Sunday 27 December 2015

Travelgasm:Kuching,Sarawak Day 2

Cheers to Wi-Fi!Day 2 is the best day among all the 5 days that I've been in Kuching because of my first ever visit to Sarawak Cultural Village which is located in Damai,opposite Damai Beach Resort.The trip to SCV will take approximately 45 minutes from the town,so do heat up the engine early morning as you don't want to experience it under the sun like I did.Yikes.But it was totally worth it,I swear.

The fee is RM60 for adults and RM30 for children,but do not worry as they offer a lot of previleges(I mean discounts) to students and senior citizens with 50% off.Make sure you bring your student card and identification card along.

There are 7 houses,each for all the ethnics in Sarawak which are Chinese,Malay,Iban,Bidayuh,Melanau,Penan and Orang Ulu.So we started off with the Chinese house first which is my ethnic,since people said that I look more Chinese/Japanese than a Malay since I was young,but thanks to hijab that made me remember my roots again.

                                             I should bring one of these home,just in case ;)
                                         15th or 200th century,Merls will keep eating while doing
                                          anything,even processing pepper.
                                                   Red bean ang kohs.Just don't be arrogant.

                                                                Cak cak cak!
                                                    A nice aunty that explained to us about pepper and bird's nest
                                                    processing.Thanks aunty!

Next stop,Malay house!Now this is legitly my roots.
                                                    The making of love letter biscuits and bahulu on charcoal.The taste                                                        is completely different from the ones we cook with oven these                                                               days,these can even compete Julie's.

 
It's okay if I can't be one of the  college's dancers,I can still be one of SCV's.

I didn't take too much pictures of the Malay house because I'm not too amused since it looks like the ordinary kampung houses only without technology.But make sure to tour all the houses since you need to stamp the given passport.

The Melanau house is the tallest house that I've ever been.It's about 140 metres from the ground if I'm not mistaken,and the actual size is four times bigger than the house built here in SCV.It consists of 4 floors and a few sections such as the healing hall,rooms,kitchen and the room for newlyweds.Literally the entire village lives in one Melanau house regardless of religion.

What is this kuih's name again?Apong maybe,but this is delish.Beware of SCV,they have delicious kuihs and delicacies in every house and you may walk out with 2kg of fat as a free gift.Well,this house doesn't have much pictures because I am too scared of going upstairs since it is too damn high and it is quite dark to go to the other rooms. :(

The clock strikes 11 so we rushed to the main hall for the cultural performance that starts at 1130 a.m. later.It was packed with people until some of them need to sit on the stairs between seats.Goodness gracious,my family and I got to sit at the first two rows due to storming in as quickly as we could.I only took a couple of pictures during their introduction performance because I think it's disrespectful of me to record a video or flashing cameras at the dancers and it's also unfair for the ones that didn't pay anything but get to see the whole thing.This performance is a must-see for you to understand the cultures more through dancing especially.Oh!The shows are only at 1130 and 4pm daily.

There's also a meet and greet session with the dancers after the performance and I got a polaroid picture with a hillarious Orang Ulu.Check it out on  Instagram,my account name's at the header ^ Uh forget it I'll just tell you it's @maleenbalqish.Do follow and ask your friends to do the same too! (Road to fame 101)(More to psychotic popularity)(I'm scared of myself now)

Journey continued to the Bidayuh house.Not as tall as the Melanau house but can be tiring to climb to the top,but  more spacious and systematic.A seamstress named Esther was working on an Iban costume and I saw the articles about her on the wall which is a lot.Woah.Wish I could be like her but I only know how to mend hearts,not sew clothes.(ahem) If you got to see her please tell her that she's awesome.The air-conditioned homestay is located here too,for the ones that wants to have the feels of blending in with the ethnics.



                                         This is the entrance to the main hall for the Bidayuhs.
                                         The longhouse is right behind it,just walk through the hall.


                                                          Amused by each other.
                                           "Ma,this won't break right?"said me repeatedly
                                            until the end of the bridge.
                                   

                                                    Madam Esther the seamstress
The part where I ran away.The skulls are real btw.

Moving on to the Iban house,we were so lucky that a wedding was actually going to happen there but Mum didn't want to wait so ;( but I got the chance to rent the costume and walk around with it and there were a lot of eyes staring at me,maybe they thought I was the bride.Lol.If I wanted to get married,I will marry an Orang Ulu because the dancer is handsome.(Eh?)
                                          The process of weaving Puakumbu,the famous design of
                                           the Ibans which is also my choice too!





















Yes,I literally rented the costume for RM10 just to take pictures with it.but come on when will people won't think that I'm crazy wearing those?

The last stop of the day,Orang Ulu house yay!(1.because the dancer was here,chatting with a tourist. 2.it was the last stop of day because it was  too hot and I was  wearing denim like what even) So in here,we bought potato chips.Sounds ridiculous but this is not Jack n' Jill okay,it's made on charcoal and of course the taste is 2 times delish compared to the MSGs.
                                         I regret not bringing at least one of these home to whack
                                         my ex boyfriend for keep bagging Mum and wake him up
                                         from his fantasy that I'm not coming back to him.(Oops
                                         personal matters)

T.I.R.E.D.
                                                    Hard work even from the start.
                                          Tattoos are the significance of the position of a woman
                                           in the Orang Ulu society.A maiden may have a 'bracelet'
                                           around her wrist,the chief's daughter may have some on
                                           her legs or shoulders and the higher ranks may have the whole
                                           body tattooed.



This was not the end.We visited the Penan's hut and tried the 'sumpit',a weapon they used to hunt down animals and enemies.You need to blow it but even my grandfather can shoot it like a pro even though he had asthma while I can't even shoot any,as like we switched roles.Sheesh.
                                         Among the three of us,my cousin did the best.Hey,your face is only here                                                     because you aced it okay?I don't love you at all.

The struggle is real.
The Penan guy is fixing a sitar,a Sarawakian guitar.

One thing that I discovered about this Penan guy is even though he was  wearing the costume with the hair and all,he is actually a Bidayuh.I heard him and a Sarawakian chatting about it.Sorry for overhearing sir but you're busted!

After we successfully toured SCV,it's already evening so we went straight to Kuching Waterfront to take the sampan to Kampung Boyan for dinner and of course,kek lapis.We went to My Village Barok Bistro for dinner which is located right behind the jetty foodcourt.Whoever that doesn't know this place obviously doesn't do any research because this place is overrated due to so much blogs about it.I'll just rate it 6/10 since the tomyam didn't satisfy me and the sweet and sour fish's taste is not a great help either,but the 'kepah' that is coated with mayonnaise is a must try.5 stars for the 'kepah' to be fair.
                                                       Kepah!Yums.



Sampan and the waterfront at night.

As suggested by blogs and the locals,we went to Kek Lapis Dayang Salhah.It is located at a small street behind the mosque.I repeat,mosque.Do not mistaken it with a surau.It's at Lorong Gemersik but I can't remember which,if I'm not mistaken 8,but Mira Cake House's shop comes first.When we first arrived the owner asked us to come in and have a feast with all of the testers.He said, "If you don't buy them then it's okay,just eat".He took the wrong step because he didn't realize that he was talking to an army of fat soldiers that are ready to indulge in anything.Without further due,ATTACK!
                                          There were another 4 containers and 2 trays at the other side.

 The making of kek lapis :)

It was already 10:30 p.m. but we insisted to park at the side of the road and take a picture with the legendary Cat Statue at the main roundabout anyway because the scenery is dabomb only at night with the lights and all.It's okay,sightings of people selfie-ing and posing like there's no tomorrow in the middle of the traffic is not weird to the locals here,but maybe disguisting,according to how you pose.hehehehehehehehehe.

It's okay guys I even hate looking at myself.

Believe me after this shot all of us went to the laundry for a RM3 wash and dry promotion near our homestay and only reach the bedroom by midnight,but it's definitely worth it.Day 3 will be about my visit to Jong's Crocodile Farm so stay tuned,but while waiting for it,start planning your vacation to Kuching now!(Jeez I can be a tourism ambassador)(Tourism Of Malaysia hire me please)
\
Xx,
M.

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