My Christmas Wish List (now completely outdated)

For people who want to mail things to me, take note. You are not allowed to mail sweeteners of any kind to Taiwan - no sugar, molasses, saccharine, and other sweetening substances (so I guess that includes honey, Splenda, Monin, and maple syrup as well - but Carol managed to get honey to me, so who knows...). Boy, now that's a weird restriction for ya. Here's a link to the US Post Office list of restrictions, along with a chart for postage fees: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immicl/immicltz_001.html

A few people have already asked me what I want for Christmas (or Giftmas, as Nicole so aptly calls it), and while I don't feel that anyone is obligated to give me anything, I know many people enjoy giving presents (thank goodness, huh?), so I'm obliging folks by laying out my heart's desires.

First and foremost on my list of "what do I want for Christmas" is online gift certificates for Amazon.com. (Alice, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!) I just seem to be spending so much money on books here! Sure, I could ask folks to buy books for me, but then you'd have all the trouble of going shopping, then wrapping the book for shipping, then standing in those monstrous lines at the PO.....so forget it! Online shopping, yeah!

Now, in January a former co-worker will be coming to Taiwan for a visit, and he has graciously agreed to bring one whole duffel bag filled with goodies for me. So, if you're a Chico friend and you have the urge to send me something from home via Steve, here's my list of things I would love to have (in no particular order):

Some Smokin' Mo's Sweet Carolina BBQ sauce
A bunch of packets of Taco Bell hot sauce, the hottest kind
A few packages of Lawry's Taco Seasoning, spicy
A plastic squeeze bottle of honey (Carol, thanks, it's great to have!)
A loaf of Dakota bread from Great Harvest, or Jalapeno-Cheese bread (from anywhere!)
Shubert's malted milk balls, not the kind with candy shell, just chocolate on the outside
Shubert's chocolate cordials (rum flavor, brandy flavor, amaretto flavor, any flavor!)
Rum extract - Note: found lemon and almond here, still could use rum Giant bag of California pistachios from Costco (Taiwan ones just aren't the same)
A small bottle of REAL maple syrup, not that crappy imitation stuff, so I can pick up some frozen waffles at Costco (they're cheap, the syrup ain't)
A bottle of Monin Zero Free no calorie, no carb hazelnut syrup (hint: Has Beans has it)
Chocolate-dipped hazelnut biscotti from The Upper Crust
Trader Joe's roasted, salted pumpkin seeds (shelled) - cuz I hear ya'll are gettin' Trader Joe's, lucky bums (Romita, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!)
WinCo brand boxed macaroni and cheese (I like it better than Kraft and it's cheap, cheap, cheap)
Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
A bag of Crunchy Cheetos
A bottle of really good Bleu Cheese, or Ranch, or Roquefort salad dressing (not Kraft, please....)
Huge box of Splenda (to counteract all the sugary stuff I want, right)
David & Sons sunflower seeds - about 20 pounds! Well, OK, maybe just a few big bags.....I sure do miss my sunflower seeds
A jar of Laura Scudder's or Adam's peanut butter, the salted kind that you have to mix the oil up in, no sugar added, just peanuts and salt
A jar of instant, liquid silver cleaner, because my silver jewelry is tarnished beyond belief, and I can't find cleaner here
Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn - the most buttery kind they make, packed with calories :)
A couple packages of Red Vines
A nice mix of Jelly Bellys (partial to buttered popcorn and fruit flavored ones) Kraft Light Mayo (not the non-fat gunk)

Now, my friends, you will have to tell me if there's something from Taiwan you would like to have. Because you know, Steve will be going back with an empty duffel bag, and we can't let that happen, can we?