Switzerland, although beautiful, is not exactly cheap. So for Asian travelers who are on the lookout for inexpensive pasalubong/buah tangan, here’s what you should buy in Switzerland — chocolates and cheese.

Mmm…chocolates! Very few people can resist them!

As I overheard in a bus from the English-speaking tour guide, the best place to shop for these items is the local supermarket such as Migros. The best tip I got from him? Migros’ eponymous housebrand of chocolates are actually made by Nestlé, which explains why even their Budget range of chocolates still taste soooo good. The chocolate content is clearly indicated in the packages and there are no dubious ingredients like palm oil or ‘permitted emulsifiers’, unlike Malaysian-made chocolates. Of course, the downside is that the chocolates melt very easily once exposed to Asian weather and need to be kept refrigerated.

So how cheap is cheap? That dark bar of cooking chocolate that you see on the upper right hand side only costs some RM4.50 (USD1.50). It’s a great deal and at such good quality too — no less than 70% chocolate content for that 250gm bar! Not shown in the photo is M Classic (Migros’ housebrand) plain milk chocolate — one bar costs less than RM3 (USD1)! Again, fantastic taste and quality with no funny aftertaste since it’s got no weird additives like palm oil in it.

And now for the cheeses <drool>!

Again, Migros is a convenient place to go to to buy cheeses. [NB: The Migros outlet at Geneva Airport is open on Sundays, the only Migros that's open on Sundays in the whole of Geneva!] The tricky part is picking out which type of cheese to buy. I’m personally very fond of soft cheeses like Brie, Camembert and soft cheeses with herbs. Unfortunately, given my long transit time in Amsterdam, I wasn’t sure how the soft cheeses would fare without refrigeration for so long, so I skipped them. Instead I bought Edamer (a hit with the kids!), Emmental (they weren’t so crazy about it but it made for lots of lovely sandwiches for me), semi-soft cheeses for pasta, and some Gruyere. If you’re not sure which cheese to pick, cheddar is always a safe choice and take the mild version, if available. But if you’re adventurous enough with your cheeses, go on a made cheese shopping binge and look out for the packets marked ‘Action’ — they’re the items on sale.

To give you an idea of how cheese the cheeses are, that 200-gram block of semi-soft cheese for pasta (second from the right) only cost RM5.95 (CHF1.75). Ridiculously cheap, n’est-ce pas? That’s why I managed to indulge in normally expensive Gruyere for my first attempt at cooking Macaroni & Cheese.

But if chocolates and cheese are not your thing, you can always fall back on fridge magnets (the cheapest being CHF3 each) and the usual touristy little trinkets. But if you have a geek friend (like me!) who speaks French (like me!), a Tintin bande dessinée would be an awesome coming-home present! ;)