I’m sort of a food snob when it comes to Gavin.

I insist on premium labels for him and prefer to give him organic rice, vegetables and fruits.  All his food are separately packed and prepared using his own set of kitchen utensils and I only use organic soya sauce and olive oil to cook his food.  He doesn’t consume prepackaged or junk food altogether.  I even snub at those readily available cod liver oil which I used to take when younger and will only buy him Nordic Naturals arctic cod liver oil for his consumption. 

Yup, I’m a stickler for all things organic and natural when it comes to his food. 

Recently I started Gavin on honey and I bought the Nuzeabee wild organic type.  Although it is organic, I somehow felt it isn’t good enough since it’s mass produced.  So I decided I should get him a premium honey since I’m giving it to him daily as a drink.  When I came across Manuka honey, I was convinced this is THE honey for him.

I have to admit that I was shocked when I saw its price tag.  Never in the world did I expect honey to be so costly.  But having heard so many good reviews about active Manuka honey, I got it despite it’s hefty price.

Those who swear by this honey will already know that the sweet nectar tapped from the white Manuka flowers create a very rare and extraordinary therapeutic grade honey known as UMF active Manuka honey.  You will be interested to know that these flowers only bloom for a short six weeks in New Zealand and it takes more than two million Manuka flowers to make just one pound of this golden Manuka honey.  Each year, only less than two percent of all of the Manuka honey is considered active enough to be certified UMF, which explains why it is so costly.

Scientific studies have shown the anti-bacterial activity of UMF active Manuka honey to be more than 100 fold stronger compared to other honey. This sweet treat even has the ability to kill antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.  The honey research unit in New Zealand endorses a UMF rating of 10 or higher as being suitable for therapeutic purposes. These include treatment of stomach ulcers, gastritis and topically for wounds, burns, soar throat, acne, eczema and cracked skin, to promote hydration and eliminate phlegm.

It isn’t easy to get Gavin to try out new vitamins or health supplements. (Btw, I’m still struggling to get him to drink the croc meat soup.) Since he likes honey, then he should be given one with a better grade.  The moderate food snob in me believes that I’ll gain more in the long term if this improves his health.  However, try telling it to my mum or in-laws and I’m sure to get a earful.  They will dismiss these as extravagance especially since their children grew up without the need for these stuff. 

However, I like to think that when it comes to my child, better a food snob than a food slob! 

The thought of visiting a pub in the afternoon has never crossed my mind.  For the simple reason that most pubs are only opened from the evenings.  Well, at least here in Singapore. 

Imagine my surprise yesterday to learn that my favourite Muddy Murphy’s is actually open all day long!  Whoo hoo!  So we dropped by after running some errands in town.

This used to be our favourite haunt until I got pregnant.  It serves the best Kilkenny beer and great finger licking food like calamari rings and potato wedges in crab dip.  We love the ambience and especially like to plonk ourselves on the grandfather rocking chairs.   

YAY!  Irish pubs are so great.  I don’t have to wait till nightfall to get my beer and food!  I’m gonna drop my afternoon tea sessions to come here instead!

When I was young, I sworn to myself that I will never ever SWEAR. Don’t ask me why I made such a promise because I don’t even know the answer. All I can say is that I’ve made a lot of silly promises back then, one of which was never to be married. Look what happened.

So as expected, I never lived up to my swearing promise.

Today I have such an indecent foul mouth and I spout all sorts of profanities. When I’m angry. When I’m irritated. When I’m bitchy. And even when I’m bored. In fact, my husband and I like to swear at one another. Mostly for fun but sometimes we hurl the most vicious obscenities at each other when we’re extremely mad too.

You would never imagine, looking at me, the type of expletives that I use. Not just the standard English four-letter words. Nah. That’s so mild. I am the Hokkien vulgar queen and the language I use are truly offensive. They are usually those unique concoctions uttered by the local Ah Beng hooligans to describe sexual organs and sexual acts.

However, unless I’m provoked, I rarely curse publicly. I hardly even curse on my blog unless I’m ranting. Thankfully, I find it impolite, inappropriate and very uncool. To me, cursing is just a way to vent. Thus, I only curse in privacy, confined mostly to the four walls in my home.

So I didn’t think much about my cursing since it’s pretty much harmless. But uh ah…I WAS SO WRONG!

My jaw almost dropped to the ground when I heard Gavin uttered the swear word “Nabei” a few times the other day cheekily. O MAI GAWD! We have been using so much profanities in front of him that he’s picking them up effortlessly. Even though I consider the word mild and it does sound the same as nabe, the Japanese word for hot pot stew, I won’t know where to put my face if he ever says “Nabei” to his grandparents or teachers. This is definitely NOT funny!

I’m therefore making a tedious effort to revert to MILD CURSE WORDS. Erm, let me see. Words like “hell”, “shit”, “damn”, “cock”, “bitch”, “bastard”, “asshole”. NO? Still too strong? DARN! Looks like I can only use “basket” and “fish” then!

But seriously, I really do need to watch my mouth in front of him.

Just when we thought he has recovered after his nebulising therapy last week, he suddenly developed a bad running nose on Sunday night.  That, by the way, was his second therapy in a month.

So off to the doctor we went again yesterday.  No nebuliser this time but I was dismayed to learn that there’s a high possibility that Gavin may have asthma because he appears to have a weak lung that is proned to frequent cough and wheezing.  Something he might have inherited from his dad who has a bad case of sinus. 

Anyway, the boy has lost quite a bit of weight and is looking rather pale.  While the medication prescibed have cleared most of his symptoms, they’re really doing nothing to strengthen his weakened constitution.  I need to do something to improve his health quickly! 

I heard some years ago that crocodile meat is a centuries old Chinese cure for asthma and respiratory problems and I’m keen to try it.  In fact, one of my colleagues had mentioned it to me last year but I was hesitant until I read an entry from Jan of My Lovely Rays who has made this soup for her children recently.  According to Jan, the childcare teacher recommended it for her kids’ persistent coughing.

Whatever it is, I’m so vexed and at my wits end about Gavin’s frequent flu bouts that I’m going to give this a try.  I was told that it is harmless even if it doesn’t help solve the problem.   

The medical hall I frequent suggested that I add some fresh meat to the dried crocodile meat, boil it with wolfberries, dioscroea opposita (huai san) and dried orange peel to get rid of the fishy smell.  I could add cordyceps if I wish at a later stage. 

I’ll wait till he’s off his current medication before I make this for him. Hopefully, it will be THE miracle to solving his current health problem.

Gavin used to gulp down all his medicine without problems.  Well, that is until last week. 

These two must really taste awful because he calls them “dirty medicine.”  No way could we get him to take them.  It was such a challenge especially because one of them is an antibiotic he has to complete.  We resorted to all sorts of tricks and threats but nothing worked.  He would cry so hard till he vomitted all his food and milk.  So in exasperation, I called the clinic and asked if I could stop giving him the antibiotic. 

The good thing that came out of this medi-drama is that we now have another weapon to hold against him, on top of the rectangle bear.  If he craps up, all we need to say is “later we’ll give you dirty medicine” and he’ll be angelically cooperative again. 

Ha! I suppose all medication work wonders.  It’s just a matter of being able to administer them the right way.