Travel Tips

10 Ways to Have a Better Sleep Overseas During Hungry Ghost Festival

Hallway of a hotel (pawpaw67)

The most important thing when you’re abroad — safety. Not only should you be wary of pickpockets, but also your “friends” from the third dimension. Maybe you aren’s a superstitious person but hey, some things just can’t be explained with science. Better safe than sorry right? KKday lists 10 pantangs so that you enjoy better sleep even overseas.

1. Knock Knock

Turning a door knob (Hernán Piñera)

Oh yeah, we’re pretty sure everyone has heard of this: always knock on your door before entering. It’s a way of telling them someone is coming to stay for the night. Avoid opening the door without knocking because it’s deemed as rude and may infuriate them.

2. Excuse Me

You’ve knocked on the door to announce your arrival, now you need to let them come out for you to have a undisturbed night. Open the door and enter the room sideways while saying “excuse me” so that you don’t accidentally bump into them.

3. Flush It Down

Toilet bowl (dirtyboxface)

After the long journey from the airport to your hotel, all you want to do is to release that pent up pressure that has been building up in your stomach. Hold it in for just a few more seconds while you flush the toilet; this act represents flushing away all the ‘dirty’ things present in your room.

4. The Only Time Where Messy is Pardonable

Messy shoes (Sarah Joy)

Messy people rejoice! Have your shoes placed as messily as possible to let them know someone is staying here and to avoid them conveniently slipping into your shoes, being one with you…

5. Pat Pat

Hotel bed (William Klos)

Pat and smoothen your bed before lying down as a way of letting them know to scoot away from the bed. You don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night with an unfamiliar face staring right back at you.

6. On the Bed

Curled up on the bed (lillie kate)

Sleep on your bed and not anywhere else, or you’ll be subjecting yourself to pranks by them! Legend has it that every bed has a Bed God or Bed Fairy that protects us while we sleep, giving us the ultimate protection from them

7. Hanging at the Right Spot

If you’re the kind of traveler that loves hanging your clothes, hang it anywhere but against the wall. Rumour has it that they will wear your clothes if not hung at the correct places.

Errr… Does this mean we can hang it against the wardrobe or door?  But wait… Isn’t it easier for them to wear your clothes if it’s not against a wall? The logic behind this? We’re just as clueless. Monkey see, monkey do lor.

8. Under Your Umbrella, Ella, Ella, Eh, Eh, Eh?!

Rows of umbrella Rob Wilson

Did you know that opening an umbrella indoors is equivalent to opening up a portal to the third dimension? Holy smokes, we’ve been doing it all wrong! Remember to always dry your umbrella outside your hotel room, we don’t want little minions running around your room disturbing you now, would we?

9. Drain it All Down or Cover Them

Bubble bath (Simon_sees)

Mirrors are also portals to the third dimension and still water is like a mirror, or so they say. Remember to always drain the water in your bathtub after a good bubble bath and cover up the mirror in your hotel room, unless you wish to extend an invitation to them…

10.  Turn It Up

Many of you, including us here at KKday, have the habit of turning off all lights whenever we are sleeping — a bad idea if you’re in a hotel room. They’re always found in dark and gloomy areas, so you should always leave at least one light on.

If you’re a light sleeper and sensitive to light, leave the toilet lights on with the toilet door slightly ajar. Besides, it’s always good to have a little light in the hotel room in case you need to take a leak. The light will help you navigate in the dark, avoiding potential fist-sized bruises.

So here you have it, 10 tips to follow to avoid intrusion during Hungry Ghost Festival. All these are, of course, just superstitions and to be taken with a pinch of salt. But you know what they say, there’s no smoke without fire. So let’s just be on the kiasu side and do all 10. We all value our peace, don’t we?

For the brave hearted, go ahead and spook yourself with some of these activities:
>> Wanchai Heritage & Haunted Tour
>> Ghost Bus Tour
>> Caves of Can Marça
>> “The Godfather” Movie Tour from Taormina

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