I am
back in Taipei.
It has
been a while since my last visit however I use to visit and work here a lot.
It is
a fine city with fine people.
I
arrived yesterday afternoon and checked into the Grand Hyatt hotel. I have only
stayed in this hotel once before and it was not by choice. The hotel I usually
stayed in was full and at the end of the day I am not really too fussed where I
stay – as long as the bed is comfortable, and there is a spa and a swimming
pool.
I like
massages and I like to swim each morning.
I had
a haunting the last time I was here.
True.
It was
as unexpected as it was disconcerting.
I have
written about this previously in a piece I most unimaginatively titled “Spooky
Things”.
Rather
than re-hash the whole event – here is what happened:
I was here in
Taipei on business.
It was in 2012.
I have only ever
been here on business.
I used to come here
often for work.
I like Taiwan and
I have quite a few friends here.
I normally stayed
at the Landis Hotel as it is comfortable and luxurious and spanking. These are
my three main criteria for overseas hotel accommodation.
And a swimming pool.
On this occasion
though there was some big convention on in town so the Landis was full and I
was booked into the Grand Hyatt instead.
No drama.
The Grand Hyatt
was close to my office so I could walk there.
I like walking.
I arrived in
Taipei in the morning and I went straight to the office. I had meetings from
dawn to dusk.
I did my stuff.
My day was busy
but it was mostly uneventful.
I like the
Taiwanese and I very much like the way that they choose their own Western
names.
They do this as
adults.
One of my friends
in Taipei chose the name Elton because he likes the music of Elton John.
A work colleague
of mine chose the name Snoopy because he likes Snoop Dogg.
The Rapper.
I associate Snoopy
with the Charlie Brown cartoons.
It must be my age.
I giggle inside
when I meet with Snoopy as I have this Charlie Brown image firmly in my mind.
Snoopy is a very nice bloke though and I would never giggle to or at him.
That would be rude.
So I went back to
my hotel at about 8pm and I ordered room service. I ordered a club sandwich
with a side order of fries and a chocolate milkshake.
No booze.
I checked my
emails and I made some phone calls then I channel surfed the TV. Taiwanese soap
operas are hysterical. There is a lot of screaming involved and delightful and
colourful costumes.
I can't understand
a word of course but it amuses me regardless.
I felt a bit weary
about 11.00pm so I had a shower and I got under the covers then I read my book.
At the time I was reading "A Fraction of the Whole" which is a novel
by Steven Tolz.
I regard this work
to possibly be the greatest Australian novel of all time.
It is a cracker.
I read until about
11.30 by which time I felt quite sleepy so I put down my book and I turned off
the lights and went to sleep. At exactly 1.12 am I was awoken by the feeling of
someone sitting on the end of my bed! I recall the exact time as I saw the
digital glow of the bedside clock.
I sat upright.
I turned the
bedside lamp on.
There was nothing
there so I assumed that I must have been dreaming.
So I turned off
the light and went back to sleep.
At 3.10 am I was awakened
again.
Plunk.
Someone had sat at
the end of my bed.
What the fuck?
On went the light
again.
I got out from
under the covers and I looked around the room. I checked in the bathroom and I
even peeked under the bed. I felt uncomfortable and I was a bit frightened.
There was no one
there though.
Was I going mad?
I left the
bathroom light on and got back under the covers. I must have drifted off to
sleep again then thump again.
4.42 am.
Someone had
definitely sat down right next to my feet.
But there was
no-one there!
I turned all the
lights on.
I sat up in
bed.
I was very
nervous.
At 6.30 am I went
downstairs to breakfast. This was when the restaurant opened. On my way there I
went to the concierge desk and I told them what had happened. The man there
looked at me strangely but he nodded politely then he brushed me off. I began
to doubt myself.
I went to the
office and told Snoopy what had happened and I told some of my other Taiwanese
colleagues too.
"Didn't I
know?" they asked. “That hotel is haunted, there had been many reports”.
I jumped straight
on to Google and I searched for information myself.
For fucks sake -
the place was built on a killing field. During the occupation of Taiwan, Chiang
Kai-shek's soldiers had slaughtered thousands of Japanese on the very spot that
the hotel was constructed.
It was a blood
bath!
Google reported
dozens of instances of guests seeing and hearing ghosts.
I asked my
colleagues to immediately find me another hotel. I told them that I would not
stay there another night. Try as they did there were no rooms to be had in all
of Taipei.
The bloody
convention!
When I went back
to my room that night I found that the hotel had put two small statues on
either side of my bed. There was also a single red rose in a vase on the TV
cabinet. I immediately rang Snoopy again and I also consulted Google. These
were Buddhist ghost warding devices!
They would
supposedly protect me.
I took two very
powerful sleeping pills that night.
I knocked myself
out and I had no further visitations.
I checked out the
next morning and have not returned since.
I vowed that I
would never stay there again and I am now a believer.
There are spooky
things out there.
So you
may ask why have I checked in here again?
A fair
question.
I am
seeking a haunting.
The
research I have done on the hotel suggests the banshees that wander the halls
and sit on people’s beds have actually hurt no one - and I am more curious than
afraid of what I might encounter.
I have
prepared a list of questions I would like to ask the undead and I am hopeful
they are prepared to answer.
My
friend the anagram Iman - the sender of
the Octopus picture - has informed me that she would not stay a night here but
suggested I greet the ghost and then release it.
I will
do the former – but not the latter.
I wish
to yack to the spirit.
I have
charged my phone and also a small video recorder to try and capture the ghosty
– and to record any noises or utterings.
These
will likely be in Japanese as I understand all of the spirits are slaughtered
Japanese soldiers.
So
when I checked in yesterday I was given the old, “Welcome back Mr. Hepenstall” to which I thanked the Taiwanese
Receptionist who spoke with a distinctive American accent.
“It has been a while since you last
stayed with us”
she commented as she clicked my details into her computer.
“It has” I replied.
“May I please have your most haunted
smoking room?”
I enquired.
There
was a pause in her clicking and she said, “I
beg your pardon”
“May I please have your most haunted smoking
room?” I
repeated.
“None of our rooms are haunted” she responded.
“Really?” I said – cocking my eyebrow in a most
exaggerated fashion.
“Really” she asserted.
“Well I was in a haunted room in here the
last time I stayed”
I declared
“It was very haunted indeed,” I added.
The
young lady stopped her clicking and gave me a long and blank stare. For a
moment I thought she might be Singaporean as the blank stare is a common
phenomena there.
“Perhaps we could Google ghosts and the
Grand Hyatt Taipei?”
I suggested
“There are many hundreds of reports of restless
spirits in this establishment”
The
blank stare continued.
“OK - do you have a record of which room
I stayed in when last I was here?”
The
lady recommenced her clicking and after a minute or so she said, “You were in room 1704”
“Is that room available then?”
“It is”
“Then I will take that one please”
“Yes sir”
“If there are any of you ghost inhibiting
statues in the room may I please have them removed?” I asked
“Yes sir” she replied.
“Aha - so you concede the hotel is
haunted then?”
I enquired.
No
response.
I
stayed up late last night with the lights off and awaiting a visitation. A
couple of times I thought I heard something and asked in both English and in
Japanese if there was anyone there.
Alas
there was not.
It was
a little disappointing.
I am
hoping for better luck tonight.
I am looking forward to a haunting.
lol she tried to lie but indirectly blurted it out to you. ive had experiences of the supernatural too no matter where i go but as time goes by, it has become a norm to the point where i dont bother anymore. haha my husband is a tough guy so thats one of the reasons why i wasnt scared anymore. anyway, interesting story! :)
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