Homestay-A Taste of Native Life

Fruity Season

2009-03-22T00:03:00.007+08:00

These photos which was taken during my trip back home on Christmas 2008 is long overdue. Amid a busy activities during Christmas, I managed to follow my father to one of the orchard that we have at the foot of the mountain.

My father is actually the village handyman. As far as I can remember, he has been doing odd jobs around the village, be it a carpentering, building pig or chicken hen, installing and repairing the water pipes which originated from the mountain, or just helping my mother with the farm. He is always available whenever the villagers need his service.

At the age of 60s, my father seems to be shrinking physically in my eyes, but his movement is still agile, defying his real age. I remembered when I was about 14, my father asked me to follow him to the orchard at the mountain. I was so impressed to see my father climbing a very tall and thin 'langsat' tree without any help. The tree first branch was very high, yet he made the climbing look so easy. That is one memory I could never erased from my mind.

When I heard that our 'tampoi' tree was fruiting, I requested my father to tag along.

Tampoi have quite a thick outer shell, and yet this shell can easily disintegrate upon impact. We found that most of the branches is stuck among the forest vegetation and it's neighboring trees, so my father decided to chop off the branches loaded with the tampoi. He would lower down the branch carefully. To poke the tampoi to make it drop was a big no-no.

See the tampoi bundle? Hmm.. tampoi is one of my favorite seasonal fruit beside mangosteen.

The inner soft pulp of tampoi is very succulent, sweet and fragrant. Too bad it is not easily found in KL area.

Borneo Rainforest - Recreating A Childhood Memory

2008-09-30T17:18:00.005+08:00

In June 2005, my nephews and my nieces were around. Being city kids as they were, I would like them to remember their roots and at least get to know their origin. So what is the next best thing for them to do?

Hiking! Hihihi!!!

Their parents were so happy to let them go under my care. We packed some home-cooked food, fruits and water, and off we went for our little adventure.

This is the new road which was built at the foot of the mountain where my parents farm would be. It is so convenient now. Instead of walking in the forest and ascending to the mountain for almost 45min , the trip has been shorten to 10-15 mins.

One of my parents small pepper farm next to the road.

Ahah! We were exactly at the foot of the mountain.

City kid! They were almost flat after 10 minutes ascending hihi!

Sorry for the photo close-up quality. I was trying to create a memory for them. I hope that they will remember this event in their life and carry it with them whenever they go.

It was such a beautiful day. Once we reached the pepper farm, the kids start to run around. We could hear our echo in the forest when we called each other from the other end of the farm.

We unpacked and ate our lunch when the youngest of them start to complain about being hungry. Haha!! These were the kids that have to be dragged to dinner table at home. And now they begged me to feed them :p. All of them was trying to steal each others portion. Eating in the forest always make the food taste better, trust me.

As a reward for their completed mission, I let them soaked in a creek at the foot of the hill when we made our descent.

And it was another headache to drag them all out of the water when the times was up. What a good auntie shall do then? Threaten them I'd gonna leave with our without them, of course! :D

Snapshots of My Green Home

2008-09-27T17:06:00.015+08:00

The place where we grew up. Still wishing that one day I'm gonna be back to settle down here for good. Nowhere else I can call home....

The view that I woke up to every morning. What a beautiful blue sky with an unforgettable mountain silhoutte..

The gazebo that my father built himself. Photo taken in June 2006.

Mini convenient store belongs to my father.

Below photos is the concrete pond behind the gazebo that my father also built himself. We kept catfish (my favourite. yummylicious!!) and some other river water fish in here.

Teeheehee... so convenient, with fresh supplies of fish any time any day!

Matured green garden surrounding the gazebo and the pond. Our favourite spot for us early in the morning when it is still wet and dewy. Photo taken in Aug 2008.

Lovely isn't it? Come come and join us!

Gawai Ritual

2008-09-09T14:57:00.003+08:00

Something to share.
The old practise has long gone, but we are glad to still be able to watch this.

Thanks Jack for the referal..

Blood Rice!

2008-07-09T10:29:00.014+08:00

I have been searching around for information, but I couldn’t find the scientific name for this red rice (beras merah or boras biriah), but the grain is blood red in color-thus the title!, and have a very fine sweet fragrance.

This is one of the type of rice my mother home-grown herself. Other types are big grain/small grain white rice, and red/black glutinous rice (pulut merah/hitam).

Normally my parents will plant paddy for the consumption of at least 1-2 years (count head of 6). In the old days, older generation used to have paddy reserved for at least 2-3 years in case of bad crops. These paddy will be kept in a ‘pitak’ which is actually a wooden box measuring about 2.5mx1.5mx1m height.

These rice are planted at the hills. We have long abandoned the traditional method of slash-and-burn plantation. My parents are trying their best not to use pesticide to kill the weeds. Instead, they use a back-breaking manual ritual which is by using sickles, or pull it out by hands. Just imagine they need to do it at least twice for the whole process of planting until harvesting, for an area of no less than 2 acres!

Below is the photo of the uncooked rice.

Close-up..

The cooked red rice.

The red rice is soft, with sweet faint fragrance and it’s very fulfilling, thus enable you to reduce rice intake (carbohydrate). For 2 cups of normal white rice you normally consume, 1 cup of this red rice shall be sufficient.

Hmmm.. I feel hungry just by looking at the pictures.

The first batch of the rice harvested is also normally served to the guest for the first time during Gawai celebration. The tradition which is known in Bidayuh as ‘man boras bauh’ (consumption of the ‘new rice’) marked the celebration for the harvest of the year. This coincides with the purpose of Gawai festival, which is a prayer of thanks to the Ghost and Spirit for their good harvest in that year, and for the years to come.

Eventhough we have been discouraging our parents not to continue this activity anymore, we have no choice because it is what they do to keep themselves occupied and healthy. Since there is a global crisis on rice and economy at the moment, it is actually a good way for them to self-sustain in a way.

Come and visit us to try this rice yourself!

Editor's note : If you are interested to order the red rice, you may contact us at sumukeyes@gmail.com. It is sold in per kg. Price RM 8.50/kg and not inclusive of delivery.

Tambok Weaving - A Dying Art

2008-06-28T01:22:00.008+08:00

This is the photo of my mum weaving a "Tambok" or "Onak Juah" (basket). This is how our folks used to spend their free time when they were not busy at the farm.

Tambok is mainly made of rattan. The traditional usage for a tambok is to keep sacred items, to be used during paddy farming, and to carry their day of harvest. Tambok sizes vary depending on their usage.

The process of tambok making is by drying the raw exposed core rattan for about a week before the core is being split into tinier pieces. Depending on the design, normally the small pieces shall be dried up again for another week to make it easier to be bend, and to ensure the tambok can last longer. For colored pattern, dye will be used to soak together with the small rattan, also for another week. After the color penetrated the rattan fully, it shall be dried up under the sun properly for another few days.

This is the sample of the finished product.

A mini tambok.

Tambok weaving is actually a dying art among the Bidayuh. Most of the tambok weavers are normally from older generation.

Introduction

2008-05-25T23:57:00.002+08:00

Who Are We?

We are Bidayuh natives, the second largest tribe in Sarawak in the heart of Borneo island. No, we do not headhunt anymore, but there are plenty of daily activities still observed in the villages such as farming, weaving, traditional cooking and making of rice wine, hunting wild boars etc. We are a humble and shy bunch of people, but once we get to know you better, we'll be friends for life.

Where Are We?

Bau is a small town which is located about 35km from the capital city of Sarawak, that is Kuching. Bau was once famous for Gold mining. Today, eventhough it is not as developed as we hope for, most of the important infrastructures such as connectivity by road to main city and to small villages in the district, telecommunication, IT and entertaintament is fairly acceptable.

Why Us?

The idea of this homestay spun when our family house in our village, Kampung Batu Spit to be specific, is empty 325 days a year. Our home sweet home can accomodate about 10 adults and 5 kids at a time. Although we offer a no-frill homestay package, we do provide clean mattress, fans (which you'll might find not necessary), shared bath and toilet, DIY laundry service, shared cooking facilities, shared tv (we share almost everything, hope you get the idea) and warm smiles to boot! Handphone coverage is available but limited to certain spots e.g in the living room.

Communication might be a problem, but that's where the fun begin. Simple English will do, and sign (read:hand) language might prove to be quite effective too.

Our parents are participants of the Sarawak Homestay programme, and on a rotational basis. However, if you are more comfortable in finding us out by yourself, you are always welcome.

What Are You going to find here?

Oh, there's plenty. It depends on the season, and depends on my parents mood too. Hah. Im serious... It can be a trip to the farms, catching fish or swimming in the river, or if you feel more adventurous, you can follow them to the jungle for wild-boar hunting at night! But be sure you are fit enough to follow my parents pace. They might be in their 60s, but they are much stronger than you can imagine.

How to Contact Us?

At the moment, you can find more information by emailing us at sumukeyes@gmail.com. Please bookmark and check our website for more updates.

You have to make an advance booking, as once in a while my parents will be jetsetting to visit their 20 nos grandchildren (and counting) all over Sarawak. Booking during peak period shall be very limited, or none at all since it is our turn to fill up the place (its Gawai festival y'all!) But if you are very insistent, we might let you join the fun though.