In the Philippines, it is customary for someone who travels to bring back little gifts called pasalubong to friends and family back home. Pasalubong is usually something that’s indigenous to the country/place visited by the traveler and does not have to be expensive. It can be food or clothing (t-shirts being a favourite among Filipinos) or souvenir items, like key chains or fridge magnets. Or it can just be anything that can be found in that foreign land which is not available back home (chocolates, potato chips, cookies, sweets, etc).
The Malays have a similar practice of giving such gifts, which they call buah tangan (buah = fruit, tangan = hand, and I have no idea how the term came about).
Considering how often I go overseas (about twice a month!), I don’t usually buy pasalubong anymore. Otherwise, I’d go broke. The only exception would be if the place I’m visiting has something really, really cheap in that place (but which costs a lot back home) or something that I’d really, really like to share with my family or friends, such as stroopwafels, which I’ve written about in two past posts…
I’m crazy about them. I don’t know why. Perhaps because eating them, warmed by my cup of coffee or tea, transports me back to the nippy cold weather of the Netherlands…
Prices of stroopwafels range from €1 (if you buy them from supermarkets, like Albert Heijn) to €2.50 (as I’ve seen in a Shell station along the motorway from Rotterdam heading towards Belgium). A tin of these babies costs €5 on board KLM international flights. They’d have to be hand-carried though, because you’d want them to remain intact. And because of their weight, I couldn’t buy as much as I wanted to.
Then there’s the very important matter of chocolate sprinkles a.k.a. hagelslag…
There are 8 small packs inside the box, with three different types: pure chocolate (Puur), milk chocolate (Melk), and the sugar sprinkles (Vruchten Hagel).
How to eat them? Simple. Just take a piece of bread, slather some butter on it, sprinkle the hagelslag on top, take a bite, close your eyes and groan with delight.
They’re traditional Dutch breakfast fare, I swear! If you don’t believe me, ask Odette a.k.a. Little Ms. Firefly — she’s married to a Dutch guy. She says they also eat the hagelslag sprinkled over porridge. Makes me kinda wish I live in the Netherlands…just for the sake of having chocolate sprinkles for breakfast everyday ha ha!
I also bought a huge jar of Nutella for my kids — 750gm for only €3 (approximately RM14). It’s not exactly typical Dutch fare but it’s way cheaper in Amsterdam than if I were to buy it in KL (RM26.99 at Giant Supermarket!). And the children love it so much, you should have heard how OnlyGirl squealed in delight when she saw the ginormous jar on the breakfast table.
But don’t worry coz I didn’t forget you, my virtual friends in the blogosphere. I also got you some pasalubong! :D
I got these magnetic bookmarks from Rijksmuseum’s shop at Schiphol Airport. One is a painting of my favourite painter, Jan Vermeer Van Delft (‘The Kitchen Maid’, 1658). The other one is a painting of Lola‘s favourite painter, Vincent Van Gogh (‘Almond Blossom’, 1890).
Lovely, huh?
Just slip the page of the book in between the magnetic strips…
And you have a bookmark that will never slide off the book that you’re reading.
And a miniature of a famous work of art at that!
It’s a bit bulkier than your usual bookmark but I personally don’t mind one bit. (Oh my goodness! Is that a hangnail I see? That’s the downside of using a DSLR — it shows the tiniest little detail! Sorry about that…)
And since they look a bit lonely to be sent off by post all by themselves, how about these tiny wooden Dutch clogs to keep them company? They’re fridge magnets and just scream ‘DUTCH’ to me.
Each bookmark goes with one fridge magnet, to be given away to two lucky readers. All you have to do is leave a comment in answer to this question:-
If money is not an object, what gift would you like to buy for yourself or for someone special in your life?
One comment per person, please. Winners will be chosen randomly through Random.Org. Contest ends Friday, 12th of June 2009.
kak mimi,
if money is not an object, i would love to be able to quit my job and spend time with my kids, watch them go through every step of their life…kiss them when they wake up in the mornings, dry their tears when they fall from their bikes, cook for them, and do everything a mom should……ahhh…..if only money is not an object……
i love reading your blog……though i have been a silent follower, i really enjoy your stories…..and your kids are simply adorable……i remember their lola telling us the cute things they do and say….. :-)
I’m mouthwatered with those choco sprinkles. Yum, yum. =) Wow, you travel overseas twice a month. I got a job offer from Netherlands, which coincided with the one from my current employer. Why I chose Abu Dhabi is another story. =)
If it’s possible, I’d love to gift myself a farm.
i’m nuts for nutella, too! just bought myself a jar not too long ago! :P
if money wasn’t an object, i would like to visit all “1,000 places before [i] die!”
the wooden clog magnets are so charming!
If money’s no object, I’d buy something similar to Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island where my loved ones and I can laze around in a self-sufficient, eco-friendly environment. :-)
I hope I win one of the magnetic bookmarks!
i’d buy myself and my loved ones a vacation island, or a nice resort. i’d give them the vacation of their lives. if i’m not that rich, a comfortable house would do. :)
if money’s no object, i’d buy time, time for my family to bond and to just get to know each other better…i am so busy lately that i pour myself at work and sometimes ignore the kids’ needs… Ahhh…i hope it’s always weekends…
The magnetic clogs will look good in my ref. Oh, and i love the tin cans those waffers come with.
wow! that’s such a nice bookmark! how come I didn’t see that in Rijks museum?
money is no object? i’d take give all my loved ones a tour of Europe! it’s the experience of a lifetime! :)
Lovely bookmarks and the fridge magnets are way too cute.
If money’s not an object, we’d be touring Europe for a year!
My mother has been renovating her house for about 7 years. If money were no object, I would hire someone to come in and do the hard stuff so that mom can just do the stuff she likes, painting, decorating, etc.
Thanks for thinking of us!
I have been following you recently and love your site. If money were not an issue I would quit working full time and spend more time with my kids.
Hi there, I am a silent avid reader of “sleepless” and I always see to it that my day would not end without checking this site.
if money wasn’t an object…I would like to buy the entire St. Luke’s Medical Hospital so I can give my mom all the best medication she needs for her breast cancer.
Hi hi. Let’s see, if money wasn’t an object… well, though money is an object I’ve already quit my job to look after the kids and keep them company, hehe.
So, that’s not it….. if money wasnt’ an object, I’d buy or sponsor a home for the underpriviledged kids. I would get my kids to also help out at this home so they would learn more about life and be kind to everyone they meet. Then they would grow up to be much better adults.
I join this because I am interested to give this bookmark (if ever I win) to a best friend. She wants a bookmark and this give-away is so special.
If money wasn’t an object, I’d like to buy a ticket for a world tour!!!
If money was not an object, I’ll buy magnetic bookmarks for everyone! :-) Because they would be a good replacement for my post-it notes bookmark.
(Lola, I wonder who your “best friend” is.. wink wink..)
If money was not an object, I’d buy her a magnetic bookmark so she doesn’t have to join this contest =P (she’s standing right behind me as I type!)
wow! lovely giveaways. hope to win that magnetic bookmark.
if money is not an object, i would love to be able to quit my job and be a fulltime mom to my baby.
cute clogs! i like!
hmmmn… let’s see. if money is not an object, i’d take my family, including my dad, to a world tour!
ate mimi, i can’t believe you had a marathon posting today. ^-^ the upc guy just left and finally we have internet at home! yahooo!
i’m not joining in the contest so the others will have more chances to win, but i’d like to answer the question! ^-^
if money is not an object, i’d take my parents here in ireland to live next door to me.
Chocolate sprinkles on buttered toast! Now why didn’t I think of that? :D I’ll try it this weekend! But wait, maybe I shouldn’t toast the bread so it stays soft and the sprinkles’ crunch steals the show.
If money was not an issue, I’ll buy Kim Jong Il the cutest rubber duckie in the world. That should stop his tantrums for another few years.
if money is no object, i would like to buy my husband and son lots and lots of things :) but among others i would like to get hardbound limited editions of : the harry potter series, LOTR series, twilight series, their companion books, jeffrey archer’s, michael crichton’s, patricia cornwell’s and …….. and…. (money’s no object right?) and a nice shelf to display them.