Can't travel yet, don't sian - try these random things!

Some people like paying to eat out of plastic trays in a stationary A380, some people like to re-post memes about not having seen Changi Airport’s departure halls for what seems like 42,971 years.

But, hey, don’t whine liao, you can have fun in your own backyard too. Here are some ideas to get you out of that very-long-never-go-to-Bangkok funk.

1. So you can cycle but can you unicycle?       

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If there’s a wheel, there’s a way. Just ask the Singapore Unicyclists folks who have an FB account. Apparently it takes just one week of “continuous practice to get riding comfortably” but don’t ask us how because we have been learning to cycle… for 12 years and still have to beg our friends to let us ride tandem. 

The Singapore Unicyclists community doesn’t offer riding lessons but they provide tips on where you can buy a unicycle and also organise meets around the island.

2. Make some toast art

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Kaya and butter on bread? Eww, so 1998. The clever, creative people out there are doing a lot more with their toast. Like using meticulously cut fruit, vegetables and meat, and then combining these with fresh herbs and edible flowers to create edible art. 

Some of our favourite IG accounts include @sasamana1204, a Japanese creator who uses mainly seaweed, shrimp and artfully sliced-and-plated cabbage to “paint” intricate images of pensive geishas.

But don’t let your fam catch you doing this or they may say “you so free ah, why you waste our Gardenia bread!”.

3. Whip up miniature wanton mee (that you can’t eat btw)

If you like cooking without the calories, sign up for one of the miniature fake food clay sculpting workshops by social enterprise Tinkle Arts. Set up in 2000, it employs individuals with special needs who co-facilitate workshops and also craft miniature pieces for sale. 

Hint: if you are planning to make a wanton-in-a-million gift for your BFF this Christmas, the workshops sell out pretty fast.

4. “Grow” miniature paper plants

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Each time your potted philodendron sees you coming at it, it screams tolong! So be kind to other living things for once and switch to paper plants instead. Think of it as very cheem origami but instead of cutting and folding paper into pointless shapes like cranes and stars, make realistic paper plants. 

They won’t wilt on you, don’t need TLC and will give you real green fingers (if you use badly dyed paper that runs, that is).

5. Create your own furniture from scratch

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Let your FIL brag all he wants when he says he DIYs his furniture (translation: fix four modular legs to a cushion and, poof (pouffe?), a chair). You will show him what DIY-ing truly means after you take up one of the many woodworking and metalsmithing courses at Tombalek. 

Here, you can learn to make anything from a cheeseboard and toys to a dining table and a rocking chair so you would (wood?) be able to furnish your whole home by, say, 2058.

This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.