Chinese Herbal Medicine vs Western Pill Oriented Medicine

I came across this odd little article about FDA's approval on 'Lizard Spit' as a treatment for diabetes. Article

....the immediate image for me is this has to be part of some 'Herbal Medicine'. As I was growing up, I've seen some pretty weird things that go into 'medicinal soup'...ask me about it person...and I'll be glad to go into gory details. However, many people regardless of ethnicity thinks its kind of weird and odd and a little hokey or even witch-like when people use 'herbal medicine' instead of taking miracle in pill.

I know a couple of my extended family members...definitely turns away from any medicine that are not part of the Western world. They reject everything that's not westernized, especially the 'herbal knowledge'...but all of a sudden, I see this article about 'Lizard Spit'...and I think back of all the 'brewing' my mom does in her kitchen when I was growing up...and um, sorry, hands-down, herbal medicine was way ahead of its time. Just because the FDA approves it...doesn't mean that all of a sudden this is something new and inventiv. It only means that it took a heck of a long time for the government to go through its process and hoops while everybody else in the other side of the world is already going through the next phase of treating diabetes.

The cynic in me just reads this article as...oh great...now the FDA is going to use the 'chemical formula' or its brand name as 'Byetta'. It's all about marketing....give a diabetic 2 person who grew up in the western part of the world a lizard and tell him/her to squeeze some spit out from it for medicine...the universal response would be like "EW...." [don't worry, I'll also have the same reaction]...yet give a person from the eastern part of the world....they'll be like "Hey, thanks for the freebie!".

Don't know where I'm really going with this...but just want to point out the differences in culture and I'm also tired of the 'Miracle Pill' society that we live in today. You have a problem? Take a pill. Whether it be a diet pill, depression pill, sugar pill, etc.

Sunday Brunch With Our Best Friends

Well, it is Sunday...bright and early I woke up. This time...the weather was a little cold and wet...sky was threatening to rain. But it didn't faze me a bit. Today, I have made a date with our longest and closest buddies and their 3 adorable children. Haven't seen them for only 2 weeks...but still. I like visiting with them and giving their kids lots of love and attention.

The Entrance
I ran the doorbell...then heard lots of little footsteps stomping away. Then I hear a girl's voice saying my name from upstairs. The door creeks open and I was greeted by their 5 year old son telling me proudly"everybody's naked and are taking a bath...that's why I'm opening the door" and steps aside to let me into the house...then proceeds to run back upstairs. I gave him a large smile...and demanded "where are my hugs and kisses?". He quickly turns back and ran into my arms and squeezed me tight...and then planted a loving kiss on my cheek. Sigh! Didn't really want to let him go...but he was already skooting back down. I set him free...and off he went upstairs to take his bath.

The Simple Request
As I showed myself to the kitchen...it felt just like home. These friends of mine have watched me and my husband grow from being a naive teenagers to hopefully...sensible and responsible adults that we are today. So much history are between us...and we share everything freely with no holds bar. While I was making our brunch coffee in the kitchen...their son shouts my name from upstairs and simply requests "Um...can you make breakfast for us?" in his boyish innocence ...I chuckled and replied with a smile "No....you are making breakfast for me today"....his simple response was "Oh"...then runs off to get changed.

One By One & More
They all bounced down the stairs...from their oldest son to their middle daughter to the littlest baby. All rushing towards me to give me hugs and kisses! Sigh! So cute and adorable! Then our friends came down and immediately started working on the brunch...it was delicous....Omelette and Hash Browns with bottlemless coffee..Mmmm! Just what I needed! Good food and good company!

As we were eating and gabbing...the middle daughter pulls on my sleeve to get my attention. Then shyly looks on the floor for a brief moment, as if to gather courage...then seriously looking into my eyes...and whispers a simple question asking when my husband will be coming back and why does he take so long. My heart just melted...the kids are definitely missing my hubby. He's the one they always cling to when we visit...his attention is the one they demand. Sigh! I simply replied...next weekend :-)...and he'll be back up here to play with you all. A smile crosses her face with that tiny reassurance that my husband will be back home soon and she bounces away with her brother to play.

Catching Up

My last 'single' Saturday night was spent at my good friends. I met the wife through work and also through exercise classes....and I met the hubby through the wife :-) . They are one of the most genuine and generous couples I've met and since I haven't seen them since February...it was due time to meet up again....so they graciously invited me over for an evening of gabbing and home-made clam Linguine.

What did I contribute to the extravagant dinner? I baked a chocolate lava cake (thanks to Betty Crocker!) hee hee!

I arrived at their house promptly at 5:30pm so that I have enough time to talk and chat with my girlfriend thinking dinner and stuff would be over by 8:00pm at the latest. Her poor hubby was working out in the yard all by himself...doing their vegetable garden. Wow! He also laid his own flagstone path on both sides of their house. It was such a nice backyard! Something that pops out from HGTV! So while the hubby slaves away...us girls stayed inside and chatted to catch up with what's new and what's going on.

With us girls gabbing...time really flies. Little before I know...it was already past 10:00pm and both of us were turning into pumpkins....we have been talking for over 4 hours! Wow...so much to catch up on!

So...I guess for my temporary single life, I was able to have time to spend with my girlfriends...just to see how they are doing and vice versa. I'm just so lucky to have a such a tight group of girlfriends that care about each other a lot!