The Filthy Pig Table

There is this night market kind of place where they slice up a pig and sell the meat every single evening. I have wanted to get a picture of that but I have not been able to do so. But recently I was able to get a picture of the table on which the pig is slaughtered. Here it is in all its gory glory!

Can you see what is going on with this table?  No? You want a close up? Ok. Here is a close up.

Can you see it now?  Can you see all the filth?  The dried blood and flecks of flesh? You would need a microscope to see all the salmonella and e-coli and listeria embedded in this wooden table but you know it's there.

Contrast this foul, unclean, blood caked table with this table down the street.

This is a stall where fish is sold. You can see the scales on the floor.  Pretty gross. But a tarp is covering the wood so they can place the fish on the tarp and even cut them up and then wipe it clean. The germs won't stick! Or they will stick less.  Anyway it's a heck of a lot more clean than the bloody pig table.

Do they wipe it clean? I don't know.  But I know the table where they slice open the pig is absolutely disgusting and whoever is buying pork from that butcher is risking their health.

Old Lady Clipping Her Fingernails on the Jeepney

Over the din of the rattly old jeepeny and of the podcast I am listening to I hear the faint click, click, click, of which I know is the distinct sound of someone clipping their fingernails. I turn my head looking for the culprit and sure enough there she is, an old lady intently staring at her hand and clipping away at her fingernails as the jeepney speeds on down the road.

When she is done clipping her nails she brushes the little quarter moons onto the floor of the jeepeny scattering them like stars in the sky. It is the formation of a Milky Way only those of us riding in that particular jeepney on that exact day at that exact time will ever witness. The air rushing in from the open back door and along the floor will soon blow these lifeless pieces of her body into places as yet unknown, a cataclysm destroying forever the world she has created for only a moment. 

Like nail clippings in the wind so are the days of our lives. We grow and grow until we are clipped by the black nail cutter who will clip us all never to be again.

As I alight at my stop and walk away a bemused smile crosses my face as I remember the old lady I once saw in church clipping her nails. Nobody turned their head. Nobody told her to please stop. The preacher continued preaching his sermon and everyone acted like they did not hear the metallic snap, snap, snap of the nail cutter as the old lady trimmed her nails in church just as if it were a salon.

It must be an old Filipina thing to clip ones' nails in public spaces.

7-11 Donuts Are Infested With Ants

Oh thank Heaven for 7 Eleven. 

Thank heaven I didn't want any donuts! I only walked over to take a look because the donut display is right next to the sandwiches which I was really interested in. 

Looks sweet and delicious right? Look closer!

The donuts were covered in ants. Little black ants were scurrying all over the place. 

Kind of gross. And this is inside what should be a rather clean convince store. Just imagine what's crawling around all the makeshift sidewalk sari-sari stores and restaurants.

Single-Serving Culture

Remember that scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton talks about his single-serving life?

"Everywhere I travel -- tiny life.

Single-serving sugar, single-serving

cream, single pat of butter."

Well, the culture in the Philippines embodies this single-serving principle.

Everything at the market and the ubiquitous sari-sari stores all comes in single-serving packets.

Oil, sugar, flour, lentils, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, vinegar, soy sauce, spices, coffee, cookies, they all come in one size serves all tiny packets.

Even the cell phone business is single-serving. No one here is on a monthly plan. Instead they buy 20 pesos of talk and text time.  This lasts for a day or two and they load up the phone again.

Is all this single-serving lifestyle convenient?  Sure.  But deadly.  Here is the result of all those single-serving packets:

Garbage ends up everywhere.

Heres how the cycle works.  Someone buys some cookies.  They toss the wrapper onto the street. The wind and rain propel it into the waterways. There it pollutes and clogs the flow of the water which causes mass flooding during the rainy season and typhoons. 

There are no public garbage cans. And there is no national or personal conscience that instills shame for being a litter bug.

Give a hoot, don't pollute? Not in the Philippines.

Everyone here is dropping their trash into the street. Why? Because someone will literally come along and sweep it up.  

So who cares?  You don't want to take someone's job do you?

Street Tattoo Parlour

Anywhere else in the world this would not be tolerated.  But this is is the Philippines.  In the Philippines you can set up a business of any kind anywhere on a sidewalk and no one bats an eye.

You can even set up your own unregulated, unlicensed, and unsanitary tattoo parlour! Who in their right mind would risk their health by getting a tattoo from some dude on the sidewalk?

Look at that little battery which powers his needle. So cute! No way that poster is indicative of his talent. It could be but I highly doubt it.  Does he change needles?  Are the needles clean? Is he going to set out a little chair or do you have to sit on the curb? It's simply insane that this is allowed. 

And the PNP station is right around the corner!

What's for lunch?

Pork Hoof Soup!

Mmmmmmm!

Yummy!!

Delicious!!

Don't forget the rice!

Coroner's office ignores basic safety protocols

So they found the headless body of the German who was executed by Abu Sayyaf on February 26. Now the coroner has to do an inquest.  It's all standard procedure of course.

Standard procedure?  To wear shorts and slippers in the examination room?

Obviously the guy pointing to the dead body is the lead man.  The head honcho.  The man in charge. Why is he not wearing the proper safety equipment?  Everyone else is.

Were there not enough gowns to go around?  Did he get a 3am phone call and have to rush over? Is he too important to have to put on a gown? Did he figure, "I'm not going to be doing the actual examination so it doesn't matter?"

Seems doubtful.  

Why is following safety protocols such a difficult matter in the Philippines?

Too many questions.  Never a satisfactory answer.  

What's for breakfast?

A Bowl of Stinky Dried Fish!

Bon Appétit!

Don't forget to open all the windows and doors and air out the house!