WHILE interviewing F&B entrepreneur Michel Lu last week for our microsite Overcoming The Storm With Confidence, we were lamenting about how we were growing old and there were hardly any night spots that were suitable for hanging out anymore.
Most were too energetic, loud or filled with people at least a decade (or more) younger than us. So what're people in their 30s to do when planning a social activity (that is not golf or anything too strenuous)?
Well, last week, I did something I never thought I'd do while sharing a bottle with my best girlfriends: We went a-cooking. Not a dinner party at someone's place but we went to cooking class - together.
I know plenty of people pay good money to go to cooking class on their own, but it's just something that I never thought I'd do. I'm more the cook-a-batch-of-stew-to-eat-the-whole-week or break-open-a-can-of-tomato-soup kind of girl.
But when one of your friends gets pregnant and you can't meet up for your once-a-month happy hour, you start saying "yes" to unthinkable outings just so you're not labelled The Spoilsport.
I was skeptical. Very skeptical. I'm not the most domestic of my female species, as anyone who knows me would attest to. How is handling raw meat supposed to be a fun social activity?
Well, it turned out to be a ball.
I won't say where I went - lest you think I got paid to write this review - but it was somewhere in the Portsdown Road area: Private, intimate and perfect for a night of mayhem in the kitchen.
Six of us broke up into two "teams" and were taught the professional way of chopping veggies for Minestrone soup, prepping duck to be pan-fried and witnessing exactly how much cream and cheese goes into a Tiramisu (too much) - all guided by a chef who earned his spurs at none other than The Savoy in London.
We even ended up teaching the English chef how to prepare halal portions for our Muslim friend - and learnt a thing or two about it ourselves.
It struck me that the woman who started this business has hit upon a really clever business proposition to cater to a niche among Singaporeans who don't want to jostle with crowds in restaurants or bars to have a good time with their friends.
And she's not the only one. My sister, it so happens, did a similar cooking class with her married friends just a few days later, run by a friend who appears to be making a business out of cooking classes too.
Who knew something as hearth-side as cooking could be an enjoyable social activity?