4 September 2009 ride report - Hungry ghosts

Once in every 12 lunar cycles, the spirits of those who have passed on before us are given the freedom to roam the earth in order for them to visit their living descendants. During this "ghost month" (traditionally the seventh month in the lunar calendar), many elaborate practices are performed for the benefit of the "ghosts". Some of the more popular ones include the neighbourhood auctions, hungry ghosts dinners and special concerts complete with high tech lighting and sound equipment. It isn't surprising, then, that very few in Singapore would relish the idea of the ride I had planned for last night. You see, I went on a ride to some of the places many people wouldn't want to go in bright daylight, much less in the dead of night!


It was to be a night of discovery and photography opportunities - the Cemetery Ride - would take me from Hougang to Bukit Brown, from Japanese, to Chinese and Muslim cemeteries around the island. With the weather cooperating, it would be a night with clear skies lit brightly by a full moon. I had planned an elaborate route sans expressways (as usual) for this trip. I was excited! Still, the thought of riding into a cemetery in the dead of night without the benefit of any street lights is gonna be a little spooky regardless of the number of times one has done it. The regular staple of ghosts stories from Hollywood, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Thailand created an eerie shroud surrounding cemeteries. More recently, the Singapore movie "The Maid" brought the dreadful shroud straight home. So I sure was glad that one person signed up for the ride and I didn't have to do it alone!


I read about the Japanese Memorial Cemetery while researching for this ride and wanted to go there first. I had so many images in my mind of how that place might look like and could not wait to unleash my camera upon it. Unfortunately, as advised by my rider friend, it was closed for the night and we could not enter. I guess I'll have to make a day trip there one day to photograph it!


Undeterred, we set off for our next stop, the Kranji War Memorial Cemetery. I always dreamed of going to the memorial at night. I pictured in my mind how the beautiful moonlight would colour the landscape. How that moonlight will be reflected off the tombstones arranged in neat rows. And how that carefully trimmed grass would glisten in the night dew. The best thing: there are no gates to lock me out!


It was really dark when I first saw the memorial last night even with the moon shining in all her glory. The sky was bright though...but that didn't help with visibility. I could make up the tombstones and the taller structures but the shadows were heavier than expected. However, there was no eerie, hair raising, skin crawling feelings of dread...instead, the feeling was one of peace and calm that completely relaxed me.


I took to the task of capturing this magical feeling with my camera. After several tries getting the exposure right, I captured this image that stood before me.

The clear night sky was lit by two very different light sources: the moon and the street lights further away. The cool moon light gave the sky a beautiful azure quality while the street lights brought a warmer tone to the canvas. I felt they blended together well and really captured that magical quality of the memorial. The neatly arranged tombstones were covered in a deep shadow but are still clearly visible. I really like the balance between the light and the shadows in this scene.


I can never resist things that are arranged in neat rows. I would be filthy rich if I had a dollar for every picture that I had taken of things arranged in this way! So it isn't surprising that I was a little obsessed about photographing the tombstones a little more closely. Unfortunately, the deep shadow prevented any "available light" pictures from looking good (to me at least). So I did some creative experimenting and captured this image.

I bought this Energizer LED keyring, attached it to my motorcycle key and have carried it with me for all my rides. It is a life saver when I need to check on the bike, and when I want a small light source that I can control and experiment with. This was a long exposure to allow the sensor to capture the low "available light". I used my little LED light to "paint" the tombstones I wanted to highlight. I thought it worked out beautifully and was very pleased!

I walked around the memorial and chanced upon this image as I looked up to the sky. I liked the way the top of the structure was reflecting some of the moonlight, while other parts of the structure was bathed in shadow.

I wanted to re-create the feeling I had when I looked up and saw this structure in all its magnificence. I knew I did not want a "straight" image, rather, I wanted the sense of dynamism I felt when I first glanced at it and was captured by it. It took me several tries to get the exposure and colour balance right. The exposure was tough because I wanted that band of light on the top and still keep the shadows. The colour balance was tough because of the mixture of moonlight and street lights. When you view this picture in X3 size on my Smugmug gallery, you can see how intricate the golden cross looks at the top of the structure, and the interesting texture of the column that is holding it up. I simply love it!

Walking out, I turned back for one last look before saying goodbye and was greeted by this image.

While it is a simple image, I felt very moved by it...probably because I could see the many walls that had the names of every single soldier that died to protect this land. The sheer number of lives lost is reason enough to never take this freedom that I have today for granted. The Kranji War Memorial has always been special and continues to be so with every visit.

The next venue was the cemetery at Lim Chu Kang. I took the usual route via the Kranji Dam and Neo Tiew Road. The ride was refreshing and fun as usual given the perfect balance of bends, elevation and straights on this particular stretch of road. All too soon, I found myself turning into the Chinese cemetery at Lim Chu Kang. The initial stretch of this cemetery was pretty well lit, thanks to the enormous and bright dormitory right next to it housing hundreds of workers. However, it turned very dark, very quickly.

I could see row upon row of tombstones designed in the traditional Chinese style. Many of the tombstones had a "temple roof" design and at some angles, the place looked like a field of mini temples! There were many small lanes connecting the different parts of the cemetery and I rode on quite a number of them. While riding through this, I stumbled upon two groups of people (pretty large group with many cars and trucks) lighting many candles along the paths and some of the tombstones. It looks like they're having a little reunion with family members who have passed on. The scene was beautiful and heart-warming (to me at least) and I felt it would be intrusive to take a picture...I even felt bad for riding through! I also regretted not bringing along my telephoto lens for the ride because some of the spots were perfect for that compressed telephoto effect. I guess I'll have to come back here again too!

We decided to head into Gelang Patah for some food and to fill up since we were so near the Tuas checkpoint. While I have driven into Malaysia many times through Tuas and Woodlands, I have no idea what to do on a motorcycle. My riding partner knew the procedure well and guided me through. Thankfully, the usual throng of Malaysian bikes were not present at this time of night and the process was a breeze. The rest of the night at Gelang Patah was a delicious meal of satay kambing (tastes as good as the one at Yusoff Jalal Satay at Pasir Panjang Food Centre) and a long conversation around bikes, convoys, expeditions and accidents among others. I was really thankful for the fantastic company and sharing. It made the ride extra special!

I wanted to take some pictures on the second link bridge but the wind gusts were so strong I could not stand still. Furthermore, it was starting to drizzle. So I decided to fore go the pictures and head back to Singapore.

The way back to Singapore was uneventful except for the super strong wind and heavy rain. We had rain gear on and decided to continue riding rather than stopping under one of those shelters along the expressway.

So was it a good ride? Absolutely! Was it a scary ride? Any ghosts? Sure...there were two scary and hungry ghosts...enjoying satay at Gelang Patah...come join the next ride!