Did he really do it ... or just an accident

I don't actually want to post this one here because the story is kinda sensitive, and somewhat provocative. However, people think this is an urban legend, so I thought, maybe, I should list this story here.

I don't know the whole truth behind the story, so I should be careful with my words. One thing is certain to me, it really did happen. What makes it questionable, is his statement when he was asked about the thing.

The Story

Jobert Sucaldito hospitalized after an accident with ... a cucumber? Showbiz talk show host Jobert Sucaldito is recovering at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City after a successful emergency surgery to remove a large piece of cucumber that got stuck in his rectum, according to reports. Sucaldito, one of the hosts of ABS-CBN's The Buzz, reportedly met with the accident Sunday night and was rushed to the hospital after complaining of extreme pain in his bottom. X-rays subsequently revealed that a broken piece of cucumber, about five inches in length, had gotten lodged into the lower end of his large intestine. It was not immediately clear how the cucumber got there. The surgeons who operated on Sucaldito were tight-lipped and refused to discuss his case with media, citing doctor-patient confidentiality. Oddly enough, they all looked like they were trying vainly to keep from laughing and refused to look reporters in the eye. Members of Sucaldito's household who declined to be named said they recovered the other half of the cucumber, also five inches in length, in Sucaldito's bedroom. They said it had bite marks and was in a soggy state. Besides the cucumber, they said they also found a bottle of Johnson's baby oil, pictures of scantily clad men, and lots of tissue paper.” Reached by phone, Sucaldito said he is fine and will be discharged from hospital soon. He explained that it was all an accident. Gumagawa kasi ako ng salad. Napaupo ako dun sa chair e meron palang pipino dun na patayo ang pusisyon. Basta, mabilis kasi ang mga pangyayari (I was making a salad. I sat on a chair but there was a cucumber there in an upright position. Everything just happened so fast), he said. In a related development, a group of vegan Filipinos is reportedly thinking of filing an abuse complaint against Sucaldito for allegedly molesting a harmless and defenseless vegetable. Source: Good Times Manila

Now that you have read the article above, its up to you if you will believe his statement ... or you know - guffaw?

Source:
http://es2pido.tumblr.com/post/606344574/jobert-sucaldito-hospitalized-after-accident-with

Kentucky Fried Chicken Rat Tail

Fast-food chains, like Jollibee and McDonalds, have been subject to urban legends. These stories only focus on the foods they serve to their customers. All of them tell that, These restaurants are filthy, serving their gross meals to their loyal buyers.

Actually, one of my readers contributed one urban legend about Kentucky Fried Chicken (more commonly known as KFC). Thanks to him.

Finger Lickin' Myth A famous fast-food chain whose specialty are fried chicken has an urban legend too. In a certain branch of the mentioned fast-food store, a customer ordered one piece of their world renowned fried chicken. When the patron was about to eat the meal, he/she noticed that it had a string-like object attached to the meat. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a tail... of a rat, a FRIED RAT! The customer complained the tainted meat to the manager who speculated that a rat might have slipped and fell into the frier. The management offered a certain amount of cash to this person and also a brand new car to keep his/her mouth shut. I think it was a failed attempt to silence the person as the story got out.

The above story is similar to some stories in USA: (I got this from Snopes.com)

[Collected by Fine, 1976] An old lady ordered out for Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was eating along when she noticed teeth; she pulled back the crust and discovered she was eating a rat. She had a heart attack and died, and her relatives sued Kentucky Fried Chicken for a lot of money.   [Collected by Fine, 1977] There was a wife who didn't have anything ready for supper for her husband. So she quick got a basket of chicken and tried to make her dinner look fancy with the pre-pared chicken. Thus, she fixed a candle-light dinner, etc. When her and her husband started eating the chicken, they thought it tasted funny. Soon to find out it was a fried rat.

According to Snopes.com:

... The choice of a rat as a contaminant is easy: rats have turned up in food products before; they're the right size and shape to be mistaken for pieces of chicken (especially when fried in batter); and rats are vermin, symbols of filth and decay. The fact that the rat-chicken is usually eaten in the dark is a plot device to prevent premature discovery of the "secret," although some might consider it an important symbolic aspect of the legend.

Well, perhaps the only reason why these stories rise because of customer loyalty competition. I remember the story of the Cat - As the Main Ingredient of Siopao. I wrote there:

... (This is just) a kind of business technique on winning customers' favor over the said restaurant, thus they told false stories circulated in the city.

.

Source:
Contributed by: Jan Erik Bernal
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/friedrat.asp

Comfort Foods....A Chicken Pot Pie Soup Recipe

I follow Centsational Girl's blog because I envy her craftiness and know I will never be capable of doing anything she is able to achieve with a can of paint and some old furniture. Today, however, she featured a link-up for favorite comfort food recipes, which is something I can TOTALLY do. I do NOT have any pictures, but the recipe I do have is one that will make your taste buds want to praise the little baby Lord Jesus, and is something I've been working on perfecting for a couple of years. Introducing:

Makes approximately 4-6 HEARTY servings. 

Prep:

Cube 2 chicken breasts

Slice your carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and any additional veggies you want to add to the mix. (Some people may just want to throw in Veg-All to save themselves some time. Phooey to this, I say....but really, you can.)

Cooking instructions:

In a soup pot, slowly melt 6 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Add ½ cup of flour, and stir continually for 1.5 minutes still over low heat. Add in 1 box of chicken broth, and half a can of cream of chicken* and stir vigorously over medium heat. (*I throw in the COC because it makes it super thick, which I like; but it’s totally not necessary*) Allow to simmer for about three minutes, until suitably thickened. Lower heat and add ¼ cup of milk. Stir and continue to let it simmer. (You don’t ever want to do this over high heat, since it will curdle. Add seasonings to taste—I recommend ½ teaspoon of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (and a pinch of Tony Chacheres, but that’s a Louisiana thing).

Now, add your cubed chicken, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and any other veggies (a frozen bag of Veg-All works in a pinch too, although I’d suggest defrosting it first) to this mixture. Bring to medium heat, and keep at this temperature for about five minutes, or until you’re reasonably sure the chicken is cooked. Turn the heat to low, cover it, and allow it to simmer about 20 minutes, or until your veggies are soft.

For the crust:

I recommend either Pillsbury pie crust mixture or Jiffy pie mix (highly recommend Jiffy, but it’s not always easy to find). Make the whole box, because the crust is the best part. Roll it out on a cookie sheet, slice it into 2x2 pieces with a pizza cutter, and broil (making sure to watch them closely!) until they are brown on top. These are added to your soup when you feel like eating it…and it never gets soggy that way.

Additional:

You may want to pre-heat your chicken broth and cream of chicken so it goes into the mixture of butter/flour better. (I’m lazy and usually don’t.)

Watch your flour/butter combination closely—it will burn if you do not continually stir it.

Do not ever boil your mixture, because it can curdle due to the milk content.

Instant Cup Noodles has a Wax Lining

The Letter

[Taken from Internet:]

Dear all, This is what I heard from a fellow colleague. Her nephew, who was studying in UK for about one and a half years, likes to eat cup-a-noodle. And guess what! His doctor has found that there is a layer of wax lining the walls of his stomach. Seems that instant noodles that comes with foam containers contain an edible layer of wax. However, regular consumptions make it hard for our livers to clear the toxic. This person died when he went for an operation to try to remove the layer. Pls do not boil the noodles in the container. Transfer to a glass bowl before you put the hot water. Aira Gaspar Manulife Philippines

Information

The message tells about a the child of her friend whose stomach walls have wax layers, found by a doctor.

But the email and the story are definitely not true.

According Snopes.com, the email circulated in the internet since October 2000. However, the story was much more older than the named date, because there are rumors with the same subject circulated many years ago.

I also found in Snopes, some stories or even tells the reason and effect of wax on our body. It states there that wax is needed to make the noodles not stick together when cooked. As well as, the wax can cause cancer to whoever in take it.

By the way, I don't know who Aira Gaspar is. When I research about her in internet, this e-mail often show.

Source:
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/noodles.asp

The Dirty Straw of Fast Food Restaurants in the Philippines

Absolutely not true! Actually, this urban legend was featured in Snopes.com explaining the origin of this kind of story.

Story

[Taken from Internet:]

Horrible story of mine goes back to year 2005 March. I ordered a Club Sandwich and a Sprite in a restaurant somewhere in Manila . When I finished half of the sandwich I sipped a sprite. But it did not taste like an ordinary sprite I used to drink. So I sipped once more, but it still tasted the same. It tasted like a sprite mixed with some kind of oil. I called the clerk and asked him if the sprite was expired. He said it was just delivered today. So I asked him to taste it. Then he also found that something was wrong with it.. Both of us were wondering for a while. Then I got to look inside the straw. There were a lot of tiny black round things that looked like eggs. So I cut the middle of the straw lengthwise to have a better look. Yuck. There were a lot of tiny black round things in it. I suppose they were eggs of cockroach. About 1000 eggs were there. Then I began to check all the other straws in the straws case one by one. Almost all of them contained black eggs that seemed to be either the cockroach eggs or excretions. After the incident I began to check all the straws in the restaurants and fast food chains that I had gone to. Almost of all the straws contained the same black eggs. Especially the darker the colors of straws, the more black eggs were found. In black straws, extreme amount of black eggs were found. It was found out that it is because the cockroaches live (hatch eggs and excrete) in the dark places. Research result … Amount of germs and cockroach excretion/eggs found Jollibee - RED straws - 88.89% Chowking - RED straws - Almost the same as above Local Restaurants - BLACK straws - 225% above McDonalds - WHITE straws - 0.5% Starbucks - Straws covered with white wrappers - 0% The fact is 80% or more restaurants in the malls use red or black colored straws – so be careful – it only takes a few second to check the straw before using..

The name of the person who wrote this article is Hannie. She is a Filipino, and I don't know why she's doing this. She posted it February 16, 2008. The reason why she made this: I don't know. We may assume she found some dirt from those straws, according to her, was used by fast food restaurants in the country. But I can say, her survey is partially true, she may found one but perhaps not 88.89% of them contain it.

Well, this contemporary legend went to America, and even also plague them there. Of course, the story there is much different but you can trace the similarities.

[Taken from Internet:]

Be careful while using straws!! I ordered a Club Sandwich and a Sprite in a restaurant somewhere. When I finished half of the sandwich I sipped a sprite... But it didn't taste like an ordinary sprite I used to drink. So I sipped once more, but it still tasted the same. It tasted like a sprite mixed with some kind of oil. I called the clerk and asked him if the sprite was expired... He said it was just delivered today.. So I asked him to taste it. Then he also found that something was wrong with it. Both of us were wondering for a while. Then I got to look inside the straw. There were a lot of tiny black round things that looked like eggs. So I cut the middle of the straw lengthwise to have a better look... Yuck. There were a lot of tiny black round things in it... I suppose they were eggs of cockroach. About 1000 eggs were there. Then I began to check all the other straws in the straws case one by one. Almost all of them contained black eggs that seemed to be either the cockroach eggs or excretions... After the incident I began to check all the straws in the restaurants and fast food chains that I had gone to. Almost of all the straws contained the same black eggs. Especially the darker the colors of straws, the more black eggs were found. In black straws, extreme amount of black eggs were found. It was found out that it's because the cockroaches live (hatch eggs and excrete) in the dark places. * 80% or more restaurants in the malls use red or black colored straws. SO NEXT TIME.... BE CAUTIOUS... CHECK THE STRAW BEFORE YOU PLACE IT INSIDE THE DRINKS.

This is the foreign version, but more latest one than the first article above. According here, the author found 1000 eggs in a single straw. It was to much to contain a single straw without noticing them.

If this was really true, then how come there's no news about restaurants in the Philippines became involved with this problem? By the way, how did the cockroach get inside on such a small hole just to lay an egg almost the same size as the hole of some of the straws.

Dirt in McDonald's Foods

Urban Legends are not only based on false stories with full of exaggeration, but some of them came from real ones, though added with almost incredible information. Legends like this can be true, in the other hand, it was not absolutely real. However, it was normal for fast-food restaurants to cook incorrectly or accidentally serve a reject dish.

I remember the rumored stories about the Bulate Burger (Earthworm Burger). It was absolutely unreal. What I mean to say is, every restaurants may experience similar faults. How hard they try to avoid flaws, they may still done the same.

Stories

[Taken from Internet:]

CASE: RAT POOP IN McCHICKEN PLACE: McDONALDS GLORIETTA Date: Fri Sep 29, 2000 1:47am Subject: BEWARE OF McDONALD'S - GLORIETTA BRANCH! Friends, I send you this message to warn you of the danger of eating in fastfood restaurants especially in McDonald's Glorietta Branch. My wife was food poisoned last Sunday, September 10, 2000 after eating a piece of McDo chicken with feces ("TAE") of rodents on it. It was a good thing that my 6-year old daughter was not poisoned after taking one little bite of the McDo chicken. On the said date, my wife, my daughter and an in-law visited the McDonald's outlet of Glorietta and ordered McDo chicken among other things. After taking a few bites of the McDo chicken, my wife noticed a foul and disgusting taste. She spat out the morsel of McDo chicken from her mouth and checked the food and noticed black objects, which she thought was "tae ng ipis" but we later discovered as "tae ng daga". Since she already has ingested a few bits of the chicken, she felt dizzy and started to vomit. A service crew approached my wife only after repeated calls and only after my wife's sister-in-law raised her voice. The McDo chicken was quickly whisked away from their table and thereafter, a certain Ms. Edna Resurreccion, who introduced herself as the Assistant Branch Manager, came and unbelievably offered to replace the food my wife ordered without even asking about her condition. Worse, the service crew formed a "human barricade" by surrounding their table, perhaps to prevent other customers from hearing my wife's complaint. Since my wife's vomiting seemed to be uncontrollable, she rushed to Makati Medical Center (MMC) through her own initiative. No one from the McDonald's store bothered to accompany my wife to the hospital. Ms. Resurreccion was kind enough to follow only after I informed her that my wife is in MMC. Worst, my wife made the payments for all the medical tests, medicines and check-up through her health card. A few days after the incident, Mr. Christopher "Chic-Chic" Perez, McDonald' s Operations Consultant asked to meet my wife. Though Mr. Perez is a cousin of my wife, he did not make a dent on my wife's disgust and disappointment with the way McDonald's handled the incident. However, a positive aspect we got during the meeting with Mr. Perez was the admission of a leak in McDonald's ? Glorietta Branch's food storage area that may have been the source of the intrusion of elements. Mr. Perez has repeatedly assured my wife that they are doing something to close up the leak. How unfortunate though that my wife has been diagnosed to have contracted TYPHOID FEVER and is now suspected to have LEPTOSPIROSIS (a sickness that may lead to death if left untreated). Results of the current medical tests will be known in a few days. It is my hope that she won't come out positive of leptospirosis. My wife has not reported for work for the past 14 days due to high fever, severe headache, weakness, intermittent chills and diarrhea. We have demanded a written apology from the Management of McDonald's Restaurant but we have not received any up to this time. It pains me and my wife to realize what had happened. We have a hard time explaining the incident to my daughter, who is, by the way, "used" to be a Ronald McDonald fan. PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS THING HAPPEN TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES. SEND THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS SO THEY MAY THINK TWICE BEFORE ENTERING A McDONALD'S RESTAURANT.

CASE: MOLDS IN A HAMBURGER BUN PLACE: McDONALDS INTRAMUROS I am Bill Householder, an American living in the Philippines for more than a year now, married to a Filipina wife, the former Doddie Pacion. Last July 19,2000, my wife and I ate lunch at McDonald's-Intramuros near Colegio de San Letran. Doddie was five and half months pregnant at that time and was very hungry. She noticed a funny taste in her Big Mac burger and by the time she found out why it was so, it was too late. Imagine my wife's horror and dismay when she found out the remaining one-fourth of her Big Mac burger had black and blue-green molds on the underside of the hamburger bun. We complained to the management of the store and they refunded only her meal. They only were only going to go that far had I not insisted of getting the store manager's name in case my wife got sick. She did. Later that night, Doddie was throwing up severely and had to go to her OB doctor the next day. It was severe food poisoning due to black & blue molds. She was hospitalized for 3 days, the food poisoning triggered preterm labor and she nearly lost the baby and could have lost her life as well. My wife had to stop working because of the 2 months bed rest ordered by her OB-Gyne. McDonald's paid for the hospital bill and related medical expenses of my wife. For compensation of her loss of income, pain, suffering and the chance of having a baby with gastrointestinal disorders, McDonald's refuses to compensate what is due to my wife and baby. They even refused to admit fault, in their letters and conversations to us, with regards to the moldy bun causing her food poisoning. I can't believe McDonald's corporate doctors even went as far as to flatly deny my wife having preterm labor ignoring the medical certificate issued by her doctor and the hospital. Doddie is still taking Duvadilan to control her preterm labor. What my wife went through was atrocious. The emotional turmoil alone was so grievous I find it hard to write of it even now. The heartache of almost losing our FIRST baby drove the both of us to tears many times. Not even mentioning the severe physical pain she has had to endure due to the preterm labor. Their Mktg. & PR Manager, Mr. Jojo Samson, offered only about P20,000.00 as compensation to my wife and the baby. His reason for such a measly amount? "It comes from our PR & Mktg. budget which does not amount to much", he said. Mr. Samson even casually mentioned that if we go to court, he can easily "bury" our story from the Philippine media. We filed a criminal case against McDonald's with the Manila Trial Court and legal proceedings begin this October 12, 2000. We didn't want to go to this but we are forced to these measures. We expected more honesty and honor from a company who claim to uphold quality, service and customer satisfaction as stated in their People Promise principles. We recently received a lot of emails regarding the McDonald's Glorietta incident and found out there was another case involving that same store in that mall where a guy has DIED of food poisoning last November 1999. We are outrage by this lack of sympathy, callousness and disregard of human life by McDonald's. Please pray for my wife, our baby, the wife of Mr. Jonathan Herbolario and the soul of the poor guy who left a wife and two young daughters. Pray that justice is served to all of us. Sincerely, Bill Householder

Source:
http://timothy2170.multiply.com/journal/item/93

Cortal + Coke = Abortion

Story

Some people think that taking Cortal (a local brand of aspirin) and washing it down with Coke would induce abortions. More often than not, people will retell a story that they had heard from a friend of a friend's other friend about a young woman who could not face the fact that she had gotten knocked up. The said young woman allegedly used the Cortal-Coke combo to solve her problem.

Legend

Information about the young girl would vary. The name of her school or dormitory would change. In some stories, she got away with her so-called "self-medication." In others, she was rushed to an emergency room of some hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Of course, the young woman in question never had a name and it was never revealed who the father of her unborn child was.

Fact

This is either a twisted cautionary tale that's told to young girls who are out on their own or a campaign against Cortal and Coke. Nevertheless, somebody posed a question related to the combo online

Sources:
http://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/41192/urban-legends-that-drove-pinoys-crazy

Cat - As the Main Ingredient of Siopao

Fact

Cat meat is eaten as part of uncommon cuisines of Cantonese in China, Vietnam, and some rural Swiss cultures. In desperate times, people of other areas have been known to resort to cooking and eating cats. Cat meat was eaten, for example, during the famine in the Siege of Leningrad. In 1996, a place that served cat meat was supposedly discovered by the Argentine press in a shanty town in Rosario, but in fact the meal had been set up by media from Buenos Aires.

Legend

In the Philippines, there is an urban legend (and also considered a joke) that some vendors use cat meat to make siopao (steamed bun), leading some Filipinos to name their pet cats "Siopao". The story tells that one of the restaurants in Quiapo, Manila City was caught throwing cut heads and body parts of street cats at the back. Some versions also said that they actually saw them cooking it. This urban legend began way back during the Japanese time when there was a scarcity of meat and lots of cats on the street.

Interpretation

The urban legend is just a kind of business technique of winning customers' favor over the said restaurant above, thus they told false stories circulated in the city.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food_and_drink#Cats
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-urban-legends-093005285.html