Sleeping with the Ghosts of Cathay

Every now and again you hear of someone or someone they know staying in a hotel and being 'bothered' by its invisible inhabitants. It's very likely that the very thing happened to me during our first day at the Cathay Hotel.

We got in to Butterworth at 3:40 a.m. and had to wait around for the first ferry at 5:30 a.m. to take us over to Penang Islang. Upon arrival, it was still pitch black so we decided to just walk on over to our hotel since it didn't look too far away on the map.

Checked in at around 6:30 and decided to take a nap before making the most of the day, seeing as we managed to get hardly any sleep on the bus over. I found myself dozing off almost as soon as I closed my eyes, but in my semi-conscious state I was bombarded with images of strange and unsual creatures, perhaps an influence of what I'd seen at Batu Caves the day before.

Alright, so there was nothing weird with that in itself as people can dream some pretty weird stuff in their sleep. But the frequency of the images (which I was aware of whilst drifting in and out of consciousness) was a lot more than usual.

Then came the real thing. I can't remember the dream itself, but it was just some kind of regular day to day affair, nothing alarming in itself. Suddenly it felt like this weight was on me and I was being pushed down gradually into the bed.

And along with this feeling came a backwards and forwards rocking motion, like something was trying to move me. There was also a very low vibration, like sound of the ferry when inside the boiler room.

This interrupted my dream and I knew that something was not quite right. It was an unsettling and somewhat eerie feeling. At this point I was still unconcious yet I was unable to break out of my sleep. I was also unable to 'move' my body in that state.

Immediately my Christian instincts kicked in and I tried to order whatever it was to stop in Jesus' name. I found it a real struggle to open my mouth to word anything. So I just tried it from my mind. Seconds later I was 'released' and I broke out of my sleep with a muffled yelp.

The sceptic may pass it off as a dream within a dream, or that my mind was just playing tricks with me. I'd like to think that too, but the very same thing happened again moments later when I fell alseep for a second time.

It was a distinctively different dream, yet the very same thing happened again. The same uncomfortable feeling, the low hums, the rocking sensation, the inability to move or open my mouth. It all came back. And once again it left after I called upon the Lord's name.

Anyone who knows me would know that I'm usually the last to make any attempt at 'preaching' or sharing about my faith. This post is no different. I just wanted to share about an unsual experience on this trip. There is no moral to the story other than perhaps one should take precaution when staying at super old school hotels that've been around the block for quite some time. On the other hand, Trigger thinks it's because I didn't shower before going to bed, and this displeased something in the room. Haha.

Anyhow, I quietly blessed the room (and showered) before sleeping last night, and guess what... I slept like a log.