Sushi is awesome.

Day-old sushi is still awesome.

Multiple day-old sushi is not so awesome.

Having returned from a weekend trip, I noticed a plate of sushi sitting in the food dispenser. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I gobbled the sushi down lickety-split.

I should have seen the warning signs. The browning avocado on top, the hardened rice, the chewy texture of the shrimp–all signs of spoiled food. Five hours later, I learned to regret my hasty actions.

The stomach pains were horrifically painful. I could barely walk to the bathroom and once I reached there, my body did not cooperate with my plan. In pain and feeling delirious, I turned to the magical miracle drug to cure my ills.

Since my first stomach ache when I was but a toddler, my parents would give me medicinal Chinese remedy which looked like BB pellets in a canister. The remedy would always give me relief. I always keep a box of the stuff in the medicine cabinet for just these occasions.

The remedy did not disappoint. Mere moments after downing two tubes of the stuff, my stomach settled and I felt fine.

The English name on the carton call the medicine, Po Chai Pills. The medicine can be purchased in almost any Chinatown medicine shop without a prescription. The canisters come in a small tube in a box which are housed in a larger pink box along with nine or so other canisters. There is a portrait of some balding Asian dude wearing Mao-like clothing on the box.

I would totally recommend this to anyone who have stomach problems.