Pasalubongs

When I go on a trip, I will occasionally bring a pasalubong (souvenir) or two home but I usually don't go out of my way to do this.

Most of the time, it's because it's convenient or the host offers to buy it and have it ready by the time the meeting or the business is done. Hence, my officemates know better than to ask me to buy stuff for them.

"Ayokong magbitbit," I tell them. One once asked me to look for a turtleneck sleeveless blouse for her in Baguio City's 'ukay-ukay' section. My eyes went round. Sure, the blouse would probably be weightless, but the effort. My golly gee. The effort. "Try someone else," I told her.

I do not understand why people will lug abaca brooms all the way from Baguio City, when these are available in the local market for just a few pesos more. A relative once brought flowers all the way from the city of Pines. Since she meant to put them on the grave of her husband in Makati City, I kept my mouth shut.

Even when I was younger, I'd be amazed at how fellow convention participants from Cebu would go crazy in Laoag and bring KILOS of bawang (garlic) home. I mean, aren't these available in the market? And just how much bawang can you consume, really?

But my husband is of a different mold. He will not think anything of bringing tuna from General Santos City. By the way, this was one of the many ways he impressed my parents. From the airport, he dropped by the house and gave them tuna from GenSan.

Anyway, he asked me to bring crabs the last time I went to Palawan. I came back with more manageable pasalubong -- cashew nuts. After all, they grow the cashew nuts in Palawan and sell them in Antipolo. No kidding.

Well, we were in Coron just recently and he HAD to ask the kitchen staff at the resort where we could get crabs. And boneless dangit. After assuring me that HE would carry the stuff, he placed an order. 20 kilos. WHAAAATTTT???

What would we do with 20 kilos of live crab? What? What? What? Even the kitchen staff was dumbfounded. He settled on 6 kilos crabs and 3 kilos boneless dangit. I left the kitchen muttering and the staff laughing.

True to his word, he carried the box punched with holes to keep the crabs alive. It was icky. He checked in the box but handcarried the boneless dangit, which isn't as smelly as the Cebu variety.

The poor crabs were still very much alive when we got home. They had to be cooked asap or they would grow thin and die. I'm told that they feed on themselves to stay alive. Gosh.

I admit. I am a hypocrite. I don't want to carry them from Palawan. I don't want to see them boiled alive. But I will eat them. Eat them we did, for dinner. Then lunch the following day. Hubby said he's never eaten so much crab in his life at so low a cost. And to think he wanted 20 kilos.

But for the first time, I appreciated someone who will lug crabs all the way from Palawan. And maybe next time... Nah. It will still be stuff I can pack into a bag and forget about until I get home. It will still be cashew nuts.