I really believed I wouldn’t fall sick this time, even though I had hung out with three sick people the whole week before, even sharing food and drink with them.

I had already caught the flu bug three or four times this year. I thought I would have developed enough immunities to all the strains flying around Singapore.

Besides, I had felt perfectly fine until after arriving in Changping.

Maybe I had gotten it from the Hong Kong lady who was sitting beside me on the plane, sniffling away into her tissue the entire trip. I was sandwiched between two sick people for more than three hours. (The Goonfather was also still sick at that time. His flu had started about three or four days before.)

Once we arrived in China, I started developing allergic reactions (the fleshy part near my tonsils itch crazily and my lungs feel irritated) from the smog and grime in the city and the sun combined.

That very night, I got a sore throat while sitting in my hotel room blogging.

The next day, full-blown flu. Inflamed painful throat, throbbing head threatening to explode, nose blocked and leaking.

I spent the whole day in bed with my iPad, alternating between playing PvZ and sleeping.

I did step out for lunch and dinner, though.

Lunch was at a Western cafe a minutes’ walk from our hotel. I had to eat something soft because of my throat but I didn’t want porridge so the Goonfather suggested pasta.

What a great suggestion that was. I had the best spaghetti bolognese ever. It was really good. And I’ve never even liked bolognese in the first place.

The sauce was very tasty, just the right amount of saltiness, sweetness and spice. And the spaghetti was a perfect consistency, firm and chewy.

Huge fork and spoon!

The Goonfather had these, which were really good too:

What a surprise find. You wouldn’t think the food’s any good from the outside because it kinda looks like an old-fashioned tourist trap, and it’s dark and quiet inside. We wouldn’t ever have eaten in there if I hadn’t been sick.

There’s a huge department store opposite our hotel.

The whole building is a department store! We had wandered there looking for lunch but didn’t see any eating places other than MacDonald’s, so I just bought some flu medicine and the Goonfather bought mini mooncakes.

They have interesting ingredients in the mini mooncakes like pork floss, roast beef, abalone, sharks fin and assorted fruit flavours.

Unfortuntely, I still can’t eat any because I don’t think my throat will like it.

I ate a peach at 6 pm (this is still yesterday) so I could eat another dose of medication.

The peach is disappointing. A Chinese masseuse had told the Goonfather that this year’s peaches aren’t too sweet because it has been raining too much. Darn. Just like the lousy durians back home now. What’s with the excessive rain these two years?

The woman that sold us these peaches said they were ripe and ready to eat, but they’re hard. Yucks.

Dinner was at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel.

I was dying of pain all over the place and didn’t want to go anywhere further.

I ordered a whole bunch of food that I thought would be kind to my throat.

Plus a california handroll which I forgot to photograph cos that was the first one to arrive.

Yes! That was all mine! Hehe. I didn’t realise I had ordered so much. Obviously, I couldn’t finish everything.

After placing my order, the waitress asked if I wanted a boiled coke with ginger. She said it in Chinese and I had to look to the Goonfather to see if he knew what she was talking about.

He said, “Oh! I hear it’s supposed to be very good for flu.”

So I agreed to try it.

After the waitress left, I asked the Goonfather, “How did she know I’m having flu?”

He said, “Because you look sick. Your eyes are watery and you ordered all the sick people food.”

Dots…..

My ginger coke was a bit nasty. Well, I’m sure you can imagine the taste. The mad sweetness of stale coke combined with the spiciness of ginger.

I don’t know if spicy was the right word, but the drink was very spicy. And hot, since it’s boiled.

But I managed to finish it and I think it did make me feel better.

At first, I was drinking it by the spoonful cos it was hot and I could never manage more than four spoons at once (cos of the spiciness).

But once it turned lukewarm, I was gulping it down. Just to get it over and done with.

I’m sure it works even better than the lousy flu pills I bough. The pills didn’t seem to do shit for me.

Oh, then, after that, I asked the waitress whether I could eat my flu medicine after drinking the coke. She said it was okay, and then added that I shouldn’t eat eggs while having the flu.

Why didn’t she tell me earlier? I ordered so many egg dishes because I thought they were safe.

I took a very hot shower after dinner and went to bed. There was still a lot of pain in the head and throat and nose so I flitted in and out of sleep all night.

But by the time I woke up in the morning and blew out my nose, I felt a lot better!

I managed to wake up early enough to have the complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel. I ordered another ginger coke. Luckily, it was a small cup this time!

Looks like ginger coke is such a common drink in China (and I think Hong Kong) that you can probably order it at any eating places. The Goonfather has seen it once on the menu of a Hong Kong cafe in China.

I feel a lot better now after my second dose!

Throat still hurts a bit but it’s bearable now. Headache seems to be gone. Yay. But nose is still a bit runny.

I had more sick people food for breakfast.

No eggs, boohoo.

The porridge was very good, though. The preserved bean curd here is sooooo good. It tastes a lot better than the ones we get from the supermarket back home. I’m gonna eat more tomorrow!

I feel well enough to do some sightseeing today but it’s a rainy day, so I don’t know how fun it would be to visit a theme park in this kind of weather.

Yesterday was nice and sunny and I was in bed all day.

Oh, we’ve decided to extend our stay in Changping for two more nights because the Goonfather deems me not well enough to make the three-hour bus ride back to Zhuhai (supposedly tomorrow).

Yay!! I get to stay in this cheap and good hotel suite for two more days! =D