Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Hunt for Garandee's Omiyage

I only had one day to explore Warsaw so I had to make the most of it. With such limited time, I had to squeeze the search for Garandee's specific omiyage (souvenirs): traditional Polish cups.

Failure was not an option, unless I want to risk sleeping in the living room for a couple of days.

cepelia01

Three hours into my sightseeing, I got lucky and came across this little gem.

cepelia02

It had the cups she wanted, but unfortunately almost all the shops in Warsaw are closed on Sundays... including this one.


alley02

In order to find my way back to the shop in the next few days, I took photos of the alley it was in...

cepelia03

...along with the street name.

I was bound to come back, or die trying.

Intro 01

Getting there was a 30 minute walk from the office, and twice I missed the closing time by about 5-15 minutes. On my last day in Warsaw, out of desperation I left the office at 4PM and finally made it!

cepelia04

While I was going through the cups, I remember she told me to choose based on her taste, and not mine. This was a challenge considering all the underwear and shirts she's bought me the past couple of years.

polish cup02

Eventually, I chose and bought three types. It wasn't that hard considering that there were only four designs available anyway.

polish cup01

Back home, Garandee was ecstatic that she setup her makeshift studio the moment I pulled the cups out of my suitcase.

And here's the rest of the loot I managed to "smuggle" out.

omiyage01
cheese, Polish dumplings & sausages

omiyage04
fresh bread

omiyage03
beer

omiyage02
and of course, chocolates


Thanks to my good friends Kasia, for giving those Polish chocolates, and Iza, for accompanying me back to Cepelia.


Garandee mode:
Good job, Garando!

35 comments:

twishinky said...

whee first comment!

Love the photos of Warsaw, you really are great at the thing wher you almost need no words to explain what is ther... very sensitive. In the first set i liked that old man in uniforem with a slung i-not-sure what it was... and on here, well, no contest its the cheese and sausage... *drool*

And the cups are so cute! :)

Tc and have a nice sunday!

twishinky said...

arg i already cleaned my keyboareds 3 times and yret ther R and E still stick!!! Sorrey about all the typos... treying to catch them and I'm not always successful...

Garando said...

Twishinky:
Thanks! "Onyxx" left a comment in my previous post saying it was probably a sniper rifle. I think that's not that far from reality since the bag was pretty long and bulky. :D
No worries, my 4 year old cellphone's #2 and #3 keys fell off a couple of weeks ago. Now that leaves out 6 letters! But I still continue to send SMS and just let them figure it out. :D
Enjoy the weekend!

witsandnuts said...

I'm sure Garandee liked the cups. Yay, Godiva chocos!

Midge said...

Those cups are just too cute - and everything else is drool-worthy!

sheng said...

Of course, i would surely love that even if they were not my taste of cups, they're just a bunch of beauty!

kg said...

yay for you! the cups are adorable! do you have extra? :)

Anonymous said...

I love the cups and your smuggled items! I particularly liked the beer cans. Ganda ng disenyo.

So who won the chess match?

The Pope said...

I love the cups you have collected, our family has the passion of collecting demitasse and tea cups from stonewares to finest ceramics, I wish I could have a hand on the one you have HAHAHAHAHA,

Mr. G., in your free time, please pay a visit to PEBA site (http://pinoyblogawards.blogspot.com/) and we would appreciate for your support and please join our ranks of OFW bloggers.

A blessed day to you and your family.

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Beautiful photos of Warsaw. Oh, I'd like to visit there someday...
I also like the way mugs, breads, beers, chocolates and those cheese, Polish dumplings & sausages are being photographed...

Unknown said...

Food is the joker. You can give it as a souvenir to basically anyone.
The cups looks really nice.
3 out of 4? Not bad. Hope that the one you didn't buy was the ugliest one :)

When I traveled abroad I brought mainly food as souvenir.
Ah, good ol'times :)

Rico said...

Good thing there were only four designs! I'm pretty sure you'd have to whack your brains if there were tons of cups to choose from, else outside the kulambo ka! :)
Was that your office building with the watch tower? Looks like the Empire State building.
Oooh! Cheese!

Garando said...

Witsandnuts:
Yeah, she loved the cups except the third one. But eventually I convinced her that it was still really Polish design.:D

Midge & Sheng:
Thanks!

Kg:
Awww.. sorry, I wish I had. :)

Isladenebz:
In my opinion, San Miguel is still the best in flavor, but their beer was very very smooth. More on the chess in Part 2 (will post it this week).

The Pope:
You'll have to get past Garandee first. LOL! That's an interesting collection your family's doing though. ;)
I visited PEBA, and would gladly be a supporter. How do I do that? But I'm not sure that I'm qualified though because my wife and I live in the Philippines. I can vote though, di ba?

Dodong Flores:
Thank you! Photos of the souvenir were taken by my wife, Garandee. She'll be delighted when she sees your comment.

Shadowmoon:
True! Food pleases everyone!
About the cups, I wish I bought the 4th one though, now that I kinda looked back. Oh well... :D

Rico:
So true! LOL!
That tower was across the street from my office. To get to the shop, I had to walk around it, then go a few more blocks. Though tourists like me loved taking photos of that building, apparently the Polish hated it because it was a gift from Stalin.

Jules said...

Love all of them.And the cups,so cute.I'm very sure the Garandee will like it.Hope to see more from you Garando.=) Looking forward on your next post,have a great day ahead..

A Writers Den
The Brown Mestizo

Missy said...

I like all your photos! Kakainggit naman and how sweet mo naman to buy Garandee 3 pairs of cups and saucers. You even brought beer in cans?? Are you collecting beer cans? :-)

Leamsi said...

the cups are so pretty. it feels like Ming Dynasty to me, para kasing mga chinese porcelain cups eh. anyhows, the fresh bread didn't appeal to me that much. parang di ko kayang kainin. ano ba yung naka-sprinkle na blue something? lol

Unknown said...

hahaha..yup what was that blue something over there..lol..hahaha
Anoh ba yan?!NAhawa nakoh hehe..Bsta gsto koh ung cup.;D

Travel and Living

Garando said...

Summer:
Thanks for the nice comments. :)
I'll be sure to post the continuation soon. Take care and have a great week!

Missy:
Yan din sabi ko kay Garandee eh! LOL. She only asked for two, dinagdagan ko ng isa pa, pang bwenas. :D I was hoping I can get more than a "thank you" ehem... pero she was pretty busy with the cups after. Sobrang excited yata.
I bought those beer cans for my Dad, I've had enough Polish beer kase when I was there. Collecting beer cans is a good idea! I might just start doing that. Thanks! ;)

Yummybite & Solo:
LOL. Those are poppyseeds on top, usually nilalagay sa mga bagel. Pero wala naman masyadong lasa yang mga yan eh. Para ka lang kumakain ng gravel. hehe :D Yung dark nutty loaf nila maasim, so pag di sanay, medyo parang kumakain ka ng panis na tinapay. lol.

Dennis Villegas said...

How sweet of you! Mukhang natakot ka talagang matulog outside the kulambo ah...LOL

But it's worth it--the cups are indeed beautiful!

Hey Garando--ganda ng mga pictures hah...very clear and vivid the way I like it

ms firefly said...

the cups are dainty!
i see you got some amsterdam chocolates too, and forgive the bias, i think dutch chocos are the best! hehe

i'm so inggit, i can't expect pasalubongs like that from my husband. i'm still on the process of drilling to kj's mind the pasalubong culture. ^-^

Hannah said...

Oh, wow, it's all absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You totally did well ;D

xo,
hk

jeanny said...

what a brilliant way not to lose track. hehehhe!

Those cups are cute ah. Congratulation for finding the perfect omiyage for mrs g. :)
Parang sarap magkape gamit yung mga yun ah!!!!

Sidney said...

Those cups are gorgeous... try to break one once in a while so you have an excuse to go back there...;-)

Wow... you bought the supermarket !

Lantaw said...

good job indeed! looking at your loot I couldn't help but remember the stuff I smuggled out of Korea. :D

cpsanti said...

wahahahah! otsukaresama! loved all your omiyage! you were able to bring back bread?! galeng!

Alice said...

GOOD JOB indeed, Garando! Well done! Love the photos too!

(OK... that's three exclamation marks for you! ooops...make it four now...)

Garando said...

Dennis Villegas:
Thank you! That means a lot coming from you. I was very much inspired by the photographs in your blog kase. Idol kita eh! ;D

Ms. Firefly:
About the chocolates, tama ka. :D Mas gusto ko rin yung sa amsterdam, lalo na belgian chocolates. I guess unique lang kase ang chocolates ng Poland, kaya it takes some getting used to.
Hmmmm... Umpisahan mo kaya siya dalan lagi ng pasalubong...? maybe if he experiences it himself, he'll learn the culture faster.

Hannah:
Thank you!

Jeanny:
Thanks! Buti na lang ginawa ko yun kase wala nako nakitang ibang shops na nagbebenta ng same cups. Dead ako kay Garandee pag di ko kase nahanap ulit yung shop. hehehe :D

Sidney:
LOL! If I broke one of those cups I'll be in big big trouble. Instead of getting sent back to Poland, I might just get sent to the living room every night. :D

Lantaw:
Wow, I can just imagine your loot. Masarap food dun sa Korea eh!

Cpsanti:
Yup, the bread was one of the specific orders she made. She likes those dark sour nutty loafs kase. :D

Alice Teh:
Wow! Thank you for all those exclamation marks! :D

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

Oh, I see. Please tell your wife that she's good in macro photography...

onyxx said...

wow. warsaw looks lovely, judging from the photos you took. lugging all those stuff to and from the airport must have been a really dandy :)

Garando said...

dodong flores:
Ok, will do. She'll be very much delighted when she hears that. :)

onyxx:
Yep, and terribly heavy too (because of those big beer cans). :D I almost went over my check-in weight limit! phew...

Jonie said...

How on earth did you bring home the food?!?!

At syempre, di mawawala ang cheese! Hahahaha... will it better than the one that I brought you before? Hahahaha.. On that note, ano ba ang best cheese? Mas gusto ko ung tangy/soury taste...any reco?

P.S. Bad yang cheesecake ni Chiori - from there on, lahat na kainin naming cheesecake pales in comparison. I don't think we will have any dessert after that. =O =P When will be her next obra maestra?

AngelMD-No-More said...

are there still chocolates left?hehe

glenda said...

i don't usually buy souvenirs whenever i go abroad (takot kasi ako sa excess baggage) but i'm starting to regret it. it's nice to have things around the house (the cups are pretty!) that hold fun travel memories. they're good conversation pieces too!

Pinky said...

Would definitely be one happy camper if I received omiyages as "precious" as your smuggled loot - hahaha! Bet Garandee rewarded you generously for your efforts... with free refills of your favorite capuccino, of course! What were you thinking?!? Hahaha!

Garando said...

Jonie:
Simple: I travelled with a BIG suitcase. LOL!
I didn't expect it, but we enjoyed the cheese in Poland more than the ones in Amsterdam. Winner yung taste and texture kase. If you want a slightly sour taste, I recommend soft, fat-based cheeses like brie. ;)
Wow, She'll love your feedback on the cheesecake! I'll definitely post her next obra maestra! (if it's successful) :D

AngelMD:
There was, until my Mom came to visit. :D

Glenda:
True! I usually buy small, durable souvenirs like magnets and stuff... something that will most likely survive the trip home. These fragile Polish cups were a first for me. I was nervous baka may ma damage during transit. Yikes!

Pinky:
LOL! Let me see.. if ever I did get a reward for all that omiyage that would be... hmmmmm... she made me kare-kare!! :D