Holidays

Seeing Red

By Veron Ang | Tags #Chinese New Year #Family

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my Mom is an avid collector of various collectible items. In the past, she collected the magnetic transitlink cards when they were still in use, as well as brand new phonecards. These cards are valuable only if they are maintained in their unused condition. The value of an extremely rare set of cards can be inflated up to many times its original value, fetching up to hundreds of dollars. A decade ago, Singapore was still in the transitlink card or phonecard collecting frenzy. Everytime a new limited edition card or set of cards was released, people queued for hours, and sometimes even days just to get hold of these cards.

i remember many a time when I was young, I queued with my Mom overnight along with thousands of other people just to buy the limited edition phonecard that was limited to the first 2000 people. I also remember the numerous times I had tagged along with my Mom to go shopping for these cards all over the island. My brother didn’t share the same passion. But I was fascinated by the beautiful designs and colors on these cards. My Mom says that when she dies, she wouldn’t have much money to leave us. All she would have would be these collections.

nowadays, Singaporeans don’t really collect these cards anymore. So in recent years, my Mom started collecting red packets (you know, the ang pow you get your money in every Chinese New Year). I even spent the whole of today helping her display the red packets nicely in albums. She is very proud of her collection, but she isn’t selfish about it. She shares whatever she has with her fellow red packet collecting friends. This wouldn’t be an interesting blog entry to most people, but I’m blogging it because it would make my Mom happy.

One thing to note is that my Mom only collects commercial red packets, that means only those released by companies. Store-bought red packets are a no-no. They may look more beautiful but are simply meaningless, she says.

Some red packets aren’t actually red, but come in various unique colors such as yellow. I always get excited when I come across the uniquely colored ones. One of my favorites is this one from starhub, featuring their mascot dog, sparky.

There are purple and pink packets too. I simply love the purple one from cadbury chocolate! Look, there’s even one from awfully chocolate. Anyone knows where this shop is?

The pink ones are so pretty too! One from tian po jewelry…

… Another one from the Taiwan shihlin street snacks.

There are red packets released by fast food restaurants.

The ultra adorable qoo drinks!

And our favorite m&m’s!

One rather unique red packet is this very narrowly shaped one from the Tung Lok group of restaurants. This orange packet is so narrow that you can’t fit in a dollar note without folding it. I think it’s only meant to hold coins.

Also, in these couple of years, gold packets are gaining in popularity and more companies are releasing those.

I think the gold packets give off a more classy and “expensive” feeling. My favorite is this one from American express that has a pop-up feel to it.

Last but not least, here’s one for the guys.

Well organising, arranging and displaying the hundreds or even thousands of different red packets was exhausting and sure took up a lot of time! But I was glad as it allowed my Mom and I to spend some time together. We had dinner at the keng eng kee seafood place, in the Alexandra Village vicinity. Everyone please do not go there!

the food was expensive, it took damn long for the food to be served, and it wasn’t exactly worth waiting for! One couple seated right behind us walked away in a huff after waiting a long time for their food that never came. At 8pm, I was already feeling super hungry as I barely ate anything the entire day. And a hungry wanting is a cranky wanting. I managed to get our food served immediately.

The fried rolls came first, each one containing egg, prawn, vegetable, ham and mushroom. To their credit, the dish was actually very delicious! But then again, it ought to be since they called it their house specialty. Moreover, anything that is deep-fried tends to taste good. And it cost 9 bucks.

Next came the sweet and sour chicken balls. It wasn’t good. And I don’t see no balls. 8 bucks for the dish.

The last dish we ordered was sambal kang kong. But when it came, it wasn’t sambal at all! We asked the waitress about it, who admitted the mistake but asked if we could just let it go. My Mom was ready to agree but I said no way man. We ordered sambal kang kong and that’s what we were getting. No matter how busy they were, that was not a good reason for us to live with their mistake. The kang kong cost 6 bucks.

the total bill came up to $25.60. $23 for the food, 50 cents per bowl of rice, 20 cents per towel, and $1.20 for a can of barley. Amount of time wasted: irrecoverable. Everyone please do not go to this place. The food sucks, the service sucks, and they don’t even charge cheaply. Remember, it’s keng eng kee seafood. Don’t go there! *ROARRR*

Alright again for the 1035263th time, please vote for me at blogfest 2006. Instructions are on the right. Oh yeah if anyone has any red packet to spare, please contact me too. My Mom and I would both be delighted!

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About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and WordPress development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

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20 responses

Leave your comment

ham[]mah
March 15, 2006

hey! here’s the website for awfully chocolate. :) http://www.awfullychocolate.com/
Reply
khangwei
March 15, 2006

nice entry… :) i like the m&m’s collection…

the dishes don’t taste good… even with an empty stomach??? hmm… that’s bad. or was it your mood affecting your tastebuds?

hmm… yes, i told mark that i read your blog from time to time… :)
Reply
Mandy
March 15, 2006

I’m from the US, so I’m not sure what the red packet thing is, but the designs are absolutely gorgeous. I love those purple/pink ones. And that photo of the guy holding a chicken.. that’s just classic. XD

And of course, I’ve been voting. ;)
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

thanks ham[]mah for the info! i haven’t seen an awfully chocolate outlet before, but i have to say the name is awfully eyecatching!
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

hehe khangwei, my favorite is the qoo collection, very cute and colorful.

the dishes really did not taste good. i need my dishes to be tasty but those last night were simply too bland for my liking. i would never return there again.

oh yeah mark told me during the last tutorial that you’ve been tracking HIS movement. i wonder what’s that about.
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

Hey Mandy, it is a Chinese custom that during Chinese New Year, elders and married grown-ups give red packets containing money to visiting children and unmarried juniors. The red color of the packets is a symbol of good luck because red is considered a lucky color to the Chinese.

The guy holding a chicken? That picture is hilarious! Haha it actually comes from a Singapore movie, called I Do, I Do. The actor is called Adrian Pang.

Thanks for the support! I really need it :)
Reply
khangwei
March 15, 2006

huh??? tracking his movements? don’t really get what he meant… mind you, i’m not gay… haha! :D
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

don’t worry about it, he talks quite a lot of crap:P
Reply
<^o^)>
March 15, 2006

red packets… i think i still have the pink dolphin design issued by yeos… But you had them right?
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

those are the square shaped pink dolphin ones right? yup we have those.
Reply
yeeling
March 15, 2006

simple reasons why i simply enjoy visiting this blog. you’re very sweet. :) and i <3 the way you seem so contented with life.

certainly, i’ve voted happily. :)
Reply
Veron
March 15, 2006

hey yeeling, thanks for being so sweet too! i’ve visited your blog. it looks very neat and polished. keep up the good work!

thanks for the vote too! it feels great to have your support girl.
Reply
yeeling
March 16, 2006

are we allowed to vote more than once?

i’ll be more than glad to vote again. and again. and again. :)
Reply
Veron
March 16, 2006

sorry honey. i think voting is only allowed once per account, although on the official website it’s stated once per account per day. you can try again though, or get your friends! i need all the support i can get. thanks!
Reply
hi
January 7, 2007

hi, i am apple..i also have make collection for angpau..see your mum angpau very nice….
hope can share with you….
Reply
Emily
January 7, 2007

HI, at first I was just passing by this site accidentally, not knowing that i would actually stick to it ever since i saw all those nice pictures taken by you and the VERY(x10) nicely created and designed blog. It’s really pretty and makes me feel relax while reading your words.

Really have to admit that you have great talent in pictures taking and craft works making. Amazing indeed! I’m interested in all those things too but just never really sit down and make them. Most of all, just some card creating/making hehe…

I think your mom’s ang pow is quite interesting. I used to collect them few years ago. But when i found there’re too many people doing the same thing, i quit. Just not interested in doing what most people do. But I still keep all those ang pow i collected. If your mom is interested, we can exchange too!

Oh ya, I have a net friend who loves collecting ang pow too. I hope we can chat someday in msn. You can add me by the email i provided and maybe i can introduce the net friend to you as well. :)

Keep up your good work, gal!
Reply
kenny ng
March 9, 2007

i would like to exchange your mum for those red packets that she do es not have.

Regards
Kenny
Reply
em
December 2, 2009

So useful for me! I have to design an angbao for my company and this is good reference! :) My auntie collects angbaos too!

I like looking at the various designs. :)
Reply
mandy
February 2, 2010

I have always been fascinated by red packet designs – they are all designed to bring good cheer to the person who gives and receives it. Would love to send your mom some red packet designs I have from some hotels. Email me for more info. :)
Reply
- Veron
  February 3, 2010
  
  You are too kind! We have contacted you babe :)
  Reply