Cheating or inefficient?

We pose this question to some stores where very irritating experiences have happened to some of our readers and friends who have emailed us their concern and disgust. We have been victimized as well.

Sale items attract customers – well and good. But sometimes, having picked the desired goods, one gets the shock of being charged the regular price at the checkout counter, inspite of the very visible sale tags. No argument can change the attitude and resolve of the cashiers to honor the tagged sale price. Even supervisors insist on collecting the higher amount because “yan po ang nasa computer.” Some call these lapses cheating. We want to believe this is inefficiency of the staff updating the computers. Action please, owners.   

Verdana residents are in a different uproar. SkyCable serves the cable needs of the community. They charge one year’s fee in advance. Alas and behold! They went digital with a new business partner. Here the trouble started. Balance of advanced payments are now being ignored, meaning residents are losing an average of two months’ rental of their facilities. There must be something wrong with their computation, or are there hidden charges?

Now for a more pleasant endeavor. We went on a food trip to Salcedo Saturday weekend market in the company of enthusiastic weekenders. Sadly we missed the bubbly Tita Cely Kalaw whose stall is no longer there. But we found some old reliables and new participants. Initially we reserved a serving each of paella and callos from Monchet’s Sabor selection (P200 each). We didn’t find Michelle at her Cuisine Francaise but thought her lengua, at P300 a piece, is only for the high end shoppers. The same with the capisicums and jumbo tomatoes at more than P200 a kilo. Ivan’s still carries frozen seafood, dory, salmon and a new clam variety. 

 A surprise find is newcomer Gigers’ Homemade Swiss Specialties by the amiable couple Guido and Ana. If we have been simply familiar with Swiss chocolate bars, here is an offering of a line of sweets perfect for dessert or snack with coffee or other beverages. Other than those from Switzerland, they’ve got German, Italian and Austrian items. Try the choco schuemli (balls of meringue with dark chocolate filling), or the hazelnut maccaroon or what they call “naughty boys” (butter cookies with Swiss apricot or raspberry jam filling). Many more, plus special cakes. Check and order through their website: www.gigerspastries.com or tel. no. 727-6047. Also new in the market is Bon-chon (Korean) Chicken by Steven who would not reveal his secret seasoning. His items cost from P70 to P170.

Now, if you are a cheese fancier, try the Malagos cheese from Davao. This comes from the Malagos farm, made from goat’s milk, by a lady called Olive, who started loving cheese and decided to learn cheese-making in California and Wisconsin. They produce 16 kinds of cheese, including what could pass for the French variety. She has blush, brie-like; peppato with green peppers; and French-inspired chevre. We met the youngish Olive at a cheese and wine tasting event at Le Bistro Vert in Makati.

Our week was capped by an overwhelming display of porcelain and fine bone china tableware from the Loveramics and Rosseto collections at Rustan’s in Makati. They are such delicately lovely pieces one gets enthralled, wishing our own dining tables could be laid out with any of those extremely beautiful sets. Loveramics was born from the creator’s “love for ceramics.” Each piece of the collection is a work of art, innovative and fits today’s urban lifestyle. They are eco-friendly with pale glaze and unglazed finishing, the better to handle safely. Check them out at Rustan’s.

The afternoon’s delightful bonus was a demonstration by Chef Sau del Rosario on an Elba cooker, a very reliable piece of kitchen equipment. He did mushroom linguini and a yummy berry panna cotta with chocolate dessert.

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