If you are an ice-cream fanatic, this is one ice-cream festival you mustn’t miss!
Back for the 7th year running, this year’s Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest will be taking place at the beautiful Gardens by The Bay [The Meadows] on 4th October 2014, from 2pm to 10pm.
There will be a host of carnival activities, a moovie screening under the stars, and for the first time ever, ChunkFest 2014 will feature Sundae School as part of Ben & Jerry’s global “Join Our Core” initiative to empower the next generation of ethical business minds. Sundae School @ ChunkFest will feature local social innovation heroes from various fields; sharing stories that will inspire, entertain, and get attendees thinking outside the daily grind; all over a scoop of ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s! However, do note that registration is required if you would like to attend Sundae School @ ChunkFest.
These core change makers will also be setting up booths at the festival grounds, where you can support their work in various ways.
And if you are hard-core enough, you can also take on the ‘Vermonster’ eating challenge with a team of four to see if you are the fastest to devour 20 scoops of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and win a year’s supply of ice-cream!
Our Suggestion
The weather in Singapore is pretty unpredictable so we highly suggest that you bring along a big umbrella that can shelter you from either the blazing heat or the unrelenting rain. You can even bring your furkids along too!
Since ChunkFest 2014 is going to be held at Gardens by The Bay [The Meadows], we highly recommend you to bring along your picnic mat and some cash [about SGD$30 per person] to exchange for fair coins which you can use to purchase some merchandise, food, and beverages.
Papi Melvin told me that he wants to take a break from blogging and so, I [Foxy Mehmeh] am writing this blog post on his behalf. All pictures used in this blog post were taken by Mummy Jacqueline.
Last Saturday, Papi and Mummy brought me to The Promontory @ Marina Bay for the Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013, Singapore’s largest ice cream festival, and we had a fabulous time indulging in the yummy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that were specially flown in for the occasion!
Despite the pretty bad weather at the beginning, a steady stream of visitors came to join in the muddy affair. As I didn’t want to get myself dirty, Papi carried me in his recyclable bag and we went to sight see. There were a couple of game booths set up and we could tell the little ones had loads of fun!
Yes, even adults older than Papi and Mummy had fun at the game booths too!
A father and son duo enjoying themselves at the game booths.
A group of children waiting to compete in a sack race.
With so much activities lined up for Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013, there was never a dull moment and everyone was smiling and so happy!
While sight-seeing with Papi and Mummy, fans of A Winsome Life came over to say “hi” and they received 5 pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream along with some Ben & Jerry’s merchandise from us. Here’s a photo of Papi with our fans!
The Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 surprised us in many ways because for one, the Ben & Jerry’s merchandise were really affordable! We literally saw troops of people just rushing over for some shopping madness and we ourselves joined in the craze and Papi and Mummy bought a couple of Ben & Jerry’s tee-shirts that were going for 2 Fair Coins [equivalent to $2] each! Unfortunately, there weren’t tee-shirts my size and I guess I shall just stick to my foxy sweater.
Here are just some of the Ben & Jerry’s merchandise that were selling at Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013.
We also spotted a group of children that came for Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 and boy, were they rich! Some of them were seen carrying $50 and $100 notes to buy ice cream!
Anyway, pets were allowed at the Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 and I saw many friendly dogs. They smiled at me but I was too shy to approach them for photos so Mummy Jacqueline help me to take some photos of them for me to keep and remember them.
Papi and Me posing for a photo.
I was rather thirsty that day and the Korkor and Jiejie from Somersby were very generous to offer us some Apple Cider.
Papi and the Jiejie from Somersby posing for a photo.
When Papi gave me a cup of Somersby Apple Cider to finish by myself, Mummy was angry withPapi because she said I was too young to drink alcoholic drinks. So, after much discussion with Mummy, I got a tiny weeny cup of Somersby Apple Cider and it was simply refreshing!
We also went to checked out some of the Fairness Partners’ booths at the Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 and we found Project Happy Feet quite meaningful.
When we visited Project Happy Feet’s booth, we found out that Project Happy Feet is a Singapore-based not-for-profit organisation set up to empower the lives of underprivileged youths and children in developing countries by supporting their education and training through fund-raising for education-related initiatives and programmes that positively impact them or their families. Papi found Project Happy Feet so meaningful that he is considering signing up to be a volunteer.
Another Fairness Partner booth that we visited was Kerbside Gourmet.
Kerbside Gourmet is Singapore’s first gourmet food truck with a social vision. “Kerby”, as the truck is affectionately nicknamed, hit the streets in the first quarter of 2013 with soul food, catering to the discerning individuals who seek an alternative, sublime dining experience. Papi and Mummy ordered some of their food to try and they were really tasty! To catch Kerby and try some of the awesome food, do check out Kerbside Gourmet’s Facebook Page for updates about where they will be located at!
One of the highlights of the Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 was the Vermonster Challenge.
It was my first time witnessing such an eye-opening event. The teams that participated in the Vermonster Challenge were really big eaters and it was indeed a very messy affair! In case you’re wondering what is a Vermonster, the Vermonster is a large ice cream sundae served in a “Vermonster Bucket” at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops. The Vermonster Bucket contains 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 bananas, 4 ladles of hot fudge, 3 chocolate chip cookies, 1 chocolate fudge brownie, 10 scoops of walnuts, 2 scoops each of 4 toppings of your choice, and whipped cream. The Vermonster contains a whopping 14,000 calories and 500 grams of fat!
Here are some photos of the teams that participated in the Vermonster Challenge:
Team Mon Mon Cheongster came in second place after Team Fair La Croquette Ben & Jerry beat them with a minute lesser.
Team We Are Monsters
Team Fair La Croquette Ben & Jerry won the Vermonster Challenge and they received a one year’s supply of Vermonsters!
And of course, how could we miss the yummy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream while watching others chomp down the Vermonster? Papi and Mummy gotten me three different flavours of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and they were oh-so-yummy! My favourite one has got to be the Candy Bar Pie and unfortunately, it is not available here in Singapore. I really do hope they will bring in this flavour next year!
When evening came, the lights from the surrounding buildings were very pretty and the atmosphere was so surreal.
For the very first time in the history of Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest, there was a special movie screening under the night sky and the movie, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was screened.
Well, I had a lovely and fun time at Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 and I am definitely looking forward to next year’s Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2014! Hopefully, Papi and Mummy will bring me out again!
Pre-amble: This is going to be a rather long blog post. We took more than 600 photos yesterday and even after all the sorting, deleting, and editing, we still ended up with quite a number of photos. Hence, we have consolidated some of the photos into collages for easy viewing.
Yesterday, we were at the Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop at VivoCity for the Couch Potato Ice Cream Workshop with Ben & Jerry’s Flavour Guru, Peter Lind, and it was a very insightful session. Couch Potato is the latest Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavour that is launching here in Singapore and during the workshop with Peter, we learnt about the secrets that went behind the creation of Couch Potato.
In case you didn’t know, Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop at VivoCity underwent a major facelift and we really like the newly decorated place. With its more cosy, clean, and colourful furniture and fixtures, the Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop at VivoCity is definitely a chic place for some awesome Ben & Jerry’s ice creams!
Kenneth, the Brand Champion for Ben & Jerry’s, gave his opening address before the workshop with Peter Lind.
Peter made quite a surprising entrance when he played on his harmonica and welcomed us to the workshop.
Peter explained to us that the idea behind the creation of Couch Potato was a rather elaborate one. There were many experiments that had to be carried out to perfect the Couch Potato and in this photo, you will see Peter dipping a potato chip into a cup of milk. This was done to put across the point that potato chips would absorb moisture and turn soggy when submerged in liquid. As such, when Peter was creating the Couch Potato, he had to find a solution that would prevent the potato chips from turning soggy. Hence, this was how the idea of a chocolate-coated potato chip came about.
Even then, the idea was still in its infancy stage as there are many different types of flavoured potato chips. After tasting for ourselves the various chocolate-coated potato chips in different flavours, we concluded that the chocolate-coated classic potato chip was the best. As potato chips are quite brittle and fragile to be mixed into ice cream, Peter then came up with the idea of grounding the potato chips, forming them into a spherical shape, and then finally coating it with chocolate. This made the chocolate-coated potato chip clusters rather sturdy to be mixed into the ice cream without becoming soggy.
During the workshop, Jacqueline also had the rare opportunity to assist Peter in making the Couch Potato which we happily ate on the spot! Nothing beats freshly made ice cream!
Couch Potato, a wacky, chunky, and funky concoction that features vanilla ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and chocolatey potato chip clusters.
Ben & Jerry’s is all about Peace, Love, and Ice Cream!
At the workshop, Peter also showed us how quality checks are done on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and he literally saw pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream into half. He showed us what makes a good pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and really, we were quite amazed at the stringent requirements that Ben & Jerry’s has for their ice cream. The next time you buy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, you can be rest assured that you’re getting high quality ice cream all the way from Vermont, USA!
After the workshop with Peter, we were very privileged to bring him on a Singapore Food Inspiration Tour together with 4 other Bloggers.
The first stop was to Thye Moh Chan and it was led by GNineThree. There, Peter tried a couple of tau sar piah that came with different fillings. For those of you whom are unfamiliar with the tau sar piah, it is actually a flaky pastry and it is a Chinese delicacy. Apart from the tau sar piah, Peter also had the kaya toast bread from Toast Box.
The second stop was to Ah Hung Company where Peter had his first experience with the durian. There, I introduced the durian to Peter and though he was initially quite apprehensive about trying it, he was actually quite surprised that the experience wasn’t so bad after all. We also introduced some other local tropical fruits to Peter and he was quite pleased with the dragonfruit and the mangosteen. With that said, the XO durian that we had didn’t come cheap. It cost a staggering $132 and the XO durian weighed about 4+KG!
Peter’s expression when trying the durian.
The third stop was to Sinma Frog Porridge and Melicacy led the tour. Though it wasn’t Peter’s first experience with frog legs, he enjoys the frog leg porridge very much. Personally, we liked it too as the frog legs were chewy and tender and the sauce complemented the entire dish really well.
The fourth stop was to Bedok Central Hakwer Centre and there, both DarrenSim and YummyFoodBook introduced the chendol and the rojak to Peter.
Apart from the chendol, Peter also had a taste of some other local desserts such as the almond paste, pulut hitam, soya beancurd, and even the goreng pisang! Peter was also given a bottle of gula melaka which he could bring back to his laboratory and experiment with new flavours!
Peter shared with us that he handles spice really well and he enjoyed the rojak even though it was slightly spicy. He found the cucumbers and pineapples rather refreshing and he even candidly told us that he might want to work on the cucumber sorbet that he previously experimented with.
Honestly, we were indeed privileged to have such an upclose and personal session with Peter! He was so accommodating and extremely friendly, and we really do hope that he returns to Singapore again!
We concluded the whole event with Peter presenting hampers to everyone of us. The hampers came with Ben & Jerry’s merchandise and to top it off, Ben & Jerry’s Singapore gave us a year’s supply of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream! We were indeed feeling extremely euphoric!
This Saturday, Ben & Jerry’s Singapore is organising Singapore’s biggest ice cream festival, the ChunkFest! It will be held at The Promontory @ Marina Bay from 2pm to 10pm and admission is FREE! There, you will be able to enjoy exclusive Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavours specially shipped in from the US for the event, participate in euphoric carnival activities, and catch the ever popular Vermonster Challenge!
Also, for the first time at ChunkFest, you can also enjoy an evening movie screening with your loved ones over a cup of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream! So, if you’re planning a romantic date, don’t forget to purchase the Moovie Pack which consist of a complimentary scoop of ice cream, picnic mat, flip-flops, and tote bag; all for only $12and 50% of the proceeds will go towards Ben & Jerry’s Fairness Partners such as Blessings in A Bag, Chris Café @ The Hub, Dyslexia Association of Singapore, Kerbside Gourmet, and Project Happy Feet!
If you feel lucky enough, you might want to check out GNineThree’s Blog as they are giving away 6X Moovie Packs!
[Image Credits to Ben & Jerry’s Singapore]
As for us, we’re going to slurp down the 13 exclusive flavours of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from the US that are only available on that day itself! There’s Candy Bar Pie, White Russian, Banana Peanut Butter Greek Yoghurt, Chocolate Peppermint Crunch, Karamel Sutra, Peach Cobbler and so much more!
Before we end off this blog entry, we would like to share the joy of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with all you readers and that is, we will be giving away 5X Pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream [any flavour of your choice] which are redeemable only at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop at VivoCity.
2. Like, Share, and Tag 5 Friends In This Picture, with the Comment; “Join Me @ the Ben & Jerry’s ChunkFest 2013 that is happening at The Promontory @ Marina Bay this Saturday and help me look for @awinsomelife”.
3. Head down to Chunkfest 2013 and be the first 5 to hunt us down to collect the “Free Pint Voucher” from us this Saturday at ChunkFest 2013!
See you at Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest 2013 at The Promontory @ Marina Bay!
Last Thursday, we were invited to an exclusive Ice-Cream Party at the Ben & Jerry’s Dempsey Scoop Shop and we totally enjoyed ourselves. The awesome people from Ben & Jerry’s hosted us with so much fuzzy warmth and love that it was a night down memory lane for both Baby and I.
During the Ice-Cream Party, there were games being played and in one of the games, participants were blind-folded and they have to guess the flavour of the Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream. Definitely not easy but certainly a doable task for a fan of Ben & Jerry’s!
When Baby and I started dating more than 2 years ago, our favourite hangout spot was the Ben & Jerry’s Heeren Scoop Shop. Indulging in Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream then was a weekly affair. When Heeren underwent a major renovation, our love for Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream never once dwindled. In fact, all thanks to the generous promotions that NTUC Fairprice occasionally has, we often buy two pints of Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream to indulge at home while watching our favourite dramas or movies.
Our two favourite Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream flavours are Chunky Monkey and Triple Caramel Chunk. Of course, there are also other flavours such as the Maple Tree Hugger and the Peanut Butter Cup that we fancy a lot.
Well, we hope we ain’t making you salivate at this point in time but we are really happy to announce that we’re one of Ben & Jerry’s Moolets! Hence, if you’re a Ben & Jerry’s Fan like us, you will definitely be able to find out the latest news and insights that are happening at Ben & Jerry’s on our Blog!
So first up, we will like to announce to all of you that Ben & Jerry’s annual FREE CONE DAY will be taking place in 5 days time on 9 April 2013, Tuesday, from 12pm to 8pm at seven Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops! The location of the seven Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop are as follows:
1. VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #02-135/136, 12pm to 8pm
2. Dempsey Hill, Block 8 Dempsey Road, #01-14, 12pm to 8pm
3. The Cathay, Level 1 Atrium, 2 Handy Road, 12pm to 8pm
4. Rochester Mall, 31 Rochester Drive, #01-01, 12pm to 8pm
5. Ben & Jerry’s @ Zoo Entrance, 80 Mandai Lake Road, 12pm to 6pm
6. Fairprice Finest @ TripleOne Somerset, 111 Somerset Road #01-04, 12pm to 8pm
7. Great World City, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, #02-40A, 12pm to 8pm
This year’s line-up of funky flavours for Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day are Chocolate Therapy, English Toffee Crunch, Maple Tree Hugger, Strawberry Cheesecake and Lemonade Sorbet! If you’re wondering what’s the best flavour to have on Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, we definitely would recommend Chocolate Therapy and if you just can’t get enough of it, all the major supermarkets in Singapore are currently having a promotion where you can stand a chance to win weekly lucky draw prizes by purchasing 2 pints of Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream [at least 1 have to be Chocolate Therapy flavour]. This promotion is ongoing from now till the end of April!
Apart from making your mouths and bellies happy on Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, we also hope that you will join Ben & Jerry’s in doing some good for the community by raising funds for Project Happy Feet [Ben & Jerry’s fairness partner for Free Cone Day 2013]. Project Happy Feet is a Singapore-based not-for-profit organisation set up to empower the lives of underprivileged youths and children in Singapore and developing countries. It supports education-related initiatives and programmes through fund-raising that can positively impact them or their families.
To further aide Ben & Jerry’s in this cause, the CLEO editorial team will be adopting a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop at VivoCity. The first 400Ben & Jerry’s fans in line at the CLEO adopted scoop shop need not worry about the long queues as they will each receive a copy of CLEO’s April issue! To add fudge to your ice cream, CLEO will be throwing in a complimentary three-month digital subscription of CLEO magazine for the first 200 kind fans who donates more than $30 to Project Happy Feet. Now, that’s something to look forward to if you’re heading to Ben & Jerry’s VivoCity Scoop Shop on Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day!
With that being said, we have yet another piece of exciting news for all of you. For our Blog Giveaway this April, we are giving away 5X Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream Voucher which you can use to redeem a free scoop of Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream ONLY at Ben & Jerry’s VivoCity Scoop Shop. The voucher is valid till 15 October 2013; so you have about 6 months to utilise it if you win! So, to participate in our Blog Giveaway for the month of April, check out the following link: https://awinsomelife.org/current-blog-giveaway/
See you all at the Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day that will be taking place on 9 April, Tuesday!
