Met Kailiang for lunch today. All stressed up over housemanship. Poor boy. Upon his request, we head over to movies to catch X-Men. I enjoyed it pretty much :) Its one of those series that I watched when I was a kid. Of course, it was a lot less gory back then. So I guess its a different experience watching it in the movies, and yet, with a sense of familiarity. But nothing too profound about the experience I must admit. Just enjoyable :)

Headed over to the hairdresser’s before the trip. This is me in my short short crew cut. 

And highlight of the day came from the most unexpected place - Eu Yan Sang. Stepped into the chinese medicine store and this semi gallery caught my eye. Check this out:

$50,000 for a root?! This obviously puts me to shame.. I doubt any store would put me up on sale for that much. It dawned on me - I’m worth less than a plant root. What a shame. This root must be a million years old. You know they say the value of the root grows with age. But won’t living things decay? Turn mouldy.. Unless treated with preservatives - in which case, should not warrant a higher price tag.

And then I saw this..

Okay this is just wrong.. The authenticity card is too small! Traditional old folks can’t read it!

NO - of course I’m referring to the price of this megazillion year-old ginseng root! Now this isn’t funny.. you almost get the feeling the price is as such only because the number ‘8’ seems more auspicious than $60,888 or $70,888. Now if I were to decide, I’ll add a mini-me ginseng to the monstrosity and put a $88,888 price tag instead. The more auspicious the better it seems. May you live to a thousand.

For the linguistically challenged, the card at the bottom reads:

Bad-ass gin eluded captivity for centuries. Alas, in the shadow of darkness, the arms of justice caught up with the serial criminal. It was rumoured that at the scene of arrest, gin remained rooted as fingermen surrounded him.

And I realized that all this time, the holy cordeceps soup that my mum brewed for me was more like larvae soup. You know, I always wondered why those things looked like worms in my bowl. But my mum had always reassured me its a plant, that looks like a worm, and thus it’s name in chinese. Benefit to my mum, she knew no better. But I should have trusted my instincts. Argh. Worm/larvae soup. 

So the man helpfully explained that Cordyceps comes from the larvae of bats which tunnel their way into the ground and interact/get subsumed by a certain fungus. And people go unearthening the remains of these two organisms that have become one. Maybe his story may sound a little distorted, but its as clear as day that Cordyceps is no plant. 

Chinese people are.. .. It makes you wonder how, by any chance, would anyone think of unearthing bat larvae + fungus to test for medicinal value. They probably can rattle off that tadpole and beetle paste doesn’t help with fever. They have tried it all. 

Ignorance is bliss.