Pasalubong will always be a part of any Filipino travelers’ budget and itinerary. Either you go out of the country or even travel within the Philippines, Filipino will always include Pasalubong shopping in their itineraries and will set aside a part of their travel budget for it.
Where would be the best places to buy your pasalubong? Here’s a collection of the places you need to include in your itinerary to buy pasalubong when traveling.
Australia
Sydney’s Paddy’s Market
Location: Sydney near Darling Harbour
Paddy’s is where you can buy different kinds of pasalubong. You can buy keychains, magnets, souvenir t-shirts, and a lot more for very low prices.
K-Mart and Big W
Location: Malls
K-Mart and Big W are departments stores where you can buy chocolates for pasalubong and some Australian items. Most of the time they offer discounts for various items. Once you see a discounted item that you like, I suggest you buy it ASAP since they change discounted items every now and then.
Chemist Warehouse
Location: Malls and other areas too
Chemist Warehouse is a popular store in Australia. It is like their drugstore/beauty store (like Watsons). You can buy affordable vitamins, cheap make-ups as well as discounted perfumes.
DFO
Location: Homebush DFO is located in Homebush; Birkenhead Point DFO is located in Sydney
DFO stands for Direct Factory Outlet. These are outlet stores in Australia that offers luxury brands at a discounted price. There are loads of brands that has 50% discount. If you are meaning to take home a souvenir from your Australia travel, I suggest you visit any of the DFOs there.
Japan
Tenjinbashi-Suji Shopping Street
Location: Osaka
This is shopping street is almost 3kms long. You can buy various Japanese items for pasalubong in this place.
Singapore
Bugis Street
Location: Bugis
Bugis Street is where you can buy souvenir items like keychains, magnets, eco bags printed with Singapore emblem, and souvenir shirts at a cheap price.
Chinatown
Location: Chinatown
Like Bugis street, Chinatown also offer souvenir items for very cheap prices. What you can buy at Bugis Street is also what you can buy in Chinatown.
Mustafa Shopping Center
Location: Little India
Mustafa Shopping Center is huge shopping area where you can buy cheap pasalubong as well as affordable branded items too. Click this link for my blog about Mustafa Shopping Center.
South Korea
Myeongdong
Location: Seoul
Myeongdong is a famous place in Seoul where you can buy lots of Korean beauty products at affordable prices (well, you can buy it cheap there since it was made in Korea after all). You can hoard Korean beauty products for pasalubong or for personal use. 😊
Insa-dong
Location: Seoul
Insadong is where you can buy regular pasalubong items like keychains, magnet, and souvenir shirts at an affordable price. Click here for my blog about shopping in Myeongdong and Insa-dong: here.
Taiwan
Night Markets
Location: There are several night markets in Taiwan
Taiwan is famous for its night markets where you can taste delicious foods. You can also buy lots of different items in various Taiwan Night Markets. Raohe Night Market and Shilin Night Markets are two of the most famous night markets in Taiwan for tourist. You can buy lots of items and pasalubongs there. Click this link for my blog about night markets.
Pasalubong will always be a part of every Filipino traveler’s budget and itinerary. But you don’t need to be broke just to bring home pasalubong for your friends and relatives. Remember that you travel to explore and create memories not to impress. But if you can, it is always nicer to bring home some souvenir for yourself and for others 😊