Journal of a Filipino Web Developer

So preparing for the trip, I bought some mooncakes for my relatives, colleagues and friends. Fresh from Hong Kong, I wanted to send them the vibe of the Mid-Autumn Festival this coming Sunday. I was all set with my “pasalubong” for each of them when I learned earlier today that the Australian Customs is a bit strict when it comes to goods bringing in to their country. The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) would not allow the following:

• Foods that are commercially prepared, cooked and raw food and ingredients
• Dairy and egg products
• Animal products
• Seeds and nuts
• Fresh fruit or vegetables
• Live animals and animal products
• Plant materials
• Used freshwater watercraft, sporting or fishing equipment

Unfortunately, mooncakes belong to second category as they have whole egg yolks inside. You can learn more details by visiting the AQIS site.

So just making really sure that I can’t bring them even though they are packed and sealed, I Googled if there were incidents where mooncakes were confiscated by the Australian customs. I found out from forums that these festivity cakes are, indeed, banned from the land down under.

Crap. Now I’ll have a feast of mooncake myself. I tried giving some to my officemate, however, most of them had already bought one for their families. Anyways, its better I learned earlier than being dumbfounded in AU. Now I am getting my travel jitters (is there even such a thing?!). My first trip outside Asia. Yay!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 1:03 am and is filed under Foods, Trips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.