When travel restrictions were still in place, I told myself I’d travel the Philippines and visit my cousins once it’s over. Maybe we’ll go to a beach and have halo-halo like we used to as kids. Perhaps we could spend time with our titos and titas and cook up some lechon. It’s been quite some time since restrictions were lifted, and I still have yet to book a ticket. HA!

We used to spend summers visiting relatives, and we had planned to fly out for Christmas right before the pandemic happened. Well, it’s been a few Christmases since, and the plans have remained just that: plans.

This holiday season is going to be another missed opportunity to travel to Visayas and Mindanao for me, but this time I’m not going to miss out on sharing some holiday cheer with my relatives there. I found out that you can send food to loved ones even when they’re far from you through Grab’s 100+ Cities Delivery. So I’ve decided to send a surprise to my Tita Bem and my cousins in Iloilo.

We were all in Manila at one point in time, but we seldom gathered as a family apart from accidental run-ins and quick dinners. Despite our lack of bonding moments though, it’s always a good time when we get to see each other.

In the past few years, the distance between us cousins grew. Tita Bem and my cousins Kara and Issa moved to Iloilo, while their sister Kendra is now based in Singapore. Their sister Inna is in Manila right now too, so I’ll make sure to visit her soon!

I’ve been wanting to let them know that our family has been thinking of them this Christmas season, so I conspired with my brilliant cousin Issa. I asked her what a great surprise would be, and we came up with a lunch order from Mestizo by Emilion, a Mexican restaurant in Iloilo that serves tacos infused with Filipino flavors like kare-kare and sisig.

And after just a few taps on my phone, my surprise Christmas care package was on its way to my Tita Bem’s house. While working in my office in Manila more than 600 kilometers away from Iloilo, I was able to send them a hearty meal and some drinks.

Ordering food and groceries across cities used to be way more difficult. You’ll probably need to make a few phone calls and coordinate with several people. But with Grab 100+ Cities Delivery, you can easily assemble and send a care package to key cities not just in the Philippines but in countries in Southeast Asia as well. Plus, since you’re ordering from nearby restaurants and shops near the person you’re gifting, you have an opportunity to support local businesses, too!

All you need to do is head to your Grab app, choose whether you’re sending food or groceries, tap “Deliver To”, key in your family or friend’s address, and then pick out what’s available to order in the Grab app.

I ended up ordering a bunch for this Christmas care package. I got twelve pieces of tacos – sisig, pollo, barbacoa, kare kare, and baja – plus some horchata, an orange and basil drink, and what they called a “Halle Berry” drink.

My cousin said they enjoyed the meal tremendously and were thankful, while I felt a little left out because now I want those tacos and horchata for myself. Oh well, I guess that just means I’ll have to fly to Iloilo sooner after all. 

But while I save up for those airfare tickets, I’ll just keep finding more cousins to send some surprise Christmas care packages through Grab 100+ Cities Delivery. 

Want to give this a go? Try it on your Grab app now! – Rappler.com