can also form meaningful friendships with people who may share similar interests with you.
Credit: Asia Creative Writing Programme
Want to be the next Stephen King but unsure of how to get started? NTU’s got you covered with the Asia Creative Writing Programme! A partnership with the National Arts Council, NTU aims to host writing workshops for aspiring writers. Through the programme’s workshops, you can participate in writing exercises that may spark your desire to work on the next award-winning novel or poetry collection. Depending on your degree of comfort, you can also share your writing with your instructor and other participants to seek feedback for improvement.
Credit: Eventbrite
However, if you wish to learn other hobbies, Eventbrite, a website that features workshops in Singapore, provides many programmes for you to register. Depending on the organisers, some of these classes are free but others may charge a fee for these programmes.
One of the most notable organisers is the National Library Board (NLB), which hosts a wide variety of free events under GoLibrary, which range from Arts & Crafts to coding and more. Through these programmes, you can learn different skills of making products such as keychains. In fact, you may even consider setting up a small business to sell your products with your newly acquired skills!
5. Connect with friends
Credit: Duy Pham | Unsplash
Have the tight deadlines during the semester made you cancel your outings with your friends? Now that the holidays are here, it’s time for you to catch up with them! Here’s a fun fact — spending time with your close friends makes you happier as they can provide advice and a listening ear when you encounter problems. Moreover, you can develop self-awareness from interacting with your friends, as they allow you to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. This helps you be better at adapting to challenging situations. As such, if a friend asks you out for coffee, seize the moment to strengthen your friendship and be open to receiving their advice!
Credit: Gather.town
However, if meeting up physically is inconvenient due to conflicting schedules, you can try connecting with your friends online through a digital platform known as Gather.town. In Gather.town, you can create a digital space from a wide array of layouts such as your typical cosy offices to even a mystery mansion! You and your friends can also create characters and customise them with different coloured hairstyles, clothes, facial expressions and more.
Apart from just chatting with your friends, you can also explore different parts of the digital space, which provide many different games on the platform. One such example is GuessMe!, which lets you learn more about your friends’ preferences and lifestyles to get to know them better through a guessing game.
Additionally, Gather.town has several fun features that you can use, such as using the cars provided in the digital space to travel around different rooms or having a confetti fight with your friends by pressing the F button on your keyboard to spray confetti. As such, gathering online with your friends at Gather.town can be a good alternative to strengthen your relationships with them by bonding with one another in its digital spaces, features and games.
Before you start scrolling through LinkedIn for internships, hold your horses! Yes, we know that internships are important for boosting our resumes and career prospects. However, we should strike a balance between work and play as holidays are meant to be fun and allow us to recharge our batteries for another rigorous semester. Let’s make the most out of holidays by participating in enjoyable events and visiting unique places to experience a meaningful and happier life!
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