Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Pasalubong from Oriental Mindoro


Lansones

   
Mostly every time Filipinos, go somewhere far or just a short trip, usually bring something to friends, family and loved ones. It is a tradition that is still widely practiced. Especially for those who work or live abroad, they bring a lot of things as pasalubong.
Rambutan
Pasalubong is a Filipino word which means token to welcome back the bearer of the gifts. The usual pasalubong are what the place offers, like native products or native delicacies.
Guava and Calamansi
Yesterday I was touched by the gesture of my cousin who came from a vacation in Oriental Mindoro. She brought me bags of lansones, rambutan, durian, guava and calamansi. Mindoro is really the rice granary and fruit basket of the southern Tagalog. I go on short trips but I am not really into pasalubong, I just buy small things as souvenirs but not to extent that I would bring bags. She said those fruits were just given to her by the families of her friends, where she and her friends stayed. Very generous and accommodating hosts. The culture evolves fast in the cities but in the province the people are more traditional. I told my cousin its good their hosts are not businessmen otherwise they would sell their products.

Durian
The pasalubong she brought to me was more or less 7 kilos, I asked her how many kilos she brought, and she said she didn’t know because their hosts were insisting in bringing all they harvested intended for them. Personally I am very thankful that she brought me fruits because I love fruits but I told her if I were in her shoes I wouldn’t bring that much, I would graciously decline to bring those heavy pasalubongs. She laughed at me and she said she was sure that I would do that. Thank you cousin for being so sweet. Till next time.