Group projects have their pros and cons. The cons include plenty of time spent accomplishing outlandish aims, such as the filming of videos and the rehearsal of skits, and being stuck with irritating or incompetent group members if you're really unlucky. The pros are the opportunities to go to interesting places and do interesting stuff while you're at it, all the name of work. My group project for Southeast-Asian studies, fortunately, has more of the pros than the cons. The project is on tree worship and sacred trees in Singapore, and we chose to film a video about our search. I guess my idea of going to "interesting places" and doing "interesting stuff" includes walking around cemeteries and looking for tree altars and hoping some eerie stuff pops up along the way.

Even if it means getting up at the unearthly hour of 8 am for a morning road trip.

This is Chris, looking out the window at something not resembling a headless ghost or a bloodstained monster. Basically, Nigel and I spend the entire day deliberately making suggestions along the lines of exploring haunted houses or commencing filming at the graveyard in the evening, with the purpose of attempting to freak her out. While we do not really come close, her tremulous responses to our evil suggestions are a constant source of amusement. I personally do not believe in divine retribution. Yet.

First stop: Changi Village.

In the wilderness near an army barracks, there are supposedly fig and frangipani trees bunched together. This is supposed to signify the presence of many spirits in the area.

We drove to the empty land near the barracks and got down on foot to search.

This is not a fig tree, and this is not a frangipani tree either. But it's a foreboding-looking tree, so just whack.

We were told that if a concrete stone lies on top of this hump on the ground, then a bomoh placed it there to trap an evil spirit inside the hump. We did not enquire what would happen if we moved the concrete stone, though. And I was not interested at all in finding out first-hand.

There were humps on the grass patches, all around the area. Each with a concrete stone on it.

This place rocks (pun seriously not intended).

There's even an abandoned house here! It once belonged to the British Royal Engineers, constructed 1931.

Peering through the broken glass, I half-expected a face to jump out at me.

Sadako's living quarters.

Faded blood? Nah.

Nigel: "Eisen, let's go inside and take a look."
Eisen: "Ok."
Chris [big smile]: "I'll just stay here with Ben. You two can go in and explore all you want."
Eisen: "Search for our bloodied, headless bodies if we don't come back within ten minutes."

Empty room. Nothing inside. I think.

We saw this in one of the second-floor rooms. Don't ask me what went on here.

A room with collapsed headboards.

Lo and behold! After half an hour of searching we did find the fig and frangipani trees. Even more amazingly, it was a fig tree INTERTWINED with a frangipani tree. The find was almost too amazing. We half-expected not to find anything at all. And this is the crowning glory at the foot of the tree(s):

A Chinese shrine. Bingo!

Second stop: Jin Long Si Temple, Upper Paya Lebar.

In the temple grounds, there is a hundred-year-old Bodhi tree, of the species that Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under.

The search was simple enough. There it is, as expected.

Third stop: Track 14, Chua Chu Kang Cemetery.

My favourite part of the trip.

Apparently, there are two areas of interest: A banana grove, where spirits supposedly reside, and a large sacred tree, where visitors to the cemetery usually go to pay their respects to.

The road sign, ominously knocked over.

Hi everyone...

Fortunately, we chanced upon a middle-aged man in construction boots and attire, digging away at an abandoned grave site along the fringes of the cemetery. We asked him if he could lead us to the tree or the banana grove. He gazed at us quizzically for a short while and agreed.

He started walking THROUGH the densely-packed cemetery, up the gently-inclining hill, and we had to take our outmost care not to step on any graves while following his quick, sure footsteps.

We walked past grave after grave after grave. Around them, past them. Tiny monochrome faces stared out at us, some smiling, some stony, some even scowling. All of them lay down in the ground, silent, walking for eternity to come. And the five of us just walked on, like how the rest of time marches on, silently, uncaringly.

After ten minutes of trekking, we found our sacred tree.

A shrine set up there paid homage to the Tree God.

After the man led us to the shrine we quizzed him about the tree and the shrine briefly before he walked off, back down the hill.

By this time, it was about 2 pm in the afternoon. We were at the top of a forested hill. Graves spread out in front of us in the hundreds. The weather was really hot and humid and I was dehydrated and sweating very profusely. I had to squint continuously. I could not see very clearly into the distance. If something were to happen I would not be able to react very quickly, if at all. But nothing happened.

Modernity lies somewhere off in the distance...

Eisen: "Why is this grave cracked?"
Nigel [peers at it for a short while]: "I don't know."
Eisen: "Maybe the occupant inside wanted to get out."
Nigel: "I could see a little bit of the inside. It's hollow."
Eisen: "Oh, ok. Problem solved. The occupant inside already got out."
Nigel: "Ha."
Eisen: "Maybe it's somewhere around us now, and it wants to say hi."
Chris: "Whatever!"

["Whatever" = "Could you shut the fuck up while we're in the middle of Chua Chu Kang cemetery"]