Whenever I (or Neil) come back from the Philippines, or someone else comes over to visit KL, I would always buy things or ask them to buy for me stuff that can only be bought there. When I go back home, my luggage are full of stuff from Malaysia (from coffee, to dish washing liquid, etc. because these are really cheap here in KL). That time when I still managed to send balikbayan box (there were recent news previous years of box being opened, or tax levy so, after that I did not dare sent a box home), my luggage to Philippines will be empty. But once I am coming back, then it will be heavy and full of goodies from back home.
So when Neil came back recently from the Philippines, our cupboards and ref (fridge) are full again of stuff from Philippines. Mostly are food items and some of my basic necessities 😀
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| Pinas Haul |
Let's go through it one by one.
Food Items
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| Champorado |
This is one of my favorite merienda (snack) or breakfast which I always ask Mama to cook for us from scratch. She would cook the malagkit (glutinous rice) with cocoa powder. Once cooked, this is nice with milk on top and sugar for that sweetness. Some pair this with tuyo (dried fish) but I just love it like this.
White King is the brand I always buy. It's ok just to satisfy my craving. I can also cook from scratch but I'm just lazy to do it 😋
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| Chicharon |
There is always a bag of Chicharon in our bag when coming bag since it is really difficult to find one here (I have not even seen one, I think). I wanted the one with laman (meat) but it's sold out. We just buy whatever is there in the market.
This is nice to pair with any dish, or eat it as is. You can even dip this in vinegar with lots of chili. But, eating it as is really nice.
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| Del Monte Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce |
3. Spaghetti Sauce (Sweet Style)
Philippine spaghetti are known to be sweet. And nothing beats the original Del Monte Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce. So, we try to bring back some.
If we do not have stock, we just use the spaghetti sauce we can get from the grocery (like Preggo) and just add some sugar until we get that Pinoy taste.
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| Halo-Halo Mix |
Halo Halo is similar to the Ice Kacang here in Malaysia. Neil saw this bottle that has most of the ingredients. We tried it and it's not bad.
It has some nata de coco, red beans, white beans, kaong, macapuno, langka.
So we just blended some ice since we do not have any ice crushers. Then topped this mixture. And then topped it some more with ice cream. Ok na!!! (Note: Our local ice cream are still the best since its creamier).
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| Hopia from Eng Bee Tin |
Hopia is a baked goods in the Philippines which has some filling inside. The most popular brand in the Philippines is Eng Bee Tin and can be found in most malls. They have a new stall in Trinoma so they were able to buy it.
From top left: We had Buko Pandan (green), Ube Pastillas (Purple/Yellow), Ube Cheese (Purple/Orange), Mongo (Red) and Ube (Purple).
My favorites are the Hopia Combi Ube Cheese and Ube. The Ube Pastillas taste cannot be distinguished from the ordinary Ube hopia since I cannot taste the pastillas more.
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| Lucky Me Pancit Canton |
6. Lucky Me Pancit Canton
Nothing beats our instant noodles particularly Pancit canton by Lucky Me. Yes, they have those Indo Mee here or the Mi Sedap but still, we go back to our local Lucky Me brand. Ansarap e :)
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| Bear Brand Milk and Birch Tree Choco Milk |
The bear brand was just out of a sudden request since I wanted to drink bear brand again. I think this is a new variant, the adult milk. My sister also gave me 2 Birch tree Chocolate drink to try. I loved the Birch Tree full cream milk too!
Another Bear Brand I love is the Sterilized milk. It comes in a can. Did not get one this round.
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| Nestea Iced Tea |
Instant drink mix is now very expensive because of the Sin Tax law. I remember there was a time that this was also sold in groceries here but I think they discontinued it.
One sachet is already good for 1 liter of water.
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| Pic-A Chips |
9. Pic-a Chips by Jack 'n Jill
This is a favorite of us ever since. And even Max likes it too but we only give her small bites since she will get allergy from it. It's a combo of cheese flavored chips of Tostillas, Nova and Piattos. There is also a BBQ variant but we love the cheese flavor more. It's also a bit difficult to find this big size. It's always sold out in the groceries.
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| Valda Pastilles |
A must for all those Titos and Titas out there. This is similar to the Hudson's Jujubees. I just thought of trying this again because of a vlog I watched about Watsons haul Philippines in YouTube and I have been having sore throat since I came back from Japan. They got me the lemon flavor but I don't really taste the lemon. So addictive!
I even saw a vlog that there is a Nin Jiom Pei Pa Kua candy in Philippines. Ma-try nga sa sunod.
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| Gourmet Tuyo and Canned Tuna flakes |
11. Gourmet Tuyo and Canned Tuna
I have never tried gourmet tuyo and been wanting to so it was good that Neil got one for me. Will try this soon. For the canned tuna, I still love the canned tuna we have in the Philippines. They also have it hear but it's not as flavorful as we have it back home.
There are lots of brands for these two. For the tuna, they love San Marino back home so we will try it too!
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| Others |
Other items we got are banana ketchup (yes, only in Philippines we have that and it's red like a tomato ketchup), my ever favorite 555 Tuna afritada (di nakakuha ng caldereta) and Cheez Whiz Spread.
You can also see Datu Puti vinegar there which was from the last trip. The CDO sisig was a pasalubong from our local friend here who went to Philippines.
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| Dried mangoes |
These we got as pasalubong from Cebu. Philippines are famous for the dried mango and the original ones came from Cebu.
Both are actually addictive. I think I managed to finish the dried mango flakes in a day or two. The mango balls on the other hand, I am trying to just take one per meal. I still have a few left!!!
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| from Con |
Con wanted me to try it out. The Ottogi Cheese Ramen is definitely better than the Samyang Cheese Ramen I bought.
The Regent Donut is sweet but as she says, reminds her of those chichirya we had in our elementary and high school days.
***Updated (August 29, 2019)
Sorry, I forgot to add that I have discovered best way to bring tomato sauce from Pinas. I now use the Mama Sita's Menudo Mix or Caldereta Mix which is really good and it is in powder so it's lighter and not as heavy as the tomato sauce in pouch. More expensive though but it's worth it.
Others
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| Cream Silk Hydra |
Of course, since it's new, me and my sister must try it out, hahahaha. She took the blue one (for Oily hair) and they got me the pink one (fresh and bouncy). I have not tried it yet since I am still finishing my old Cream Silk Pink Conditioner. Wala naman kasing Cream Silk dito.
2. Abonne Spa Milk Salt ScrubsI love salt scrubs and there are lots of raves about Abonne. I tried this before but I was so lazy to include this in my routine. But since now I have made a pledge to take care of my skin more, I asked my sister to get for me 2 of these - the original Milk salt scrub and the Spa White C salt scrubs.
I have heard there are lots of fake items too so we just buy it from Watsons Philippines.
3. My skincare loots from Brilliant Skin Essentials and Navarro Bleach soap
Brilliant skin essentials really removed my pimples and scars and I decided to buy more from my trusted online seller. Also, I tried other whitening soap but only Navarro live up to my expectation :)
Be careful though, there are lots of fake products so just buy from trusted sellers.
Items were bought from Philippines in Robinsons, Landmark in Trinoma and Watsons in SM North.
That's all for now. Next time ulit!!!
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