Saturday, March 31, 2007

Brunch @ Graze

graze @ rochester park
fantastic ambience.

we found out about this from the Chubby Hubby website, when we had this idea for a nice breakfast on a lazy sunday morning.

go early in the morning, around 930 and you will feel as if you've booked the entire restaurant. Enjoy the tranquility when the jazzy music adds pleasure to your meal.

for a group of four, we had two cast iron pan, Graze's omelette and classic waffles. a tad salty for my taste, but loved the mushrooms and omelette. Oh, do check out the spicy plum in the cast iron pan, very unique taste...

total damage about $120

we'll definitely be back for more :)

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Canele @ paragon


Was walking around in Paragon when we were attracted to the chic design of this small cosy cafe, Canele. Call it love at first sight, with the shop's classic look and delectable pastries. And today, we finally gave in to our craving, and indulge ourselves in the relaxing ambience of the shop. Ordering just in time at the last minute of the set lunch hours (thanks to the friendly staff who acceded to our last minute request), we had the set consisting of chicken breast burger, jupiter and coffee ($20) and the cheesecake. Mmmm.. simply delicious :)

Money well spent, and reminded us of the time we spent in Paris.

Total damage about $30

Very filling despite the little portions that we had, probably due to the richness of cakes. We will try the rest of the menu when we come back here again! And maybe you should too :P

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Pleasant Dreams

Do you find your bedroom a tad boring these days? At Brown Paper Package, we have a simple solution for you: change your pillow cases! Lately, with overwhelming response from customers, we are only left with the Karaoke design ones, and limited at that. So if you are interested, grab it fast! Here's to your sweet dreams... goodnight :)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

botak jones @ clementi


Botak Brown Paper Package !

A colleague of mine had been recommending this place for quite some time but I kept putting it off. Finally, we acted on it, and went for some "damn good food at a damn good price".

It was lunch at Botak Jones, a stall selling American food right in the middle of the sleepy neighbourhood of Clementi. Friendly staff took down our orders with a smile, and food was served shortly (Note: we were 3rd in the queue, thus the fast serving. We have heard stories of having to wait some half to one hour for food to be served if you are there during peak hours). For a group of 6, we ordered: 2 regular fish and chips, 1 large one, 1 Cajun chicken, 1 Bratwurst sausage, 1 tuna salad and 6 chicken wings. And i tell you: the portions were humongous! - tasty fries stacked like a mountain, whole pile of tuna with lots of greens, big servings of delicious fried fillet, big chicken wings etc. All these for $50.50 bucks. Value for money. No wonder the shop's tagline is "damn good price".

Saturday, March 17, 2007

BPP Goes Kayaking!

Last morning in Krabi... felt kinda sad that our vacation was coming to a close so soon. But we were not ones to waste time, so off we went for our final tour of the trip after yet another normal but filling breakfast: kayaking!

A short ride later(if you define 40 mins to be short), we arrived at Bor Thor Village, a chicken-dun-lay-eggs kind of place, consisting of 2 restaurants and... nothing else, except for the boat operators. Was expecting some quaint village with some locals around, but turned to be much less than our expectations. Nevertheless, one nice cup of coffee later, we sun-blocked ourselves (it was a very hot day), took to the kayak, picked up our paddles and off we go. It was a guided tour (with a Jackie Chan look-alike tour guide), and we have some 10 other foreigners with us on this tour.


We realised that we were almost the only people on this tour who had experience kayaking. So initially, while we effortlessly paddle our way back and forth, the other were struggling somewhat. Tried to give some pointers to the other fellow tourists, but not sure if it helped though. Anyway, after stopping at a small fishing house to look at the fishing traps for fishes, crabs etc, we went on to paddle through a cave with stalactites and stalagmites, one of which slightly resembled the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. It was cool and quiet in the cave, and our echoes sounded through the cave as we speak. Cool.

Next stop, a cave with a scary name: The Cave of the Big Headed Ghost.Its origins came from the time when the cave was first found some fifty years ago, if we were not wrong. There were numerous skulls in the cave (thus some called it the Skull Cave), of which one skull was particularly big. Hence the name. What was more interesting about the cave though, was some ancient paintings on the ceilings, believed to more than 3000 years old. So after exploring the rest of the cave, and taking panoramic view of the surroundings, its off to the Lagoon Cave.


After kayaking through a narrow channel, we came into a lagoon surround by high cliffs, accessible only from the waterway we came in. Frankly speaking, other than the location, nothing much was fascinating about the place, unless you considered stagnant water and mosquitoes as exotic. So it wasn't long before we left the lagoon, but not before doing my part for other tourists by swatting a healthy number of mosquitoes.

We ended the tour back at Bor Thor Village and had a simple lunch of fried rice with chicken. Not very appetizing, but hey, the Coke was free flow :P So while we waited impatiently for the others, we explored the village (not that we took long. It was small rememeber?). And after what felt like a long time, we finally boarded the us back to the hotel.

By the time we reached the hotel, it was almost time to check out (we had requested for late check out on the first day, but had to pay 500 BHT for it), but guess what? We went sun tanning again! My partner complained that she did not have enough of tanning, so it was our last ditch effort at getting darker. After 15 mins or so, we rushed back to the hotel room, packed our stuff quickly, checked out and waited for our taxi to the airport. As we sat in the lobby, tanned and tired, we felt really good as we had enjoyed this trip, though it may be slightly short.

The taxi came quickly though there was slight hiccup as we had initially wanted the driver to send us and my friends to the airport, but he said he had to arrange another taxi for them. Guess our plan to share the cab fares fell through :( Half an hour later, we met at the airport, and proceeded to check in. For our friends out there, please be reminded that you had to pay a 400 BHT airport tax when you check in. Be prepared yeah?

With not much time left, we had our dinner at the cafe upstairs (twice the prices at Ao Nang Beach), ordering Phad Thai and Olive Fried Rice. The rice was good, the noodles was not, so stay away from it. Belly filled, we went to the gate, which was a rather small one and only had one queue. Those taking domestic flight were in the same queue as those of us who were taking Tiger Airways, so it was rather crowded. After shuffling for some 15 mins, we finally went through the customs, and proceded o board the plane. As we took off (a dinner lurching one *dizzy*), we took a last look at Krabi from the windows. It was a great trip, and we certainly hoped we would be back again.

~ The End ~

Presented by Brown Paper Package
Krabi Trip - 2nd March to 5th March 2007

Thursday, March 15, 2007

draw a house . com

Came across this rather interesting website which tells you your personality based on the house you draw. So we drew our house, put in on "BPP Street", and here you are!


Why don't you get a house on your own and add to our street? We will love to have you as our neighbour :)

Saturday, March 10, 2007

BPP Goes Island Hopping!

Its another bright and sunny day at Krabi! And we are going island hopping today! On today's menu: Poda Island, Chicken Island (*cluck cluck*), Tub Island and Railey Beach. And our choice of transport: the longtail boat, a somewhat traditional form of water transport. Resembling a wooden sampan but bigger and propelled by a motor, it provided a rather smooth ride (contrary to some forums which stated that it would be a bumpy ride).

long tail boat

After a short ride from our hotel, we arrived at one end of Ao Nang beach for our tour. After a few minutes of ride, we reached Poda Island, with its pristine white beach and clear waters, it was a perfect setting for a relaxed time, IF NOT FOR the numerous other longtails and speedboats coming in to the island as well. Was attempting to snorkel but ended up getting out of the water ever so often to avoid been to near the boats. Frustrated, we ended up just sun tanning on the soft beach. Well, at least the tanning felt really good :) So after a short tan, we proceeded to *Cluck Cluck* Island.

Well, we did not really disembark at Chicken Island. We merely went near one side of a overhanging cliff, and took a dip into the shallow waters and snorkeled! A entire school of bright yellow fishes swam around us we threw bread crumbs into the water. The most fun part was holding a piece of bread underwater as the fishes fed from my hand. Simply wonderful, though my partner will beg to differ :P

We dried off on the boat as we proceeded to the next island hop, which was actually a group of three islands. At low tide, it was possible to walk between the three, though at the time when we arrived, only two were accessible. Compared to the beach at Poda Island, the beach here was even more marvelous. Fishes swim very near to the coast, and wading slightly further from the beach yielded schools of the same yellow fishes we saw earlier on. And we even noticed some fish which looked like a smaller version of the swordfish. Stopped over at this spot the longest as we had our lunch here as well, comprising of fried rice, fruits and chocolate coffee cake.

chicken island hopping

After lazing in the sun for a while, it was time to move on the Railey beach, which despite having many boats there as well, was also a fine beach, with very soft white sand and caves by the side of the beaches to explore (one of which involved the phallus- probably a symbol to pray for children). We disembarked near this Rayavadee resort, which looked rather nice, but was out of bounds to us. However, we did circumvent the premises and looked at some avid climbers doing rock climbing. And did I mentioned that my sandals gave up on me here? It was supposed to last for years! Well, it did for about four years, but how could it failed me here... ended up barefoot for the rest of the journey before reaching the hotel :(

Krabi beautiful sunset

Good times always ended early, and it was time to go back to the hotel. But this time round, we did not let the sunset go to waste, unlike yesterday when we were caught without a camera while we basked in the dwindling rays of the sun. So as per yesterday, we rushed down to the beach after we washed up at the hotel, not before grabbing some chicken wings, a drink and a beer. As we set up the sarong in anticipation of a beautiful evening, we heard a *plonk* beside us. No it was not an inconsiderate person who set up his place beside us, but a dog. Though we had to agree that it was docile and was quietly waiting by the side presumably for the chicken wings that we would offer it, we couldn't allow it to disturb our otherwise beautiful evening. Thus as we stood up and started to move away, the dog immediately left to find another prospect. Talk about efficiency. So as it was, we had a wonderful time watching the sunset, enjoying our food and drinks as we captured the sunset on camera. Breath taking.

night scene

Dinner was at an open air pasar malam kind of atmosphere place near our hotel, where we had our tom yum goong (what's new? *Roll eyes*), green curry, grilled squid and vegetables. All for about 400 Baht :) Nothing exciting was planned for the night and we retired to our rooms to do some simple packing. Our last day in Krabi...

Thursday, March 8, 2007

BPP Goes Rafting!

After a not so exciting first day in Krabi, its time to have some real fun! In the form of whitewater rafting!

breakfast at alis hotel

Woke up early in the morning to have our first breakfast at the hotel. Nothing fantastic but it was still satisfying. And the staff were friendly and served us with smiles on their faces :) So after a filling breakfast (which included cute heart shape sunny side up), we replied some of our customers (that's you!) on the internet before being whisked away in a van to start our short ride to the rafting camp.

And talk about coincidence. We met a a friend and his girlfriend, who were both going for the same trip as us. I had not met him for a very long time and yet here we were, talking about the good old army days (we met in BMT in Jan 1999. Anyone out there from Leopard Company?), which surprisingly did not bother our partners at all (most gals would cringe when they hear their boyfriends talk about army).

white water rafting day trip

And since fate had it that we met miles away from Singapore, naturally we went bumping down the river in the same boat! It was a 5 km Level II to III rafting, which turned out to be relatively easy for us. Not much effort was needed on our part while we chatted and joked our way down the small rapids (in particular, a joke regarding a brown cow and chocolate milk. Go figure...). My friend commented that Singaporean woman were more gungho, as we witnessed the incessant screaming of the other Asian ladies, especially upon having large frogs thrown into their boats. Agree with us? We will love to hear your views.

After the short ride, it was time for lunch at the camp, with tom yum koong, fried chicken and other Thai dishes to fill our hungry stomachs. Guess this was the first time that we had our meals dripping wet. Soon after, we proceeded to our second leg of the tour to a waterfall nearby. And you had to believe us when we said that the water was freeeeeeeeezing cold. If you were there, you would not be able to speak without stuttering when you were standing directly under the waterfall. But once out of the waterfall and lying on the rocks beside the pool, it was heavenly. Cold and hot... felt like a spa treatment :)

monkey cave Suwannakuha Temple

Our last stop for the trip was to the Monkey Cave. As the name suggested, there were lots of the primates in the cave, which actually housed numerous statues of Buddhas (Suwannakuha Temple). We sat on the wooden benches while we took in the tranquilty of the sacred place, and watched while other tourists fed the monkeys with bananas and nuts. Not long after, it was time to make our way back to our hotel, and as we arrived at our friend's hotel, we bade each other farewell for now, as we arranged to go back to Singapore together. Sometimes, you could not help but think that the world was rather small, for us to not meet in Singapore, but overseas instead.

It was about 5pm when we reached back at our hotel. So what was next? More sunbathing of course, as we rushed down to Ao Nang beach to catch the last rays of the afternoon sun. It was not much, but it sort of filled our daily quota for sun tan. As the sun set, we simply sat there on the beach and enjoyed it. With waves gently caressing the beach and the longtail boats coming back to rest, the sun gave off a reddish hue as it slowly descended behind the mountain ranges. Simply romantic.

Having feasted on the beautiful sunset, it was time to fill up our stomaches too. And it was to the Blue Mango, a restaurant with nice decor and ambience and NO air con. But we were not too bothered by it as we digged in our dinner of tom yum goong (again...), shrimp cake, phad thai and garlic chicken, before washing them down with pear cider and coke. Abit pricey, but with such a good atmosphere and good food, guess it was all worth it.

blue mango krabi food dinner

Retired to our hotel soon after dinner, and we eagerly awaited our island hopping tour tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

BPP Goes to Krabi...

It was a trip that we have waited long for.

The Sun. The Sand. The Sea. Wonderful combination of some of the finest things in life... and we had it all! For 4 days on the idyllic beachside tourist spot of Krabi.

Krabi Alis hotel beautiful beach

( Before we went on rambling about our trip, we will hereby like to extend our apologies to some of our customers who had bought from our store at www.brownpaperpackage.com e.g. Tracy, Pearlene, Sharifa, Lindsay (just to name a few). We felt bad holding up your purchases as there was no one to process your orders but we wished to let you know that we always valued our customers and we were back at work processing your order as soon as we came back to Singapore :) )

Now, where were we? Oh yes, the start of our fun (sun?) filled trip at Krabi. Arriving at the new Krabi Airport (which was rather small) early in the morning at around 8am local time, we took a taxi to our hotel, Alis Krabi (booked through Asiarooms) This had to be one of the best hotels that we stayed in (after Palace of the Golden Horses in KL that is), with its Moroccan style furnishings, exquisite rooms and a small but enticing swimming pool at the top. However, we were too early to check in, so we deposited our luggage, grabbed some tour pamphlets, and off we went to explore the beautiful Ao Nang beach.


krabi alis hotel review

Ao Nang beach was a very touristy area, with lots of cafes and restaurants catering to the tastes of European and American tourists. Not surprisingly, as most of the tourists there were Westerners, and Asian tourists were far and few in between. After walking along the main street of Ao Nang beach, we broke away from the road and strolled along the beach, taking in the wonderful sights of one of the most popular beach in Krabi. Walking to the end of the beach, we huffed and puffed our way up a rickety set of stairs, went halfway round a small mountain, to arrive at Central Krabi Bay Resort, set on a boat-accessible only bay. The beach here was much better than Ao Nang, but the tedious climb to get here probably wasn't worth the effort. But if you are looking for a quiet time in a secluded resort, this may be your choice.

After yet another tedious climb back, we dropped in a cafe for lunch and sifted through the tour pamphlets to decide on our trips for the next few days. Stomachs filled, tours fixed, we headed back to our hotel, checked in to a cosy room, booked our tours, and eagerly rushed out to the beach to do what we want to do most: sun bathing! We were probably two office workers who were too deprived of the warmth of the hot sun :P

Krabi aonang beach

We underestimated the power of the sun and overestimated that of our Banana Boat SPF 45. Not long after we started, we decided that we had enough for the day, and retreat to our hideout at Alis Hotel. That's when the worse that could happen, happened. We realised we lost our spare battery for our camera. We retraced our steps for the whole day but to no avail. It was lost to us. But maybe you had picked it up somewhere. It was in small pink zipped Hello Kitty pouch. If you happen to find it, could you please do let us know? We could offer a reward: $30 worth of products on our website. Thanks in advance.

krabi food

What's lost was lost, and the only thing we could do was to ... have dinner. Went to the Ao Nang Cuisine which claimed to the first Thai Chinese restaurant on the beach. Well, the food was not bad, and the rice came in cute star shaped portions. For about 300 Baht, we had a very satisfying meal complete with 3 dishes, 1 soup and rice. Having nothing to do at night (unless you are a party animal then there's the full moon party for you [heard its the first friday of every month]), we retired early, to await our action pack tour the next day.