Traditional medicine

 I was not feeling well the past week. My body felt weak and no appetite with a terrible sore throat. The ironic thing is I knew this will happen whenever I drink cold iced drinks. But occassionaly I can't resist the desire to drink a long cool iced fruit juice, lassi, iced blended or the very least soft drinks on hot afternoons. I caved in to that craving and binged on these devillish drinks. And there I was feeling miserable and regretting yet again.  And I knew what comes next - the sore throat often always signal the onset of a cold/flu which subsequently develop into a month long of coughing fits even with the cough medicine and antibiotics prescribed by the clinic.

I wasn't too keen to visit the clinic I normally frequented. Not only have I lost faith in the effectiveness of the flu and cough medicine but also the charge. I had just come to realise that the nurse/clerk at the counter may charge more than the amount the doctor in the examination room had informed me. Try this at your clinic and see if the rate differs. This "practise" may have been going on for years. The last straw was a month ago when we brought our daughter who was having slight fever and flu to the clinic. We felt the charge was outrageous for a normal examination and a pack of panadol, cough syrup in a plastic bottle, flu medicine and antibiotics - which was not that effective.

So this time I decided to go traditional. The Chinese singseh recommended dried herbs and other condiments to be drank like Chinese tea and a packet of pills, which are to bring my temperature down - all at a fraction of the cost charged by the clinic. I also tried mum's remedy of gurgling warm salt water and taking tamarind juice. Another remedy recommended by friends is drinking Chamomile tea, or hot tea with honey and lemon. I also took Hack sweets - the black ones with a picture of a bald man coughing in his hankerchief. So for the whole of the week, apart from avoiding oily and spicy food, I went about my work bringing along packets of hacks and a themos flask of these remedies. Hey - it works. I don't know which one did it but I felt better.

I wish all my friends a happy, prosperous and successful Gong Xi Fa Cai. Have a nice long week end and enjoy your holidays or just plain lazing at home.