After I woke up yesterday noon, I spent the whole day chatting on MSN with Vincent. We were talking about the Ghost Tour I was going at night; and no, he did not sign up because he mentioned that as a temple helper, he had seen more in-depth stuff that what SPI was going to offer. Disappointed because we were one of the most active members in the forum.
Chat till 5.30pm before I went for a short 1-hour nap; I needed to pump up for the tour. Woke up with a grouch and went to bathe. Had to meet Skinny Bones at 7pm and dammit, he was late. By the time I met up with him, it was 7:20pm and I was dying of hunger. Had Ebi Rice Burger, iced lemon tea and chunky fries at MOS Burger. Yummy, when one's hungry, everything tastes yummy. After a hearty dinner, we went shopping. Skinny Bones bought a business shirt from Zara. Not bad~ That guy's taste has definitely improved. *Thumbs up*
The shopping centres pulled down their shutters at 9:30pm. As it was still early, both of us went to Newton Circus to pile up on hydration. Ordered sambal stingray and 3 glasses of ice-cold sugar cane juice. Awwwwwwww......At 11:15pm, we met up with the SPI team and we left for our 1st destination at 11:45pm.
1st Destination: An isolated cemetery at Lim Chu Kang
It was an uphill journey as we had to climb up and down the tombstones before we came to a banana plant. One of the members explained that they did an experiment by tying a red string around another member's toe to the needle pricked into the flower bud. The member experienced overwhelming sorrow at that point of time and the lady spirit actually followed him home - He felt sick for a few days, but after a couple of days, the latter left and he was well again. We also came to a big tall tree. They explained that it might be the residence of countless of spirits because it was dark and contained a high level of "yin" energy.
2nd Destination: A Parsi cemetery
Came to Parsi cemetery. This religion is almost unheard of in Singapore, but it is actually one of the 10 religions. SPI explained that there are about 5000 Parsi people in the world because they can only marry people of their own kind if they want to continue with the religion. If the Parsi marries a non-Parsi, he or she is no longer one. Their funeral rites are also very interesting: There should not be any burial or cremation because they worship the fire, which they feel is very sacred. In India, the corpse is left to the vultures to dispose. In Singapore, it's different. It is placed on a cow-urine washed cement slab and I am not sure how the decomposition process works.
3rd Destination: Shell Petrol Station
After a hectic 2-hour ordeal, finally, we were given a 15-min toilet break. Bought a bottle of ice-cold Pokka green tea. The toilet queue was long though, boo. Had wanted to buy something to munch, but the thought of getting fat made me sick. Decided to stick to drinking mineral water and sugar-loaded drink. Irony.
4th Destination: Sarimbun Beach
This beach used to be a killing ground for the Japanese soldiers during WW2. SPI did an experiment before this outing- They placed offerings and had a female member, dressed in Japanese kimono, chant Japanese sutras. They mentioned that all of a sudden, there was a huge tide sweeping the offerings away. They believed it could be the souls of the Japanese soldiers that swept the offerings back into the sea. As for the female member, she claimed that she felt very depressed and started to cry after the rites.
As for us, the road was grained with pebbles and stones. Was very careful to avoid stepping onto bits and pieces of broken glasses. Felt bored at this point of time - This trip felt more like an historical tour than a spiritual one. Wanted to go back to the tour coach.
5th Destination: Bukit Brown Cemetery
This place gave me the creeps. Everybody knows that this is one of the oldest and fiercest cemeteries around. The place was midnight-dark and full of mozzies. Imagine how much repellant I loaded on my limbs when I smelled like a grapefruit : P The team began their experiments and started to ask for volunteers. Though I am outspoken and daring, I don't see the need to play with fire and invite any spirit home. After much cajoling, a middle-aged auntie came forward. She was supposed to sit in front of the offerings and white candlesm, shake the ancient abacus 7 times and look into mirror to see if there was any "passerby".
Felt pissed by their unprofessionalism though - everything was not thoroughly organized and it seemed to me that they were more concerned with their experiments than the safety of the volunteer. After 20 minutes, the experiment ended and there was no positive result.
They tried the experiment again, this time round with their own member shaking the abacus and looking into the mirror and 5 volunteers tapping porcelain bowls with chopsticks. Again, it yielded no positive results. Had the debrief and one of the members with "yin yang" eye mentioned that she saw spirits wandering about and they were curious about the experiment. They hovered for a few minutes but after seeing the simple offerings, they went away. Not too sure how true, but fatigue ate into me - I could not think properly.
They dropped us at Newton Circus, the same place which we gathered hours back. Hungry and tired, both Skinny Bones and I took a cab to Macdonald's at teahouse to have breakfast. Chomped down a Sausage Mcmuffin and orange juice. Walked Skinny Bones to Queenstown MRT before I made my way home.
Bathed and got a scolding from Gramps for staying out at night. The moment my head touched the pillow, I was knocked out....
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