“Hey Ken, wanna grab some lunch?” asked Robert, my classmate.
“I’m alright mate. I have got my lunch already.” I replied.
“Bro, tell me, seriously…” Robert asked while moving towards me slowly.
“Do you really like Yoshinoya that much or do you own the company so you eat this every Wednesday?”
“Long story, it all started when I was 10 years old…” I was going to tell Robert my story before he interrupted me.
“Save it bro, we are going to have sushi, are you sure that you don’t want us to grab you a piece of salmon or two?”
“I think I’m alright, but raw salmon is actually bad for health so you shouldn’t …”
“Alright, alright, Dr. Lee thank you for your advice, see you later then!” Robert said while waving goodbye to me.
“You will never know unless you try it.” I said in a low voice, looking at the udon in front of me and I started to think back to 8 years before.
Before the age of 10, I was considered a very healthy boy as I didn’t get sick easily. I used to think that being young was a thing for me to spare. When it comes to my favourite food, most of them are so-called “carcinogens” including sausages, luncheon meat, fries and especially sushi with raw salmon. Another thing was that I liked to play sports straight after I had a meal as I thought that I could have more energy after the meal.
“My mum told me not to exercise immediately after eating, and salmon is not good for you!” shouted James, my best friend during primary school.
“Alright, alright, Dr. Chan, I got it, okay?” I replied in a sarcastic tone, putting a slice of raw salmon in my mouth and swallowing it .
“Cristiano Ronallll…” while I was doing my iconic celebration again, my stomach suddenly ached, it felt like having thousands of worms crawling in my stomach.
Pak... the sound shocked all my friends including James and they all saw me fall down and start vomiting.
“Ken, are you okay? What happened?” asked Timo, one of my friends. My face started to turn pale, and I used all my strength to say the word “Amm…bula…nce” so that they finally called the ambulance.
While I was on the ambulance, the rescue workers gave me some medication to help me reduce my pain. To my surprise, I did feel a lot better and I started to feel relaxed. When I arrived at hospital, I had no idea why I was tied on a bed with no pillow until I realized that I would be undergoing a body check there.
A nurse came in with a big needle, looking at me and said “Count to 3 then you will be fine, son,” her nice smile and soft voice was really working so I actually trusted her. I then started counting.
“One, two and ahhhh!” I screamed as she started collecting my blood samples with that needle. I had to say that she broke my heart as I really thought that I would be fine. After collecting my blood samples, another nurse came in with a bigger needle and an angry expression so I didn’t really like her. Without saying a word, the 'angry-faced' nurse started collecting my blood samples with that bigger needle. I was like an ant in front of them as I couldn’t say anything while being tortured by the two needles.
I was sent to a ward after doing all the body checking and I started to feel hungry. I turned to my mother and said,
“Mom, I am feeling hungry, could you buy something for me?”
“What do you want to eat, my boy?” mum said in a soft but worried sound. My eyes glowed when I heard this,
“Umm, I would like to have 2 pieces of salmon sushi and a big mac please!” I said in excitement.
“No problem, your uncle will buy them for you later.” said my mum. I started sleeping when I heard my mum’s promises, I even expected to have a feast when I woke up. But when I woke up after 3 hours, I could see there was nothing on the table.
“Mom, where is my food?” I asked anxiously.
“Oh, they all sold out, do you want to have something else?”
“Well then, I will take 2 bowls of fried rice and a bowl of noodles please.” I then waited for another 4 hours only for my mum to come back with the same reply.
“Could… I have a piece of bre…ad please?” I begged my mum. I could feel her sorrow as well, saying tearfully, “Sure, my son.”
But still, nothing was brought to the table in front of me. After fasting for more than 24 hours, I thought I was going to die. My lips were turning pale and I could feel the sky circling around me. While I was feeling at my most desperate, a bowl of udon was put on the table. When I looked at it, I could see the word “Yoshinoya” written on the lid.
‘May I…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence before my mum said,
“Yes, it’s yours.”
I opened the cover of the udon, I didn’t mean to, but I cried when I put the first strip of udon into my mouth. I could say that it was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in my whole life: the sweetness of the soup, the richness of the udon, it was just perfect. I had to stay in hospital for 4 days as I had a lot of check ups and medication treatments to get through. When I was finally discharged from hospital, my mum told me that I was suspected to be suffering from appendicitis, so I could not eat anything for at least 24 hours in order to do the check ups that day. When I went back home, I browsed the Internet and learnt that the cause of appendicitis is mostly because of unhealthy eating habits and not eating enough dietary fiber. From then on, I swore that I would live a healthy life as I didn’t want to go back to hospital again.
Looking at the udon in front of me, I put the first strip of noodle into my mouth. The sweetness of the soup, the richness of the udon, it is still perfect, perfect as always. Most importantly, it reminded me of the importance of health; no matter what age you are, your health is all that matters.