The Case Of The Missing Slippers

When Jam, his friend and I visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia for 3 days, we stayed at this hotel called Asia Hotel.



Guess what? Our stay here was fully paid for by a nice friend in Phnom Penh. He also acted as host and tour guide during our 3 days in this capital city of Cambodia. When we entered our hotel room, I saw something on the table.



Wow! They were fruits and tidbits courtesy of our good friend! Nice.



The room was huge! Too huge for just 3 people. But I loved it!



The room came with two bathrooms so we did not have to fight when it was time to shower or use the toilet. I did not take any photos of the bathrooms, though but they were clean.

There were three beds in a row. Beside each bed was a pair of slippers. One pair for each of us.



My stay at this hotel was pretty pleasant. Except for two interesting events that took place in this room. The first is the case of the three female hookers, which I shall blog about in a future post. The second is the case of the missing slippers.



Every night, before we jumped into bed, we would leave our slippers by the bed side. One morning, right after I woke up, Jam complained that his pair of slippers was gone. He searched around and eventually found his slippers in the waste paper basket near the bathroom!

Jam immediately asked if any one of us had thrown his slippers into the waste paper basket. His friend denied doing any such thing. I of course did not do it so replied in the negative. Instead, I jokingly told Jam that perhaps he had a bout of sleep-walking during the middle of the night and threw away his own slippers!

Jam's friend then suggested perhaps someone came into our room while we were sleeping during the night and did it. But we had locked our door from inside and it was not possible for anyone to come in. And even if it's true that someone had managed to enter our room, nothing was stolen from us. Why would he or she went through all that trouble just to throw that pair of slippers into the waste paper basket?!

It did not make sense. The only conclusion we could come up with was this - it was the work of a mischievous ghost! What other explanations are there?

The next night, we had an interesting case of the three female hookers in our room. More about that soon. Luckily, none of our slippers went missing that night.

Ghosts In My Photos

Over the years, I have taken many photographs with strange and unexplained objects or entities in them.



Since it is the Hungry Ghost Festival this month, I thought it would be the perfect time to show you all those "ghostly" photographs. It is especially timely as at the stroke of midnight tonight, the Gates of Hell will be thrown wide open to let all those hungry ghosts roam the earth!



Yes, if you do not already know, 12am tonight marks the 14th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar, which is the peak of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Be afraid. Be very afraid...



All the photos shown here were taken either with my old Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone or my current iPhone 3Gs, so please excuse the not-so-good quality photos.



This is a photo I took last year at the KL Convention Centre. Those of you who have been there will recognize this long corridor leading to Traders Hotel. I and my friend had gone to SkyBar at Traders Hotel that night and on the way back, we walked through this corridor.



My friend had gone to the toilet and while waiting for her, I snapped a picture of the corridor just for fun. It was only the next day I noticed there was something unusual with the photo. Can you see it?







That dark figure on the right side of the photo - what is that? It looks as if it's someone dressed in dark robes walking towards me. But I did not see such a person when I took the photo!



They say many cinemas in Malaysia are haunted. If it's the cinema in Summit Subang, I will be quick to agree as I had felt uncomfortable the last time I went there. But do you believe if I tell you now that GSC Signature in The Gardens is haunted?



Look at this photo which I took inside the GSC Signature lounge. Can you see someone standing at the end of the row of chairs on the left?







Or was that just the light playing tricks on my eyes?



And how about this picture which I took on the same night in the GSC Signature lounge?







What is that ghostly white figure flying out from the chair near the curtain?



That's not all. One night my friend and I watched a late night movie at GSC Signature. If you have been to GSC Signature, you will know that on leaving the cinema hall, you will pass by this glass window overlooking the Gardens Mall below.



It was past midnight when our movie ended. As we walked out of the cinema hall, we passed by this glass window and I decided to take a photo. As I was taking the photo, I suddenly saw that face reflected on the window! Can you see it?







I quickly turned around but there was no one behind me! When I turned back to face the glass window, the face was gone! Somehow I managed to capture that haunting face in my iPhone. My friend freaked out when she saw this photo!



Two years ago, I was at Genting Highlands with another friend. I was waiting for my friend who had gone to the toilet at Highlands Hotel near Starbucks. While waiting inside the lobby of the hotel, I snapped this photo. When I reached home, only did I see it! Can you see it - that white female ghost at the ceiling?!







Another time - probably 3 years ago - I visited Genting Highlands with yet another friend. We were resting at the lobby in Resort Hotel late one night. There were not many people at the lobby at that time. I accidentally snapped this photo where a white figure was crawling on the floor.







Surely that can't be my imagination? This reminded me too much of those "japanese" or "korean" horror movies so needless to say, I was totally freaked out!



I love to go jogging in the park. One of the parks I frequent is Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun. I dislike crowds so I normally go when there are not many people around.



One afternoon, I went there to jog. There was no one around at the time. As I reached the suspension bridge, I saw this blue figure standing at the bridge!







At the sight of the blue figure, I froze in fright. It appeared to be slightly transparent. Luckily I managed to regain my composure and quickly snapped a photo of it before running the hell away!



After seeing all these photos, do you believe in the existence of ghosts? Did my photos freak you out?



OK, I have a confession to make.



None of the photos above are true. Haha!!!



Yes, perhaps I have tricked some of you but I am pretty sure I did not trick all of you. If you have been using the Ghost Capture app on your iPhone, you will know how I created those ghostly images on my photos! LOL!







It was quite a fun app! All you need to do is to snap a photo or retrieve an existing photo from the picture library in your phone, add in the ghost you like (there are over 30 ghosts to choose from in the paid app), manipulate the size and position of the ghost, adjust how sharp or blur you want your ghost to appear and voila! You have a ghostly picture to share with your friends!







The only qualm I have about this app is that all the ghostly images they provide are Western ghosts! I would have preferred some Chinese or Japanese ghosts as they are more scary! Haha!



There is another app which I would like to share with you all as it is quite a scary app. When I first downloaded this app on my iPhone, it gave me quite a fright. There was a picture of this girl.







I don't know about you but this picture of the girl already seems to frighten me. She looks like a person who is dead, don't you agree?



And then as I looked at the picture, it began to change...in a horrible way.







The face then turned hideous and it was accompanied with ghostly wail and screams that were too terrifying to describe!







If you have a weak heart, do not ever download this app! The girl has now changed into an ugly ghost that will send chills down the spine of anyone who look at her!







Now the fun part of this app is you can take anyone's photo (including your own) and change the face into a horrible looking ghost! Not that I want to do any such thing! No thanks! Haha!



The app is called HauntedFace available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.



Although all the ghosts in the photos which I took and shown earlier in this post are fake and were created using the Ghost Capture app, there is however one photo in my collection that is genuine. I took this photo while walking the suspension bridge at FRIM 2 years ago.







Is that my imagination or is it a long haired lady in dark glasses wearing a robe or something on the tree trunk? What do you think?

FIRST COMMENTER

Random Notes 10

1. There is a strange phenomena happening in my bedroom. I am a subscriber to Readers Digest magazines and I keep them in my room so that I can read them before I go to sleep.

Recently, I noticed that the older magazines started to curl up at the edges. Take a look.



The magazine on the left is the November 2009 issue whereas on the right is the more recent March 2010 issue.

Can you see how curled up the magazine is on the left? The one on the right is already showing signs of curling up! And no, it has nothing to do with how I handle the magazines, if that's what you think.

Why do I say that? Well, the much older Readers Digest magazines (2008 issues) that I have in my collection never did curl up no matter how badly I handled them! But then again, those issues were not placed in my bedroom. They are all in the store room after spending like one whole year in my bedroom.

So why are these Readers Digest magazines curling up in my bedroom? Anyone of you have any good theory on this? Or is it time for me to call Agent Mulder and Scully?

2. Recently, I was down with a migraine attack. It was a shock to me as I rarely have migraines. I would say this is the second time in my life suffering from migraine, my first time being 2 years ago!


Image courtesy of healthjockey.com

It all started late one morning when I experienced vision disturbances. I had difficulty reading as I was seeing black patches and dark spots! Any pictures I saw appeared to be pixelled or blurred. Straight lines seemed crooked to me!

Having experienced this unusual symptoms before the onset of my migraine attack 2 years ago, I quickly went to my bedroom and laid down. The first time I had this experience, I thought I was going to die! Now I knew better.

Minutes later, the throbbing on one side of my head started. I felt nauseated and wanted to vomit. Lying down and sleeping provided no relief whatsoever. I went to the doctor and he prescribed me anti-migraine drugs.

I never really like to take any form of drugs but this migraine was paralyzing me to the point where I could do nothing but lie down the whole day! There goes my revenues for that one day!

The doctor advised me against sleeping late at night and drinking too much coffee. Well, I don't drink much coffee but I have to admit I sleep pretty late at night! I am a night owl if you don't already know me! Haha! But I guess I would have to sleep earlier from now on!

By the way, I learnt to massage some acupressure points in relieving migraines, and they really helped to give me some relief! For more details, read HERE.

3. I hate to touch anything after washing my hands in a public toilet! Like turning off the tap, or pulling down the roll of tissue to wipe my hands, or turning the door knob to open the toilet door.

It defeats the whole purpose of washing my hands! That's why I simply love taps and tissue roll with auto sensors! Like this one in the Gardens Mall.



Just place your hand in front of the sensor machine and the tissue paper will roll out from below. Love it! : )

4. Last year, I and my friend went for lunch at Prego, an Italian restaurant in Westin Hotel KL. Now, you may be wondering why I am blogging about something that happened last year.

Well, I just realized I have forgotten to blog about this and as I happened to come across these photos, I thought why not include them in my random notes today? Haha!



The above is the complimentary bread given to us as an appetizer before our main meals. The bread was huge and I was already half full eating it! What I really like was the slightly spicy sauce that came with it! Eating the bread dipped into that sauce was heavenly!

We shared the pizza...



...and the pasta.



And we were so full by the end of it! Gosh! I guess I am NOT such a big eater after all! Haha!



I don't mind going to Prego again, even if it's just for that complimentary bread alone! LOL!

FIRST COMMENTER

A Frightful Night At Lake Kenyir

This is entirely my own account of what happened that night.

My friend had no knowledge of this as he slept through it all. And I did not mention to him the next day because I did not want to frighten him. In fact, I did not tell him about this even to this very day. So my dear friend, if you happen to read this, please do not freak out. (You can choose not to read any further)

After that scary last phone call to the resort lobby, we went straight to bed. We had switched off the lights except for the one near the bathroom. We did not talk at all. All we wanted was to go to sleep as fast as possible.

As I laid there thinking about the events that happened earlier, there was a sudden loud ringing tone. I jumped. Then I realised it was my friend's handphone. He must have just received an sms from someone. Damn it! He should have toned down the volume!

I sat up and glanced at my friend. He was already asleep. Oh great! And I wasn't feeling sleepy at all!

So I laid back down and looked up at the ceiling. Should I start counting sheeps? Haha!

Suddenly, I heard the sound of teeth gnashing. Instantly, I knew where it came from. It was my friend. I was not afraid as I experienced it the first night too. My friend has this habit of gnashing and biting his teeth when he sleeps.

I turned around and slept on my side facing away from my friend's bed. I closed my eyes and started to visualise sheeps jumping over a fence. I am a night owl so it was entirely normal not to feel sleepy at that time.

As I counted the sheeps, I heard my friend tossing and turning in his bed. So he's not having a good night sleep after all! Maybe we should just chit chat instead of sleeping! The thought of this cheered me up.

I turned around and looked at my friend. For a moment, I froze. He was sound asleep in the exact same position as when I saw him earlier! He did not appear to have tossed and turned. I must be so eager to chat with him that I imagined him tossing and turning!

With a sigh, I turned to my side again, facing away from my friend's bed. I tried to sleep once more. Luckily we did not have to wake up at 6.30am to go bird watching like the previous day. We would be going on a boat cruise to Herbal Island and the Saok Waterfalls in the morning but it was scheduled at 10am so we could stay in bed longer.

I was drifting off to sleep when I heard it again! The ruffling sound of my friend's bed as if he's tossing and turning. I turned around at once. Again, the ruffling stopped. My friend did not move at all. OK, this is not funny! I was starting to freak out.

All of a sudden, there was a loud thump coming from the air-conditioner. I jumped. Shit! What was that?

I looked up at the air-con which was mounted on the wall beside my friend's bed. I tried to calm myself down. Must be one of those natural sounds coming from air-con, I consoled myself, but I hoped it would not do that again!

I decided that I must stop frightening myself. I realised that I could not sleep so I sat up, picked up my handphone and decided to do some tweeting in the dead of the night. Haha! Unfortunately, I could not log into Twitter. There was something wrong with the internet connection.

And so, I laid back down and tried to sleep again. I felt myself drifting into sleep....

I woke up with a start. What was that? Did I hear something? I really thought I heard something, like a loud knock or thud. Did I just imagine it? Or was I probably dreaming?

But there was no sound now. Probably it's that air-con making the sound again. I glanced at my friend. He's asleep but in a different position compared to earlier. I took my handphone from the table next to me and looked at the time. It was 4am. So I've actually slept for a couple of hours!

I suddenly felt the urge to pee. So I got out of bed, put on the slippers and went to the bathroom. The bathroom had a wooden sliding door that you need to push aside to enter. I went in and pulled the sliding door back to close.

As I was doing my business, I thought I heard movements outside the bathroom. My friend must have woken up and must be walking around the room! Suddenly a fear gripped me. What if it was not my friend? That very thought made my hairs stand.

I stood there in the bathroom, listening intently. Should I call out to my friend? I thought for a while and decided against it.

I did not know how long I stood inside the bathroom. It seemed like more than ten minutes, probably longer. I was too afraid to get out. I kept looking at the sliding door. After a while, I just got a little angry. Why should I have to go through this nonsense? With my head held up high, I walked confidently out of the bathroom and closed the sliding door behind me.

My friend was, as expected, sleeping on his bed. I could not believe he was sleeping like a baby while I was scared half to death either by things that were really there or it was entirely my own imagination!

I went back to my bed and attempted to sleep. If my friend could do it, so could I!

I did not know how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes, it was still dark. I was about to take a look at the time on my handphone when I heard it. The sound of the bathroom's sliding door being opened.

I froze. There was no mistaking the sound. With the blanket covering up to my neck, I turned my head to look at the direction of the bathroom. From where I laid, I could not see the sliding door. All of a sudden, I felt a strong presence in the room. I held my breath. Someone or something had just came out of the bathroom and was probably walking into the room.

I closed my eyes. That's the only thing I could do. I just shut myself out. I did not want to see what I feared to see.

I heard the sliding door sound again. I opened my eyes and glanced at the direction of the bathroom. I saw nothing.

Then the sound of sliding door being opened or closed came again. That's it! I was furious!!

I got down from my bed and walked until I reached a point in the room where I could see the sliding door of the bathroom. I peered out from where I stood. The door was closed. Nobody was there. Did I imagine it all?

Maybe, just maybe what I heard was from our neighbouring chalet. Although the chalet next to us was some distance away, I would not dispute the possibility of what I heard coming from there! Well, that's the only explanation I could think of that seemed remotely possible.

There was no more disturbances after that. When I woke up again, the sun was streaming in through the glass door facing the balcony. Somehow in the bright morning light, last night's events appeared unreal, more like a nightmare.

My friend woke up moments later and I did not bother to tell him what I experienced the night before. Why should I?

Firstly, I might have imagined it all, although I was sure I did not. Secondly, we would be checking out in the afternoon, so there would be no point in telling him. Thirdly, we were looking forward to our boat cruise to Herbal Island and Saok Waterfall, so I did not want to spoil the day.

Whether what I experienced was some sort of paranormal activities or purely a figment of my own imagination, I was glad it added some thrill to my Lake Kenyir trip.

FIRST COMMENTER

My Paranormal Experience At Lake Kenyir

Continued from previous post

I tried to turn the key but it would not budge. I took it out of the keyhole, slot it in and tried again. No good. I could not unlock the door.

My first thought was, were we at the right chalet? Perhaps we had walked to the wrong one and was attempting to open someone else's door.

My friend and I checked the number on the door. Although it was dark, there was enough light for us to see the number quite clearly. It's our chalet all right. So why couldn't I unlock the door?

My friend decided to call the lobby and asked for help. As he dialled, I could not help feeling a slight discomfort in my right ear. There seemed to be some sort of buzzing sound in my ear. I wondered what that was! I placed my finger into my ear hole and desperately pulled at my ear lobe to no avail.

With his handphone close to his ear, my friend waited for his call to be picked up. I looked at him and asked, "No one picking up the phone?" He shook his head.

Don't tell me there is no one servicing the counter! Even though it's almost 1am, this is a 4-star resort, for heaven's sake.

My friend dialled again. I pulled at my ear again. The buzzing sound in my ear was getting irritating.

I started to complain to my friend. I remember telling him I did not know why I could hear this buzzing sound in my ear.

Suddenly, my friend said, "Did you hear that?"

I was taken aback. "Hear what?"

"Listen!"

"What?"

My heart was pounding.

"The phone is ringing!" my friend whispered.

I still did not know what he was talking about. "What phone?"

"The phone inside our chalet."

My blood turned cold.

Oh no, you must be kidding me. Please don't do this to me! But I didn't hear the phone in our chalet ringing!

My friend said, "OK, I will dial again. Now you listen."

As he made another attempt to call the resort lobby, I went and placed my ear near the door.

My heart was pounding faster than ever. And then I heard it. Oh my God, the phone inside our chalet was ringing!!

I quickly moved away from the door. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing. How on earth was that possible?

I could see the frightened face of my friend in the dimly lit surroundings. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

"OK, let's not panic." I said, trying to reassure myself more than my friend. "I'm sure there must be some kind of scientific explanation for this!" I didn't think I sounded very convincing.

I decided to try calling the lobby using my handphone instead. My friend subscribed to the Maxis line while I was subscribed to Digi. Perhaps I could get a response using my Digi line.

I dialled and waited.

I think we both stopped breathing at that moment. If I hear the phone in our chalet ring one more time, I think I would die!

We waited and waited. Nothing. There was no line.

I dialled again.

Again nothing. I looked at my handphone. The signal bar was empty. Looked like I could not call using Digi line.

So my friend had no choice but to use his handphone again. I whispered a little prayer. Please don't let that phone in our chalet ring again. Please don't. Please don't.

This time, someone picked up his call. Thank goodness!!

My friend explained that we could not unlock the door. The person on the other end of the line told him that they would be sending someone over to open the door for us. It would take about 3 - 5 minutes to reach us on the buggy.

We waited in fear. Maybe they took 5 minutes, but it sure felt like more than half an hour to me! I guess time just seems longer when you are anxious and feeling panicky.

When they finally arrived, I breathed a sigh of relief. Two men came down from the buggy and one of them attended to our door. He unlocked it within a few seconds.

So why couldn't we open the door? The man explained that we could have accidentally double locked it earlier, meaning after pushing the lock button from the inside, we accidentally turned the knob on the outside before closing the door shut, hence double locking it.

OK, at least that explained it. I think I was the one who locked the door earlier but I was quite sure I did not double lock it. Oh well....But what we were more curious to know was why the phone in our room rang when we called the resort lobby!

When we posed this question to the man, he replied, "That's not possible!"

Me and my friend looked at each other. I think we were really freaking out!

The man then thought for a while and said, "Perhaps it could be due to cross-line."

Cross-line? Could it be the reason then?

My friend was quick to accept this explanation. I guess it was the only plausible scientific explanation for him. So cross-line it must be! I was not so sure.

After the men left, we locked the door and switched on all the lights. My friend said, "Let us just quickly go to sleep."

I laughed. Go to sleep and ignore what we just experienced? Go to sleep so we would not be aware of anything funny happening in the night? I thought that was a great idea! Yes, let's go to sleep as quickly as possible!

But wait! I glanced at the phone at the corner next to my friend's bed.

I looked at my friend in the eye and said, "Let's try calling the lobby one more time."

Did I just say that? Oh my God, why did I say that? My friend looked at me in disbelief.

He was not at all keen with the idea, but I told him I wanted to see if the phone would ring right in front of us! In fact, I dared it to ring in front of us!

And so he agreed. Very reluctantly, he dialled.

We waited.

He said there's a ringing tone.

"No one answering?" I asked.

I half expecting the phone in our chalet to ring at any minute. But it was silent.

Then I saw the expression on my friend's face changed.

"What? Someone answered?" I asked, my heart pounding.

He quickly canceled the call.

"Why? What is it?" I asked, curious and scared at the same time.

"Someone picked up." my friend said.

"Yes?"

"But there was no one speaking...."

That's it! We were going straight to bed!

Coming up next : What Happened During The Night

FIRST COMMENTER

Would You Like To Live To A Hundred?

There is a small village in Southern China called Bama where people are living to the ripe old age of 100 and above. It is so famous that now tourists are flocking to that village to see for themselves and to discover the secret behind the villagers' longevity.

Watch this video for the report.



Could their longevity be due to the water they drink? Or the food they eat? Or the clean air they breathe? Or is it due to their carefree, relaxing lifestyle devoid of any stress and mental problems? Could their daily activities and 'tai chi' exercises contributed to their long life span?

Or even maybe, it's all due to the good feng shui or the magnetic field in the area.

Perhaps it is the combination of all these factors that hold the secret to their longevity.

Whatever it is, do you want to be like them - to live to a hundred and beyond?


100 Longevity Characters from Csymbol

Let's take it further. What if humans one day discover the elixir of youth and live forever? What if we can choose not to die? Live eternally forever and ever? Like the vampire Lestat in Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire.

Will you then yearn to die? To end it all?

Will dying become your goal in life? Wouldn't that be ironic?



To me, I would love to live to a hundred. But maybe not more than a hundred. And definitely not forever. But it all depends.

If I am healthy and still mentally sharp and still able to enjoy sex at the ripe old age of hundred, why not? Haha! Although I would want to look as youthful as now. Not with all those wrinkles! Talk about vanity!

But if I am sick, cannot walk without a walking stick, or bedridden, is there any point in living to a hundred? Might as well die earlier, no?

But nowadays, you will be lucky to live to a hundred. Especially for those of us who stay in the cities. At least those who are living in kampongs or villages still have the chance. With all the stress and fast-paced city lifestyle, and the pollution and the type of food we eat daily, we are lucky if we make it past 60!

Humans' life span are getting shorter. I still remember people during the Biblical periods lived to a few hundred years. I wonder if there is any truth in that!

Although advancement in science and medicine had managed to prolong humans' lives, yet most of the prolonged years are lived in misery.

As for the prospect of living forever, I think I will be bored to death. Tell me what can you do when you are 6,000 years old! You would have visited every corners of the world! You would have tasted every single food there is to taste. You would have done all there is to do except maybe, killing yourself.


Image courtesy of Write Spirit

But hold on. We are meant to have eternal life. That's according to the Bible. But every religion does mention that we are eternal. We may pass on, but our souls continue to live. And according to Buddhism, we come back to Earth again and again and again until we can break out of that karmic cycle.

So will our souls be bored? Perhaps not. Because we seek to experience different things. We seek to create different things. In different lifetimes. In different parellel universes. We are after all, creators.

Perhaps that's why not many will reach Buddhahood. Not that they can't. They don't want to. They choose to come back to Earth and create a different experience so as to know who they really are.


Image courtesy of 100 Musical Footsteps

So perhaps living eternally in our same physical body is not such a good idea and it may be against the nature of things. We need to die so that we have the chance to change our experience.

But living to a hundred? That's OK provided we have not achieved what we have set out to do. Otherwise, why bother to live to a hundred?

FIRST COMMENTER

Can You See Dead People?

I went out for lunch with my colleague the other day. Her name is Esther. She is married with two kids. A lovely boy aged 10 and a pretty girl aged 8.

As we sat down to lunch, she looked tired. I asked her why was she so tired.

"I could not sleep these few days." She told me. "Phoebe did not want to sleep in her room and wanted to sleep in her parents' room instead."

When I asked her why, she said, "Phoebe said there is a man in her room."

"What?!" I was stunned.

"She said the man would appear once in a while. She could see his face and the shirt he's wearing."

"Really?" I did not want to sound skeptical, but I really found it hard to digest, despite my beliefs in such things.

"She is scared and won't dare to sleep alone in her room." Esther continued.

"Have you seen it yourself?" I asked.

"No. But I saw him for the first time yesterday. And it freaked me out!"

My hair was standing when I heard her say this.

"How does he look like?" I asked.

"Oh, please don't ask me to describe. All I know is he does not look normal. I mean, one look at him, and you know he's a dead person!"

"Oh my God, that's so scary! Did your husband see him too?"

"No, and I have not told him yet!"

"Why not? You should!"

"Maybe later, I am thinking how to tell him without making him panic. You see, my husband is not fond of horror movies and I think he's more scared of ghosts than me!"

I could not help letting out a little nervous giggle. "But surely, he knows about what Phoebe saw, right?"

"Yes," Esther said "Phoebe comes into our room almost every night so yes, he knows but he tells Phoebe it's just her imagination. At first I thought it's just one of her many dreams, but it can't be happening every night. Besides, I saw him too!"

"You are really freaking me out, Esther!" I exclaimed.

"You saw the man in your room?" I asked, trying not to use the word 'ghost'.

"No, in Phoebe's room. Yesterday, I wanted to accompany Phoebe to sleep in her room so she would not disturb us. I think it was almost midnight. Both my son and my husband were already asleep. I was lying down beside Phoebe, when she suddenly pulled my hand and said she want to go to our bedroom.

I was almost asleep at that time and her pulling woke me up instantly. It was then, I noticed a presence beside me. I looked up and saw him starring down at us! Oh my God, I almost screamed! I think I felt a little faint at that moment like all the blood in my body had been drained off.

Luckily I kept my composure. I pretended I did not see him, but my heart was beating like mad! I avoided looking at him and faced my daughter instead. She also avoided looking at him and kept whispering to me she wanted to go to my bedroom.

Slowly, I forced myself to sit up. I hoped I could just close my eyes and hide under the blanket! I told Phoebe to follow me to my bedroom. All this while, that thing was there looking at us. Or that's what I thought cos I did not dare look at him!

We walked slowly out of the room and then bolted towards my bedroom! Once inside my bedroom, I locked the door! Although I know that's pretty useless."

I could feel a chill running up my spine as my friend described her story.

"What about Michael?" I asked referring to her son. "He sleeps alone in his own room, right? Did he see him too?"

"No, he had not mentioned about it to me, so I don't think so." Esther replied.

"So this man - he never ever appeared in your room, only Phoebe's room?" I asked, curious.

"Yes, so far only in Phoebe's room. Oh, sometimes Phoebe said she sees him in the kitchen too. I really don't know what to do. But so far, he has not disturbed us. I mean, he did not create any trouble. According to a friend of mine, he may just be a harmless ghost still trapped in this world."

"Or maybe he cannot leave yet as he still has things he needs to do."

"Oh! You make it sound as if I am Melinda Gordon!" Esther laughed, obviously referring to that character played by Jennifer Love Hewitt who sees and helps ghosts in Ghost Whisperer.

We both laughed but I hardly thought it was a laughing matter. I had wanted to talk some more, but that was the only time we had. It was a short lunch time for us so we had to stop there. In any case, Esther's story ended up haunting me for the rest of that day!

Last night, I received a call from Esther. She mentioned that her friend who stayed a few streets from her house also saw the ghost. But the friend did not see the ghost in Esther's house. Instead, she saw it in her own home!!

I was shocked.

"Are you sure it's the same ghost?" I asked, getting nervous.

"Yes, from what she described to me, I knew it's the same ghost!"

"But how? I mean, why would he go over to your friend's house? And it's not that near to your house!" I was puzzled.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I think he can transport himself through the phone."

"What?" She did not make any sense to me.

"You see, I am always calling my friend on her handphone using my handphone. Somehow, I think the ghost can adjust his frequency level to travel along the frequency level of the mobile phone line."

"You must be kidding." I said, not believing her at all. "You mean the ghost can travel anywhere using your phone?"

"Yes, that's what I suspect. Because the ghost also appeared in my cousin's house. And my cousin stays in Penang! I have been calling my cousin the past few days on my handphone."

"Haha! That sounds like science fiction to me!" I said laughing. "By the way, I notice you are using DIGI."

I suddenly stopped laughing. "I am using DIGI too. Wait...where are you calling from?"

"My house."

Oh. My. God!!!

Note: That last part about the ghost traveling through mobile phone lines is a total fiction which I made up just for fun! Haha! But let me assure you, the rest of the story is true. I have changed my friend's name to protect her privacy. In any case, I have absolutely no plans to visit my friend's house now or in the future!

PS: The 7 Stages Of Disease (Part 2) had been put off as I was too eager to tell this ghost story. It will be in my next post coming right up!

FIRST COMMENTER

The Haunted Penang Hotel

Strange. They were all senior citizens.

That was what both Colin and I noticed. The waiters were all males and at least above the age of 50.

Just then, Aurora and Kye Li came to join us. Kye Li was not her usual self. She looked pale and tired.

“What happened to you? Didn’t have a good night sleep last night?” I asked her.

She shook her head. We were seated by the window and the sunshine shining through seemed to trouble her.

“I didn’t sleep much last night. I had a very bad nightmare.” Kye Li said.

“Very horrible. I think she’s still shaking.” Aurora chipped in.

“That bad? Tell us about it!” Colin said.

“I don’t know….” Kye Li struggled to explain. “I don’t know if it’s a dream. It was so real!”

We reached Penang just the day before and had booked into this hotel along Penang Road. I and Colin shared a room, while the girls stayed in another room which was directly opposite the room next to ours.

After a tiring day walking around Georgetown, we went for dinner and then came back to the hotel to retire for the night. I went over to the girls’ room and chit chat for a while before going back to my room to sleep. There was no indication to prepare me for what would happen the following day.

As we ate our breakfasts, Kye Li slowly described what happened last night.

“I was talking to Aurora. We were both in bed. I think it was about 12.30am. I could see that Aurora was tired and wanted to sleep. I knew I should stop chatting with her and let her sleep. But somehow, I was not that sleepy.

But as I continued to talk, I realized she was about to doze off. I was starting to feel drowsy myself. Then I awoke with a start. I didn’t know if I imagined it, but I heard it! The water running in the bathroom as if someone was taking a shower.

I quickly sat up and shook Aurora to wake her up. I told her what I heard, so we just sat still for a while to listen. We heard nothing then, but we decided to check out the bathroom anyway. We had left the bathroom lights on, so we just opened the door and went in slowly to look.

Nothing. Shower was not turned on, no water running from the taps. Aurora said either I imagined it or what I heard was from the room next door. I was thinking, maybe that’s it! Anyway, we went back to bed after that.

I was chatting with Aurora for some time before starting to feel drowsy again. I think Aurora already slept – I was not sure – I was drifting into sleep. And then I awoke with a start! I saw several men in suits surrounding my bed. They started to pull me up from bed. I screamed. I saw Aurora still asleep next to me. I called her but she did not wake up. The men held my hands and legs and pulled me out from my bed, but somehow I struggled and struggled, screaming out for Aurora to wake up and help me.

Then I woke up. Aurora was sitting beside me. She said I was screaming like a mad person. I looked around. There were no men in suits. But everything else in the room was exactly the same as in my dream – every single detail including the box of tissue on the table beside my bed. And the clothes I placed on the chair. The details were exactly the same. I could not believe it was a dream!”

“She thinks the room is haunted.” Aurora said.

“Really?” I said. “It could just be a nightmare.”

“But it’s so real! I can even remember some of the faces of the men. One was very hideous. I remember his face very well. Oh, it’s so scary!” Kye Li said, trembling.

“Maybe you all should move out of the room.” Colin suggested.

“No!” Aurora shouted.

We all looked at her. “Why not?” Colin asked.

“I like the room!” I could hardly believe she said that.

“Besides,” she continued, “I think she’s just having a nightmare.”

Later that day, we searched for a temple and brought Kye Li there. I don’t remember the location of this temple, but we got Kye Li a talisman or ‘fu’ in Chinese.

Kye Li had almost forgotten her ordeal by the time we went back to the hotel to sleep that night. I was thinking, maybe with the talisman she felt much safer and was not worried anymore.

Boy, was I wrong! Both Colin and I were fast asleep when someone banged on our door. I quickly got up to my feet and asked who’s there. It was Kye Li. I quickly opened the door. She was crying.

“What happened?” I asked. Colin was by now behind me.

“Aurora. She…..she….” Kye Li stammered.

“What happened to her?” Colin asked.

Without waiting for her response, Colin and I stormed into her room. What I saw gave me the chills. Aurora was not on her bed. Instead, she was on the ceiling. Somehow, she was clinging to the ceiling, with her head tilted backwards and her long hair flowing downwards as she faced us.

I froze. Never in my life have I felt such horror. Colin gasped.

Aurora gave a crackling laughter as she moved towards us, her head tilted sideways as she looked at us. I backed out of the door in complete shock. But my legs gave way. I fell.

Then I woke up.

I could feel my heart beating fast and I was sweating. Colin looked at me and said, “You looked as if you have seen a ghost!”

I squinted as the sunlight from the window entered my eyes. I looked around the room. The dream was so real!

I then looked at Colin and said, “You know what, Colin?”

“What?” Colin frowned.

“We are changing room!”

“You are kidding me!” Colin protested.

“We are changing room right now!” I woke up from the bed and started to take my belongings and placed them in my luggage.

“Please don’t tell me you are having the same nightmare as Kye Li.” Colin teased.

“No, not the same. We are not having nightmares.”

“You mean this room is haunted? Is that what you mean?”

“Look Colin, are you packing your things or not? I am getting out of this room!” I almost shouted.

Colin noticed I was serious and quickly packed his stuff. As we went out of the room, the girls overheard the commotion and came out of their room.

“What happened?” Kye Li asked.

“This guy say we are going to request for a change of room!” Colin said pointing to me.

“Oh my God!” Kye Li trembled. “You experienced it too, Foong?”

“Yes, my God, yes! I was scared as hell! We shouldn’t have switched room with you girls last night!”

Note: This is a true story, except that we did not switch rooms. My friends Kye Li and Aurora requested for a change of room the day after Kye Li had her nightmare. At one point, Colin did suggest we switch room but I was too 'scaredy-cat' to go along with that idea! We did go to the temple to get Kye Li a talisman. But she insisted on changing room even with the talisman protection.

I just made up the rest of the story to spice things up. As to whether the hotel room was really haunted, we had no way of knowing but until now, Kye Li still believe it is haunted.

I am not going to mention the name of this hotel, except that from my hotel room, I can see the sea and E&O Hotel. I have changed the names of my friends to protect their privacy.

FIRST COMMENTER

Will The World End In 2012?

21st December 2012.

That is the day many predicted to be the end of the world.

Is it true? If it is, we only have roughly another 3 years and 9 months left!

Normally, I won’t even bother about such predictions. I mean, we have been through that before, haven’t we? Remember the hype that was created when we were last approaching the year 2000?

In the past, so called prophets and psychics had predicted about the end of the world so many times but each time, it did not come to pass. Will it be any different this time?

Well, let us look at some of the evidences that support the 2012 doomsday prediction.

First, there’s the Mayan calendar that seems to end on the 21st December 2012. The Mayans were obsessed with time keeping and even during their time, they were able to predict with accuracy all the eclipses and positions of the planets. Why did their calendar end on 21st December 2012?

Secondly, an unknown planet called Planet X which has an odd orbit will be entering the Solar System in the year 2012. This planet enters the Solar System every 3,600 years and 2012 is the year it returns, and possibly causing devastating weather conditions, widespread earthquakes and rising of sea level. Watch the 5-part video here.

Thirdly, the Milky Way galaxy will be aligning with the Earth and the Sun on the 21st December 2012 at the galactic equator. This event happens every 25,800 years! Scientists do not have a unanimous agreement on the effects of such an alignment on planet Earth. The worst possible scenario may be the end of the world! Read about how the Mayans already calculated the date of this alignment long time ago here.

Fourthly, the late Terence McKenna used the I-Ching to do some kind of mathematical fractal operation and produced a computer program which produced a "time wave" which mapped out something called "novelty" across the scale of time, from Big Bang to Eschaton, the end of time. The mapping of time mysteriously ends on 21st December 2012! He called the year 2012 "Time Wave Zero". Oh, this is really deep stuff, so you might want to watch this video for better understanding.



Isn't is scary that so many things seem to be happening and all point to this particular date - 21st December 2012?

Some say that it won't be the end of the world as we see it, but will just be a consciousness shift which leads to a leap in the evolution of human beings. Others even predicted that since humans will reach a higher level of consciousness, it will be the right time for aliens to come visiting! So the year 2012 will be known as the year we will finally make contacts with aliens! Well, I really don't know about that!

Anyway, you may want to watch this video which is in 6 parts. This is the first part. (The above video about "Time Wave Zero" is actually part 3 of this 6-part video)



You can watch Part 2 and subsequent parts here.

In fact, this talk on the year 2012 is so popular it's even been made into a movie due out later this year.

What do you think? Will the world come to an end in 2012?

Let's suppose it is true. Let's just say we know for a fact that 2012 is the year the world ends. What will you be doing differently right now?

Will you still be working hard at your job or your business?

Will you still be stressed up over small matters?

Will you forgive those who have wronged you?

Will you spend more time with your loved ones?

Will you learn to love more and hate less?

Will you see the good in every person no matter how you dislike him or her?

Will you be more religious or spiritual?

Will you travel the world over to see all the wonders of the world before they cease to exist?

Will you be non judgmental of people and situations?

Will you see the positive side of everything?

Will you treasure every single moment, every single day of your life?

What about people and events around you?

Will Malaysian political parties stop fighting with each other?

Will Malaysians stop demonstrating in the streets?

Will racial politics come to an end?

Will Israel and Palestine finally stop their war with each other?

Will North and South Korea make peace?

Will the terrorists stop their terror acts?

Will we finally have world peace?

Maybe this is what we need - the end of the world - for humans to wake up and change their ways. Perhaps it won't be the end just yet. Perhaps there's still hope if we realise this now.

FIRST COMMENTER

Pendulum Power

Amazed. That's what I felt the first time I did it.

I am talking about moving objects with your mind.

No, I am not kidding.

Here's my story...

A few years back, I was introduced to the topic of moving a pendulum by using the power of the mind. A pendulum, by the way is any object that hangs by a string. Like a pendulum you find in a pendulum clock.

However in this case, the object should be symmetrical or round and light weight. What you do is simple. First, just hold the end of the string with your fingers as shown in this picture.



Next, with the power of your mind, and without moving your hand, will the pendulum to swing to the right and then left, to and fro.

Then again with the power of the mind, will it to stop swinging.

I tried this back then, but it was not successful. The pendulum simply would not move. And so I thought it was all nonsense and forgot about it.

It so happened that the other day, I was cleaning up my room when I spotted the pendulum again.

I thought why not give it another try this time?

And what do you know? I made the pendulum swing! I could hardly believe it!

But guess what? After I willed it to stop, which it did, I tried and get it to swing towards me instead. And it did exactly that! It swung towards me, then away from me in the other direction, and then back again. I was like, Oh my God, is this real?

Just to prove it was no fluke, I got it to stop. It stopped swinging almost immediately. I willed it to swing left to right again, and it did! Once again, I got it to stop and willed it to swing towards me and away from me. I repeated this process many times and each time, it did not fail to swing at the direction I willed it to.

So was it the power of my mind? Or did I unknowingly move my hand so that the outcome was what I wanted? I really don't know. Maybe it was both.

Upon further reading on this subject on the Internet, I discovered pendulum can be used to detect water or minerals, to locate lost objects or people, and even to access our subconscious or higher consciousness. This may sound like utter nonsense to many people, or even paranormal to some, but I can assure you there are certainly some truths to it.

Now why don't you give it a try and let me know if you can make the pendulum move?

For more experiments using pendulum, read Test Your Dowsing Skills by Michael Daniels, Phd.

My Strange Encounter At Taman Lembah Kiara

Everyone loves a good ghost story. Who doesn't?

OK, I know of some friends who dislike listening to ghost stories. If you happen to dislike ghost stories, then you can stop reading and go somewhere else. But I do hope that you will continue reading because what I am going to tell you is not a ghost story. Well, not really.

If you have been following my blog, you would most probably know by now that I like to go jogging in the parks. And one particular park I frequent is the Taman Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.



As I don't like to jog when the park is crowded with people, I normally choose either late mornings or early evenings to do my jog. To me the less people, the better. I can enjoy my exercise without getting interrupted by screaming kids and people talking loudly.

Well, a few months back, I went to the Kiara park for my usual jogging routine. It was a Sunday and I remember waking up very late as I had a good outing with friends the night before. I think it was almost noon when I reached the park. As usual, I would run up the stairs that lead to the jogging trail in the forest.

On that particular Sunday, there were not many people around. It could be because it was already noon and people would be having their lunch by then. Who in their right mind would be like me, jogging at that hour?



Anyway, as I crossed the suspended bridge and ran along the jogging trail deep into the forest, I noticed how quiet the surroundings were. There was not a human being on sight. No birds chirping, no monkeys playing with each other. Only the rustling of tree leaves and my own breathing were heard.

Out of this quietness, suddenly I heard a man's voice singing. I stopped dead on my tracks.

Where did the voice come from? I could not see anyone in front or at the back of me.

It was a loud, booming voice singing a song that I do not recognise. I could not even identify whether he was singing in English or some other language.

The first thought that came to my mind was the voice belonged to a ghost! But I have never heard of a singing ghost! Except a female ghost that sings some sad haunting songs. This one was different. The song was neither sad nor haunting. It sounded like an anthem a soldier would probably sing in the military. Should I turn back or continue ahead? I could feel my heart beating faster.

As I was trying to decide, the voice became louder and louder.

Then ahead of me, I could see a figure emerging from the forest. It was not very clear, but I imagined it must be a man.

I braved myself and decided to walk ahead, although I felt like running away in the other direction!

As I walked closer and closer towards the figure, I began to see it was actually a man, somewhat middle aged. He was dressed like a soldier. He saw me and stopped his singing abruptly.

We were now within metres of each other. I gave him one quick look and immediately looked away. I did not dare look longer. His face was pleasant enough, not hideous as I so fearfully expected. I was pretty sure he was a Chinese man and I would say he would be somewhere between 45 to 55 years old.

I think he looked at me and smiled. I did not know if I imagined it or not, as I was in a state of fear bordering on panic. We walked past each other. I quickened my pace and did not look back! What if he suddenly decided to turn around and tap me on the shoulder? I would surely die!

I did not know how long I took but when I came out of the forest only did I notice my hands were shaking and I was sweating like mad!

To this day, I do not know why a man would want to dress up like a soldier and sing alone loudly in the forest. It gives me the jitters just thinking about it.

I have never bumped into him in my subsequent visits to Taman Lembah Kiara. Nor do I wish to!

So was it a man? Or was it a ghost?

You decide!

Messages From The Water

Water.

It is so precious to life. How can life sustain itself without water?

Yet did you know that water can be affected by our emotions, by our thoughts? And water can send us messages?

As unbelievable as it may sound, that was what Dr Masaru Emoto, a Japanese researcher and author claimed in his incredible book “The Hidden Messages In Water”.



I happened to stumble upon this book in MPH and was thoroughly fascinated by what was written inside! Searching on the Internet revealed large number of websites on this topic.

From Dr Emoto’s work, we are provided with factual evidence that human vibrational energy, thoughts, words and music can affect the molecular structure of water.

Don't believe me? Continue reading.

As you know, snow has been falling on the earth for possibly more than hundreds of millions of years. Each snowflake, we have been told, has a very unique shape and structure. No two snowflakes are ever alike!


Real snowflake photo from Live Science

Inspired by snowflakes, Dr Emoto decided to experiment freezing water and taking photograph of its molecular structure. What he discovered was so amazing it stunned the world.

Watch the video here to see how frozen water crystals are photographed.

There were many fascinating differences in water crystals from different sources and environment. Water from mountain streams and springs show the beautifully formed geometric designs in their crystalline patterns. Polluted and toxic water from industrial and populated areas show distorted and randomly formed crystalline structures.


This is from Japan's Shimanto River, which is known as the last clean stream in Japan.


This is from Biwako Lake in Japan, where pollution is getting worse. Look at the poorly formed crystal structure.


The beautifully formed crystal from the famous fountain in Lourdes, France which is known for its healing properties.


Crystal from Mount Cook Glacier in New Zealand.


Distorted crystal from heavily polluted Yodo River in Japan which passes through most major cities in Kasai.

Now maybe we can accept that the pollutants in the water could possibly affect the molecular structure of water, but what Dr Emoto did next took my breath away! He exposed water to different kinds of music and the water responded accordingly!

By placing distilled water between two speakers for several hours and then photographing the crystals that formed after the water was frozen, Dr Emoto produced the following amazing photos.


Bach's Air on the G String gives the impression that the crystal is dancing merrily!


Soothing Mozart's symphony created this beautiful soothing crystal.


Whereas heavy metal music resulted in this disastrous structure!



The beautiful crystal from water exposed to the Tibet Sutra which talk to people's souls and has a strong positive energy that can heal people's feelings.

Some of you may think that maybe it’s not so unusual that music can have an effect on water as music could generate some coherent vibrations in the water that influence the crystallization process. Well, maybe.

But here’s the shocking stunner! Dr Emoto proved that water can even respond to words! It did not matter which language he used, whether it's English, Japanese or Korean, they all gave the same results! He did this by typing words onto paper and then taping the paper onto glass bottles (filled with distilled water) overnight.

Here's the results.


Thank you


Love and gratitude


You make me sick, I will kill you!

Even deceased persons' names can affect the molecular structure of water. Look at these!


Adolf Hitler


Mother Teresa

Guess what? Even our thoughts and intentions can also affect water. Look at these two photos.


This is polluted water from Fujiwara Dam in Japan before a prayer is offered.


And this is the same water from Fujiwara Dam after a Buddhist prayer is offered!

Astonished? What do all these mean?

These photographs show that water is alive and highly responsive to every one of our emotions and thoughts. It means that thoughts and feelings can affect physical reality! By producing different focused intention through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to “change its expression”. Awesome!

But where is the scientific explanation for this? Dr Emoto believes that hado or chi is at work here. Hado is the intrinsic vibrational pattern at the atomic level in all matter, the smallest unit of energy. Its basis is the energy of human consciousness. Dr Emoto thinks that hado changes according to the consciousness of the observer, in other words, the way we see things.

Since human is 70% water, could it mean that what we think creates our reality, not just emotionally but physically?

And since the planet is also 70% water, would this discovery have profound implications for the environment? Put it another way, could we 'think' a polluted stream clean again?

I don't know about you, but I just find it impossible to read this book and come away without being affected. I really think this discovery by Dr Emoto should be thoroughly investigated since it may have large implications to human health and the entire planet earth.