Ooh stop press! Look at these deliciously themed "hong bao" or red packets, by a local quintet of young designers called "&PLentyMore". They got featured in the Wall Street Journal blog! OK, that post is a little snarky of Singapore and the tacky side of Chinese New Year, but is such a boost for the designers who face the uphill challenge of selling "ang pao" envelopes that are freely available from more companies than we can count.
But you know, it is so cool to hand out a slice of photogenic bak kwa or kueh lapis, instead of cartoonish or red-gold embossed prints. For once, recipients might actually be more distracted by the envelope than what's in it.
The ang paos come wrapped in that old school pink paper wrapper used by the Chinese for various things from candy to traditional Chinese medicine.
Open the packets, and you'll see witty or cheeky descriptions of the food printed at the back.
They do cost more than ordinary ang baos - S$5 for a pack of eight designs (four square ones - pineapple tarts, nian gao, kueh bahulu, mandarin orange; and four rectangular ones - kueh lapis, bak kwa, mini shrimp rolls and love letters).
But good design is always worth that little bit more, and you get volume discounts:
A single set of 8 angbao packets - S$5
A happy pair (two sets) - S$8.80
3 happy pairs (six sets) - S$25.80
5 happy pairs of sets - S$41.80 (i.e. 10 sets of 80 envelopes)
Plus, it's nice to support local designers while making a tasty statement. You can buy them online or at these retail outlets:
Arbite
66A Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555962
BooksActually
No. 9 Yong Siak Street, Tiong Bahru, Singapore 168645
Drips Bakery Cafe
82 Tiong Poh Road, #01-05, Singapore 160082
The Garden Slug
55 Lorong L Telok Kurau #01-59/61 Bright Centre, Singapore 425500
Group Therapy Coffee
49 Duxton Road, Singapore 089513
Old School Delights
215M Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574349
Pause Cafe
5 Jalan Kilang, Singapore 159405
Scoop of Art
278 Marine Parade Road, #01-03, Singapore 449282
Many thanks to my friend Yvonne who passed me two packs.
Nice. But the more traditional folks might not like it cause they prefer red Ang Pow.
ReplyDeleteVery clever... I hope they tried to promote their idea to Bengawan Solo or some organisations... It would be unrealistic to expect people to buy these at $5 a piece... maybe deduct $5 from the content of the Ang Bao? :)
ReplyDeleteDK: these are still pretty "reddish" or warm coloured. The young and hip might prefer these.
ReplyDeleteShirley: Sorry if I wasn't clear - these are S$5 for a pack of 8. Actually not too bad for something a bit unusual.
Oh man... The bak kwa looks so deliciously salivating. We can't get that in Oz, so can you be so kind as to send some over . :-)
ReplyDelete