Puked

Had a fantastic lunch at Pita & Olives. Then the friends wanted to go up to the foodcourt to look at options for dessert. Walked by a Chinese medicine shop that was quite big and cooked herbal potions within the shop. Very strong smells wafted out. And unfortunately, we were walking too slowly; I was laughing at someone's joke and inhaled deeply.

The smell of herbs hit me like a ton of bricks. Literally staggered. Within five seconds, bile rose and I couldn't contain the hurl. Lunch spilt onto the shiny floor in a big gooey puddle. OMG. I was so so embarassed. The cleaners at the foodcourt came out to clear the mess I made.

Really couldn't help it. The dastardly smell of herbs on the boil, is similar to the smells of flour, sugar and butter baking in the oven or in the pan, like opened durians with yellow seeds sneakily lying in their shells, or even soy beans in the saucepan being churned into milk. Dislike them as a child and it never got better. To me, these are an absolute stench; worse when I react badly to accidentally ingested herbs in soups or whatever. Nothing wonderful. The smells induce nausea, and when kena-ed just after a meal, the puking is almost unavoidable.

The man laughed. His Kryptonite is the smell of 'tea leaf eggs' (茶叶蛋), especially those bubbling in a pot of stock. He runs a mile from them. Biggest reason why he avoids night markets in Taiwan and Singapore. Hahahah. I totally get it, of course. The friends were slightly stunned to see the puke just roaring out. Oh well. For two girls, they were completely unsurprised. They've seen this. I had puked in one's kitchen's sink when I couldn't get to her toilet in time. She forgot that I was coming over as a dense loaf of banana bread was happily rising in her oven.

What a waste of a good lunch.