Come Away with Me

Down Memory Lane IV: Creepy Crawlies

This is an entry dedicated to all the scary and yucky things that I never imagined existed but had all made their grand appearance in my apartment, YIKES! Thanks to them though I would like to think that I've become a braver person than I was compared to when I first arrived.


Do you have any idea what this stuff is???

Our first friend here appeared on the tatami floor a few inches from where I was sitting one midsummer evening last year, shortly after moving in. There was totally no sound and no warning at all and I am positively sure that it wasn't there when i left the spot to get a drink at the kitchen. You bet I was freaked out when I returned to find this black gooey thing on the floor! You'd be too won't you? There were no eyes, no whiskers and legs, just this long piece of slimy black body.

I know it's hilarious but it took me humongous effort to get rid it. The sight of it just made me convulsed with fear. There was no one to turn to, no brave mommy on standby and so i just left the gruesome creature where it was for almost half an hour before gathering enough courage to confront (and take a picture of) it. I finally let it inched its way slowly onto some papers, opened my front door and flung it off as far as I could! I later learnt that it was a leech and was bewildered cos the leeches I've heard of are those that thrive in marshes and swaps but who was to know that there is also the mountain species kind!

The funny thing is when I recounted my encounter to the locals most of them were said that they had never seen a leech around before and were surprised that I've seen them not once but twice! Yes, a week ago I found another one glued to my kitchen floor and though equally spooked it took me just a few seconds before I sent another piece of paper flying out of my garden!


When i first arrived, I found little jumpy spiders in my apartment and remember being really afraid of them. The first few unfortunate ones even met their fate as I whacked them with thick wads of magazine papers. It wasn't until I met this fellow that I decided that I've been killing the innocent. I didn't have the heart and honestly the COURAGE to settle this one though it always sent me clambering whenever it decided to come out for a walk.

A year passed and I've since learnt that they too are equally afraid of you as you are of them. These days I just stomp my feet hard whenever I spot one lurking in the shadows somewhere and that alone is enough to send our friend scuttling away.


But wait till you meet Norman the resident spider at Carrie's house! Have you seen spiders the size of these??? At least the spidey at my place has the courtesy of excusing itself. Apparently Carrie tried chasing it away many times but it just kept returning and so her theory is that it's better to have Norman stick around than to have other meaner and scarier visitors like the one below...


The centipede or mukade is no doubt the most evil and most feared of them all. I heard of horror stories of poisonous centipedes in southern Japan but you've got to really see one for yourself to believe it. It has a really menacing presence and I was lucky that Alvin and Sharon were here when my first(and I hope only) centipede appeared in my spare bedroom. The mukade story was an anecdote on its own really but it wasn't that amusing when we (actually only Alvin and Sharon did, I was just hiding behind and screaming my head off during the entire process) were trying to kill the centipede which just wouldn't die easy and fast enough! They managed to get rid of it eventually but not before putting up a tough fight with the unrelenting and spiteful creature!

While I still love my countryside a lot, I certainly can do without all these creepy crawlies around! It won't be another few weeks more before I'll return to the comfort of my own home. And only then can I really say that I survive it all!

posted by テレサ @ 10:04 AM