Cough drops are not candy!

In both China and Singapore, cough drops can be found in the candy aisle. True, some kinds are no better than candy, but God help the kid who chooses menthol flavor over cherry.

Today my friend Karen and I took our kids to a nearby Depavali tent sale (more in future posts) to get their hands painted with henna. The henna lady was gone, so we wandered around looking at cool Indian-style skirts and shoes (I got a very fun pair). A woman came to us, recognizing that the crying little white girl must belong to the only foreigners there. Megan had stopped a few stalls back and was crying for me. When I ran to comfort her, the woman offered her own comfort - a Vicks Vapor drop in original menthol flavor. While I appreciated the sentiment I thought, "Do their kids really like these?" I put it in her pocket. She wanted to eat it later, but I told her it was "spicy" which it what she calls anything peppermint-like. I wasn't sure how to explain it to her but that was close enough. I feel a bit of a sore throat coming on too so I thought I'd save it for its true purpose.