A Story of my Grandmother

It has been four months since my maternal grandmother passed away; and it seemed like yesterday when we saw her lying there on the hospital.
I was never really that close to this grandmother; maybe because we were far away and we only see her like once or twice a year since our childhood.

She had been battling with her rare blood disease for the past three years already, and as most of them are Taoists, they took faith in mediums and deities worships and have been traversing to consulting mediums on grandmother's fate.
The mediums helped in a lot of ways, or perhaps, scientifically it could be the doctors, but I will not choose to comment as I never take a stand to doubt the supernatural and what faith truly can do as I have experienced the power of faith before.

Anyway, I remembered how situation worsened by the year and there was this year (I think it was two or three years back), when grandmother's disease took a critical turn and she was just in so much pain. It took us several trips to the hospital, and for my mum, it was a long journey from KL to come and accompany her mother.
It was almost to a hopeless case, and grandmother did not seem to be getting any better.
All the aunts and uncles were frantically praying and rushing to the temples, and they consulted mediums from all these different temples.
There was this particular temple, which they frequent and I believed the deity was 'Tua Pek' and 'Jee Pek' (Grand Uncle and Second Uncle respectively), who are the guards or protectors of the underworld. They are two deities who are like constables; guarding the underworld and to supervise/control the wandering ghosts.
The appearances of the two deities are apparent; as 'Tua Pek' (Grand Uncle) is wearing a white tall hat; tall and skinny, and with a tongue hanging (it was believed that he died hanging himself) and 'Jee Pek' (Second Uncle) is shorter in appearance and in black.


The deities are trusted assistants of the King of Hades, and 'Tua Pek' is the Chief Inspector of Hades who always carries a fan, while 'Jee Pek' carries a chain.

These deities are sought for the past three years by the aunts and uncles who wanted divine help on grandmother's health condition. This included requests to prolong her lifeline.

I remembered during that time when grandmother was critically ill and there seemed to be no more hope, they rushed to the temple to ask for Tua Pek's help, to prolong the length of grandmother's life.
That included having someone in the family, who was born in the year of the Rabbit, to burn the amulet and rubbed it on grandmother's forehead.
I guess it worked, as grandmother soon recovered and she was alive and kicking for the next two years. (Before that, it was like every year, especially during the Ching Ming month or the Hungry Ghost month, grandmother would be unwell).

Anyway, of course everyone was glad that grandmother was finally fine, but there was just this one thing; grandmother seemed to have develop a few odd habits:
1. She will constantly look at the clock and ask, "What's the time now?"
2. She will always say she sees someone from the corner of her eyes in the quietest place of the house; i.e: kitchen, bathroom
3. She hears someone calling her, or someone is looking at her from her bedroom window
4. She constantly asks for her meals, even though she had just had her meal a few minutes ago.

She was not senile; though as she was fully aware of what was happening around her but her new habits just kind of spooked everyone out; especially the superstitious aunts who seemed to think that the Angel of Death or the guards from Hades are lurking around.
Anyway, the trips to the temple to consult the deities continued, and they were given amulets; one after another for grandmother's protection.

There was also a piece of advice handed out to them, to keep grandmother in the house most of the time, and not let her out especially during Ching Ming month and not at all during the Hungry Ghost month. It was also specific that she should not bump into any funerals whenever she goes out.
It was said that the above practices are due to the presence of the other wandering spirits, and particularly the guards/constables of Hades who would be around to guide the spirits. After all, grandmother was believed to have cheated death when her life was prolonged.

Anyway, all went well for the past two years, with minor admissions due to her blood disease, but never anything serious, until THIS year.
Grandmother was due for her medical check up which was like a routine, every two to three months where she had to go to the hospital per her schedule.
Now, you know how the elders really hate going to the hospital, it's like they sensed death whenever they are there.
My grandmother was no exception, but she did not really have a choice as she needed to obtain medication and also examination from the doctor to ensure that her condition is under control.

You know how it works at government hospitals, where the appointments are scheduled by the hospital and not by yourself. It does not matter when you are free, because you have to make yourself available or the date will just be rescheduled to a few months later ( a few weeks, if you are lucky).

Anyway, this year, she went for her check ups and then the next check up was towards the end of July; which coincided with the Hungry Ghost month (or the seventh month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar).
It was supposed to be a routine check up really, and when they found that her blood levels were low, they proceeded to do the routine blood transfer.
She needed three packets, and by the second packet, grandmother did not seem to be taking it too well and collapsed, in a seizure where the doctors and nurses had to rush her to the ICU immediately to resuscitate her.

She was placed in the unit for observation, and she remained in a coma. However, she suddenly woke up one day and was all well and healthy. She even mentioned that she wanted to go home already and that she was missing all her favorite food.
By the third day, everyone was looking forward to having her home, but she went into an arrest again, and was rushed to the CCU (for the cardio patients). It was there that she went into a coma and never woke up anymore for the next two weeks.

When I arrived at the hospital, I remembered seeing her in the ICU where she was being resuscitated for an arrest for the second time. That was the last time I saw her awake.
For the next week I went to the hospital every single day with my mother, as they were rotating in shifts to take care of the mother. My grandmother was widowed at a young age, and my mother only had her left since her father passed away.

I observed that grandmother was barely awake, but I saw her moving her hands and legs occasionally; which was brushed off as reflex. She constantly want to touch the tubes attached to her face, but we tried to keep her hands down. Mum frowned at all her actions, and it was only later that she told me why.
It seemed that my mum saw the same scenario when my great grandmother and grandfather passed away in the hospital.
The movements of the limbs; especially kicking of the legs are signs of the approaching Angel of Death who is probably nearby and they are just trying to get away from being taken by the Angel of Death.

Do you believe in being able to sense the presence of someone?
Honestly, I didn't, really, but I could tell you that I could sense, during that time in the hospital. The aunts and uncles were all drama kings and queens and they were all telling us about things they sensed, see and hear and most of it, to me, sounded like it was directly taken from the movies.
I am not being a skeptic, but trust me, when you have dealt with them long enough, everything, to them is a big deal and you just kind of get over everything to do with them.

Anyway, as I was saying, I just remembered feeling how grandmother was like, still struggling for her dear life, and I could just sense that she was just around the ward for a few days. Suddenly, there was this one day, I just couldn't sense her anymore, and it was also the day where I didn't see much movement from her anymore.
Maybe you could associate it to what I had seen; from her movement, but no, it had nothing to do with the obvious; it was really the sense.

Then we found out from the aunt who went to consult the medium, that grandmother's condition is getting critical and the medium predicted that the 14th and 15th of the Hungry Ghost Month was probably the most dangerous for her life. When they tried to beg the deities for more information and help to heal her, the deities (medium in trance) waved them away and told them that they were busy during that month.
The medium handed them only a gold-plated pendant this time, and told them there were no more amulets for them; there was just nothing much they can do this round as they can only leave it to fate.

I asked my mum, the meaning of the gold pendant; versus the amulet, and my mother shook her head sadly, telling me that an amulet means there is still protection against the underworld, and that the deities could still deter her from being taken away. When they don't give you an amulet, it means that there is nothing they can do.
How about the pendant, I ask?
The pendant is the highest honor given by the deity, and it is a form of prayer and blessing provided to reduce the suffering and to be on their way.

It was then I prayed; yes, grandmother may be a Taoist and I may be a Catholic, but that didn't stop me from praying so that she will not suffer from so much pain.

She survived on the 14th and 15th, although she did not wake up at all, but the machine still showed her pulse and heartbeat. However, the doctors have already given their opinions and told everyone to be prepared for the worst as there is nothing they could do if she does not wake up.
On Monday, which was the 16th of Hungry Ghost month and the 15th of August, grandmother was transferred to the normal ward in the late evening.
The normal ward was filled with patients, but grandmother was the only one in coma as the rest were just resting patients.

The ward seemed to be in pretty bad shape, and the power sockets located at grandmother's spot were not even working. She was placed in front of the medical/nurses counter, just like all the other ICU and CCU wards she was in the last few weeks.
However, things were not looking that good to me, and everyone in the ward seemed to be looking at my grandmother with such fear and anxiety in their eyes.

We went home that night, and in the middle of the night, mum and me were just finding it so hard to fall asleep, and we even had difficulties in breathing. Mum was practically having a lump in her chest that she was struggling with it and she kept telling me that she was just not feeling so well.
Just as I was sinking into deep sleep, my phone woke me up at 5a.m and I jumped up to pick up the phone.

I heard aunt's voice, telling us to rush to the hospital as the doctor informed that grandmother may not make it any longer. We rushed to the hospital and arrived at about 5.40a.m, and I noticed that her pulse and heartbeat were slowing down. The machine kept going off, getting on everyone's nerves and then when almost everyone is here except for one more aunt and uncle, grandmother's pulse seemed to have almost halted.
When that aunt arrived, grandmother's pulse totally stopped.
However, everyone screamed and told her that there is one more uncle.

I will not believe this if I did not see it with my own eyes, but it was like a miracle when there was a faint pulse detected although it was already a flat line for a few seconds!
When the uncle arrived and called her "Mother", the pulse was dead and it was at this time, the doctor arrived and they pulled the curtains around her bed while we waited.
We heard sounds and it was shortly after when I heard the doctor saying, "Record the time at 6.40a.m", it was then that we knew, she was gone, forever.

It was my first time, really, to be there on the spot and watch a close loved one pronounced dead. Although I was not really close to this grandmother, I was just filled with grief and sorrow to hear someone had just left the world.
My mum was holding it very well, and I guessed it was due to her own health as well.

We proceeded to all the necessary procedures; death certificate, transportation from the mortuary to the funeral parlor, and the funeral proceedings.

My mum then told me that she already had a very bad feeling that moment when grandmother was transferred to the normal ward, and I told her the same thing.
Mum further revealed that the patient next to grandmother's bed already told her that there was another patient who had just passed away that same morning before grandmother came and asked why was grandmother sent to the normal ward when she was in such a serious condition.

A lot of stories were slowly revealed as well, during the wake, about how grandmother may have met the Angel of Death.
An aunt mentioned that she brought grandmother out on the weekend, and she did not realize it was the first of the Hungry Ghost Month. The worse was that they stopped at a traffic light, and there was a wake/funeral going on at the adjacent house. They could not move the car away but they told grandmother to look away.

Another aunt mentioned that when grandmother was first admitted to the hospital and was well, there was another serious accident case which was sent to the same ICU ward and the young man was just a few beds away from grandmother's. Grandmother was very afraid and told the aunt to draw the curtains close. In a few minutes, the doctors pronounced the young man died; due to the serious brain hemorrhage.

Another aunt also mentioned that there was a death in all the wards grandmother was transferred to, and when grandmother was battling with dear life, they were relived that she was transferred to a different ward as that would 'confuse' the Angel of Death when they could not locate her.

Then there was one who mentioned that they smelt an odor when they were taking care of her in her comatose state, and that odor was confirmed by most aunts (including mum) that it was only found on the corpses. It was like the Corpse's Odor. Mum told me that whenever you smelt something weird in a hospital, never say a word or it could follow you for the rest of your lives.

There were all sorts of stories associated to the supernatural incidents or deductions they had when she was nearing her deathbed.
To me, I believe in God being the ultimate decision maker in our lives.
No matter how you hide, you can never run away from fate.

Life and death is something we can never control, honestly, and that we should just let it be.
If she was meant to live, she will live.
Furthermore, we should pray for her that she had gone to a better place, even if we mourn for her, for she is finally without pain and suffering and I am sure she would prefer that.

Rest in Peace, my grandmother... (16th August 2011)

Heating it Up

Some of us do travel quite a bit; especially when it comes to work-related trips, although there are also those who plan and make time for their personal trips.
(I am not referring to myself here :-P )

Typically when it comes to business trips, the perks are the 5-star hotels we will be staying in which we get to enjoy the comforts of home in a luxurious environment; not to mention the facilities located within the building itself.

On business trips, typically we get a room to ourselves, and trust me, sometimes it may be a good thing and sometimes, not really.

I recently heard stories from some of my hubby's friends who shared about their very own encounters in hotels; some are from overseas and some in our very own country!

I have one short story here on a business trip; where this person, let's call her J, who experienced something on her business trip to Singapore a few years ago.

It was a company trip; and her whole department were checked into the same hotel.
Each of them was assigned a room to themselves; which was quite a privilege.

J was uncomfortable to find that her room was at the end of the corridor; near the emergency staircase area. She never did like last rooms; as it is often so deserted.

She was quite tired from the flight and also the day's events, and went to bed.
She heard lots of noises from the outside; doors opening and closing and people walking, even in the middle of the night.

She brushed it aside, as she thought that they were guests from other hotel rooms who were probably enjoying their nightlife a little too late into the night.

After all, it was pretty normal for anyone to hear doors closing and opening at any time whenever you are staying in hotels, right? They are filled with occupants anyway.

She felt weird inside the room anyway, but she told herself not to think of anything.

She had a weird encounter, during her second week of stay in that room.

She was back from her meetings, and was getting ready to take bath.
She stepped into the bathroom and took a relaxing bath.
As she came out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see the electric jug kettle boiling with water and it just turned off automatically; as most electric kettles do when the water is boiled.
She was amazed and bewildered at the same time, as she was pretty sure that she did NOT turn on the electric kettle at that time.
She did not want to think too much about it, and she even thought positively about the whole incident like, "Hey, whoever is doing it, spirit or not, is just so considerate to make sure she has hot drinking water!"

Besides that incident, there were no major incidents that she could recall except another time whereby she caught the water heater in the bathroom being turned on.
Again, this spirit must be really concerned with the temperature inside the room, huh?

She stayed inside that same room for almost a month, and she sleeps with all the lights turned off at night, but she did not face any disturbance.

Honestly, I am really impressed with her courage to be able to stay inside the room for so long!
I think I would have probably requested for a room change when I saw the electric kettle incident, but then again, I do agree with the optimisim, that at least the spirit did not mean any harm and was often helping her out.

It is always good to be positive and to stay calm when in situations like these, although I must say that it is easier said than done.
When you are in the situations like these, you will not be able to just sit and think calmly sometimes.

I find this story really interesting, and not really the typical spooks type.
A good one to amuse my readers after a long break :)

10 reasons I stopped watching Horror movies

I admit, I used to enjoy reading stories about the supernatural and even hearing stories from friends. I liked the suspense found in these stories as well, and the sound and visual effects found in the movies make it all the more exciting (despite me peeking from behind a cushion or pillow I used to shield my eyes!)

My friends would be amazed at how a girl like me, who seemed quiet and righteous would enjoy indulging in this genre but you'd be amazed that most ladies do enjoy a good watch of terrifying movie with ghosts, ghouls and spirits.
My dad would even tell me that it is crazy to be watching stories like these and then scare myself silly half the time. Furthermore, what is the point of watching a movie when you are hiding your eyes most of the time during the climax of the movie right?

Well, I used to be brave but recently, I don't know how or when or even what sparked the little feeling in me to no longer be interested in these stories or movies anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against them, especially when I am still running a blog on these tales, but I'd rather not delve into the elements which can make my imagination run wild.

So, I ran through my mind, wondering what made me avoid horror movies these days and I came up with the top ten reasons (yeah, it is always a number 10 for a list):

1. It makes my imagination go WILD!
Yeah, it is crazy how we could be so imaginative over simple things like a curtain flapping in the wind after watching a movie compared to the usual. We'd cover our heads with the blanket and worry about transparent beings standing over our beds!
Some of us can be even more creative to hold our breath (result of Chinese vampire and zombie movies) to avoid being found by nothing!

2. It makes me worry unnecessarily
Hearing sounds outside the door? Waking up in the middle of the night and thinking twice to make that trip to the toilet seems to be unimaginable than before watching that crazy Alfred Hitchcock movie or the Thai horror movie.

3. It SCARES me for no reason
I just feel scared half the time; wondering what is behind the curtains or what lies in the dark. It is even more crazy when the lights go out due to power failure, and sometimes we imagine that these were works of supernatural forces!

4. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who or what am I looking at?
If you watched the Korean movie, Mirror, you'd know what I mean. Oh, I also noticed that most horror movies did use the mirror as the main scary element where creatures or even the terrifying scenes take place.
It just gives a whole new meaning to looking into your own reflection (and find 'others' there!)

5. Waking up in the middle of the night and checking the time!
This is really crazy but eerie; after watching the Exorcism of Emily Rose, waking up at 3.00a.m or 3.30am is no longer the same anymore. I'd rather not check the time or look at the clock when I DO wake up in the middle of the night.

6. Losing sleep
The mind just goes active and I try to go to sleep but it just makes it worse, as the harder you try to sleep, you will find it harder to fall asleep.

7. Distorted perception of nature
Did you notice that almost half of the horror movies are based loosely on nature; forests, lakes, hills, abandoned lands?
We then grow overly suspicious of trees and shadows, and no longer heed to the beauty of nature but rather of what lurks within; it's just crazy!!

8. Too much violence and gory sights
Honestly, these horror movies are just filled with too much violence than supernatural sometimes; think Psycho and Child's Play. Blood, killings and mutilations, OUCH, that is the idea of scaring our socks off?
Maybe it did worked, since we would end up screaming and hiding behind our pillows, but I just can't stand nor understand how cutting up a human into multiple pieces or being flung into raging rivers can be an attracting factor!

9. Nightmares
I hate having nightmares, and somehow, I always have a good memory which can be blamed for storing the images of the scenes and replaying them so vividly that it is really just freaking scary. I don't enjoy having an active mind during sleep which makes me wake up in the middle of the night or feeling extremely scared or exhausted (from running for dear life in my dreams) when I wake up in the morning!

10. Ignorance is Bliss
What you don't know won't hurt you; and if you have no idea how a haunted house or how are the effects of a ghost look like, you tend not to think or worry about it. If you don't watch these movies, you won't feel afraid of the dark nor the mirrors or anything else for that matter.

Well, to be fair, there is ONE big advantage that comes out of these movies sometimes; FAITH.
Yes, people who don't read the Bible often would miraculously clutch their bibles or rosaries and recite biblical passages when they feel scared.
They start to believe and pray to God when they are scared.

Not a proper way to know God, but nevertheless, at least the faith and religion will be strengthened :)

House Haunting

I was back for the Labor Day/Wesak Day weekend and had a great time with my family and friends:)
Anyway, through one of those family banters, I heard this story from my bro; a true story which actually involved his friend; to be exact, his roomie in the university.
This roomie, was staying in this row of houses which face the main road and opposite his house is this Tai Chow food stall.
Okay, let me see.....his house was separated from his granny's house by the middle house.
There is this house between his and his granny's place; now back to some history.
Initially his family wanted to buy two houses in a row; so that they get to stay next to each other. However, it was bought by another person and despite much persuasion, this neighbor just wouldn't sell his place. Thus, they were separated by this particular house in the middle.
They are all Buddhists (or Taiosts); and their neighbour had altars outside and inside the house.

Recently, they heard of some disturbances in the neighbour's house and was surprised that he had removed all the altars and also worshipping paraphernalia.
It seems that the neighbour's family encountered the unknown presence and that everyone in the house actually saw "it"!!!!
They were freaked (like, duhhh)...and they sought the help of a medium.
The medium came and tried his best at the exorcism but then he related something to them; he was unable to cast away the spirit as the spirit is not of Taiosm nor Buddhism.
He advised them to engage a Christian priest as this spirit was actually a Christian.

The family then hurried over to the nearest church/priest and sought for professional help.
The priest managed to exorcised the spirit out of the house; and cleansed the house from unclean presence.
Then as they were escorting him out of the house, he turned to look at the next house (the granny's house) and whispered, this house is also unclean.
The neighbours told my bro's roomie's family and of course, they were shocked.

I don't think they have done anything so far to cast it away (there's a bunch of people staying in his granny's place).
However, I think he himself (the roomie guy) was freaked out by the news as he actually sleeps in the back room upstairs in his own house. His room window overlooks the back alley of the house which looks so dark and sinister.
Don't really blame him; what do you do when you hear about 2 of your neighbour's house (next to yours) are haunted?

Uhhhh...really pity him; heard that he used to go home during weekends quite often; now he seems to be rather freaked to go home.....the poor guy:(