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!
Hello Everyone,
last Saturday, Baby and I were at Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest 2012 and well, it was sort of a last minute decision to go for the event as we flipped the coin to decide whether or not to go.
Not knowing what to expect for the event [or thinking that free ice-creams would be served], we drove down from the office. Entrance fees to Sentosa via private passenger car is super “chor”/ex and furthermore, we have to pay the parking fees at the Beach Carpark!
Anyways, the weather was hot and sunny and it was about a 10-15 minutes walk to the venue where the event took place.
When we reached, the place was just bustling with curious onlookers and excitement, and I took the liberty to pose for lots of photographs. Oh and yes, pets are allowed!
Every visitor was given a carnival game card [where you have to complete certain activities at the various booths and get a stamp] that gives visitors the opportunities to win some prizes.
What we found really cool was the Merchandise that Ben & Jerry’s were selling. Unfortunately, they didn’t have what I was looking for [Ben and Jerry’sCalendar].
Just in case I forgot, the only currency used at Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest 2012 was the Fair Coins [which we could exchange at the booth with cash]. 1 Fair Coin is equivalent to $1.
When we entered the fair area, there were lots of activities that were going on. Some adhoc games were organised and there were even performances that were put up by local bands.
As it was our first time checking out Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest, we didn’t really know what to expect but having checked out the various booths, we more or less realised that Ben & Jerry’s were very big on corporate social responsibility and Chunkfest was organised for the purpose of contributing its success back to the society/community.
Hence, some of the following photos that you see are actually photos of the various booths that were set up by various organisations that cater to people with different needs.
Not many people know about this condition known as Dyslexia and I felt that it is important for us to recognise that this condition exists and that we can help to make a difference by understanding what this condition is all about.
Dyslexia is a condition that makes it very difficult for children to read, write and/or spell. It has nothing to do with the person’s intelligence. In fact, many people with dyslexia are very bright. But not being able to read well can make many areas of learning a problem.
Dyslexia is a specific learning difference that is neurological in origin. It can go undetected in the early years of schooling. The child can become frustrated by the difficulty in learning to read, and other problems can arise that disguise dyslexia. One will notice a severe discrepancy between the child’s intellectual abilities and achievements. In the long run, the child may have low self-esteem and displays frequent behaviour problems at home as well as at school. In addiion, the child may become unmotivated and develop a dislike for school. As a result, the child’s success in school is jeopardized if the problem remains untreated.
It has been estimated that about 10% of Singaporeans may be dyslexic which tends to be run in families. Dyslexia can range from mild to severe and often occurs alongside other specific learning difficulties, such as Dyspraxia or Attention Deficit Disorder, resulting in a variation in the degree and nature of individuals’ strengths and weaknesses. Dyslexia is life-long, but the difficulties caused by dyslexia can be overcome with successful specialist teaching and the use of compensatory strategies.
And I truly believe in this because education is a right and a privilege and that people should not be deprived of quality education just because of learning differences.
Speaking of Maple Tree, Maple Tree Hugger is a new Ben & Jerry’s flavour that was launched in Singapore and you got to absolutely try it. There were other flavours specially imported from the US but they were only available at Chunkfest; so for those of you whom missed it, you could either head to US or wait for the next Chunkfest.
On a parting note, it was really an eye-opening experience for us at the Ben & Jerry’s Chunkfest 2012 and though we didn’t really participate in most of the activities, we had the opportunity to learn about how Ben & Jerry’s enforces Corporate Social Responsibility and that is more important than anything else.
