Halloween 2011

Posted on: Oct 28, 2011

Scream time!!!! Our favorite time of the year is back! If you're sick and tired of spending boring weekend nights then it's time to get out and see walking deads, ghosts, and other friends of Sadako:

Halloween Horror Nights
Universal Studios Singapore®
Oct 27-30 2011

This October, come face to face with terror at the first ever Halloween Horror Nights® in Universal Studios Singapore®, Resorts World™ Sentosa. Wander around six scare-zones but beware of the Director who’s filming his latest gruesome movie – you could be his next victim! Feel what it’s like to be trapped in a horror film as you run for your life in a Carn-EVIL of crazed clowns. Step into the haunted Peranakan house where you face the Vengeance of the Matriarch as the demented Nyonya stirs her bubbling brew of black magic. Mutated zombies roam around in a Post-Apocalyptic Rage, ravenous and starving for human flesh and blood. An awful curse has befallen tormented inhabitants who are now infected by a foul toxic plague in Pestilence. Can you escape the insane clutches of the Mad Scientist as he stalks unsuspecting victims in The Void to dismember them and fasten on hideous artificial limbs? Shrivel in fear when you flee to The Edge of Darkness from hordes of rampaging mummies and mindless demons seeking fresh souls!

Fright Night
Asian Civilisations Museum
Oct 29 2011
Free admission: 5pm – 1am
Children’s activities: 5pm – 10pm
Other programmes: 7pm – 1am

Experience the museum at night as ghoulish ghosts from the Singapore Paranormal Investigators haunt the galleries. Visit the Haunted Kampung at ACM's basement and scream your lungs out! Watch free screening of Korean movie "Hansel & Gretel", and Indonesia movie "The Real Pocong (The Real Ghost)".

Escape To Helloween - Graveyard Shift
Escape @ Downtown East
Oct 28-29 2011
7pm - 11pm

Ghost and Ghouls are unleashed to raise “Horror” while roaming the grounds of Escape this Halloween. If you are lucky, you might be able to catch a glimpse of a lady spirit who is looking for her child whom was killed in Pasir Ris. Are you her child? She might just be looking for you!

Spooktacular
Sentosa Imbiah
Oct 28-30 2011
7pm - 11pm

Are you afraid of the dark? Spooktacular dares you to experience the horror of Asian folklore and myth at the SIX spine-chilling haunted trails contained within the spooky shores of Sentosa. The nightmare is about to begin so prepare to be driven to the brink of insanity.

Araw ng mga Patay (Day of the Dead)

Posted on: Nov 01, 2007

The Philippine way of celebrating Halloween is unique. It can start a week before Nov-01 as most Pinoys start cleaning graves of their relatives during the last week of Oct. Cleaning includes removing dirt and painting the tombs. On the eve of the Nov-01 (so Oct-31), people go to cemeteries (again) to light candles, bring flowers and meet other relatives who are also there to visit the tombs. This family reunion actually involves food and drinks, and for most Filipinos, are attended not just by the living but also by the dead.


From Oct-26 to Nov-01, Red Dot Pinoys has given you tales about the "other" world and the undead. Thanks to all who have read our posts. Special thanks to those who have commented: Jio, Riza, and Mя Đo™ јuŝт ғøя ғци.

Click here to read all CREEPY posts.

Tabi po

Filipinos belief in mysticism is so deep that when knocking on a door of somebody's house, we don't say "Hello" --- we say "Tao po" which means "I'm human." It's like saying "I'm not a ghost, aswang, tikbalang, nuno or any other creature. I'm human and I come in peace so please let me in."

You see, nobody wants to see an aswang, a tikbalang, or a nuno knocking on his door.

Aswang is a reclusive person who transforms into a flesh-eating ghoul at night to eat cadavers and small children. A dish prepared by an aswang should never be eaten else you'll turn into one. In case an aswang give it to you as a gift, you must politely accept to avoid offending the aswang and get attack by night. Never consume the dish no matter how tempting it can be... it's of human meat.

Meanwhile, tikbalang has a head of a horse and a body of a man. It lives on mountains and in forests, and often play tricks to travelers. It is said that when you get lost in a forest, wear your shirt inside out to dismiss the tikbalang's spell.

When we also walk through a forest or in any area with lots of trees, we say "Tabi po" which means "Excuse me, old one. I'm just passing by." Its our way of greeting the "nuno" and asking his permission if we can pass. Nuno is a dwarf who lives in an anthill or termite mound around trees. Also when we are in such areas, we avoid pointing our fingers toward the trees or to the ground due to our elders insistent warning of "Huwag kang manuro, baka manuno ka" which means "Do not point your fingers, the nuno might get offended."

I've been living in Singapore for six years but it hasn't erased my belief in Philippine folklore. Once my husband and I got so lost when we were at Sentosa's Dragon Trail. We were walking around for hours, trying to find the way out but we were always coming to a same spot. It was getting dark and we were already so spooked so we decided to wear our shirts inside out then continued our walk while saying "tabi po." And you know what happened next? In just a few minutes we met somebody (a local) who knew the way out.

Singapore's Chinese Opera

Back in 2003, when my husband and I used to live in a studio at Beach Road, we often saw night street Chinese Operas held on a patch of land between the said road & Tan Quee Lan Street. The first time we saw one, we wanted to watch and took some pictures. But we changed our minds. Something was odd. The opera's stage was about 20 feet from the audience who were having dinner inside a huge tent. While these people were seated far from the opera, there were about 10 unoccupied chairs right in front of the stage. We did not know what was the occasion. Someone's birthday perhaps? Were they supposed to sit on the empty chairs after the dinner?

On other nights, the audience were seated in front of the stage but behind a row of empty chairs. Didn't they want to have a better view of the opera?

Then we noticed a pattern: empty chairs were always present in every opera.

So years passed since then but whenever we remember those encounters we were still baffled. Our puzzle was only solved when we saw "The Maid", a movie. (Warning: spoiler ahead) The empty chairs were for the "other" audience... ghosts! Whew! Thank goodness we changed our minds! Imagine the look on their faces when they see two sillies taking pictures of the dead people...

Warning: Don't play this video to avoid spoiler

More about "The Maid":

• It was a 2005 Singaporean movie that broke the country's box office record for the horror genre. It tells the story of a Filipina maid's (played by Philippine's Alessandra de Rossi) recent arrival to Singapore during the Hungry Ghost. Most Singaporean Chinese believe that during this 30-day period, the gates of hell open and spirits are let loose. For 30 days, the dead walk among the living. It is a time when, in the words of one author, ghosts get a vacation from purgatory.
• Official website
• Trailer
• At Wikipedia
• Review

Corregidor

Corregidor is said to be one of the most haunted places in the Philippines. Some people reported of hearing moaning, footsteps, and other noises inside the hospital ruins and old bunkers.

Perhaps, these "experiences" can be attributed to the fact that several men died in Corregidor when it became the headquarters of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Allied Forces during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) under WWII.

Its Malinta Tunnel was initially used as a bomb-proof storage and personnel bunker but later served as a 1,000-bed underground hospital during the said war.

But beyond these ghostly tales, one cannot argue the beauty of Corregidor and its importance to the country's history.

It is just 1 & 1/2 hour boat trip from Manila and the largest of four islands protecting the mouth of Manila Bay, the finest natural harbor in the Orient. American servicemen dubbed it as "The Rock" or the "Gibraltar of the East", in comparison to the peninsular fortress that guards the main entrance to the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa.

During the above mentioned war, the Japanese had to take Corregidor because as long as the island remained in American hands, they would be denied the use of the Manila Bay, thus failure to conquer the Philippines.The fall of Corregidor to the Japanese forces was instrumental in the subsequent capture of the Philippines and the retreat of the United States in the early stages of the war. It was from Corregidor that MacArthur left for Australia where he subsequently said his famous speech, in which he said "...I shall return."

So in your next trip to Manila, spend a day or two in Corregidor. Tours from Manila include boat transfers, an island tour, admission and terminal fee. Enjoy a jeepney guided tour of the devastated military buildings, cannons, and numerous war monuments. The island also offers a good view of the Manila Bay. Stay overnight at Corregidor Hotel or Lodging Row House.

Of course, my most favorite part, try the Malinta Tunnel Night Tour which is only available to overnight tourists. Explore every inch of the tunnel and switch off your flashlight (the guide will actually ask you to, :D bwahahaha) to “feel” the moments that happened inside the tunnel during the war.

More about Corregidor:

• Corregidor Island
• Corregidor - Then and Now
• Malinta Tunnel Night Tour
• Accomodation
• Tour
• Cruise
• In Lonely Planet

Some travelogs:

• On Malinta Tunnel Night Tour
• More than Cannons in Corregidor
• From Stieglitz

Books on Corregidor:

• Corregidor: The American Alamo of World War II: by Eric Morris
• Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission

Aerial view of Corregidor

Changi Beach

This area is believed to be haunted by ghosts of the executed Chinese during the Japanese occupation. Passersby often report hearing strange crying and screaming. The heads of the dead bodies are sometimes seen flying everywhere. Headless bodies walk around the beach as well. More scary cases include a passerby witnessing a ghostly execution leaving blood stains.

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore in WWII, Sook Ching (a purge through cleansing) massacre was carried out to kill perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore by the Japanese military during the Japanese Occupation. This was after the colony was surrendered by the British empire. The current site of the popular Changi Beach Park was the site of one of the most brutal killings in Singapore's history. On 20 Feb 1942, Chinese males were lined up along the edge of the sea and shot by the military police.

Naturally, people started telling tales of ghosts that linger around Changi Beach. However, when I camped there in 2005, I was not able to sleep... not because of any paranormal activity but due to some @!#* noisy teenagers who decided to skateboard in the wee hours of the night. Aside from this, I was constantly awaken by the sound of airplanes taking off from the nearby airport. So if you're planning to camp at Changi Beach.... DON'T! The beach is better than Sentosa but it is not for camping.


For ghost stories about Changi, please click here.

Ghoulish Trail

Tired of eating, shopping and clubbing? Then consider a whole new form of excitement – ghost hunting! Sign up for a ghoulish trail with the Singapore Paranormal Investigators (SPI), touted as Singapore’s own version of Ghostbusters.

It will take you to Singapore mysterious urban legend landscape where you won't find on usual tourist maps. Discover remarkable journal down the Singapore unbeaten paths, with intriguing accounts of paranormal sightings and haunting, legends, mysteries, historical wonders, and gruesome stories of murder, suicide and violent deaths.

For more information, click here.

White lady at UST Hospital

Philippine's University of Santo Tomas or UST is one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of population, it was founded on April 28, 1611 by the Spanish Reverend Miguel de Benavides. Growing up, I heard a lot of stories about ghosts that haunt the campus and hospital. I remember a story about a headless padre (priest) who was often seen by students peeking through a window in one of the buildings.

Recently, I stumbled upon this video about a white lady captured on camera at a ward in UST hospital...

Old Malay Cemetery at Kampong Glam

For me, this is the scariest place in Singapore. It never fails to send chills down my spine everytime I pass by Victoria Street. It's so creepy...


Situated at the junction of Victoria Street and Jalan Sultan, founded between 1819-1820, it is the earliest Malay cemetery in Singapore. When Sultan Hussein and his followers settled in the area between Arab Street and Jalan Sultan, there was already a sea gypsy's village occupied by the Glam tribe. The Cemetery had probably been used prior to this period. The Sultan himself died in Malacca on 5th September 1835, but some of his relatives were buried in Kampong Glam. Mr. Tassim labeled this place 'Tombs of the Malayan Princes' in a map he drew in 1936.