I spent a day with my grandma recreating some of our favourite shared memories and here’s what we got up to

Growing up, my grandma played an integral role in my life. She accompanied and took care of me when my parents were busy with work and always showered me with love through food.

From baking cakes for my birthday to cooking elaborate meals, my grandma's love language of food is a passion that I've eventually come to share.

As I grew older and entered the workforce, I found myself constantly occupied with work and spending less time with her.

Every time I came home late from work, she would lament that she missed spending time with me and barely saw me anymore. Missing the quality time we used to have, I decided to take a day off from work to spend time with her and do the things that we both loved.

Knowing that my grandma was getting older, I didn't want to tire her out by spending the entire day outdoors, so I decided to hold the day's activities in the comfort of our home.

Using the food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda, I planned our entire day in such a way that we wouldn't have to leave the house or brave the hot and humid weather.

And as luck would have it, foodpanda is currently having a promotion on its subscription programme, pandapro, from now till March 31, 2023. By spending only 10 cents, I can enjoy free delivery on food, groceries and daily essentials for an entire month, just to name a few perks.

Here's everything my grandma and I got up to on our day down memory lane.

Breakfast fit for a queen

Before the day's activities began, we fuelled up with breakfast from Ya Kun Kaya Toast.

Fortunately, pandapro subscribers are entitled to three free-delivery vouchers on food (including islandwide delivery too) each month with a minimum spend of $30. So despite the stall being relatively far away from our home, we scored free delivery thanks to pandapro.

Taking advantage of that deal, I ordered a feast. Other than her favourite kaya toast, I also bought the fish otah toastwich and the french toast with kaya as I wanted my grandma to have the option of trying other items on the menu.

To my pleasant surprise, the order arrived in a jiffy, and we sat down to enjoy our breakfast together, just like we used to do every weekend when I was younger.

Nostalgia-filled games

After breakfast, I dug through my grandma's stash of old-school games for us to play.

When I was younger, we would spend hours playing these games after I came home from school. Despite her large collection, we always returned to the same six games - the Mastermind board game, pick-up sticks, five stones, as well as retro card games, Happy Family and Old Maid.

Over the years, grandma's collection of old-school games gradually grew as she would always get me a new toy from the mama shop whenever she went to the market.

While I had these old-school games at home, I was impressed to discover that many of them are also available on foodpanda shops, the platform's online marketplace. Selected shops brands also offer free delivery with minimum spend, thanks to pandapro.

Chicken rice balls are simply regular chicken rice rolled into balls, right?

Well, not exactly, as I would later learn from my grandma.

One of my fondest memories with my grandma is her picking me up after school and having a meal of chicken rice balls. Lately, she has been lamenting about how difficult it is to find the dish anywhere nowadays.

Convinced that chicken rice balls are simply rice balls made with chicken rice, I hopped onto foodpanda and ordered our lunch from Soon Yi Chicken Rice and Noodles, with plans to entertain grandma with a rice ball-making session.

With my pandapro subscription, we received free delivery, and the order was swiftly delivered to our doorstep.

I learnt from grandma that the texture of the rice in a chicken rice ball is softer than regular chicken rice, and in order to make chicken rice balls, the rice must be moulded tightly when it is still hot.

Just for laughs, we attempted to make chicken rice balls out of regular chicken rice even though we knew that our little project was doomed to fail.

Though far from the real deal, it was a wonderful bonding experience and a delicious meal nonetheless.

A saccharine snack made sweeter with love

One of my grandma's guilty pleasures is muah chee - a snack that she complains is too sweet, but could never say no to.

Later in the afternoon, I ordered ingredients on pandamart - foodpanda's grocery delivery service - to prepare muah chee, with the intention of making it less sweet to suit my grandma's taste buds.

Along with the ingredients for the muah chee, I took advantage of the free delivery for pandamart orders (with a minimum spend of $32) I can get with my pandapro subscription to order some cleaning supplies to make the clean-up process easier.

We spent a wonderful time together making muah chee, and seeing grandma brimming with joy brought a smile to my face too.

Unwinding with a drama-filled evening

As the evening approached, we unwound by watching my grandma's favourite Chinese drama, and though the drama didn't interest me, the day ended perfectly as I knew how contented she was.

I initially thought that there would be a lot of downtime between deliveries, but with how fast the deliveries reached our doorstep, time flew by and the activity-filled day left us all tuckered out.

As we are occupied with the day-in, day-out routine of life, we often forget that our parents and grandparents are ageing, and I am grateful that I was able to reconnect with my grandma in such a meaningful way.

My day spent with my grandma was made even more enjoyable with my pandapro subscription. Everything I needed was just an app away and I didn't even have to pay for the delivery so I could just relax in the comfort of my house.

Good news, the one-month pandapro subscription plan is currently going for only 10 cents (U.P. $7.99/month) from now till March 31, 2023, for non-subscribers. Simply sign up on the foodpanda app by selecting the monthly plan and use the code '10CENTS', and the discount will automatically be applied at checkout.

You can also get discounts on pandapro's other subscription plans, with 20 per cent off the six-month subscription making it only $3.99/month (U.P. $4.99/month) or 30 per cent off the 12-month subscription, at only $2.79/month (U.P. $3.99/month).

Pig out with pandapro, your one-stop-shop

Perfect for lazy days, pandapro subscribers can enjoy perks such as:

• Three free delivery vouchers on food per month (including islandwide delivery, minimum spend of $30 applies)
• Free delivery on select restaurants (minimum spending applies)
• Free delivery on all pandamart orders (minimum spend of $32 applies)
• Free delivery fee on daily essentials (selected shops, minimum spending applies)
• Extra 10 per cent off on pick-up (selected restaurants)
• 20 per cent off dine-in (selected partner restaurants)

This article is brought to you in partnership with foodpanda.

jaelynchin@asiaone.com

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