Shopping and eating made easy

The recent opening of the Duty Free Shop in the Bacolod-Silay Airport is a good move that will ease pasalubong woes of our balikbayans particularly bringing in imported chocolates that weigh so much and eat up their luggage allowances.

This has been the shift of Duty Free shops in major hubs like Metro Manila and Cebu and we are fortunate that they decided to open one here in our own airport.

The other advantage of this, apart from freeing space in the traveler's luggage is that their families and friends can shop for what they want instead of just waiting for whatever has been packed for them.

This is something that we Filipinos never got rid of. We always expect balikbayans to give us pasalubong and that it should be imported. A pack of cigarets, as long as it has the US seal, is already a big deal to some and woe to those who ignore this tradition lest they be told they've become arrogant, selfish etc. I really wonder why we impose this on our returning family members and friends.

As such, having a duty free shop here in our midst is a big welcome to our returning OFWs and balikbayans whom we often see burdened with a couple of heavy duty free shopping bags from Manila before their flight here.

I presume our own duty free shop here will follow what has happened in Cebu where they don't require documentary evidence that you were a recent traveler to avail of shopping privileges there. I remember the huge duty free shop beside NAIA where one has to show arrival status within 24 hours to be able to shop there.

In Cebu however, I've tried a couple of times before to buy some stuff within the duty free shop at the airport and those in the Waterfront Hotels in Mactan and Lahug. I understand there's also another one in a big mall there.

I guess the Duty Free franchise has to make this shift since most of the imported goods found in their own stores can already be found in major malls. Particularly in Manila and Cebu where there are already S&R, the wholesale stores akin to the Costco malls in the US.

This is perhaps why they have to open duty free stores in smaller travel hubs like Bacolod since the competition for imported goods have become very stiff in bigger urban areas. With the trend of duty free shops within our international terminals, I don't know how many travelers still go out of their way to stop by the big Duty Free shop just outside of the NAIA terminal.

The three-week vacation of my niece and nephew, Tess and David Mullarkey from Seattle, USA just breezed by so fast.

Tess who spent most of her college years couldn't believe the change in Bacolod which she last visited seven years ago.

And like any other returning balikbayans and tourists, they wanted to sample local fares and the visit places she used to frequent while she was growing up here.

Topping the list were institutional restaurants like Bar 21, Aboy's, Bobs and the highlight was to eat in Pala-pala before they fly back. They already tried Entings when they visited Mambukal Resort but couldn't get enough of the seafood and so Pala-pala it was.

Tess wanted David to experience the old Pala-pala stalls where you can choose from among the day's catch and just have it cooked in the open eateries surrounding the wet market.

Well, that was then. When the family went there, they opted to eat more comfortably and in a cleaner environment, as such the choice became Ading's Pala-pala.

Although a bit pricey than the usual stalls, the food tastes better, the service was way better than the rest in that area, and security was good that paying a little bit more was worth it.

What mattered at the end was if Tess and David were satisfied with the treat and both gave their stamp of approval and that made it all worth it. For that alone, thank you Ricky for the graciousness you extended and for the sumptuous meal that went with it.*

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