Caving or should I say spelunking?

This was actually a week ago but I figured I should write something before it all disappears from my (fairly short-term) memory... already it's fading fast.

Before we went down under we had to make sure we didn't take in excess liquids and carry water with us, which always freaks me out cuz of a desert hike long, long ago...

After donning our trench coats, helmuts, and gloves we were so ready to go! Going into the cave entrance was a sharp 10-ft drop with not much to see. I had to basically use my feet to feel for the footholds (and listen to my comrade before me)... after slipping a few times, I thought I could either be really brave and just jump down and pray for the best (courageous Chris) or be a wuzz and climb back through the entrance (cowardly Chris). Instead I did find the footholds in no time but thought: If the beginning was this hard what's the rest like?

The Play Doh-like mud down below was very sticky and it was during a short break our beloved instructor Ely, in his monotonous yet authoritative, a.k.a. National Geographic voice, told us that the mud contains pieces of silica and let's not throw it around cuz it may scratch your cornea. Oh great! (he also told us many times later that if we're not careful we might fall down a hole and run out of oxygen and die, but that's nothing really)

It really didn't get that much tougher but there were plenty to bring out the best of us. It's down underground that I realized hey it's not that great to be tall at times. There were crevices the size of a basketball hoop and thankfully my 32" waist held up. If it were a year ago, I would still be stuck down there right now.

The hoop that I just mentioned actually led into a small room where we were basically smelling each other for 5 min and see if we were claustrophobic. Thankfully no one went crazy during that time and started wielding machete's, you might know who I'm talking about.

It was amazing to look at all the stalagmites and stalactites up-close-and-personal, breathe the 53 degrees fresh cave air, swim 200 ft below ground (instead of taking the rubber raft across)--A cool refreshing 40 F, climb a 70-ft tall ladder, and learning how to do yoga underground--sort of.

Foot massage experience...

hmmm... so if one+ week of subjecting my body to Chinese herbs didn't make me a believer yet of the powers of Oriental healing, i went with Auntie T to a Chinese foot doctor... now u wonder what i'm doing, drinking awful smelling Chinese herbs (actually i think it's not bad, just a tad too salty) and going to a "masseuse"... no she's a doctor, ok?

i guess it doesn't hurt to try it out... it's only what, 70 bucks. i do make more than a grad student now so why not?

i first had to soak my feet in some hot herbal concuction this Chinese lady prepared... my comment to her was: "what a waste of Chinese herbs" but then i realized this is like her job and that it wasn't really a waste. i guess it's better to massage Chinese herb-smelling feet all day...

about 5 min into the massage i guess i was a firm believer... by rubbing my feet and feeling for bumps here and there, she told me practically every problem i've had since birth and how to get rid of them... i have to say i was very impressed... she also told me how to get rid of most of them.

let me give an example. she told me i like to cross my right leg on top of my left. i was like "what are u talking about?" then today i had to stop myself from doing exactly what she said, because apparently the muscles on the right side of my body are super tight...

her conclusion: i'm like a car that needs a lot of small maintenance done on it... no biggies, just a lot of little things...

hmmmmm... sounds awfully like my real-life car to me... except it costs a lot more than 70 bucks.

if u're also looking for some fine-tuning in life, i highly recommend trying it out... of course u have to find a good doctor.

Chinese herbal experience

Herbal Meds 002
Originally uploaded by chrisliu22

This was the last day of my 10-day Chinese herbal experience, so I thought I might write a few words...

About 2 weeks ago, I got sick. Just the regular cold, you know. I had the fan on and window open, and you can never guess but California actually does get hella chilly at night... :P

Auntie T managed to convince me to go see a Chinese traditional doctor. My slight begrudging reluctance at first got a snarly, nasty glance from her which she quickly used to her advantage, and started to coach me on the virtues of Chinese herbs....

Before long we were there. The doctor looked like... what I expected of a Chinese traditional doctor.. and the long rows of Chinese herbs placed neatly in urns (not to mention the smell) were well within my expectations. In fact, so was the messy interior...

The whole diagnosis took about 10 seconds literally whereby he told me that I have all kinds of things I need to worry about... He told me my body is in nuclear meltdown (basically burning fuel very fast). His words worked better than any Jolt or Mountain Diew I could've had and got me paying 110% attention. I would say, all in all, a good sales pitch. He also knew I was hungry all the time, and actually I was eating about 2x my regular diet those few days, it was a bit scary. So anyhow he was right on in that regard. Hats off to him ;)

Anyhow the next day I went back with Auntie T to pick up my 'prescriptions' and here are the most interesting looking Chinese herbal meds I've ever seen.

You put one of these plastic packages in hot water, wait a few minutes, take it out, open seal, and drink up. That's it.

I finished taking ten days of this stuff and I'm still alive. I think I feel a lot better but that could also be cuz my cold's gone. Who knows!?

Good thing is he got me to start cooking brown rice and eat my fruits and veggies.... =)

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