Gawai Travelogue 2012 Part 2

Yeah, sorry for the late update. Anyway, there wasn’t any electricity so the longhouse was really hot (occasionally, the wind would come and cool down the heat…). That evening, I took my bath in cold stream(‘ai batu’…)..Yes! so relief…

No electricity so all we need was a small machine called generator…J

Yup, some of them were still ‘miring’, in fact, the majority of them were still ‘miring’…

We began the night by praying (‘miring’ and catholic’s prayer…). Most of them (12 doors…5 doors have embrace catholic…) belief in nature’s power, hence explain why ‘miring’ were so strong within their life.

‘Bebiau’…

We went door to door…

The ‘piring’ then was placed outside the house…

After that, we went door to door for catholic’s prayer…

That’s my uncle…I stayed in his house (simply because they have proper toilet…seriously..else I had to do my business in ‘ai batu’…haha)

Yes, that’s also my uncle, the veteran singer…

While waiting for the clock ticking@12 midnight, we had karaoke session and poco-poco…

Tuai rumah gathered all the community in front of the stage for countdown…

“ni ngau dek?pegai ngau dek…’ said the tuai rumah (when he saw me holding nothing except my digicam…)

Countdown…3, 2, 1…ohhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!

*gulp gulp…..ahhhhh

The spirit of togetherness among them, eating together while wishing each other Selamat Hari Gawai…

My cousin, emceeing….

The DJ…my errmmm…..my ‘son’..hahaha

Spectator…

The night continued with ‘suara emas’…

I slept@5 a.m….that’s how hardcore we were….hahaha….

Gawai Travelogue 2012

I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate Gawai away from home as I need rest as much as I can during this festive season. Strange enough I had a sudden change of heart when I bought the express boat ticket to KAPIT on the 30^th May… Yes, I thought I really need to accompany my parents to Kapit after my last visit three years ago. Luckily, there weren’t much people going back on 31^st so we managed to grab three tickets for ourselves.

I was expecting the express boat to carry extra load (extra passengers) and our seats were taken and true enough, our seats were taken. Again, we managed to claim our seat as there is seat number on our ticket.

This was half an hour before we reached Kapit, so there weren’t much passenger left…

The traffic is far much better that the previous year when express boats carry excessive luggage+ passenger for money and oftentimes, accidents happen here and there…

After almost two and half an hour latter we reached our destination…

We had lunch inside the wharf (there’s a canteen inside the modernize wharf nowadays…complete with wifi..hehe) After a short walked around Kapit town, we head down to the jetty to catch our ‘ride’...

Waiting for our ‘ride’…

Our ‘ride’, with my aunt, cousin and bro-in-law…

Look at the time now…

Entering the tight river, Sg Seranau, located exactly opposite Kapit’s town…

There were tall trees along the river and I like the feeling of thick jungle covering our top…

It took about 15 minutes to reach here. The water level wasn’t high enough so we had to stop here…

From here, we need to walk another 20 minutes to reach our new longhouse. After a short while, the narrow road end on another river (same river, it’s just that we need to cross the river again…)

How I miss this sight…’ai batu’ guys…

The pristine clear water…really cold and during my childhood, I spent most of my time playing with rocks like this…J

Taking a short break…

This was my first time visiting our new longhouse. As we walked, I could hear the noise coming from top of the hill. My mom told me that the longhouse was built on top of the hill but I never imagined that it would be a really high hill…

Lo and behold! Look at how steep it was…gosh…

Looking down…

The longhouse, partially finished…18 doors with my cousin as ‘tuai rumah’…

The (temporary) grand stage, Rantau Tapang’s celebration…simple yet sturdy…

No ‘ruai’ and perhaps it will complete before Gawai next year…

Grandma…

This was my journey to Kapit and sorry for this short story, I’ll continue my adventure in my next post.

 

Selamat Hari Gawai 2012

This is the 'bebiau' prayer in Iban, a prayer when the 'elder' swinging a live chicken around...I'm not good at this ceremony but i find this prayer very realistic and fresh..sorry but i can't translate every word cause it's sooooo looong plus my Iban is very poor...:)..(taken from dayakbaru...)

Sa, dua, tiga, empat, lima, enam, tuuuuuujuh!

Enda aku busong ngelangkah gunong,
Enda aku tulah ngelangkah tanah,
Enda aku danjan ngelangkah bulan,
Enda aku tumbang ngelangkah bintang!

Kaki aku udah bediri di segi besi belumpong,
Nyawa aku nyapa nyembah di klasah tikai bedong long.
Lengan kanan aku ditanggam beringan lanchum selong,
Pala aku di-bap singkap jalong jabong,
Blakang aku ditinggang seludang baju burong.

Laban aku tu ukai mungkal ukai nanjal,
Aku tu endang niti endang nali,
Baka ijok tampung penduk,
Baka rutan tampung danan,
Baka ira tampung lemba,
Baka wi tampung tali.
Pecah periuk tanah ganti periuk tani,
Padam bulan diganti matahari,
Parai orang ka tuai ganti tubuh kami,
Pambu orang ka dulu ganti kami ka dudi.

Kami tu deka ngintu gawai dayak,
Nitih ka pekat, ngimbai adat menoa Sarawak,
Ngibun durok kitai bansa,
Negi ka menira adat ugama menoa Malaysia,
Ngambika tampak rita idup bersama di mata dunya.

O….Hoi!

Nya baru aku ngangkat ka kita ke lama udah timpat,
Tinggang urat sebangki api.
Tu baru aku nyungkang kita ke lama udah tumbang,
Tinggang batang tebelian wi.
Aku nyerungkai kita ke lama udah parai,
Keranjai indai imbok kedidi.

Tu aku ngangau ka aki kami Sera Gunting,
Ke tau nemuai ngagai gensiring langit kuning.
Ngangau ka tuai benama Begeri,
Ke dulu ngajar kitai beguna ka atau babi,
Laban iya ba indai ka Dara Manis Muka.
Aku ngangau ka aki kami ke benama Sarapoh,
Tuai ke berani nyanda bunoh,
Ringka-ringka ngema benong benda menaga.

Aku ngangau ka Aki kami Pateh Ambau,
Ke datai ari Pangkalan Tabau,
Peling lanting tawang ulih menang bedagang.

Aku mega ngangau ka Gerasi Belang Pinggang,
Seduai Rukok ke Pematak Bala Nyerang.

Aku ngangau ka Petara Betie “Brauh Gumbang”,
Seduai Datu Patinggi Gurang.

Aku ngangau ka Petara Jalir, Petara Gisang,
Petara Geringu, Petara Sumbang.

Aku ngangau ka Petara Gerijih Ai Marang,
Seduai Bangkam ke ngaram ka sampan buong Rajang.

Aku ngangau ka Tindin Pimpin Bragah Ngindang,
Seduai Entingi Keti Aur Tulang.

Aku ngangau ka Rekaya Tom Tajai Ngindang,
Enggau tuai entanak benama Unggang.

Ngangau ka Petara Uyut benama Bedilang,
Petara Atin apai Saang,
Petara Sabok Apai Mang,
Orang Kaya Dana Bayang,
Enggau Chulo bejulok Tarang.

Orang ngasoh aku ngambi ngabang,
Ngambi mansang,
Ngambi makai,
Ngambi nandai !

Kita ka ari ili datai sabuah barong,
Kita ari ulu undor sabuah buong.
Kita ari langit nilik naka rekong,
Kita ari tanah nyengok naka punggong.
Ngabang abis, ngabang lengis,
Betambit pintu, bekaling alu,
Bekaling lantai, bekesai tikai.
Aku ukai ngangau ngapa, ukai ngangau pia,
Aku mai kita ngabang, mai kita mansang,
Mai kita makai, mai kita nandai.
Aku mai piring, mai ading,
Piring penganan, piring penyaran,
Piring Arak, Piring Tuak,
Udah sedia, udah nyengenda,
Ditikai wi, tikai peradani,
Ditikai rutan, tikai bemban.

Kita ke ngabang bakanya mega,
Anang tuboh puang, tuboh sabatang,
Anang mai tuboh murus, tuboh untus,
Tang mai ubat serangkap genap,
Mai batu teruba nemu,
Mai pengaroh gembar tuboh.

Anang engkah ngapa, engkah pia,
Engkah ba piring, engkah ba ading.
Ayan ka ba tegalan,
Lengka ka ba pedara,
Sikap ka di ketupat.
Ngambi ka kena peda, kena tela,
Kena iching, kena perening.
Awak ka kena genggam, kena simpan,
Kena sandoh, kena taroh,
Kena japai kena pegai.

Enggau sampi tu,
Aku Minta kami chelap-embab,
Minta gayu-guru,
Gerai-nyamai,
Bidik-lansik,
Betuah-belimpah,
Kaya-raja,
Aku minta tulang,
Minta pandang,
Minta iching,
Minta perening.

Awak ka kami mudah bulih duit, bulih ringgit,
Bulih padi, bulih puli,
Bulih reta, bulih tengkira,
Bulih setawak, bulih menganak.
Ngambi ka kami jelai rita, manah nama,
Nuchong baka bukit Rabong menoa,
Tinggi baka langit nungkat neraja,
Terang baka pandang bulan purnama.

Nya alai dinga ka kangau anak mensia, kangau anak uda,
Minta tulong, minta sukong kita.

Oooooohoi !!!

Lastly, wishing you all Selamat Hari Gawai 2012 from me and my family..remember, don't drink and drive friend...PEACE!

The coolest stuff ever!

What stuff? What is this? (wait and see…)

Hello there…it’s been awhile now. This time around, I had one of the most memorable Gawai celebrations with my family. Why, cause all my family members were here during Gawai this year. It’s probably two years ago since our last gathering and last week, we met again, older, wiser, and getting bigger…hahaha. So what is Gawai Dayak? Well, according to Wikipedia( yeah, I don’t know how to explain it and need help):

Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated in Sarawak on 1 June every year. It is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak (and neighboring Indonesian Kalimantan): the Iban, also known as Sea Dayak and the Bidayuh people, also known as Land Dayak. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival". Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards.

There you go…so first of all, we had planned a family photo just to imprint the precious moment of all time in a frame and hang it on the wall.

It wasn’t allowed in the studio, but I don’t care…

We went as a big band and it took 4 cars to fit us all (such a huge family,gheehehe). This was our first family photo and the scary part was the tiny studio couldn’t fit whole of us in camera. Finally the photographer manages to arrange our position (after 10 minutes of waiting) and everybody gave their best pose...*click!  

Head count anyone?

So how was our Gawai this year? Lots of booze and karaoke session went on and 3 days on non-stop crazy celebration did take its toll. I almost lost my voice for a good few days and not to mention, doing wonder girls ‘Nobody’ dance at 4 a.m., waking up next day and remember nothing ‘bout it…(no! I would not expose my embarrassing photo here!)

I think it was a masterpiece song..hahaha

I must say we didn’t visit much but we stayed in the house, having fun with each other. Other relatives also stayed and celebrated Gawai with us to some extent there were 30 of us sharing one bathroom and a toilet! As for our outdoor activity, we went to Kubu Brooke in Julau swimming(although the river was knee-deep only) and strolling along the river bank.

Peace!!!

As my brother and sister going back to their respective workplace, I continue my journey to Kuching for a few days.

Taken using Samsung wave…

Beautiful sunset….

While staying there, I spent RM400+ on clothing and that was a huge amount of money! Nevertheless, I deserve a new shirt and short since Sibu didn’t sell up-to-date clothing (seriously…). Alright, back to the coolest stuff. It is a clip-on tuning device for guitar (my brother got it for me). The clip-on tuner provides an accurate reading with a bright back light, best suited when tuning is required in dark and noisy environment such as during a gig (whooaaa!). After tuning my guitar, I admit my guitar sounds pretty damn nice!!

Tuning in progress…

For more info, visit here.

Thanks for reading guys! Till then, enjoy this song(I’m so crazy about this song after gawai *karaoke mode)

Tanak Kampung by Jimmy Palikat