Once upon a time, three adventurous and unsuspecting friends named Lhooh, ChehCheh and Niao-Miao (the names are changed to protect their secret identities!) went to Beijing to see the great and famous sights of the fabled city.
On the second day, Niao-Miao had unfortunately not been able to get rid of her toothache which had plagued her, so ChehCheh asked Lhooh to go to the pharmacy to help the ailing Niao-Miao, since he was the one only one in the trio who could understand the subtle nuances of the city's ancient language.
Lhooh ambled off confidently and went to ask the pharmacist for medicine for the tooth.
The conversation somehow went this way (no thanks to my imagination after it was retold by the leading character).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pharmacist (nods sagely and brings out a box of medicine):
Where is the pain located, Foreigner-Who-Looks-Chinese?...is it in the tooth itself or is it the gum surrounding the tooth?
Lhooh a.k.a. Foreigner-Who-Looks-Chinese:
uhmm.....I am unsure... O Great-Pharmacist-of-this-Pharmacy.
Pharmacist a.k.a. Great-Pharmacist-of-this-Pharmacy (looking bored):
......
Lhooh a.k.a. FWLC (deciding quickly):
It may be the tooth itself, O Great-Pharmacist-of-this-Pharmacy.
Pharmacist a.k.a. GPOTP:
Well then, Foreigner-Who-Can-Understand-Chinese, take this.. (hands over the box of tooth medicine she had taken out earlier)....it is for the pain in the tooth you have said.
Lhooh a.k.a. FWLC (curious):
Great-Pharmacist...of...the...uhm....well....GPOTP..
GPOTP (looking more bored):
......hmm?
Lhooh a.k.a. FWLC (clears throat): .
If this is for pain in the tooth ...may I also have the one which is for the pain in the gums? just in case?
Pharmacist a.k.a. you-know-the-drill by now:
Oh, it works on both the tooth and gum.
* Eh? then why did you ask in the first place? *
* double-toink! *
DISCLAIMER: the tales being shared by the writer in this series of blogs, while true, have been admittedly exaggerated for humorous purposes. It is not meant to imply anything derogatory about the Chinese culture or people.
LOL Such is the essence of life. Nice one, Cat. =))
ReplyDeleteOh, I see. 55555
ReplyDelete:-) and all coz of my toothache...the guy had a toink-time :-)
ReplyDeletehihihi!!! this is just hilarious!
ReplyDeletesorry about the toothache...you should have gone to the dentist prior to the visit...you would have enjoyed it better...=)
hi Meann...yup..I visited the dentist and had a temporary crown put in prior to the trip..
ReplyDeleteso, painkillers na lang every day while on the trip as well as the tooth medicine Loo had gotten for me...nakaraos din! haha!
really a blessing to have these two peeps with me...
yan crown pag bago masakit talaga..so still had a wonderful time Beijing...
ReplyDeleteNiamao..when did ever a gum would ache like tootache..?I wonder why she asks this way..
nakakaaliw ka!
hahaha
ReplyDeletehey Cath!!! enjoy your trip!!!
pasalubong!!! hehehe
Hello Fran, that is the Chinese way :-)
ReplyDeletehello John, it seems Chinese way of life was more complicatedly circuitous than I was led to believe :-)
ReplyDelete3 travellers walked into a hostel/hotel in Beijing and standing side by side at the reception, ask for a triple room. "And how many of you will be staying?" ***triple toink***
ReplyDeleteYes, I hope you don't suddenly need medicine on your visit.
ReplyDelete55555
I wonder why? is this because they just want to be sure?
ReplyDeleteis it because they are too shy to ask if we are just asking for another group of people who will use the room?
or because they want to give a toink-moment?
LOL!
lucky I actually packed some analgesic and painkiller..but not enough to last me...
ReplyDeleteto be fair though, the tooth medicine really helped...I was able to do a lot of walking and some eating (though I don't think I pigged out)...
Toink nga! Ano itsura ng pain killer from the pharmacist? Tablet? Capsule? Ointment? Paste?
ReplyDeletehello Nonzki,
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was the crown itself though..more of an infection in the old tooth which had root canal already...not all of the infection was probably gotten rid of..
oh well, antibiotics na lang when in Phils...
as for the pain, and being serious this time :-) my theory is that it could be the pharmacist was referring to swollen gums versus the pain being deep inside (such as at the root of the teeth)....we may think its all one big pain though...as toothache really makes me wimpy :-)
naku Mian..sorry, pero tapos na..hahaha!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it though, very fun having an adventure (nauna kami ni Che kc by ourselves on Sunday coz of some rescheduling) but we were able to get on a cab and look for a hotel and check in on our own (walk-in lang kc kami coz fully booked yung first hostel choice we had).
as for pasalubong...everything is made in China, why don't we just go to the department store here and get something to eat..white rabbit candy perhaps? ehehe!
the meds for the tooth was in capsule form...I was to take 2 capsules 3 times a day...
ReplyDeleteI even thought wildly for one moment that what I was going to be given was that brown, dark, pill (if you ask me, it reminds me of goat droppings urgh!) which I remember my half-Chinese ex-bf had said was good for toothaches...ngek..good thing it wasn't the one!
...what's the other half?
ReplyDeletesisterhood!!you should be a writer--promise!!!hilariously written!what a great time even when you're having a toothache!
ReplyDeletemaybe the receptionist considered me half only?toink!
ReplyDeleteI think half-Pinoy...
ReplyDeletepersonally I think he was pure Chinese :-)
thanks for the compliment sistah!
ReplyDeleteall those things which happened to us during this trip were certainly more fun than I had anticipated...regardless of toothache and protesting feet *grin*
I also have a funny anecdote about meds that happened in our recent trip to China. Here goes:
ReplyDeleteHugz had LBM during the AYACC conference we attended in Guiyang, China, but he forgot to bring Imodium or Lomotil. So I went down to the conference secretariat to ask them to get some meds for him. Unfortunately, there was no English-speaking staff at the secretariat at that time. So we communicated through sign language. I held my stomach and acted like it was aching. They thought they understood and so they told me they will bring the meds to our room (this, through sign language and acting, too).
About 4 hours after taking the meds, Hugz still had not been relieved. But happily, our Chinese friend had already come back to the hotel. I complained to her and some other Chinese friends that Boboy still hadn't been relieved. When they looked at the meds given to him, they all burst out laughing. The pills were for nausea and vomiting!
I was told, "You should have asked for diarrhea pills, not for stomachache or vomiting!" Hehehe, I think it was my fault. I should have acted out going to the toilet!
Based on your story, I imagine I can talk Chinese and had asked a pharmacist which med to take for stomach trouble. The conversation could go this way:
ReplyDeleteChinese-specaking Gwiz: Can you give me medicine for stomach trouble?
Pharmacist: What kind of stomach trouble? One that goes out the mouth or one that goes out the butt?
Gwiz: Uhhhm, the butt.
Pharmacist: Okay, here are the pills for it.
Gwiz: Uhhhm, what is for the one that goes out the mouth?
Pharmacist (disdainfully): The same one, of course!
LOL!
papano mo yan e i-act..hahaha..LOL!
ReplyDeleteyou mean, they gave him morning sickness pills? for pregnant women?
ReplyDelete*gasp*
*imagination runs wild*
ReplyDeletepwede naman siguro to act out diarrhea...with matching sounds...hehehe!
maybe if you had acted out going to the toilet, they'd have given you toilet paper instead of medicine *grin*
*ROTFL with tears in eyes*
ReplyDeleteI can actually imagine this would be how it would really go....
Moral of the story: Dapat pala pag nagpunta ka sa China magaling ka sa game na Charade!
ReplyDeleteHehehe.
ReplyDeleteThe thread of this Beijing post is vintage Kayumanguito. LOL! I miss you guys! =)
ReplyDeleteAsan sila Jack, Marie, Choie, Pearl, Bert, Oselle and the others......to add to this zany exchange?!
si Jack nasa Germany
ReplyDeletesi Choie nasa Facebook
si Pearl nasa trabaho
si BNK nasa gmail ko..hehe.. (i.e. I regularly receive emails from him but not posts in Multiply)
si Oselle...teka nga..san nga ba si Oselle lately? nag habol sa bday greetings kay Marie and Kaiyen but haven't seen hide or hair of her (which is strange coz I don't usually see hide or hair of Oselle)...
kung sumama pa sila..I don't exactly know where this thread may end up...as it is now, we are at the "toilet talk" *grin*
kung sama pa namin si Sir B and Ms. G, I would have asked them to draw what we wanted - be it food, medicines (teka, teka...oops)....
ReplyDeleteAh the bored shop workers...Gotta love China. I never had this sort of experience when I lived there however with the pointless questions. However, I couldn't leave the apartment without somebody trying to sell me a "Rolex."
ReplyDeletehahaha! you must have looked like a "Rolex"-type of customer...
ReplyDeleteHahahahahah!
ReplyDeleteCaloyski, you should have been with us, then it would have added to the hilarity if you also asked for some medicine..ano kaya ang version na naman...
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm... you can easily make a story even without me there! Hahahah!
ReplyDeletehahaha! honga, sa yo, gawin natin diarrhea..may nakita na akong kwento from Ms. G eh..bagay sa yo...hahaha!
ReplyDelete