work...and the road

NOthing much to blog about today. The past first week in the year did not have much interesting things, except hubby's little needle, and work.... The needle has been blogged, and work is ...work.
Like what is mentioned again and again in War and Beauty, when you have more people, naturally there will be cliques. I would like to add, when there is one person who makes all the decisions, naturally there will be people going all out to.....(fill in the blank with your favorite way to describe!)

I have started watching War and Beauty.Really slow, I know. I would have delayed further if they are not showing it in a certain channel. I was like, "what? They are showing it on channel X? Wow! Then I must watch before that!" Hubby was "forced" to find the videos, but now he is happily enjoying it.

On Wed am I saw flowers at the pedestrian crossing, for someone called Ann, I suppose. I wished her peace. I hope the flowers will make hubby take my nagging seriously-NOT to cross the road unless using the crossings!

Everyone is talking about..............

Ghosts!!! And stuff which happens in hotels...

Damn. Halloween has just past and it is spooky at that certain stretch of road I have to walk past......Awww. That day, I felt my hair raised, and I quickly wished "her"?? peace.

Talking about ghosts... and thinking about a weekend trip reminded me about my cousin.
He visited UK when he was a toddler and went home with MASSIVE tantrums, and needed high priests!!! For weeks he would take off all his clothes, get a fever, dance and scream at 12am. Freaked everyone out. I forgot to ask my uncle which hotel he stayed in!! I only remember that it was a very highly recommended charming B&B. Still remember the photos.

That makes me think twice about B&B, charming ancient inns....

I am so tempted to do the Haunted walks, but actually scared. I am scared about seeing. Period.

I have "played" with dead bodies as a student, and never felt scared about it.
But... should I seek such adventures?

Hmm, lets see what Phi says. She might not want to do it, since she will go back to Italy and stay there on her own for a while. I still have not check with her whether she is staying in an apartment or put in hotel. But knowing her, hahaha.. she is actually sacred, but not THAT scared type. In that supposedly haunted hostel, few people would stay when roomies were not around.. and I don't remember Phi being particularly happy to have the room all to herself. But then again, Phi knows that she need not be scared, those things will disappear when she gets angry and give them a killer stare. And that hostel?? Nope. It had been peaceful. None of us had a problem. We were just too noisy... even if there was something, they would probably just sigh.. give up and float somewhere else. Miss those days...

I still feel like doing the haunted walk....... but to be truthful, I am a little less brave after the stupid lift thing. That was probably the scariest incident in my life.....Anyway, Yvonne gave be the link for the itinerary of the walks... we could go fo other less "adventurous" ones.

How??

What I am doing.. moaning here in the middle of the night... get back to work!!!

I look forward to having Phi here. The only disadvantage of having her around is a reminder of how short I am. Damn. Hate those tall leggy gals who could be a model.

A traveler's tales of the 7th month: different worlds ocupy the same sphere........

Want more tales?

"Molest" in a cruise ship.
Two colleagues who I know very well went for a company sponsored training in a cruise ship. This "pretty auntie" forget to bring her travel "protection charm" that she usually brings. On the last night of the trip, she was "molested". She was aware throughout the whole ordeal, but could not move.

She heard kissing sounds next to her ear, and the heavy breathing, and felt the hairy-ness, and the weight of a "man" on her! Gross!!!

These happened while another colleague; her room mate, a devout Christian-who-never-believe-in-nonsense watched in horror!!! According to the "pretty auntie", her roommate, S saw her grimacing and felt a certain shadow on her, and heard the kissing sound. S was not sure if she was imaging things, and could not wake this "pretty auntie" up by calling her name. She was so scared, she just prayed and prayed... and prayed. This thing still continued and only stopped when the first ray on sunlight came into the cabin.

When I heard it, I was like.. Ewwwww Gross!!!!! You are joking with me, is it?? Try to scare little girls like me?

Her response was, "Ask S, ask her what she saw while I was experiencing these?"

S's response was " No more S***cruise. Even if it is free!!!"

S is not someone who would "joke" about these stuff. And she visibly don't want to talk about these things. That afternoon, one went to her church to "cleanse", another quickly go to the temple.


Inside a pendulum called elevator
On a Thursday* night in the 7th month 2 years ago. I worked late, as usual. I think I left at almost 11 pm, the last person on my floor. When I walked to the lift lobby, I felt a presence--I ignored it- thought I was getting psychotic with all that amount of work that need to be completed. I was just impatient to get down, as I didn't want the taxi to run off, and end up waiting on that road.

The lift button was not exactly responsive at first. I really had to pressed it hard many times before the door would close. Darn, I cursed. This is supposedly by a world class architect!

When it went down, it was SHAKING!!!! I could feel myself wobbling from one side to the other, as if the cables were snapping or some force was shaking the lift like a pendulum?

At first, the joker in me thought "Shit, too fat! Move to center to balance!"

But moving to the center did not "balance" it, and the shaking grew more violent, the lift seemed to shot down faster than usual! I had to "hold on" to the walls to help to balance myself. It was getting very scary. Only in those last few seconds, it occured to me, "7th month!".
And I was like "Oii, don't play with me! I got nothing to do with you, whatever".

My horror ended when the lift landed with a violent THUD!

I think I srambled out of the lift with a very pale face. The security guard saw me and was concerned. "Are you ok, miss?", he asked. Hmmm, I must have looked very bad, as the guards are known to have a "dun care" attitude.

I told him "Something wrong with the lift, it was shaking!" I think this middle aged man saw the horror in my eyes; he gave me a "Oh, no, not that!!" look. He offered to "check the lift". He walked there reluctantly, take one glance and quickly walked back to tell me "Don't worry, tomorrow we get people to check".

I did not want to know what was going on, I was just too happy my cab was waiting for me, and I could go home! My hubby was probably wondering why I insisted he wait for me downstairs.

*According to a colleague, Thursday is not a "clean" night based on local beliefs. A thurday night on a 7th month makes it worse. Throughout that 7th month, she chased me home every Thursday night, or told us not stay in the office alone :)

7th Month is here...........

Here comes the airline sales....and then you know that it is 7th month. This year, air ticket sales seems to be quite extended, thanks to having double 7th month.

I think traveling by plane during the 7th month is still ok. Perhaps water activities should be avoided. Just as I warned my hubby not to go swimming, my BIL's friend drowned in Taiwan last weekend. I think it freaked hubby a lot!

What is seventh month, actually?

It is also known as Ulambana (Ancestor Day) 7th Month Festival / Chong Yen Zie / Hungry Ghost Festival.

Ulambana (Ancestor Day) 7th Month Festival / Chong Yen Zie / Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated throughout the Mahayana tradition from the first to the fifteenth days of the eighth lunar month. It is believed that the gates of Hell are opened on the first day and the ghosts may visit the world for fifteen days. Food offerings are made during this time to relieve the sufferings of these ghosts. On the fifteenth day, Ulambana or Ancestor Day, people visit cemeteries to make offerings to the departed ancestors. Many Theravadins from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand* also observe this festival.

Ulambana is also a Japanese Buddhist festival known as Obon, beginning on the thirteenth of July and lasting for three days, which celebrates the reunion of family ancestors with the living.

* Does that mean we should observe 7th month when we go to visit these countries?

According to my mum, we had to stay at home at night even 1 week before the 1st day of 7th month. Some "naughty ones" might have escaped a few days earlier and cause trouble. I have had high fever after going out on the 14th day when I was a toddler.

Despite all her tales, I did not believe in these tales about 7th month. Statistics of death or accidents don't really seem to be higher than usual, rite? There are most probably another story to keep us kids at home.

But when I started working, I had many colleagueas who had to travel a lot. Scientific, technical people who had to travel anytime, anywhere; and yet they observe the 7th month too. As a colleague pointed out, the numbers do not really increase or decrease during the 7th month, but the number of weird things happening increases!

I used to think that my "6th sense" is my own imagination, now I just want to "respect" it. This "6th sense" was responsible for making "irrational decisions" which resulted in not taking a route that would probably put me in a plane that crashed, or transiting in Middle East when the war is starting there.

Probably nothing would have happened to me at all. I might have taken another plane and not involved in the crash. So far, nothing has happened to civilian planes in the middle east as well. But the worry would probably be too much for my parents.

This 6th sense also told me that the hotel I was allocated on a bussiness trip was "not right", and I had to ask a colleague what to do as a precaution. Yup, turned up the hotel is known to have some histories.

But a traveler like me will still travel if a chance comes, 7th month or not. The excitement of going to explore a new place is just too much! Perhaps learning some "precautions" is great to calm you and avoid imagining stuff?

I know a friend who bring along a "Tibetan singing bowl", to cleanse the room. I always wondered how she could chuck such a metal thing like that into her luggage! And come on, she is so "modern" and "sophiscated"!!! Perhaps she encountered things that she would not want to talk about? She had been living out of a suitcase for years.

A colleague of mine like to blast the tv all the time, while I do the opposite. I don't leave the tv on in hotel room late at night anymore, after a colleague who could see those things told me that her tv channel was switched to a gory murder scene, because that thing tried to "communicate" with her, but she ignored. It freaked her out! She is not staying in that premier Petaling Jaya hotel anymore, no matter what.

No one should touch my shoes!
I will put it in the "position", and it should not be touched. When we stayed in that famous hotel in HK where a "superstar" died, hubby "tidied up" the shoes one night without my knowledge.

When I was about to sleep, I suddenly felt a certain gush of wind?/movement moving from my window(closed!!) to the door. Seemed like something whizzed passed, something chilly. And at that instant my hubby suddenly sat up VERY straight and murmured something. He looked weird!!! And when I looked at our shoes, I realised they were all nicely tidied up. I quickly put them in the correct places again, and then he just dropped back to sleep, just like that. FREAKED me out!! That hotel's corridors are quite creepy, but the rooms were ok-except that night. And that was not a 7th month.....

Anymore tales? Yes. I got to put in another page, a Traveler's Tales of the 7th month.

It is 7th month again. While I don't practise any of those stuff like praying or whatever, I think a traveler like me should still be "aware".....and respect my trusty 6th sense :)

Ghost Protection in hotels! Protect them or against them??

A recent survey in UK showed that there are more people who believed in the existence of ghosts than the existence of God. Hmm, probably there are a lot of people who are like me, able to feel the presence of the unseen and unheard than feeling the presence of God.

I am not surprised with these developments, considering the immense popularity of Feng Shui gurus like Lilian Too and the likes.

A kind friend had sent me a popular mass circulated email titled:

Ghost Protection in Hotels (the title made me laugh).

I have received a similar email many times, especially from fellow travel bugs.

I decided to post the email here as I found most of the advice pretty sound. Those in blue are excerpts from the email and my own comments are in black.

Hello, For all of u who love traveling.

OK, here's some believes of the hoteliers:

Every single hotel, there shall be at least a permanent room which should be left vacant at all times. No matter how full the hotel is, they are not to sell that room(s) to any guest. It was said that special room was "reserved" for those "special visitors". So, if you plan to stay in some hotel, always book in advance. Try to avoid walk in. If the receptionist told you there's no more room available, do not insist one anymore or try to bribe them to give you a room. If you do that, most of the time the room you have will be that "special room".
Hmmm I am not too sure about this. May be someone in hoteling industry can provide more clues. However, I always thought that hotels keep some spare room for emergencies?

Sometimes those "special visitors" might go to other rooms also, so here's some tips on how to protect yourself:
Before entering your room, always knock on the door first, even if you know the room is vacant. After you enter the room, if you felt very cold suddenly and have "chicken spore", leave the room quietly immediately and go to reception to request to change room. Most of the time the receptionist will understand what's happening.
I have been told that the idea of knocking is to not to "alarm" the other guests. To me it is more like not to alarm myself. I always knock on the door. I would not want to "catch" someone inside. A scatter brain like me easily go to the wrong room.

After you enter the room, immediately switch on all of the lights, and open the curtain to let the sun light in. This is a MUST. Both from the practical and superstitious point of view. You would not want to discover that you have a view of a garbage dump later, or the lights are not functioning well. The sunlight is also a good disinfectant. Other than that, the "yang" energy can also "cleanse" the room. May be some Fengshui enthusiasts have other explanations.

Before you go to bed, arrange your shoes so that one of them is upside down. Some say this is representing yin& yang to protect you while you're asleep. I am a firm believer in this, especially after an experience of what happened when my hubby put my shoes away. I wonder whether the modern Feng Shui gurus have alternatives to this shoe thing. There is always a risk of forgetting, when you are very tired.

Always leave at least a lamp on while you're sleeping, preferably the toilet's lamp. If you're staying alone and they have give you a twin bed, do not sleep with the other bed vacant, try to put your things like luggage on the other bed before you sleep. Some lights always offer a sense of security, although I do not believe that little light could scare anything away. I heard about the luggage thing from my colleague too. Any Feng Shui or other explanations?

Another tip to protect yourself...When you enter your hotel room, look for the Bible. Most hotel place the Bible inside a drawer. However, if upon entering, you see the Bible on the table, DON'T STAY IN THAT ROOM! It means "special visitors" are there. If you see the Bible opened up on the table, LEAVE THAT ROOM IMMEDIATELY and request a change of room!!! It means the "special visitor" is really creating trouble in that room!! My frequent traveler friend (who is not superstitious at all) swears by this. Hmm I would not take a chance.

And here's some tips on protecting yourself in the cinema. Do not attend the first screening of any movies in the cinema. By the first screening, I mean the first time the movie is shown in that particular cinema. Reason? The first screening is meant for the "special visitors". However, if you insist on going, then sit somewhere in the middle. The first and last rows are reserved for "them" !!! Be warned.... Hmmm. Not sure about this. sounds like the same theory applied from the Chinese opera shows. My mum would not allow my to follow my grandpa to the first few days or any openings, as those are the days that are meant for the "good brothers".

FIY- the Chinese refers to ghosts as "good brothers", as they believe that we should not be talking about them. Talking about them will attract them !

Related post:

A traveler's tales of the 7th month: different worlds ocupy the same sphere........