City of Ghosts

- - Ta dum!

Hi. I'm Zelda.

And welcome to City of Ghosts.

On our show, we, the Ghost Team,

look for ghosts around the city

to tell us their stories.

Today, we meet Jo,

a new chef in my own neighborhood.

And there might be something weird happening,

but there also might not be, according to Chef Jo.

I'll let her tell you about it.

Hi. I'm Chef Jo.

I'm opening up an Asian-inspired eatery

here in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles.

I've been working all over LA,

and this is the first time I'm gonna be able to cook my own food

in my own place.

I'm super, super, super excited.

Um, I wasn't born here,

but I grew up very much in that kind of similar community.

Like, the ethnic makeup, the cultural makeup.

I love it, you know?

I wouldn't want to...

...you know, open up at a place like in The Grove.

So I started looking for a place on the Eastside.

And I found this cool spot that hasn't been rented in years.

I mean, it's an older building.

Um...

Yeah, I just hear things, and--

Is that the pipes or...?

No, I don't want to know.

I wanna open my restaurant.

And if the water turns on, I'll just turn it back off.

And if the neko moves, then, you know what?

I must have moved it 'cause I'm just a busy bee here.

It's fine. It's fine.

I've been telling my friend Mariko about it,

and she has had some ridiculous idea.

Like, this place is haunted.

Hi. I'm Mariko.

And, yeah, it's definitely a ghost.

I have worked in several restaurants in LA,

and some of the place we closed

had issue with ghosts.

If your faucet's running at night

after you close the faucet,

and you're the only person who is in the kitchen, that's not me,

then someone else is telling me,

"Hey, I'm here,"

and trying to let me know something is not making him or her happy.

What do you think it means when ghosts are moving stuff around?

Well, it depends on the ghost and what it's trying to say to you.

But a lot of times, they'll try to get your attention

by moving objects around.

Like, if you find some random thing in your house you've never seen before,

it might be a ghost trying to introduce themselves to you.

Like, "Hey, here's the DVD of my favorite movie."

"Check it out."

Or, you know, some old thing that belonged to their family.

What about when they move other people's stuff?

Oh, yeah. If they move your stuff, that means they got beef.

- -

Why?

That's not good.

I just wanna open the restaurant!

I don't wanna worry about...

Um...

It's not about believing or anything.

You just need to feel the energy

in a building

because the building and the land has a history.

I did go to, um... a medium one time.

They're like-- She's like, "Well, the spirits are telling me

that they're here for you

and they love you and they are protecting you."

And I was like, "Tell them not to do that."

"It's okay. I don't want them to visit me."

I don't think that that will ever go away.

I don't want this to happen anymore.

I lost my fryer.

I should introduce you to my friend Zelda.

Zelda?

Our family has lived here forever.

There's me and you.

There's me and Ghost Club.

So, can you show us a little bit about the Ghost Club?

Okay.

Here's my office.

GHOST STUFF

I wanted to find more ghosts.

And I found other friends who are just like me.

I heard there might be a ghost

in this new restaurant that I saw on the way home.

Are you excited about this?

Yeah. I love ghosts.

- -

Hello, Jo.

I wanted you to meet my friend Zelda.

So, this is my friend I told you and your parents about, Chef Jo.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too, Zelda.

I'm here to help you.

Help me?

Oh, with your ghost.

Oh!

Okay, cool.

Can I look around your restaurant?

Yeah, sure. Okay.

Let me see what I can find out.

Who are those people in that picture?

- That's a picture of Van Halen. -

That's my favorite band.

Hmm...

Do you make spicy food here?

Yeah. Sometimes, I like to combine different flavors,

but I actually lost my red chili powder.

I have to buy some more.

Hmm...

Who gave you that?

I'm not exactly sure. It just kept showing up.

Oh. Suspicious.

- Do you mind if I take a picture of that? - Hmm. Go ahead.

I'm gonna send this to Thomas.

Who's Thomas?

They're our haunted artifact specialist.

Oh. Okay.

Hmm...

What does this word say?

That says, "gyoza."

It's kind of like a Japanese dumpling.

- - Oh! Is this a Japanese restaurant?

Oh, yeah, kind of.

My mom told me that there used to be a lot of Japanese people that lived around here.

Oh, yes. There used to be a lot of Japanese people

who lived in this neighborhood.

See?

I can't wait to talk to the team about the case.

We meet at the library downtown.

It's really big, like a castle for books.

Come on, Jordan.

There's a coffee place at the library,

and all our parents go there, and that keeps 'em from bugging us

while we have our meetings.

Here's what we know.

Let's start here.

"Deep fryer."

Throwing it in the alley is a classic ghost move.

Any fingerprints?

Absolutely none.

That's what I thought.

Which brings us to the mysterious disappearance

of Chef Jo's chili flakes.

Definitely a ghosting.

Chili flakes? Is this a spicy food restaurant?

Sometimes it is.

I don't like spicy.

Hmm.

Maybe the ghost doesn't like spicy either. Let's get back to the evidence.

Is that a map of the restaurant?

Yeah. I put a sticker for each time

that Chef Jo found the cat in a new place.

And I did some research, and I found it's very... very, very big evidence.

The Maneki-neko