Benicia Ghost Walk

I came to watch Devin and Deb conduct the Benicia Ghost Walk and to help out. Not even the rain can stop the guests from coming. It was interactive and almost all the guests had fun. They used some of the tools we use for ghost-hunting such as the EMF detector , K2 meters and the non-electronic Dowsing Rods.

The tour kicks off at the Haunted Depot station and several locations up along Benicia's First street and back at the Haunted Depot at the finale. History and background is provided , along with the associated ghost stories. Guests were encouraged to utilize the tools and equipment to see if a spirit will communicate. There were some k2, emf detector and dowsing rod activities. One of the memorable ones was when a group of us walked past Sailor Jack's Restaurant to the right of us and one of the guests who was holding the rods asked,

"Can you show us where the Martinis are?", and the rods just pointed to the right as if to say , there it is, you passed it already. We all got a good laugh out of it.

The town of Benicia was in good spirits as well. Most are in the bars and restaurants watching the Giants vs Phillies so it came as to no surprise when we heard people cheering in the bars which only meant a Giant's victory.

We want to thank all of our guests and ghosts who made the tour enjoyable despite the rain. :) 

Eye On The Bay Channel 5 / San Francisco Bay Area

Munching tacos and other delicious munchies, surrounded by laughter and good company, we all sat down as Eye On The Bay host Liam Mayclem showcases some happy yet scary haunts in the Bay Area. Show featured the the USS Hornet wrapping up in its amazing Sonar Room. My friends I stayed there overnight last June, if you're interested you can read about it here. Mr. Mayclem then featured another location at the Brookdale Lodge and featured a couple of Ghost Walk Tours in the San Francisco Area.

What made this so special for those who are watching it that night as we all munch our tacos was, the show also featured an investigation at the Ryde Hotel by non other than the team from California Delta Paranormal. I am grateful to be a part of it.



Deb and I were nervous and part of it was because when this was shot, it was 100-plus degrees and so everyone was sweaty and sticky-eeky. We all can't help but whoop and cheer as the show started to feature this beautiful pink building of a hotel with hits graceful palm trees , and then more whooping and cheering when we saw ourselves on tv. I don't know about you but I have not been on tv before hehehe.

Anyway, without much further ado here is the youtube video of the show where CDP was featured. The complete episode is not available at this time. We want to thank Marcus Raymond for making this available on youtube.

We want to thank KPIX for this opportunity to represent the Bay Area - paranormal style :). Donna Raymond for her support and guidance.  And to my team mates at CDP - I love you guys. Thank you for letting me be a part of this.

Back at the Ryde

In the unforgiving heat I pulled up my vehicle on the unpaved parking lot and did a last mirror check. An oily faced person stared back at me.

" Oily face check, running mascara check, frizzy hair check. Just perfect.", that day, we did an investigation at the Ryde Hotel. A dainty salmon-pink building perched along the banks of the Sacramento River, it greets you with its waving palm trees when you drive up to it on the 160 River Road.

That day, when melted make up was running a gooey mess on my face was also the first time The Group will be shot by Channel 5 KPIX.

I made my way to the front lobby only to find the place deserted. The Group's  pelican case and other cases we use to house the equipments are laid out  by the stairwell but I couldn't hear nor see anyone. I sat on one of the cozy overstuffed chairs by the french door entrance to survey the area when a movement caught my eye straight ahead, down a hallway which leads to a lounge and an employee office. I saw someone move from right to left at  the lounge area only to disappear from view. I stood up ready to greet either one of the investigators or a hotel employee and when I got to the lounge area no one was there.

"This is great. Not even 5 minutes into this place and she's already giving away her ghosts.", I thought to myself.

I met up with The Group eventually downstairs at the Speak Easy when David, another investigator came up to fetch me. We tried to slowly creep down stairs as I have been warned that the interview is on-going and that cameras as rolling. We did a few more shots at the front of the hotel in the beautiful civil twilight right by the neon signs.

 That night, The Ryde opened her doors to us. We utilized our equipment such as David's chatter box, k2 meters, trifield meters, thermal scanners, mini dvs and non scientific tools such as dowsing rods. We were also honored to work with renowned paranormal sensitive Donna Raymond who provided us with incredible impressions of the place.

The Team was split into two groups in the investigation. The group I was in consisted of Deb and Donna with Carl taking the camera shots. The other group consisted of David, Will and Devin with Branson doing the camera shoots.

There were correlating responses with the tools we used as each of them simultaneously exhibit activities - the k2 lights up, the trifield needle moves and David's Talk Box produces a word or two in direct responses to questions. Not to mention, the dowsing rods would move in response as well.

Personal experiences did not limit itself to the paranormal investigators, it came down upon one of the TV Crew member Branson. During an evp session, the activities and responses The Group was getting seems to show that they were making contact with a young girl - a child of maybe 8 or 9 years old. During one of the question sessions or evp sessions, Branson shared that he felt someone take a hold of his hand which it was believed to be of the little girl.  It is interesting to note that one of the EVP or Ghost Voice nuggets that was found in one of the investigator's audio was a child's voice responding to their questions. Donna also provided us with her impression that while we were downstairs. She saw a young girl with her back against the wall looking at us curiously and when she realized that Donna could see her, the girl brought her index finger up to her lips to gesture to Donna to stay quiet about her being there.

Carl who is a skeptic (skepticism is something The Group highly respect and encourage) also shared with us an experience he had while he had a camera rolling. He said that he saw a shadow move towards him and then his camera lost power. Luckily, The Group has another camera set up and the same form or shadow was also captured which further supports Carl's experience. While there are alternative explanations to the camera's lost of power, there is a theory that ghosts need energy to manifest and it can drain a battery power or manipulate electronic devices.

The Ryde still holds the intangible remnants of long forgotten laughter, music and conversations of the roaring 20s and the citizens of the Prohibition Era , where the love for booze was stifled and bootlegged, pushed underground that created places called Speak Easy. Some haunted places give you a sense of dread, evil intent and malice. But the Ryde welcomes everyone with open arms with her beautiful rooms, event venues, wonderful brunches and the bitter sweet echoes of her past.

Haunted Bay

We went to San Francisco a few weeks ago for business reasons. I am looking forward to the completion of this project because if this pushes through, one of The Group's investigations will be showcased at a local TV station during Prime Time - so awesome. The TV Station is KPIX 5 called The Haunted Bay. It will be showcased on October 21, 2010 at 7pm after the news.

This is an exciting time for us - especially for those who see everyday as a Halloween :)

Ghost Hunting and team dynamics.

We all bring our own ingredient in this gumbo soup of humanity. Intrinsically, we posses our personality, our values, beliefs, knowledge, emotions I could go on and on.

In the field of Ghost Hunting, investigators not only go to a location with their equipments and talk in the dark and then process the data from their tools to find if they catch a voice of a spirit or a figure or a shadow of some sort of energy.

It is more than that. The field of Ghost Hunting are ran by people. People who bring to the table their skills, energy, personality and so on. Because we all are so unique, everyone has to overcome the challenges of working WITH each other. Conflict is inevitable, but members should not forget the reason why they are all there working together - to help clients, may it be business owners or people living in homes , make sense of their experiences. There is another set of clients we all have, in a way, acquired. And they are the ghosts that we "hunt".

Without sounding like a starchy business-suited nerd, I just want to bring up the concept of Customers - in all businesses , there are internal and external customers. The business of Ghost Hunting is not an exception to this concept.

Who is our internal customer(s)? Our internal customers are EACH OTHER. So a group should learn to work together. A group should play on each other's strengths, provide constructive feedback and be able to respond to constructive feedback, create a non-hostile work environment and leave their egos at home.

I was never fond of having a "leadership" role, I'd rather be the one working in the corner and contributing to the cause, whatever skills and resources I have to move forward to an agenda.

But to a groups designated leader/facilitator - remember that you have to deal with different personalities but you have to recognize the dynamic of your group and also your group's maturity.

If most of your members are fresh-faced and green, then have more patience in training them and give them a chance to be comfortable and grow.

On the other hand, if your members are experienced and self-sufficient, recognize that too. They can run the show, even in the absence (due to sickness or other reasons) of the "designated" leader.The team/ company will not fall apart just because the designated leader is not there to facilitate the task at hand.

I always cite the Chrysler example. When Iacoca came on board, Chrysler as a company did so well - profits, great products and alot of skilled workers. When he left Chrysler, they kind of never recovered. When Iacoca left, the people who ran Chrysler became adrift when their anchor Iacoca left. Some say it was because Iacoca did everything himself but never really trained any potential successors on how things need to be run. When he packed, he also left with his knowledge and skills.

On the other hand, former CEO Jack Welch of General Electric knew he was leaving the company in good hands when he chose his successor Jeff Immelt. Why? Because built within GE is a great mentor and training program to help develop their GE leaders.

Leaders, develop your team and respond accordingly based on your team's level of maturity.

I will have to stop here because this post is very lengthy. In a future post, I may discuss about external customers.

Residual Haunting

I think the earliest recollection I have of a haunting was in the house that may paternal great andfather built and it is now 104 years old in a town south of Manila, Philippines.

It happened so many times during my childhood, I did not even give it much though. Until we moved and now I'm an adult, I now realize that it was a residual haunting.

It happens during the day. I'm in our living room playing or something and the staircase is right next to the living room. I would first hear the creak of the wooden stairs like someone stepped into the landing upstairs. Then I would look up automatically and I would always see a pair of bare feet on top and then I would see the right foot lift and descend the next step but it would disappear. I saw a pair of feet to midcalf the rest of the body was cut off by the ceiling.

So often at night after everyone is upstairs in their bedroom, I would hear the clatter and the tinkling of plates, forks and spoons. I remember saying it to a hired helper as we share the same room if she can hear it to make sure I wasn't imagining it. She heard it too alright but said it was just huge rats making all the noise.

As recently as last month, I brought the nocturnal utensil-tinkling phenomenon to my Mom in conversation - we haven't lived in that house in 20 years. She said she heard it too, all the time but just ignored it. It was an old house with alot of memories.

What happens to us ...

When our brain signals are null? When our physical bodies decompose? Will our consciousness survive? Will our soul, under the pretext of being eternal, survive?

It all started off as a fascination. I love hearing about ghost stories and has had a few experiences myself (but we'll save that for later).

I don't claim to know the latest theories or equipment in the ghost hunting world. I'm still learning. I am in training.

So when I was given the opportunity to join a paranormal investigations group, I was so happy that I have been considered. This was 2 years ago.

Now fifty-plus investigations later, I'm still not tired of it. I burn gas money taking trips to our client's location but I enjoy doing it. I love the people I work with. It is rewarding to me to know that I have helped somebody make sense of their experiences or offer an alternative/logical explanation to their experiences. I am sleep-deprived the next day but when I listen to my recorder and finds that nugget of an EVP from all that white noise - it makes it all worth it.

I wish I have documented the previous investigations that I've been to. This is an attempt to recapture those memories - spotty as they may be.

Our most recent one (and I am hoping not the last one, can't get into the details at this time) was done at an animal hospital. Employees experiences include being scratched and pinched. We were even shown a photograph that was shot on one of the hallways and it showed a blurry see-thru image of a tall man. You can see his forehead and heairline, his pants and jacket and even his chuck taylors in the blur. It was a succession of photos of the same hallway taken from the outside. Each photo showed the same image but it was getting closer and closer to the camera. I don't know what to make of it. The dreamer in me hopes it truly is a ghost but the skeptic in me says it's inconclusive and if further testing can be done to rule out the possibilities of exposure etc, then maybe , just maybe it is paranormal. I tried to recreate the photograph but couldn't quite recreate it - but it doesn't prove that it was a indeed a ghost.