A Fuss Free Luxury Picnic

As fuss free as a stay in Alila Manggis

The early evenings are the best time to go on a picnic in Singapore, seated on the grass by the edge of a tranquil pond teeming with aquatic floral and fauna. The long shadows cast by the setting sun cools the Botanic Gardens to a pleasant 26 to 28 degrees Centigrade, and occasionally there will even be a soothing breeze.

In keeping with the leisurely pace of such pleasant surroundings is a pack I make with my hubby that the meal we pack along will be fuss-free but luxurious. So along with a previously chilled wonderful Lehman's Eden Valley riesling, we include in our picnic basket a dozen freshly shucked raw oysters with slices of zesty lemon and a crack black pepper shaker.

Also from Cold Storage is a generous pork knuckle, roasted till we salivate thinking about its crispy crackling. And these slices of the still succulent white meat will be dipped into un-caramelized thick cut marmalade, straight from a bottle by Hediard. The savory knuckle, with the coy sweetness of this jam, opens up your appetite further. So that you'll have plenty of room to dip your quickly cut crisply green celery sticks in the slightly sweet but wonderfully savoury Chandon's tomato and red capsicum relish - a great companion to those jazzy jammed up roast pork and crackling.

And this induces us to crown our peaceful contemplation of nature in all its glory by heartily digging deep into hearty bowls of refreshing fresh blue and raspberries, generously coated with powder-light icing sugar. We won't trade this palate cleanser for the temptation of a fruity gelato - even though Estivo is just a five minute drive away.