A (Basic) New Zealand Gift Guide

For non-Filipino readers, “pasalubong” is something a traveller would bring home as gifts to family and friends. I guess it’s our way of sharing our overseas experience to our loved ones at home. I think it’s quite standard for most of us to bring home keychains, refrigerator magnets, hats, plates, and city mugs to gift to our loved ones.

When we were kids, my Lola, Titas and cousins who lived in the USA would bring home several “balikbayan” boxes filled to the brim with chocolates, Spam, Hormel corned beef, Folger’s coffee, rubber shoes, and all sorts of things made in the States. I can remember the distinct smell of these stuff coming out of those boxes. “Amoy-stateside” is what we would call them.

So it got me thinking what things I can bring home to the Philippines, coming from New Zealand. I’m not into sending boxes of stuff to the Philippines, because shipping from here in NZ to there takes a LONG time (think 2-3 months), and it can get quite expensive.  Besides, I feel like there’s not so many things coming from NZ that’s not already available in the Philippines.

Here are some New Zealand products that we usually bring home from New Zealand whenever we go back to the Philippines.

Whittaker’s Chocolate

Probably the most popular item to bring home  is chocolate. Here is NZ’s most popular brand that you can gift to family and friends. These are really good. Yes, you can buy it in the Philippines (at Rustan’s and some other stores), but they cost almost double over there.

Manuka Honey and related products

This popular honey is only produced in New Zealand (and in small parts of Australia) and quite pricey. But it’s still a good product to gift to family.

Paua Shell Trinkets

For your lady friends and nieces who like to accesorize, Paua jewelry will add a nice touch to any outfit.

Kiwiana Tea Towels and some NZ T-shirts

You can never have enough kitchen towels at home, is what I think. This is a nice item to gift to your mom friends and Titas. NZ Themed t-shirts are also nice to give out to children and for adults too.

**Below are other things you can bring home, but they are quite heavy and will probably take up a lot of the weight and space in your bag.

Merino and Wool products

I’d recommend gifting these to friends living in cold countries, but if they are in the Philippines, maybe give it a pass.

NZ Wine

There are lots of New Zealand wines that you can buy in the supermarket that are not expensive. But I think you should put this in a “Balikbayan” box, and not in your luggage. Better yet, buy a couple of bottles in the Duty Free at the airport.

Fix and Fogg Peanut Butters

These are seriously good nut butters using different nuts.  If you’re planning to send a box of stuff to the Philippines, try to include a few jars of their different flavors.

That’s my very small list of things to bring home from New Zealand. I’ve heard of people bringing in cheese, and even raw steaks(!) from here, but I’m not into bringing those because they might spoil, and I don’t want a mess inside of my luggage. But feel free if you’re inclined to–just check on customs requirements.

How about you, if you live in New Zealand or in a different country, what do you bring home to the Philippines? I’d love to know!