There may not be free lunches in the world, but an exciting one isn’t too bad.

The word ‘lunch’ is theorised to have its origins in an Anglo-Saxon term ‘nuncheon‘, which essentially meant a quick midday snack a labourer could hold in his hands. Throughout and after the Industrial Revolution, the idea of ‘lunch’ was reshaped and soon defined by working hours. Workers had to have a substantial meal at noon to last the day.

At some part of our everyday life, no matter who we are and what we do, we’re going through the motions. Today, the lunch hour, to some, means a break from sitting in the office, but to many, it means a quick 10-minute desktop meal. With the weather in Singapore being scorching hot and with never-ending deadlines haunting us through mealtime, we tend to visit the same places for food, and god forbid, we choose between the same few menu options.

But I’m here to let you in on a little tip: your daily lunch hour doesn’t have to revolve around a thoroughly exhausted routine. Your one-hour break can be rather exciting – even rewarding – when you try your hand at something different.

Make your own lunch

The first thing that comes to mind when you think about substitutes to everyday trips to oily, fattening hawker centre lunch is to have your very own lunch box. Gordon Ramsay has, in many ways, reiterated the simplicity of home-cooking, from 3-minute YouTube tutorials on making the best steak sandwiches to elegant fuss-free cooking methods. If you haven’t tried your hand at assembling a sandwich or firing up a fettuccine, give it a shot and you may find yourself wanting to compete for the next season of MasterChef Asia.

So the next time you grow tired of chicken rice and fried fish soup, here’s a little online recipe archive for you to check out: Thug Kitchen. Note: even if you’re not down to make your own shit, this makes a hilarious, entertaining read.

Also, be careful in the kitchen, guys. Because:

Text an ex (or don’t.)

This certainly doesn’t sound like a bad idea when you’re bored (or drunk, if you’re an alcoholic by any chance). Exes have a way of creeping back into our minds when we’re high and dry off boredom and routine – a flashback to good times and we’re set thinking for an hour.

So if you’re a closet masochist or if you’re having a bit of a dry spell, sure, go ahead and text your exes. You may even rekindle a long-lost friendship that both you and your ex have been wishing for. But don’t say I didn’t warn you – there’s a 50% chance you might end up feeling like this:

Plan a vacation

The word “vacation” is like a magic word to giving anyone a mental boner – even if it’s just a weekend out in a city that looks EXACTLY like Singapore, we’re down for it. Cameron Diaz agrees:

Lunch time is perfect to think about your vacation, even if it’s a distant dream.

Handwrite thank you notes to all your loved ones

This is one that is closest to heart. In a cut-throat office environment, we’re prone to taking our loved ones for granted – when was the last time you’ve shown gratitude when your mom and dad were overly concerned about you and asked about your long day at work?

Take your one-hour break at work to think about the sacrifices your loved ones have made for you, and respond to that with a short handwritten personal note.

Flip open Lunch Kaki

Lunch Kaki is an awesome platform to meet like-minded people. Taking the identity of a social networking app, Lunch Kaki sees the lunch hour as the ‘golden hour’ – users can now socialise over lunch without needing to commit to an awkward conversation over dinner.

So you can have less of this:

And less of this:

And way more of this:

Lunch Kaki also has two unique features: Last Minute Lunch and Random Lunch. Last Minute Lunch lets you find last-minute lunch partner within a vastly short timeframe of just 10 minutes. Random Lunch is a feature where users schedule a future lunch – basically functioning as a virtual tavern for adventurous individuals to come together for a quick, hassle-free lunch meet-up.

Be it meeting new people for job opportunities, new friends or new kakis, Lunch Kaki has got you covered.

Article contributed by Sugar.
Sugar is available for free on iOS and Android.

Love,
Team Lunch Kaki