Pasalubong

Pasalubong is a Filipino tradition of bringing home items after a vacation or a journey from faraway places. An example is whenever I travel to various places; I made it a habit to bring home some pasalubong. For instance, when I visited Mactan Island and Cebu City, I brought home broas, dried mangoes and danggit. Also, when I visited Davao, I brought home the local delicacies there like durian and durian candy.

Bringing pasalubong for your family and love ones is a good tradition because people who came from far places are bringing tokens or items that will also make the people back home experience a little bit about the place that you visited. Like many traditions, pasalubong is also abused and there are people who care more about the pasalubong than the person bringing the pasalubong.

If you are a Filipino, then I am sure that you either brought home pasalubong or received pasalubong from your family and friends.

Foods, especially sweets, are the usual pasalubong items. Other pasalubong items are key chains and other small souvenir items that are not heavy on the pocket. I have a friend who buys key chains as his pasalubong for his office mates.

What if you are in Metro Manila and you want to bring home pasalubong when you go home. Where can you find great pasalubong? Here are few of the shops that I can recommend.

1. Dolor's Kakanin - this is the shop famous for its sapin sapin, which is a kind of kakanin that is a mixture of various kakanin. Dolor's sapin sapin has ube halaya, malagkit, and other kakanin that are suitable pasalubong. Aside from sapin-sapin, Dolor's sells other kakanin like puto, kutsinta and ube halaya. Dolor’s sapin-sapin is in demand during holiday seasons like Christmas and New Year. During the holiday seasons, I suggest that you call Mommy’s Pride first to reserve a sapin-sapin. See Dolor's Kakanin website for more info about their available pasalubong.
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Dolor's sapin sapin

2. SM Hypermarkets – if you want a convenient place to buy your sweet pasalubongs, then I suggest that you visit SM Malls that have SM Hypermarkets. SM Hypermarket is the supermarket of SM Malls and they have booths there that sell kakanin and other food pasalubong.

3. Local markets – puto, kutsinta, and other kakanin can also be bought from local palengke (supermarkets) around Metro Manila. Most of the kakanin in the local markets are home-made but cheaper as compared to the ones in Mommy’s Pride and SM Hypermarkets. If you are in a tight budget, I suggest that you buy your pasalubong in the local markets.

4. Goldilocks – this is a cake shop that expanded their offerings. Now, Goldilocks also sell the usual pasalubong items like puto and kutsinta. They also have pulburon (polvoron) which is a kind of candy made from powdered milk. There are many Goldilocks shop around Metro Manila so it is convenient to buy your pasalubong there. Visit Goldilocks' website for more info.

5. House of Polvoron – if you are wishing to make pulburon (polvoron) as your pasalubong when you leave Manila, then I suggest that you buy your pasalubong in House of Polvoron. This shop sells the best polvoron in Metro Manila. The problem is that there is not much booth of House of Polvoron because they can only be found in selected malls around Metro Manila. However, I like their polvoron and their polvoron is better than the one I tasted in Goldilocks. Visit House of Polvoron website for more info.

So there! Those are some of the shops around Metro Manila where you can buy pasalubong. If you are a foreigner visiting Manila, then I suggest that you bring home our best pasalubong items, especially the kakanin. Let you family and friends have a taste of Filipino sweets.

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Visit Before the Eastern Sunset and read about the obvious bias of the Philippine media.
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Applying for a Passport? How to go to DFA Office

Are you applying for passport? Then all you need to do is to go to the Office of Consular Affairs of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The Office of Consular Affairs is the office responsible for issuing passports for Filipino citizens. Originally, the Office of Consular Affairs was located in the DFA compound located along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. However, in 2010, the Office of Consular Affairs was transferred to Aseana Business Park in Paranaque City. The office could be found along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue corner Bradco Avenue. Visit my article, Tips on Applying for a Philippine Passport, for information on applying for passport.
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Office of Consular Affairs building

The new building of the Office of Consular Affairs is high-tech as compared to its old building. Also, the old passport application procedures were changed. Visit my post, Tips on Applying for a Philippine Passport, for information in applying for a passport.

Here is the map showing the location of the Office of Consular Affairs.
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Click on the map for a bigger view.
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How to go to Office of Consular Affairs to Get Your Passport

There are two ways of getting to the Consular Affairs Office in Paranaque City. One is to ride a bus that has a placard saying “MIA,” which stands for Manila International Airport. Buses with this placard could be found along EDSA and go around the big globe monument of Mall of Asia before passing along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue. These buses pass right in front of the Consular Affairs Office.

To board the MIA bus, all you need to do is to go to any part of EDSA (specifically the breadth of EDSA between MRT Kamuning and MRT Taft Stations). MIA buses are aplenty along EDSA and you can choose either air-conditioned or ordinary bus. Also, these buses also show placard that says “DFA” or “DFA-Passport.”

Another way is to go to SM Mall of Asia and ride a Baclaran bound jeepney at the terminal there. Those jeepneys ply along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and in front of the Consular Affairs Office.

So, those are the way on how to reach the new location of the Consular Affairs Office. My only tip for you is to ask questions when you are riding so as to make sure that you are boarding the right bus or jeep.

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Photo taken from DFA website. Map taken from Google Maps.

Tips for PUPCET

It’s been years ago when I took my PUPCET. I remember taking PUPCET because I was not sure of passing the UPCAT. For those who do not know, PUPCET stands for PUP College Entrance Exam. PUP or Polytechnic University of the Philippines is the second most popular state university in the Philippines. It has lower tuition fee as compared to the University of the Philippines. PUP is also the school where poor students go since UP increased its tuition fee by 300% from the old tuition fee of 300 pesos.

Because of UP’s exorbitant tuition fee, many students flock the PUPCET in the hope of entering a cheap but reputable university. I remember the last time when I accompanied my sister to take her PUPCET. PUP ground is full with people and I am sure that it will be the same this coming Sunday, when I accompany my brother to PUP.

Taking and passing PUPCET is easy, especially if you prepared and studied well for the exam. Visit my article, Tips on Taking UPCAT, ACET, DLSUCET other College Entrance Exams, for general tips on preparing for an exam. Scroll down for tips in taking the PUPCET.

1. Go to PUPCET Examination Area Early

Going early to examination area is a must so as to avoid being late. I have seen many students running like mad just to reach their rooms after the bell signaling the start of the PUPCET rang. If your testing area is in PUP Main Campus in Santa Mesa, Manila then you must expect heavy traffic because many people will go to the PUP Main Campus and the volume of people creates traffic jam.

The advantage of reaching the PUPCET test area early is that you have time to relax and prepare yourself for the exam to come.

2. Bring Your Test Permit and Your School ID and other Documents

Never forget to bring your test permit! There are PUPCET examinees who forgot their test permits and they try to beg the examiners to take the exams. Examiners may allow you to take PUPCET but you have to pass many processes, which put you in great stress and might affect your mood in taking the exam.

Bringing your school ID and other documents like school record is also good because if there are some problems, then you have the documents that you need to back yourself up. You should always prepare for the worst.

3. Do Study the Exam Subjects

According to my sister, who took PUPCET two years ago, the exam is subdivided into four subjects and those are Mathematics, Science, English, and General Information. For the English subject, expect that there will be reading comprehension. For the General Information, expect questions about current events so be sure that you updated about the recent events and the big news in our country.



4. Mind the Time When Taking the Exam

PUPCET is easy and most of the questions are multiple choice questions so it is easy to guess the answer if you do not know the answer. Though PUPCET is easy, the catch is the short time limit for every subject. The trick here is to be fast when answering questions. Answer the questions that you know the answer first and skip those questions that you have no or unsure answers. This will make sure that you have at least sure points for the exam. Then, start answering the questions that you skipped. If you don’t really know the answer, then all you have to do is to guess.

Be always mindful of the time when taking PUPCET. Time during the exam run very fast and if you are a slowpoke then you’re doomed. However, don’t sacrifice speed for correctness. You must make sure that you are shading the right letter when you are answering the exam.

5. Don’t Rely on Leaks or Cheat Sheets

There is cheat sheet or a leak of the PUPCET that circulated when I took my PUPCET. I got hold of the cheat sheet and studied it diligently. However, I did not trust the cheat sheet much so I continue my review routine. Then, when the exam came, there’s a rumor that the PUPCET admin changed all the questions because they discovered the leakage. Thus, those people who relied on the cheat sheet were fried and failed the exam. The moral of the story is not to depend on cheat sheet or leakage. It is ok to study the cheat sheet to give you insight of the exam but don’t rely on it alone because if the leakage was discovered, you will surely fail.

So that is my tips when you are taking PUPCET. Hope that my tips help you and if you have other tips or experience when taking the PUPCET, then don’t be shy to share it by leaving a comment.

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