Happy Little Mouse Year ^_<

Let's look at the happy part after the terrible and annoying story about the spider. Although this little incident actually brought more warmth into my life, but still, it made me feel not so good when think about it.

The memory of me just arriving California was fresh as if it was just happened yesterday. It was hard. I would say the most precious things that I have in this state are that I got to know so many good and truly kind people. One of them, whom I treasure the most is my "4th brother". I am the eldest in my family and never experience the feeling of having a good big brother. He really treats me as his sister and takes care of me a lot. This new year, I got a lot of "ang pao" because of him. He brought me to his family gathering to collect "ang paos". Haha! Thank you so much, Sei Go!

I do not have any of his pictures but I brought his children to Museum of Nature not long ago and we took a few photos. Here are some of the pics:

They are my Sei Go three little sweet hearts. They are truely sweet and always open their welcoming arms to me. We were having really good time visiting the museum.

I spent my New Year's Eve with my co-workers and boss in the restaurant. We had a big feast: Lobster, Bass fish, Sea cucumber, Crab meat soup etc. The boss bought two bottles of Chivas Regal Whisky (aged 12 years). I felt a little embarrass to admit that I become a "better" drinker after I came to America. Last time when I was in Malaysia, I drank wine but do not really know how to differentiate good taste or bad taste. California has good weather and therefore it is a good place to grow almost anything. The grapes here grow well and the wine produced here are actually have high quality and taste good. Now I know how to appreciate not only cocktail but also shots like Whisky and Cognac (Brandy). Erm.. Not a proud thing to show off, at least definitely not a good idea to let my family knows about it :P

Anyway, I did not drink much that night because I have to drive and I hate to drink and drive. The other reason was that my co-workers (especially those Mexican) were showing big response when they saw me pour the liquor into my glass. They made me embarass by saying loudly, "Zoe, you drink??!!" Ok, fine! No more.

Then, gambling! Haha! We played 13 cards and the other side were playing a game sort of like "big and small". I did not really know how to play 13 cards but I have so many masters around me. They helped me to arrange the cards and helped to win money as well. Haha! I then went to Sei Go's relatives' house to collect "ang paos" and enjoyed seeing them playing fire crackers at the neighbourhood. It was a pleasant night to me.

I have a delightful new year this year compare with last year. Although I still could not spend my time with my dearest family, but I am glad that I have enlarged my social circle. I feel thankful to meet with these people who are caring and kind. I will keep my effort to live a better life each day. GAMBATE!!!

Damn Spider

It has been more than a month since my last post. Hmm.. I am getting lazier. It's a brand new year, I should become a better person each day but not lazier. It is 12.17am now, so I should say yesterday was not a good day to me.

I slept at around 3am recently. I do not need to work on Saturday so I could sleep until whenever I want. I woke up on 9.30am though. Later on I realized I was waken by a damn spider.

As usual, I switched on my laptop and checked my mail and talking on the phone with Paik Yin. Suddenly, I felt something crawling inside my left ear. (I could feel as if it is still crawling inside my ear while I recall this. Gosh!) I did not really care but then the feeling was more obvious later on. It was trying to crawl in and out. Ahhh, damn creepy! I then recalled that I saw a small spider on my bed before I slept the night before. I did not care about the spider. I did not even try to get it off my bed. Don't ask me why. I still cannot accept this part of life called, "Stupid".

I started to call friends to ask for help. They asked me to jump and I did. I thought I saw a big black insect flew out. (Later only I found out the "big black insect" was my earphone dropped off.) Then I continue to talk to my friend. Suddenly, it crawled again! I started getting nervous. One of my friends suggested to put some cooking oil inside the ear to let it drop out. I did not do that because I was so scared and it was gross. Then he suggested me to substitute by water. The minute I poured the water inside my ear, I could feel the spider became nervous and crawl wildly! It actually moved deeper into my ear rather than crawl out. It hurts, even until now when I recall. It is gross, creepy and scary! I broke down and cried badly. After awhile, I jumped again and the spider finally dropped out and fall onto the floor. I couldn't stop crying even the spider lying half dead on the floor. I looked at the spider and talking to my housemate, Ivan, on the phone. I did not tell him that the spider has came out at that moment because I could not even think.

After a few seconds, I felt something crawling in my ear, still! I could not control myself anymore. First time in my life, I cried like a baby. I could not stop my tears even while talking with Ivan. I felt so sorry to him because I could heard his worries. He did not think twice but decided to come home straight, even though he was having good time with his mom at Huntington Beach, where was about 30minutes away from my house. He tried to calm me down and said he brought his mom back to help me, since his mom is a nurse. I really need to apologize to him because he came all the way back. And the most important thing is, his mom is going back to Brazil and they were treasuring the time together before she fly home. And I screwed up their good time.

I sat on the floor at the kitchen and could not stop my tears from falling. I could not remember how long I have waited. About 5 minutes before Ivan and his mom arrived, my other housemate came back. He was shock to see me sat there and cried. He tried to calm me down and "dragged" me to clinic (because I insisted to wait for Ivan's mom to help me). Finally they were home!

His mom really like an angel. She cannot speak English. She smiled at me, touched my head and asked me not to cry. Three of them then tried whatever way to make me feel better. I was being treated like a princess. I am always lucky to have so many people treated me so good. His mom actually knew that there should be no more spider or any other insects inside my ear but still, she tried to put a few drops of warm water inside my ear for few times. She was trying to clean my ear, to heal the pain and to make sure there is no creature in there.

She then cooked for all of us. At that moment, I felt like I am home. She might never have the chance to read this blog, but I really would like to express my gratitude to her. She would never know how thankful I feel to her.

I went to work at 5pm. There was a new waiter came to work today and he asked me to give him a ride and I did. It should be a happy thing to do since helping people always good. However I felt so "pek cek" after got him home. It was because I did not ask in detail how far was his house and the most important thing is, I got lost! I got lost because he gave me the wrong direction. I was too stupid nowadays as in trusting people for direction. I got to have faith in myself but not simply trust other people for direction since they always gave me the wrong information. I have been trusting people for direction and got lost for a few times recently. If I follow my own instict and experience, I could have done much better. Another "not so smart" part of my life.

Well, I hope it was all over. Today will be a good day -- I hope, I wish and I pray.