The Vicks remedy

Even though it was my birthday week, we weren't really in the right mood for celebrating. CH was feeling under the weather while I was down with fever and a terrible cough. It got so bad that I woke up every hour to cough until my tummy ached and face turned blue.

The antibiotics and cough medicine only made me weak and groggy. In the wee hours of the night, I stumbled around the house making hot honey water, looking for lozenges, Manuka honey, cough syrup and whisky. Yes, in my state of desperation, I drank whisky because it provides temporary relief. In fact, I might even consider drinking urine if it helps to make the cough go away!

To make matters worse, I had completely no appetite and had lost my voice and sense of smell. I could go on all day without food and not feel hungry. For dinner, I could only muster enough strength to cook fish soup with tofu. Poor SK and CH had to eat the same bland food all week.

Strangely the solution came on Sunday night in the form of a $4 jar of Vicks Vapourub. While googling for a remedy for night coughs, I came across a simple solution that seemed to have worked for many people. All I had to do was to rub Vicks oilment on the soles of my feet, pull on a pair of socks and go to bed.

That evening,  I was coughing so badly that I threw up over the sink. That was when I decided to get a jar of Vicks. I slathered the ointment on my chest and soles of my feet and went to bed looking quite ridiculous in a pair of Christmas socks.

The first hour was bad. My sleep was constantly interrupted by vigorous coughing. Then slowly, as the ointment took effect, I fell into deep sleep and slept through the night. I got up once to cough and  slap on more ointment. That was it. I woke up feeling better the next day. Even the sniffles was gone.

The same trick worked for me again last night. Finally I'm on the road to recovery. From now on, I'll keep a jar of Vicks by my bedside in case anything like this happens to me again.

All grown up

I know. I say this all the time but how can I help it when one is finally in the army and the other is turning 18 in 3 days?

YK called home from army camp one day to say he was really sick and had been sent home to rest. I rushed to the ferry terminal, heart pounding and filled with anxiety. My poor son was diagnosed with upper respiratory tract infection accompanied by high fever. The fact that he is allergic to paracetamol made the situation worse.

With his newly shorn head and thinner frame, he was quite a sorry sight. At home, he ate poorly and coughed through the night. He went back to camp the next day, still sick as a dog. The cough was still bothering him when he returned home last weekend.. I wonder what kind of virus that is because we seem to have caught it too.

His younger brother SK is growing up into a fine young man. We had an early birthday celebration last weekend and I bought him a pair of sunglasses. My friends used to say he has a baby face but I think he looks pretty grown up now.

An early birthday surprise

A few of us got together for a picnic at Singapore Botanic Gardens last Sunday. In a way, it was quite a perfect day for a picnic because we really had no contingency plan in case of rain. Well, it was muggy and we were sweating buckets. And I wasn't too smart to cook chicken curry. I guess everyone was hungry because they didn't seem to mind eating spicy curry with fried bee hoon. 

We had some real picnic food as well, like Banana Bear cookies which were more fun to play with than eat.

 

I brought some smoked salmon to go with the very delicious loaves of baguette from a popular bakery in Sengkang.Our friends (above) had to join a long queue just to buy them.

 Our friends EY and Chris (below) surprised me with a really delicious birthday cake from Flor Patisserie.

 My birthday is still weeks away, so it was totally unexpected.

 There was a huge ribbon around the cake and guess what they did with it? Yup, I became Ms Flor Patisserie that day.

The guys played some childhood games under the trees.

 

Along came a beautiful distraction called Loki, a jack russell terrier who understands only Turkish commands. He's a young dog and possibly the most energetic I have ever seen. His gorgeous lady owner loves him to bits. Loki led a miserable life as an abused puppy until she adopted him. Now he's treated to three walks a day and lots of cuddles. Loki is quite lucky afterall.