The end of the year is probably the time which I most look forward to besides my birthday as my family has a tradition of going on trips. I am embarrassed to admit that I have never set foot on the East part of Malaysia throughout my 18 years living in Malaysia. Well, better late than never right?
Once we arrived at the domestic airport in Kuching, we departed to Damai Beach, which took us around an hour and a half drive. We were greeted by the strong waves, cooling sea breeze and sky which seems rather gloomy with a tint of orange hue. I was mesmerised by the beauty of nature and immediately took out my camera to capture the picture-post card perfect scenery.
The next day, my family and I walked to the Sarawak Cultural Village which is only a 15 minutes-walk away form our hotel. One thing to keep in mind: There are either no or very limited taxis in Sarawak, thus we travelled around mostly by walking.
traditional Chinese temple
tools used by Chinese farmers in the agriculture field
traditional Malay house
Malays enjoy spinning tops during their past time and have a top spinning area where they conduct competitions within kampungs (=small village in Bahasa Malaysia)
this house is completely made by bamboos and woods and is built this tall to prevent wild animals from attacking in the old days
so they provided us a 'passport' kind of thing as a souvenir to collect stamps from each traditional house
We also went to watch a traditional cultural performance at noon. I really enjoyed listening to the traditional music and songs produced by their instruments made from bamboo and some other materials. Sarawak-ians also have some pretty unique traditional clothes whereby men were spotted wearing a bulky dress or skirt kind of thing.
Sumpit, a traditional blowpipe first made by natives of Sarawak used as hunting tools and weapons of warfare. Even though they still make an effective hunting tool, the more common modern uses are as props in traditional dances or for decorative purposes. Sumpits are normally made about 6 feet long, which make sit possible to be taken on hunting trips. At this length, they are long enough to be able to aim at preys from a distance. The darts that are normally used in traditional blowpipes are known as damaks, and are most frequently carved from the soft wood of palm trees. After this, they are washed and left out to dry, avoid from direct sunlight.
setting up the sumpit before aiming at the target
the traditional guitar which I am most impressed by, known as Sape
girls dressed elegantly in their traditional costumes
men spotted in dress!!!!
Bidayuh House
my cheeky dad making fun of my facial expression when I see the skull of animal
Every Bidayuh long house community will have room known as the Head House whereby skulls of their opponents will be retrieved and locked in a big cage. It will subsequently be smoked on top of the fire as they believe that by trapping the skulls, the souls of their opponents will be trapped as well and thus will not harm their tribe in the future.
Iban House
the stage whereby people gather round to celebrate harvest festivals
the props above my parents' heads are known as Bubu, a traditional tool to catch fish in the river
natural waterfall
giant me standing in front of the Penan Hut
Orang Ulu House
the houses were built in such a manner to avoid flood as the Orang Ulu happen to stay by the riverbanks
traditional knife, Parang in the making
This marks the end of our first 2 days in Damai, Sarawak. We spent an entire day in the Sarawak Cultural Village and took a lot of pictures. Most importantly, it was an eye opening experience as I got the chance to witness all the traditional cultures of the tribes in Sarawak as well as their respective costumes which I have been studying from textbooks since I was 8/9. Stay tuned for the next part of our Sarawak trip!
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