Ang Balikbayan Box
Mom is bringing home practically a box full of old but gently used clothes (mostly from Angel) which she will distribute to her poor kababayans in Bgy. San Vicente in Bulan, Sorsogon. She has her more than 2 dozen Ralph Lauren and Disney towels which we bought during the weekend’s Memorial Day sales. She had painstakingly set aside the plastic trays that the catering delis provide to bring home to the province where she would hold a party for the kids serving spaghetti and orange juice.
I’m trying to “sequester” some space and hope to send some of “my padalas” in at least one box. I have books to send to my niece and nephew which their Dad, my brother, would patiently read to them. I bought my then 6-year-old niece this tome-like “Disney’s Princess Treasury” which had to be left behind the last time because we were packed to the limit, even as we went home with baggage allowance good for 5 passengers. (Now that I think about it, we brought home a lot!)
I like the way that a balikbayan box holds so much. I like it even beeter that despite the longer transit time when the box is sent as sea cargo, there is practically no limit to the weight of the box once packed. I was told that it was not going to be charged a weight surcharge for as long as the box can be sealed close without a problem, and that it could be lifted by one person even if done so with effort.
I had hoped to write some letters and pack away the odds and ends I had picked up in the last 12 months. I have bags of different shapes and sizes, picked up through the various end-of-season sales. I have books I bought to give away and share with friends who share my love of reading — all acquired in the past year… I have several “gift with purchase” make up I send to my sister and sister-in-law. There’s the flavored herbal tea I pick up when they go on sale.
That balikbayan box brings home so much love both to family and strangers back home. Its long journey truly a trip worthwhile.
i have been working abroad for more than 2 years now but i haven’t experienced sending a balikbayan box. *sigh* i’ll try it this year. try lang naman eh, hehe. after i saw my bill from the auto shop for my car, well, i’ll settle on “try.” *wink wink*
i’ve been blog hopping and boy, i am so much amazed that a lot of moms who are about my mom’s age are into blogging! now that i think about the blogs i am planning to create, i think that my mom is better off watching her soap operas. =)
Talk about those Balikbayan boxes. My mom and sisters would fill it to the max until it cannot be lifted anymore that dragging it from one room of the house to the door would mark the floor. That’s how heavy theirs were. The freight service is really a good value for the cost.
Bacla, you can start “collecting” things to send home little by little. You’d be surprised what you come up with when it’s time to send it.
Lou, sinabi mo! It’s really well worth the long wait.
Pinay Newyorker, believe me. i wanted to try that strategy. but after seeing my friends who still got their boxes unfilled after 3 months, well, i got discouraged.
or i’m just making up all these excuses so as not to send one haha! oh well. my time will come. probably after my contract renewal. need to know first if my boss is gonna renew it or not.
nice read. i hope i could add you to my blog. i’m still in the process of setting it up because my partner is too busy with work to provide the graphics for my blog.
being the shameless blogger and plugger that i am, please do visit http://cla_david.blogs.friendster.com/diyosang_bacla/ if you got time. =) ciao!