52A-1, Jalan PJU 1/3b,
Sunway Mas Commercial Center,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel#03-7880 8197
No, this is not another food review. After almost 2weeks of persistent cough that graduated from daytime to nighttime waking nightmare, tg decided enough is enough and brought me to this traditional Chinese medicine practitioner to get it looked at. But then again, that man can really sleep through quite a lot of things, woman whacking her lungs off few times throughout the night included.
The shop is a Chinese medicine shop with a section partitioned off as the doctor's room. It shared an air conditioner with the room next door where there's a hole in between the wall that could fit the unit. Reminded me of my father's old office. Is that how China man office is setup? 😂
Luckily (for me), the doctor spoke Cantonese but it was still difficult when he got into the internal organs. The conclusion was that my body got cold inside so need to heat it up internally. This means:
- no raw fruits, vegetables including salad. Probably sushi too (tg was excited to discover this one)
- preferably sleep in air-conditioned room and not fan as the latter would blow to
you me directly. Sadly, my room's AC is just for show
The total bill was about RM 106, RM10 for consultation, the rest meds. I had been toying with the idea of going for TCM for awhile now but didn't get to it because it's not claimable from my office insurance. Sorry but the company medical card has spoilt me.
Three of the same medicine. Another man packed the meds and that took awhile.
This is what's inside the bag. That is a dried up orange peel. The rest of them could have been picked up from the ground for all I know. Actually, they probably were. Twigs, sticks.
It also came with a bag of
ginkgo. It's funny that neither myself nor tg knew how these nuts came about. Having always eaten them peeled and cooked in
tong sui, I was at a slight loss on how to even break them. The pliers did come in handy. To avoid making a mess all over, place the nuts inside a bag and lightly hit them. There's no need to break the shells entirely as you can break it apart as long as there's a small crack. You could probably just crack them with your fingers but I've got better use for them. The annoying thing is the skin (brown layer) sometimes stick onto the nut so you have to gently peel those off.
The idea here is to boil it in 5bowls of water until it's reduced to half a bowl. I opted for a full bowl for fear of it burning my pot. It took about 2hours (an estimate since I wasn't counting). The smell was strong but not unbearable.
The end product. The first dose was not bad, given that it was my first proper Chinese medicine. I've always heard and seen (on TV) of people sitting by the fire, fanning the charcoal to cook the medicine. Despite all its bad reputation, I didn't find it repulsive. Interesting to say the least.
The dried plum is meant to be consumed after the meds to wash away the bitterness as it's really sweet. By the second bowl, I was getting a little overwhelmed by it. With the third bowl cooking away, I was planning my escape route. It was very tempting to throw the dried plum into the meds so that they'll even each other out but I didn't. Not wanting to jinx it, I took like I was meant to. The only consolation were the ginkgo. Those were pretty enjoyable. If I ever have to guess, this is what boiled soil would taste like.
After 2 doses, my cough improved slightly but the night cough is still making my sleep unbearable. Not sure if it's related but right side of my chest started aching on day#3 😭 So, not only I can't take a deep breath without hurting myself, I can't really get rid of the itch or phlegm in my throat because coughing makes my chest ache.
2017, why you no let me go easily??
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