when i arrived, my hubby saw the “heavy” tag on my suitcase and asked why the heck i have 34 kg on my way back from the philippines.

“uh… clothes… and, er… some stuff…”

here’s what i meant with “stuff”:

balibayan's loot

pastillas de leche- a creamy confection made from carabao’s milk, sevilla’s are simply the best around.

turones de kasuy- cashew nougat wrapped in crispy white rice paper. these are from sevilla’s, too, but i prefer the ones from sta rita pampanga i got last december.

polvoron- this time also from sevilla’s, but i normally get the unflavored ones from goldilocks. they’re bigger, milkier and holds well, even in cooler and drier environments like here in germany.

haw flakes- they used to come in small packages, wrapped in thin red paper. my trip to manila or in any of the malls won’t be complete without a stop at aji ichiban, where i can get this sweet-sour hawthorn disks

boy bawang- a recepient of superbrand awards, this corn snack is just as great as those we used to get from ilocos. it comes in several variants but my favorite is the classic gaaaahrlic flavor

dried mangoes- a classic, a must-have, not just for balikbayans but also for tourists visiting the philippines. if you’ve ever tasted a fresh, succulent philippine mango, this is the next best way to relive the experience when you’re out of the country.

choc nut- living in a region surrounded by the best chocolatiers in the world, and yet nothing beats that which you grew up with. it’s not the chocolate, it’s the nostalgia i’m clinging on to.

tanduay rhum 15 yrs- my staple pasalubong to my father-in-law the last few times i went to the philippines. also a recepient of the superbrands award, this rhum is said to be up to par with the best in the world.

not in photo:

cafe amadeo- made from pure excelsa coffee beans, one of the more popular brands of what is locally known as kapeng barako

kalinga gold- a stronger but less sour coffee grown on the mountains of north luzon (available at tiendesitas)

calamansi juice concentrate- no other citrus can approximate the tangy sweet sourness of the philippine lemon. this juice concentrate is a far cry from the real thing, but, well, good enough for craving expats.

and that’s just the food…

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!


This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at and is filed under i, me, and myself, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.