Less Is More, More Is Good

Like most men I think I'm invincible. This explains my severe underpreparation of a medicinal kit, thinking that nothing would hit me, and even if it did, I'd be able to buy from a local pharmacy.

There's been a cough that refuses to fuck off for about 2 weeks now. So I decided to swing by a local pharmacy at WuJiaoChang today. Bad idea.

Firstly, as if shelves in pharmacies aren't already chockful of colours and brands and fonts, they had to be in Chinese. I can read Chinese, yes, but medicine terms are kinda WTF. Not knowing what I should go for, I described my symptoms to the salesgirl, who recommended me some pills and a liquid. She reached for 2 bottles of (probably) nasty stuff, and no one in their right mind would've taken 2 bottles of anything from a pharmacy, unless you're really cheap and want a high. So I said no, 1 bottle. "2 bottles will only last you 3 days!"

Ummm, it was larger than the plastic bottle we're used to back home. I insisted on 1, because from past experience we all know the medicine dispensed in Singapore is never meant to be finished, and if you still haven't recovered after a cycle of a miniscule bottle of cough syrup and some teensy-weensy pills, you should probably do a full-body checkup.

Then I got home, and read the instructions. I had to swallow 4 emerald capsule pills, and drink 20ml of that nasty. The pills weren't small, and as I was trying to force the 4 pills down, I wondered why they couldn't just increase the active ingredient into 1 capsule. I realised from past random observations, that the Chinese tend to believe More is Good in medicine. Pills have always been fat, if you visit a hospital before the doctor sees you you have to get an IV drip, they don't have small tablets the size of a handphone button. It's always about the grand gestures, as if I'll have a peace of mind when I feel the capsules sticking inside my throat.

All this waste, and what for? I am still skeptical, not because of prejudice, but because I read under Side Effects for the pills: 尚不明确 "Things are not clear as of now." Fucking fortune cookie.