Scammer's skim.

Scammers don't skim the loot; they scoop it. Everything of it. 

The recent news about Janet Napoles confessing to the Justice Secretary De Lima the involvement of three top Senators in the pork barrel scam  finally revealed what the Filipinos already knew for months.

That the  scammers scooped millions and millions of taxpayers' money into their own pockets.

But  scammers move in almost all tiers of government agencies and even, in quasi-public and some private corporations.

The other day while driving along the new C6, I got surprised by the huge holes along the stretch of the highway. They were not just holes; they were almost like sink holes.

Other holes were big dents while others were almost sunken, and others yet, were holes as big as the full lane in the two-lane highway.  Add to these hazards the slow moving tricycles and cargo bikes,  and bingo, motorists could not go beyond 50 km/hr or about 20 m/hr.

What C6 intended to do in cutting travel time was totally negated by the sub-par construction that went into building C6. Money must have flowed into government scammers.

But hey, even personnel of private firms engage in scamming. Just go deal with utilities men - cable technicians, water meter installers, even bill- delivery men. They would offer extra services and ask customers to pay but sorry, they could not issue an official receipt.  Private bill deliverers routinely ask for Christmas tips and other holiday tokens.

I always give tips to those service guys who don't ask for one, but give good service. Like gasoline boys who clean windshield, put water in the radiator and pump air into my tires.

Or the server who constantly fill my water glass and my cup with unlimited hot tea at Chinese and Japanese restaurants.

At Ikea's, I give boys who help load heavy purchases into my trunk generous tips.  And even those street kids or adults who'd bring my grocery cart back into the cart island; they'd get the dollar or quarter out of the cart I used.

Once, we had a house help who'd never get back her two-peso coin change from vendors.  She was also generous in her tithing to the local Church we attended.

But another house help scammed us with two electric fans and a portable radio while another one ran away with household items and even, tons of my top-of-the-line audio cable.

Construction crew has been known to cart away paint, cement, steel bars, pipes, nails and screws without knowledge of their contractors.

Heat and Meat.

Temperature rose to 32 degrees Celsius yesterday in Manila. The low was 26 degrees. It was a blazing summer day, and we had to be out for a medical stress test, and some important errands.

It was a National Holiday, too, so the Mall housing the medical clinic was teeming with shoppers and those seeking free cooling system.

Breakfast started with two pieces of local roll called pan de sal with cheese, and coffee, lunch was Cuban rice with carne with Spanish coleslaw and banana fritter, and dessert of low sugar yogurt topped with Macadamia and peaches, and dinner was a huge croissant with ham and bacon.

It was a meat day yesterday amidst the summer heat.

And then we found this mega sale of branded sports wear and sneakers at the Mall. Because we needed a pair of sneakers as the stress test required comfortable shoes and we left home with a pair of leather shoes on, we innocently walked in to browse and buy.

Just to get into the aisle of your shoe size required falling in line. The line was horrendously long.

We decided to leave but presto, there appeared infront of us several aisles where shoe sizes were mixed. Lots of boxes were also lying on the floor, perhaps abandoned by frustrated shoppers who didn't want to go thru the long queue into the cashiers.

Voila! We found a simple, black and white comfortable walking shoe, and also bought a black with multi-color stripes for the faithful navigator.

The queue to the cashiers was even longer, and took more than an hour. One guy four heads in front of me was in a sorry state when his purchase was found to be much more expensive than the price tag stuck underneath the shoe. He didn't buy the pair. I guess some loser exchanged the tags, and the poor guy didn't know about it.

We came in time for our stress test wearing our new sneakers.

Good 'ol Peanut Butter.

My all time favorite sandwich is peanut butter sandwich. Not hamburger nor ham nor chicken.

I have childhood memories of buying peanut butter in the neighbourhood convenience store early  mornings, with my older sister in tow. She'd purchase coco-jam, and I'd be with my peanut butter.

But at home, my Aunt or Mother always prepared heavy breakfast of rice with fried fish or left over meat dish, with egg omelets, bread and coffee. So my peanut butter sandwich was only a pre-breakfast treat.

Fast forward into adulthood and my love for peanut butter has not waned a bit. I make it as breakfast, snack or even regular meal when I first found out I was high on blood sugar. Of course I choose a brand with low sugar and low sodium contents.

Do other people have romance with peanut butter. Yes, think of the late Rock N' Roll King, 
Elvis Presley. He loved peanut butter sandwich, and he'd put slices of banana on top of the spread. 

Waking up at odd hours in the evening, I'd snack on peanut butter.

Peanut butter is also an ingredient in most Thai food which I love; the local delicacy, kare-kare, a mixture of ox tail, beef, and vegetables is also rich in peanut butter.