30th of October
I think I have mentioned several times that I am not a spooky or a skittish person. Prankster will just waste their time playing pranks on me because there would be no satisfying reaction that will come out of my annoying face. To perfectly described it “Basag and trip mo pag ako ang tinakot mo”. ha ha. Probably this is the reason why I came out with My 10 Halloween-Related Wish List post. I don’t easily get scared.
But this does not mean that I don’t have scary experiences. I have a lot actually and most of them are strange and un-explainable. Most friends told me that those things usually happens to people that does not get scared easily. Hmn.. if this is true it’s not quite fair!
Let me share to you one particular story that happened during one of my road trips in the area of Quezon and Laguna with my “adventurista” friends.
This happened when we explored the Underground Cemetery in Nagcarlan, Laguna. It was right after we visited three very old churches in the Laguna area also and we were trying to catch the opening of the “Anakalang Festival”. It was already late in the afternoon and the sun is already setting when we arrived at the Underground Cemetery.
An ambiance of serenity welcomed us when we reached the place. The front façade is impressive by how it looks and how it is being maintained.
I am amused that there is a registry at the entrance for visitors – reminds me of a visitor’s registry when you are visiting a wake (grinning).
As the front park has a very welcoming ambiance, it is very much different when it comes to the underground part. I must admit that it’s a bit creepy when you are taking the stairs down going to the under ground. It gets more creepier around the altar. I was (seeing) imagining lots of things while looking at it.
It was quite challenging taking the photos because we were prohibited using the camera flash.
I find the stairs leading to the main exit as an interesting spot to have my solo photo taken so I asked my BFF to take my photo. The stone stairways is strangely cold which made me very uncomfortable sitting there.
As I my BFF is counting the 123 queue I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket – someone’s calling.
As soon as I heard the camera snapped, I quickly pulled up my phone from my pocket to check who’s calling. At the same time, my phone also stopped ringing/vibrating. When I saw the name on the missed call on my phone screen, I climbed out of the stairs leading to the exit running. Everybody automatically followed me. I’m not sure if they also ran because I was trying to catch my breath when I reached the open air again.
My BFF who knows every inch of my being “me” was eyeing me suspiciously. I can see on her face that she knew something’s strange is going on. She automatically asked? Who was that? Who called you? I hesitated to answer for a while then I answered…
You! You were calling me at the very same time that you were taking my picture. And I asked her where is her phone though I knew fully well that her phone is inside her bag. She gave me a confused look so I showed her my phone screen wherein her name is registered in the “missed call”
My BFF then quickly locate her phone from her bag and found that it was screen locked but there was indeed on the dialed number is my name. Yep. She was calling me at the very moment that she’s taking my picture… while I’m seeing with my two eyes that she is holding the camera right on my face and not a cell phone.
~***~
The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery (Filipino: Libingan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan) is a national historical landmark and museum in Barangay Bambang, Nagcarlan, Laguna supervised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. It was built in 1845 under the supervision of Franciscan priest, Fr. Vicente Velloc as a public burial site and its underground crypt exclusively for Spanish friars, prominent town citizens and members of elite Catholic families. It is dubbed as the only undergorund cemetery in the country. Source: Wikipedia
