Hey there, crazy neighbour

When my family and I first shifted into this home a few years (more like 7 years ago), we thought we found the perfect house. It had the cozy, gloomy but comfy look. It was near the MRT station and bus-stop. There were fast food outlets nearby, and a food court too. There is a 7-11 and two supermarkets that were 24 hours open. And there is even a 24 hour clinic just a block away from my home, and two (or was it three?) clinics nearby. There is also a Cash Converter now.


It was like a dream come true. A perfect place for lazybums like my brothers and I.



But as soon as we shifted in, we realized that we were in for a roller coaster ride. To begin with, the previous family spilled their cat food all over the cabinets in the kitchen. It smelled like vomit, and to make it worst, there was cat pee all over. Such imbeciles I tell you.


But that wasn't the worst part.


After all tedious cleaning and shifting in was over, we had a 'House Warming' ceremony. It was pretty cool, and many of the neighbours popped by to welcome us. We thought we would pretty much blend in with the crowd.


But we were wrong. Because the next day, we got to meet our nightmare, the neighbours that were staying opposite my home (literally opposite. The 'open your door and you see nothing but their door' kind).






It was in the morning, and having parents that believe that 'opening windows and doors in the morning brings in 'Good Luck'', we had our door open. Only to be greeted with the neighbour doing the same thing. My mum was in a perky mood, and being a mannered person that she was, she greeted the neighbour, only to have the door slammed right in front of her face.


Oh, and did I mention that she's not alone? She's an elderly lady, with a husband and three kids, a son and two daughters. And she used to have a dog too, but I think she killed it. It used to be barking like mad, but one day, it just wasn't barking anymore...



My neighbour's ill manners doesn't stop here.



She covers her nose with her handkerchief or a piece of tissue whenever she passes by my home to head to the lift. At first we thought that it was the joss sticks that my dad puts whenever he does his prayers, but we soon realize that she does it even when she walks past us. It was really hurtful at first, but we can't really be bothered anymore. Her daughters and son used to be like that too.


They'd also leave the lifts if we happened to enter the same one as them. And splashing water near our door is liek an everyday thing already...



I thought their crazy psychotic evillness ran in the blood, but I was wrong, because one day, I met that old woman's husband. And man, was he normal and nice! He was actually sick and tired of his family for being such 'negative' people.


He was a pretty awesome man, compared to his rotten family. He always went for walks. And everytime he talked to my mum, the old lady would be standing at the window, "spying" on them. Then she'll start screaming and shouting at the poor old man.


But one day, he died. And no one actually knew what happened. Just like the dog they had.



Things after his death was pretty much, worst. There was this one time when they called monks (I have no idea whether the monks were 'Good or Bad'. Just read the later part). They had this ceremony at their home, and after it was all done, my dad saw the monks chanting at our door! It was pretty crazy and so we called the police.


Needless to say, the police told us that the police had received a number of complaints from this family. And adding that the old woman, had a history of mental illness.


What about her kids? We didn't really bother asking, but we were all quick on our feet, ready for anything that she might do to us.


Now, the hocus pocus chants and prayers didn't really stop. There were days when one of my kin wanted to commit suicide so badly. He was crying, and it was obvious that he was in pain. We did the "bomoh" stuff and actually found 'something' in one of my mum's potted plants. It was said that it was placed there by that old woman because she hated my dad so badly and wanted him dead.



After the ritual and seeing that we were all very much alive (that kin of mind was much better), the son surprisingly became a monk, and the daughters lightened up, sometimes even greeting us (depending on their mood).


But the nasty old lady has been even more bad mannered than she was back then. Then was a couple of times when surveyors/people asking for donations/random people who knocked on her home door. They had this really weird thing about opening their doors to strangers. But there was this time where this surveyor didn't stop knocking on the old woman's door. And boy was she frustrated!


She yelled at him, more like screamed at him for disturbing her. "Are you stupid? I didn't open my door means I don't want to entertain you right! Why you keep knocking? Are you blind? What if I'm not in, will you keep knocking till I come home? What if there is a baby inside (such a liar) ?!? You are disturbing us!"



And before the poor man could respond to any of her questions, she lashed out her arm before screeching a "GET LOST" at him.






The poor man was dumbfounded but luckily he managed to recover quickly, scurrying off before she could get a broom or something to throw at him.



And there was this other time, which happened last year, where a group of people, around her age, came knocking on her door. She was clearly at home, because I saw her at her door a few minutes ago. But she was indeed hiding from them.

After knocking on her door for a good 15 minutes, they decided to head home, only to see my curious mum watering her plants. Apparently, they were from this Buddhist association and the old woman only recently changed her religion to Christianity (I think). They came by to ask her for the reasons for the sudden change, but decided to ditch the idea since she was hiding from them. And they admitted that they didn't like her anyways, so no lost. Hahah!


And an older lady used to pop by her home every few days. She was, I found out, the old lady's mum. And it only happened recently, that the old lady decided to ditch her mum by locking her out of the house! Such a bitch. The older lady was in tears and begged us to allow her in so that she could call home. She seemed nice, and I seriously wonder how she got such a idiotic daughter. From that day, she never visited her daughter again.



Despite all these happening, and it being a few years already, the family still does slam their door at us sometimes. And it was only yesterday, when I was returning home from a trip out, that the old lady was on her way back too. So there I was, trying to fit the key into the lock, and there she was, walking towards my home (in order to reach her home). I decided to annoy her by taking my time, and I wanted to see what she'll do. And unsurprisingly, she waited a good 10 feet away from my home, till I entered my house, before rushing to hers. Wah lao!



I know that if you were me or my family, most of you would go find another home. But having to tolerate her for so many years already, I'm pretty used to it. In fact, I find it amusing that she does all this. And I find ways to annoy her even more.



It's crazy neighbours like her that make my Life so interesting. Hahah!




Loves.

One of the Ghostly Experience

A few days back, I bumped into a friend while on my way home. We decided to sit under my void deck to catch up on old times, or rather, his tales.

We shifted to a block away from my home soon after for a more comfortable place to chat. We continued with his tales, and we soon drifted to the topic about Ghost. I know it's stupid to have brought the topic up, especially during this time of the year, but we could not help it.

We started off with old school tales, and we drifted to personal encounters.

As I type this blog, the hairs on my neck is standing, I don't know why.


I spoke the most about personal encounters, while my friend sat there, listening. I swear it was so quiet, with the wind adding the eerie "chilling" effect. It was only 8pm and as soon as I finished with the my story, I noticed a pool of red substance that really looked like blood, beside us. It was thick and wet, and had the "dripping" blotches as though something was bleeding from above.

We looked around to see if there was anything, but to no avail. We quickly changed topic and decided to switch back to his tales. As we talked, many random thoughts raced through my head. Images like 'a Pontianak who had a miscarriage,sitting above us' and a guy who was sticking out his bleeding head beside us' invaded my head. And I could not help but to talk about the blood, because 1) There were flies around it. 2) No one, No thing was bleeding, where did it come from?


It spooked me quite abit, and so we left the place.


The story above is true, and though it still sends chills down my spine, I really did enjoy the sensation of fear all over me. I think I'm going to be a Fear Addict soon.


Have you had you ghostly experience yet?

Ghost Festival

At the stroke of Midnight, everything will be different.

Everyone would be seen rushing home before night comes knocking on their doors.

The night sky seems darker as the only thing that lights up your pathway would be the glowing flame of the lighted candles that accompany the offerings.

Every corner you turn, you'll face bins that roar and cackle as people throw the "paper dolls, shirts and money" into the rising flame.

You see tents in the middle of the field, you squint to have a better view of what it is all about. It's a Chinese opera performance for the "visitors".

You try to erase the scary faces of the opera singers, but before you know it, two ghoulish eyes stare at you, ready to eat you alive.

You try to run, but tripped. A nightmarish laughter haunts you as you try to erase the eerie glare that you got earlier.

You try to avoid the ashes on the drains that are enveloped by a white circle, but as hard as you try, the mistral gently blows the ashes forming a tornado, after you.

You quicken your pace, but soon hears a familiar voice calling your name.

Should you turn around to see who it is?

Millions of thoughts races through your head as you mentally weigh between turning to look or not.

It's 1am, and you turned. And you saw...









True enough, midnight would mark the start of the Hungry Ghost festival. If you have no idea what that is, fear not, I've check wikipedia.org!

The Ghost Festival (simplified Chinese: 中元节; traditional Chinese: 中元節; pinyin: zhōngyuánjié) is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month.

In Chinese tradition, the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. During the Qingming Festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors and on Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

On the thirteenth day the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the former includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the latter only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

When I was younger, I was very afraid whenever the Hungry Ghost Festival were around. Because I always had a tendency to picture the "visitors" as scary ghosts who looked something like this:



















I was very naive and a coward, so I believed the folk tales of not going for a swim during the Ghost Month, not turning around when I heard someone calling my name, not stepping on any burnings, and apologize if I did, and to never stand near the offerings, or even ask/say anything about the offerings.

My mum used to tell me that kids have the ability to look at the "supernatural" and I for one, have experienced it.

I remember one time when I was really young (and stupid). I asked my mum why there were so many ravenous people fighting for the offerings. It was only a few years later, that I realized that the ravenous people were the homeless souls who depended on people's offerings to survive.

I've lost the magic touch to see the "supernatural" but I would love to go on expeditions to try to "regain" the touch back. Besides, who wouldn't love the explore more of the Lingo world?

I know exploring and entering their "territory" could be a grave danger, literally, as we may offend them without knowing it at all. But still, I would love to be part of SPI.


Any SPI people want to take me in?