balut & natto: souvenirs

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.

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

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

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

...along with the street name.

I was bound to come back, or die trying.

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!

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.

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

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.