The Filipino Box

What's in a box? A box could be filled with trinkets, it could be filled with something sparkly or if you're unlucky, it could even just be plain empty (attitude adjustment wouldn't hurt, ey?). But this box that I have is no ordinary box... it's a Filipino box! If you're not a fellow Filipino, you've probably been wondering what's inside those huge boxes that Filipino travelers have in tow at the airport. Sorry to disappoint you, we stopped smuggling an entire village through those boxes so we managed to fill them with other things instead. Ha! You see... when Filipinos travel, we either go big or go home. And going big means nothing short of goodies and treats that make my heart skip a beat and brings me to a place of rainbows, unicorns and Carebears!

Carebear, starreeeee!

So you can just imagine my excitement when my sister, Kiwi, finally came back here in the U.S. from her 3-month vacation in our hometown, Cebu! Lucky brat. Forget the low-fat, low-sodium snacks! There's nothing better than having some yummy in my tummy that brings back awesome memories of the good ol' days in the Philippines =)

Mine! Mine! Mine! My heavenly box of goodies :) Can you spot Skyler in this picture?

Now there's one delicacy that us, Filipinos really enjoy despite the fact that it does seem like such a simple no-fuss kinda treat. This was the one that I especially pestered my sister about... and this simple sugary treat is called "Polvoron", derived from the Spanish word "polvo" which means powder or dust, but I prefer to think of the former since eating dust doesn't sound as appetizing. The most popular one in the Philippines is sold by the major restaurant chain, Goldilocks.

The Filipino version of polvoron mainly consists of powdered milk, sugar and nuts but this sweet piece of heaven is so delicate that it could actually break apart and crumble even before it plummets to its death in your mouth.

Back when I was a kid, I remember having loads of those polvoron contests among classmates and cousins, pretty much the goal is to speak or whistle while having an entire polvoron stuffed in your mouth. Whoever doesn't have polvoron spurting out of their mouth while speaking or whistling wins and of course, no one ever wins... except that you don't lose either because after all, you do have an entire piece of that yummy polvoron in your mouth!

 Food games are always the best, non?

Toodles!