I am not much of a buyer, especially when travelling overseas — on my last trip to Tuscany, my suitcase came back lighter than when it left. I love to take billions of pictures but not a big souvenir seeker (the Tuscany travel group will attest to that 
I do like to shop in foreign supermarkets as a educational process. I anticipate that like in Taiwan, ice cream sold in grocery stores will be surrounded with 2+ inches styrofoam to increase the chances of the ice cream not being soup by the time it can get to the home freezer. I look forward to the educational shopping excursions for sure!
In preparing for the Philippine trip, I have been reading about souvenirs only because I will be debt to many people for various dog sitting and house sitting favors. One friend mentioned a desire for fabrics and beads for some of her crafts projects then asked what I was pining for. I couldn’t think of a thing that I desire that was listed in the books as special Philippino treasures but as I was doing wash, I figured out exactly what I hope to be able to bring home – a new clothes drying rack! I have run my dryer exactly 24 times in the last 2.5 years in an effort to save energy and wear and tear on clothes (I have a friend who still has clothes from HIGH SCHOOL because she only air dries her wash…. if only I could still FIT in clothes from high school…. but that is a point for another blog In any case, this disuse of the dryer is 100% due to the fabulous drying rack I found in Taiwan. As you can see, especially from the bottom ring, it was not built to last, but has served me well. Unbelieveably well. I have looked all over the web to find something like it to no avail. So it is my fevrent hope that I will be able to find it in Quezon City at the end of our trip. I will pack an extra duffle bag just to be sure I have room to bring it home!
So,
