Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Of Jackfruits and Jackasses

"Monkey's back!" said Mae over the phone. "He's scaling the dressing table." Jesse's been down with something since Saturday. Sure we managed the fever, but the cough, cold and sore throat was quite another kettle of fish.

I spent much of last night staying up watching my son breathe - or in this case, struggle to breathe. His nose was congested, and breathing through his mouth only agitated his throat causing him to cough, which in turn further tormented his already swollen tonsils.

In the end, we caught hold of him and administered a couple of drops of decongestant to ease his suffering. He kicked and screamed and cried, until he cried himself to sleep. It broke my heart into a million pieces watching him like that.

This afternoon, I snucked off from work to go hunting for Nangkas. Apparently, according to Ye Old Wives' Medical Journal, the jackfruit is an excellent remedy for cough - as long as you remove the flesh directly from the fruit without washing off the gooey stuff. Truth be told, I suspect this story to be an urban legend but I figured, heck, if the story turns out to be crap, we could still enjoy a delicious serving of Nangka. Besides, it's not like Jesse's not already on medication.

So, despite being fairly well-informed on childhood sickness and remedies, like a couple of jackasses, Mae and I found ourselves in the middle of Kepong chasing after an old wives' tale, if only so our precious little monkey and his longsuffering parents could get some much needed sleep tonight.

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to find the damn fruit. Even though Mae tells me our boy is doing heaps better, I still can't shake this feeling of helplessness and defeat. *sigh* Where the heck are all the *^%@ jackfruits?!?!

12 comments:

  1. Things tend to get missing/ not available when you need it the most.
    Just like when I was looking for a bath towel, there was no where to be found. -.-l
    Gatorade works better than 100 plus. At least, gatorade doesn't have gas, more comfortable to the tummy.

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  2. They always say "starve a fever, feed a cold". So he should be hungweeee again. :) Nangka ah? Eh, can get the ready-peeled ones at fruits stalls during lunch hour, no? Hmm...but you're right. Was at the night market the other night looking for fruits and I didn't come across any nangka. Maybe not in season la. It's durian and longan season.

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  3. Kepong don't have meh? maybe it's not the season gua :(
    I suggest the Scot's Emulsion to ease the throat and try letting Jesse sleep on his sides to help his breathing :)

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  4. got a humidifier? no? nvm, get him into the bathroom, turn up the water heater..steam up the room, let his running nose do a 4 x 100 dash.
    don't worry la..the day he starts school..that's when it really starts..
    you do know that there is at least 500 variants of the common cold eh? so your lil one has to start somewhere...n build up his immunity...

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  5. i used to hear that vicks vaporub is good for children. rub it on the chest, throat and below nose - that will ease breathing. OTOH i also heard later on that vicks vaporub is no good because of some harmful ingredient. dunno lah what to believe.
    i have not heard of nangka being good remedy for cough. all i heard aabout nangka is that it is very 'cooling'.
    hey no need to go so susah hunting for nangka. just grab some grapes. i read somewhere on the net that grapes are good remedy for cold and cough. squeeze the grapes for its juices and mix it with honey.

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  6. Hi James & Mae
    Started reading your blog some time back, really funny & interesting. We have a kid as well a few months younger than Jesse. And boy can we relate! Adventures and mis-adventures aside being parents is (cough!cough!ahak!) is one of the best thing in life :-)
    Take care and hv a good life.
    Claudine

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  7. james,
    there's a stall at the roadside of Bdr Sri Permaisuri Cheras (right before Plaza dwitasik & near the tasik sri permaisuri cheras) that sells nangka almost everyday. fresh honey nangka. u can try to find it there.
    Hope jesse is feeling better now.

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  8. We just had 2 nangkas a week ago. Will check with my mother. Probably you can try your luck at the pasar borong in Selayang.

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  9. I always felt Gatorade's a little too sweet, Jason. But will check it out again. Thanks.
    Can't find it when you need it, Primrose. Murphy's Law or something. :)
    Egghead, the boy sleeps in all the weird positions. He's almost never on his side.
    Get him in the bathroom in the middle of his sleep, MOTT? Boy, that would really piss him off. Hahahha!!!
    Thanks for the grape tip, Lucia. Sounds delish. Will try that someday.
    Thanks for dropping by Claudine. :)
    Thanks Kakyong. He's all better now, otherwise I would drive to Cheras. But thankfully, I did manage to find some near the office a day after I posted this!
    Hmm... never thought of Pasar Borong, Gina. *sigh*

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  10. nangka? i have a few trees behind my house. :P
    i don't think it cures cough. i'll be coughing away if i eat nangka!

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  11. Well Miche, it is an old wives' tale. :)

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  12. I know this is a little late but in case you need any jackass fruits. I passs it everyday at segambut and if you want that sticky white thing on it the makcik can leave it on for you. Good as a fly catcher too if you didn't knw. Next time you lookin for funny stuff call uncle jeff. Wann some ass...call uncle lanz or ah fook.

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