There's nothing like watching a big match at a bar among fellow football fanatics, but realistically, with games kicking off between midnight and 9am, you're probably going to be at home or at work for most of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Now don't get disheartened. Even if you don't have the luxury of spending your weekday mornings drunk at a pub, you can still immerse yourself in experience. Here are the essentials for turning your house and office into a home ground for the tournament.
Beer
We wouldn't normally advocate drinking a generic pale lager, but we can forgive the folks at Budweiser once every four years – it's the official beer of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, sponsoring its Man of the Match awards. Budweiser has pulled out all the stops, even turning the Pestana Rio Atlantica hotel on Copacabana Beach into the Budweiser Hotel. Over here, we get to drink Bud out of cans with World Cup branding ($3.40 a can, $19.85 a six-pack from Cold Storage) and from uber cool limited edition metal bottles ($6.80 from Cold Storage).
Chinese beer Harbin has also thrown its name into the official sponsorship hat and they're giving away a free football with every case purchased ($45 for 24 cans at Sheng Siong). Perfect if you've started to get the itch to come out of retirement and return to the playing field.
Spirits
With the inescapable coverage of the World Cup and Brazil in general, you've probably heard a word or two about cachaça. Distilled from sugarcane juice, it's the country's national beverage. That's a great excuse to grab a bottle of Cachaça 51 ($53.50) from Cold Storage and trial-and-error your way to the perfect caipirinha (a mix of cachaça, lime and sugar).
If you're travelling through Changi Airport in the next few weeks, swing by any DFS outlet and pick up a bottle of Absolut Karnival Edition ($30.90). Featuring the work of Brazilian graphic novel artist and writer Rafael Grampá, it's a limited edition vodka with flavours of passionfruit and orange blossoms.
Liquor delivery
If you're up and about for a 4am kick-off and realise you've got no booze left, you're lucky that there's Ring to Drink (8251-2222). Delivering within an hour for free, 24 hours a day, Ring to Drink offers beer, wine, spirits and package deals which include a spirit, a mixer, ice, cups and even a bag of peanuts.
Mabuk Monkey (6294-1714) and the creatively named Alcohol Delivery (6244-5533) are two other options with the former sending out supplies from 6pm to midnight (closed on Mondays), and the latter operating from 6pm-2am daily. Mabuk Monkey charges $10 for deliveries and Alcohol Delivery charges $6, but both waive the fee for orders above $50.
If you're organised enough to never find yourself faced with an empty fridge, you can call Liquor Bar (6253-2153) early in the day for same-day delivery. They have possibly the best product range for any alcohol delivery company.
Other drinks
On the non-alcoholic side of things, Coca-Cola has rolled out a ton of special products like a limited edition ball-shaped bottle ($2.50 from 7-Eleven) and a promotional 18-pack ($12.50 from NTUC FairPrice). For something a little less sugary from their portfolio, you can go with the “official sports drink chosen by FIFA” for Brazil 2014, Aquarius ($1.70 for a 1.5 litre bottle, $4.05 for a six-pack). Coca Cola is also giving away holidays, a PS4 and fan gear throughout the tournament; check out their website for a full list of promotions.
You're going to need more than a few cups of coffee to survive this month so it's apt that Brazil is far and away the world's largest producer of coffee. We like Boncafé's Brazilian Gold ($4.60 for 50g from Cold Storage), a 100% Arabica coffee made in Brazil by the homegrown company.
Snacks
While Pringles has simply redecorated its original and sour cream packs with a football motif ($2.70 from NTUC FairPrice), the Frito-Lay brands – Lay's, Ruffles and Doritos – are giving away a “soccer fever collectible bowl” with the purchase of two big bags at a promotional price ($7.45 from NTUC FairPrice until June 30). For a change from nibbles like peanuts and wasabi peas, try Nu-Vit's Brazil kernels ($4.45 from Cold Storage).
Food delivery
With 41 outlets screening the games, a special World Cup menu, daily opportunities to win $1,000 cash with orders made online or with their app, and 24/7 delivery, McDonald's (6777-3777 is about to get quite a bit of extra patronage from football fans.
Not a fan of burgers? PastaMania's (6275-7555) last order is at 2:45am, and Brinda's (6274-6327) can bring you Indian favourites 24 hours a day. Pizza Hut will also be extending its opening hours on July 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 14 with last orders at 2:30am.
Gear
If you're planning on wearing the colours of your home or adopted home nation, the only shop you really need to know about is Weston Corporation (1 Queensway, #01-22 Queensway Shopping Centre, 6474-5906, weston.com.sg). They pride themselves on having pretty much every participating team's kit (only Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina were missing at press time), with both home and away strips in most cases. They also stock a variety of 2014 FIFA World Cup collectibles and even replica trophies.
Considering Brazil's popularly-known link with the removal of hair, Gillette's sponsorship of the Brazilian national team makes perfect sense. They've celebrated the partnership by releasing a special edition range of razors ($8.90 for a Mach 3 and $14.90 for Fusion Proglide) that will help you get rid of that five o'clock in the morning shadow in time for work.
TV deals
Is your ageing TV set dying a slow death? Don't risk it. All the big electronics specialists around the country have offers that will tempt you to make an upgrade.
Until June 15, you can trade in your old TV at Courts and get between $300 and $1,000 cash back with free gifts of a Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 3 (valid for TVs above 46''). You'll pay the remainder over 48 months with a Courts Flexi Plan.
If you buy a 55'' Sony Bravia at Harvey Norman before June 29, it'll come bundled with a PS4 and a copy of the FIFA 14 video game. They've also got their own cash back deals on TVs above 42''.
Best Denki is offering discounts of between $550 and $1,600 on its range of Panasonic LED TVs (until July 28) while Audio House announces daily and weekly promotions on its Facebook page.
Keeping up-to-date
mio TV subscribers who purchased the 2014 FIFA World Cup Pack will be able to watch all 64 games on their mobile devices with the mio TV GO app. Available from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, it provides live streams with multi-camera views, all the stats that matter and replays of key moments. If you're a mio TV subscriber who hasn't purchased the pack, you'll still get to watch the opening match, the two semi-finals and the final with the app.
Another great way to follow the matches is to listen to live commentary on the radio, just like the folks of yesteryear. You can stream BBC Radio Five live to listen in covertly in the office or on your morning commute.
Speaking of doing things the old fashioned way, you might be a bit past the age where you can buy a Panini sticker book with a straight face, but you can still pick up one of the many souvenir issues and guide books covering the World Cup. The allSports World Cup Souvenir Special ($15 at your local newsagent) has over 200 pages of content covering Brazil's love affair with football, the cities that will host games and each of the participating teams. It also comes with a big wall chart and a handy pocket guide.
If you'd just like to keep a casual eye on things, Twitter feeds are one way to go. “The intelligent tabloid” might seem like an oxymoron, but The Daily Mirror's football tweets (@MirrorFootball) offer the perfect mix of humour, gossip and, occasionally, legitimate news. The Guardian (@guardian_sport) and BBC Sport (@BBCSport) provide more conventional updates. The free Soccer Livescores app has also proven to be extremely reliable, displaying scores and stats while incorporating a simple chat function.
There's nothing like watching a big match at a bar among fellow football fanatics, but realistically, with games kicking off between midnight and 9am, you're probably going to be at home or at work for most of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Now don't get disheartened. Even if you don't have the luxury of spending your weekday mornings drunk at a pub, you can still immerse yourself in experience. Here are the essentials for turning your house and office into a home ground for the tournament.
Beer
We wouldn't normally advocate drinking a generic pale lager, but we can forgive the folks at Budweiser once every four years – it's the official beer of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, sponsoring its Man of the Match awards. Budweiser has pulled out all the stops, even turning the Pestana Rio Atlantica hotel on Copacabana Beach into the Budweiser Hotel. Over here, we get to drink Bud out of cans with World Cup branding ($3.40 a can, $19.85 a six-pack from Cold Storage) and from uber cool limited edition metal bottles ($6.80 from Cold Storage).
Chinese beer Harbin has also thrown its name into the official sponsorship hat and they're giving away a free football with every case purchased ($45 for 24 cans at Sheng Siong). Perfect if you've started to get the itch to come out of retirement and return to the playing field.
Spirits
With the inescapable coverage of the World Cup and Brazil in general, you've probably heard a word or two about cachaça. Distilled from sugarcane juice, it's the country's national beverage. That's a great excuse to grab a bottle of Cachaça 51 ($53.50) from Cold Storage and trial-and-error your way to the perfect caipirinha (a mix of cachaça, lime and sugar).
If you're travelling through Changi Airport in the next few weeks, swing by any DFS outlet and pick up a bottle of Absolut Karnival Edition ($30.90). Featuring the work of Brazilian graphic novel artist and writer Rafael Grampá, it's a limited edition vodka with flavours of passionfruit and orange blossoms.
Liquor delivery
If you're up and about for a 4am kick-off and realise you've got no booze left, you're lucky that there's Ring to Drink (8251-2222). Delivering within an hour for free, 24 hours a day, Ring to Drink offers beer, wine, spirits and package deals which include a spirit, a mixer, ice, cups and even a bag of peanuts.
Mabuk Monkey (6294-1714) and the creatively named Alcohol Delivery (6244-5533) are two other options with the former sending out supplies from 6pm to midnight (closed on Mondays), and the latter operating from 6pm-2am daily. Mabuk Monkey charges $10 for deliveries and Alcohol Delivery charges $6, but both waive the fee for orders above $50.
If you're organised enough to never find yourself faced with an empty fridge, you can call Liquor Bar (6253-2153) early in the day for same-day delivery. They have possibly the best product range for any alcohol delivery company.
Other drinks
On the non-alcoholic side of things, Coca-Cola has rolled out a ton of special products like a limited edition ball-shaped bottle ($2.50 from 7-Eleven) and a promotional 18-pack ($12.50 from NTUC FairPrice). For something a little less sugary from their portfolio, you can go with the “official sports drink chosen by FIFA” for Brazil 2014, Aquarius ($1.70 for a 1.5 litre bottle, $4.05 for a six-pack). Coca Cola is also giving away holidays, a PS4 and fan gear throughout the tournament; check out their website for a full list of promotions.
You're going to need more than a few cups of coffee to survive this month so it's apt that Brazil is far and away the world's largest producer of coffee. We like Boncafé's Brazilian Gold ($4.60 for 50g from Cold Storage), a 100% Arabica coffee made in Brazil by the homegrown company.
Snacks
While Pringles has simply redecorated its original and sour cream packs with a football motif ($2.70 from NTUC FairPrice), the Frito-Lay brands – Lay's, Ruffles and Doritos – are giving away a “soccer fever collectible bowl” with the purchase of two big bags at a promotional price ($7.45 from NTUC FairPrice until June 30). For a change from nibbles like peanuts and wasabi peas, try Nu-Vit's Brazil kernels ($4.45 from Cold Storage).
Food delivery
With 41 outlets screening the games, a special World Cup menu, daily opportunities to win $1,000 cash with orders made online or with their app, and 24/7 delivery, McDonald's (6777-3777 is about to get quite a bit of extra patronage from football fans.
Not a fan of burgers? PastaMania's (6275-7555) last order is at 2:45am, and Brinda's (6274-6327) can bring you Indian favourites 24 hours a day. Pizza Hut will also be extending its opening hours on July 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 14 with last orders at 2:30am.
Gear
If you're planning on wearing the colours of your home or adopted home nation, the only shop you really need to know about is Weston Corporation (1 Queensway, #01-22 Queensway Shopping Centre, 6474-5906, weston.com.sg). They pride themselves on having pretty much every participating team's kit (only Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina were missing at press time), with both home and away strips in most cases. They also stock a variety of 2014 FIFA World Cup collectibles and even replica trophies.
Considering Brazil's popularly-known link with the removal of hair, Gillette's sponsorship of the Brazilian national team makes perfect sense. They've celebrated the partnership by releasing a special edition range of razors ($8.90 for a Mach 3 and $14.90 for Fusion Proglide) that will help you get rid of that five o'clock in the morning shadow in time for work.
TV deals
Is your ageing TV set dying a slow death? Don't risk it. All the big electronics specialists around the country have offers that will tempt you to make an upgrade.
Until June 15, you can trade in your old TV at Courts and get between $300 and $1,000 cash back with free gifts of a Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 3 (valid for TVs above 46''). You'll pay the remainder over 48 months with a Courts Flexi Plan.
If you buy a 55'' Sony Bravia at Harvey Norman before June 29, it'll come bundled with a PS4 and a copy of the FIFA 14 video game. They've also got their own cash back deals on TVs above 42''.
Best Denki is offering discounts of between $550 and $1,600 on its range of Panasonic LED TVs (until July 28) while Audio House announces daily and weekly promotions on its Facebook page.
Keeping up-to-date
mio TV subscribers who purchased the 2014 FIFA World Cup Pack will be able to watch all 64 games on their mobile devices with the mio TV GO app. Available from the Apple App Store and Google Play store, it provides live streams with multi-camera views, all the stats that matter and replays of key moments. If you're a mio TV subscriber who hasn't purchased the pack, you'll still get to watch the opening match, the two semi-finals and the final with the app.
Another great way to follow the matches is to listen to live commentary on the radio, just like the folks of yesteryear. You can stream BBC Radio Five live to listen in covertly in the office or on your morning commute.
Speaking of doing things the old fashioned way, you might be a bit past the age where you can buy a Panini sticker book with a straight face, but you can still pick up one of the many souvenir issues and guide books covering the World Cup. The allSports World Cup Souvenir Special ($15 at your local newsagent) has over 200 pages of content covering Brazil's love affair with football, the cities that will host games and each of the participating teams. It also comes with a big wall chart and a handy pocket guide.
If you'd just like to keep a casual eye on things, Twitter feeds are one way to go. “The intelligent tabloid” might seem like an oxymoron, but The Daily Mirror's football tweets (@MirrorFootball) offer the perfect mix of humour, gossip and, occasionally, legitimate news. The Guardian (@guardian_sport) and BBC Sport (@BBCSport) provide more conventional updates. The free Soccer Livescores app has also proven to be extremely reliable, displaying scores and stats while incorporating a simple chat function.