Chinese New Year is coming up in a few days! I’ve got all the things I need. I highlight some of the more interesting/quirky/unusual items I’ve purchased each year and here’s the list for 2016:
1. Famous Amos CNY Hamper
I bought this for my dear. I always get her a hamper during Chinese New Year and I heard her mentioning something about Famous Amos hampers. I know she likes the Famous Amos cookies so while at Curve one day, I went to look and decided to get her something that she enjoys eating. 🙂
2. Maxim Mini Egg Rolls
I had gotten the same thing last year but it was the regular sized ones. They didn’t have the miniature size last year. This year, they imported in the smaller sized egg rolls and I bought it for my better half. Maxim is a well-known baked goods brand in Hong Kong (ironically there’s also a confectioners named Maxim in France, where I think they got their name from) and consistently has good egg rolls, although slightly more expensive since it’s imported for RM 68.
3. Sanbanto Bak Kwa
Sanbanto consistently comes up with the best bak kwa (BBQ pork jerky) in town. I always make it a point to grab some every CNY. It makes for a perfect gift as well. This time I bought 5 packs for friends and family while my better half got 2 packs for my dad. They’re a mixture of sliced pork jerky (which is more expensive at RM 69) and minced pork jerky (RM 63).
4. Brand’s CNY Essence of Chicken Hamper
This one is for my better half’s parents. Her mom likes to drink Brand’s and I always get them a hamper for Chinese New Year too. Last year I got them a random hamper full of stuff that they might or might not like so this year I thought I’ll go the safer route and give them something I know they’ll consume. Funny story, I actually ordered this online from the Caring Pharmacy ecommerce site. However, I didn’t know it took so long for them to actually send it out and I made a special request to pick it up from Paradigm Mall since I was going to Sibu soon and they kindly accommodated me.
5. RM 20 instant noodles from Taiwan
This is more like a purchase for Chinese New Year since you’re so busy entertaining guests to cook. I’ve never seen a RM 20.15 bowl of instant noodles before. This is Foo’s Kitchen Chili Flavored Beef Noodle Soup. It contains a 600 gram single serve microwavable bowl that has real beef slices and pork bone broth. I haven’t eaten it yet but it sounds good. There’s also the novelty of eating a RM 20+ dollar bowl of instant noodles! That’s the second most expensive instant noodles I’ve had. The most expensive is still the RM 62.50 bowl of Maggi instant noodles. 
6. Scotch Brite Chinese New Year Monkey Pad
I didn’t buy this per se. I just happened to be at the hypermarket beside me, stocking up on drinking water, when I saw this guy dressed up as the God of Prosperity walking around the cashier exits. One of the girls came up to me and asked if I wanted a free monkey shaped Scotch Brite pad.
It’s a limited edition sample meant for Chinese New Year so I thought it’ll go well here. It’s the Year of the Monkey, which is why there are so many monkey themed motifs. I gave it to my dear.
7. Starbucks Exclusive Coffee Wafer Rolls
This is an interesting one – I didn’t plan for this purchase at all. I had gotten all I needed for CNY and was about to fly back to Sibu when I chanced across this at the airport. It was RM 42 and came with a free drink! I had time to kill before my flight at KLIA2 so I bought one. The barista was kind enough to let me choose *any* drink so I went with the latest Strawberry Red Velvet Mocha Frappuccino under the new Starbucks Espresso Confections.
It came complete with whipped cream. This drink would normally cost around RM 20 for the largest size at the airport so that’s a significant discount from the “free large drink with purchase”. I also got two nice Starbucks ang pows from the barista.
8. Crab Stick Crackers
This is the most amazing and wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. Yes, this is the first time I’ve seen it, although I’ve heard rumors of delicious morsels of surimi (crab sticks) that’s been deep fried as a Chinese New Year snack. It has the distinctive red color from the crab sticks, which are actually made from fish paste and crab flavoring. On the plus side, the color is very auspicious too. My dear’s mom got this for our family coz I was so intrigued by it. The crab stick crackers sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it! Happy Chinese New Year, everyone.
Lovely looking hampers, Famous Amos. So sweet of you to buy for Ling.
Yeah, I get her a hamper for CNY every year! 🙂
Famous Amos have a wide range of hampers, from small cookie tins with a soft toy, to bigger cookie jars wrapped with flowers to the huge RM 2,800 hampers. I got the cookie jar version since she only wanted the cookies. Their mixed hampers have a lot of local chocolates like Beryls so it’s not as good.
Nice (some queer) CNY stuff you bought this year. It was rather surprising to hear that this is the first time you’ve seen the (fake) crab stick crackers as they’ve been around for a long time. I think I’ve been eating it for the last 8 years already…hehe! ;D Happy CNY to you & your family 🙂
It’s the first time I’ve even *seen* the crab stick cookies! 🙂
I guess I didn’t get exposed to them in the past few years, despite going to wet markets and such. I know a friend used to make them (but I only knew that when I saw this) and my dear told me it’s been around for a while but I’ve never personally seen them. I shall do some catching up and eat them in a few days. Happy CNY to you and your loved ones!
Very interesting shopping indeed.
Gong Xi Fa Chai to you and family.
Yup, lots of peculiar things! 🙂
I like the RM 20.15 instant noodles (most expensive I’ve ever had in a single serve portion) and the crab stick crackers, can’t wait to eat them. Happy CNY to you and your family Rose!
Love the cookie jar the most. Glad that you gotten me this instead of a big hamper. Hahah.
Glad that you liked the cookie jar dear! 🙂
I know coz you hinted to me about having to force yourself to eat something that you don’t like coz I gave it to you. Haha. I will remember to buy you and your parents something that I know you will eat/consume from now on. <3
Wow, anything left for me?? I’m a huge fan of Brand’s too & love their products! Have fun shopping for CNY!
Nice! I don’t personally consume Brand’s stuff though. 🙂
I don’t mind if it’s lying around e.g. I used to drink them when my late mom didn’t want to finish it and it’s about to expire, I’ll drink them, no problems and I actually don’t mind the taste. I just won’t go and get it for myself coz I don’t like it that much. Likewise, happy CNY to you and your loved ones Shirley!
those famous amos hampers look pretty huge … like it’d take a family of four an entire month to finish snacking on all those cookies! 🙂 ooo, i didn’t realise sanbanto does bak kwa … my family loves bak kwa, and i don’t think they’ve ever tried any products from sanbanto before (they live in malacca), so maybe i should grab some 😀
Yeah, they have all sorts of sizes! 🙂
I was quite surprised, I thought it’s the usual hamper but they have everything from small tins of cookies with a soft toy for RM 50+ to huge hampers with cognac inside for RM 3,800 (think that was the most expensive one). The biggest one are not just cookies though, they have wine and local chocolates by Beryl’s too.I got a largest tall cookie jar wrapped with a flower (contains about 1 kg) coz my better half only wanted the cookies.
Yeah, Sanbanto has been making bak kwa since at least 2012 – been buying them every year since, supposed to be organic and free range with no preservative. It’s good!
Mr. & Mrs HB,
Gong Xi Fa Cai.
Safe trip back to Sibu (I w b next door)
Thanks for the well wishes James! 🙂
Happy CNY to you and your loved ones too. Gong Xi Fatt Chai!
William never buys hampers for my parents. I never buy stuffs for his parents. Reading this, I feel so guilty. LoL.
I agree on giving meaningful hampers with contents that the receipient love rather than just giving random stuffs. You spend a bit more but at least you know every single thing in there is appreciated 🙂
Happy Chinese New Year to you Huai Bin.
Yeah, I used to buy all sorts of random stuff for them. 🙂
Haha! It was actually more expensive coz I’ll get, say, a RM 400 hampers with red wine and cookies and her parents had to finish the cookies which they might not have liked but I thought was okay. Thus, I decided to get things that I know they’ll like.
My dear also told me about this (at least hinted) coz I know she had a lot of trouble finishing the stuff in the Christmas and CNY hampers I get her so I got her something that she liked instead. Happy CNY to you and your family Merryn!
Item 1-4 is what I will buy for CNY too! But items 5-8… Erm…… :p
Wishing you and family a happy lunar new year!
Haha! Yeah, I just thought they were interesting. 🙂
Happy CNY to you and your family Hayley!
For some reason I find the monkey shaped dish washing pad hilarious LOL. That’s a first time I’ve seen that.
The high end cup noodles in Japan also cost around RM20. You’d probably wanna bring a larger luggage so you can buy a few cups back.
Haha! Me too! 🙂
It’s a limited edition promo for CNY, they were giving it out for free. Interesting! That’s actually quite expensive, but intriguing nevertheless. I love the Japanese noodles that’s tossed in black sauce and topped with mayo. They also have a salt and mentaiko version. Yum!
You’re such a romantic laaaa LOL. Love the scotch brite monkey! Am gonna go look for it:) Happy CNY my dear 🙂
Thanks Mei! 🙂
Happy CNY to you and your loved ones!
where did u get the 20 bucks noodles from? i wanna get slaughtered as well
Saw Sanbanto in Jaya Grocer at Plaza Jelutong but didnt buy. Tiny pack was around RM45
Yes, it is much better to get something that you know they will consume since you know what they like.
Not easy to fry la that crab sticks. I tried one year…it was either burnt or half cooked. Gave up after that. It’s much harder than frying Ngaku Chips