GAWAI DAYAK - SARAWAK

GAWAI (ritual or festival) DAYAK (collective name of native races, Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyan, Kelabit etc) is celebrated on the 1st of June every year. It's the mark of the end of a harvest season. It's both a religious and social occasion, where everyone visit their friends and relatives on this day. To the Dayaks, it's a recognition of the Dayak race and their source of national pride. A symbol of their unity, hope and aspiration. This marks a thanksgiving day for a good harvest and time to plan for the next season.

I love their colourful costume and dances. Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do:

An Iban warrior dance. Ibans are the most numerous of Sarawak's ethnic groups, forming 30% of the state's population, sometimes named as "Sea Dayaks" because of their skills with boats.
Photos courtesy of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB)

I like this headgear!

Pretty Iban girl.

An Orang Ulu's 'ngajat' or warrior dance. Orang Ulu literally means "upriver people". They are probably Borneo's most artistic people.
Picture courtesy of Sarawak’s rich culture


Pictures courtesy of Rich colours of Sarawak.
An Orang Ulu dance.

An Iban dance performed on stage.


The following sets of photos are courtesy of Stgreenfrog Photostream, used with owner's permission. Owner said that beside the open house where everyone visit their friends and relatives, street parade is one of the main occasion and highlight of Gawai Dayak. Go to his link to see the full set of pictures.

A Kenyah male warrior dancing (left) and Ibans (right) in full gear.
















Kenyah ladies.

A Bidayuh warrior and a Ngajat dancer.



















If you are wondering why many are dressed as warriors, well, it was the land of the headhunters..a long time ago. Headhunting practise was brought to an end after the arrival of the white Rajahs in 1839. Up till today, Borneo still sounds mystical and promises exotic adventures. Sarawak is still covered with thick, dense jungle and natives are still living here as centuries ago. I certainly find it mysterious, it's part of Malaysia and yet, I don't know much about it's multi-ethnic natives, multi-diversity and culture. Do click on all the links to learn more.

Happy week to all and till we blog again :D

M

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY

Saturday. A trip to KLCC Plenary Hall to see this live performance:


Lumiere..the candelabra in a scene from Beauty and the Beast, for SSS.


SSS with Hey Harriet.

I don't go to Kuala Lumpur for months and suddenly I find myself going there every week. Last Saturday morning was for a meeting in one of the hotel in KL with someone from India. Business meeting, blah blah..boring.. and after 30 minutes, we shook hands and said goodbye. Then this guest took out something from his bag. A gift! I felt bad for not paying attention, felt guilty for even yawning..and even worst, no gift from me! In Asian culture, that's not very cool, but I think he'll live. When he opened the gift, we spent the next two hours talking about this!



This was no normal pen or keychain from India. It was a miniature replica of a place I want to, no, have to visit. Can you recognise this?


It is the TAJ MAHAL in Agra, India. Regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world.
Pictures courtesy from Taj Mahal - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Built by the Mughals, the Muslims rulers of India completely in white marble.


Built by Emperor Shah Jahan (died in 1666) for his beloved wife and Queen, Mumtaz Mahal.
Pictures courtesy of Taj Mahal - Emperor Shah Jahan - Great Buildings Online





















It serves as a mausoleum for both the Emperor Shah Jahan, Queen Mumtaz Mahal and his other wives. It took 20 years to complete and more than 20,000 workers, completed in 1648.
Picture courtesy of The Taj Mahal, India



With a height of 30m, it incorporates Islamic, Persian, Hindu and earlier Mughal architecture.
Picture courtesy of Taj Mahal Gallery - Exclusive - Tomb - Art Work - Inside - Black


I think no matter how many different pictures I see, they all look equally beautiful.
Suddenly, a trip to New Delhi sounds quite exciting. Do click at all the links for more information.

Cheers and have a wonderful weeekend ;D

There are many hotels here, from back packer to the 6th star, Pangkor Laut @ Pangkor Island where Joan Collins and Pavarotti stayed, or the Four Seasons in Langkawi. However, for visitors who would like to have a taste of local life, specifically a typical Malay chalet in wood, then Bon Ton Resort will be the perfect resort. Pictures are all courtesy of : Bon Ton Resort and Restaurant, Langkawi.


The SILKROOM suite and it's verandah. Typical kampong/village Malay houses with the mosquito nettings, long windows and mengkuang (a tough local leaf) weaving on the wall and roof (see bathroom).



The YELLOW ORCHID suite and it's outdoor tub. Bathing under the sun and coconut trees sure is fun :) That ladder serves as a towel holder, you don't need to climb in :D



The CAHAYA chalet/suite with plenty of coconut trees surounding. Would be nice to have a drink outside (minus the laptop of course) and I love that bathroom.




..and read about Sharon Leece's book on China Style at China Style Queen. Here's a peek into the featured houses in China (pictures are all courtesy of China Style Queen).
I love the lattice work and typical Chinese furniture.


My favourite! Retro Chinese style of the CHINA CLUB in Hong Kong which opened in the 1990s.


I would like to apologise for a few of my wonderful blog-friends for not doing the tags in the past, I have missed too many...sorry :P I am doing a tag from Flower as I think it's a duplication of a previous one.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Extremely busy in our then chaotic home, my eldest daughter Emilea turned 1, and the second, Elissa was born.

Five thing on your to-do list:
1. Go to Kuala Lumpur - again, for another meeting.
2. Go to my daughter's school to collect their report card :(
3. Buy flowers for the garden.
4. Plan for dinner with customers this week.
5. Try to read those never ending business emails.

Five Snacks you enjoy:
1. Fruits
2. Chocolate
3. Kit Kats
4. Nyonya kuehs/cakes
5. All sort of nuts

Things you'd do if you were a millionaire:
1. Travel round the world (who wouldn't?)
2. Sponsor some children for as long as I can afford in Cambodia.
3. Charities to homes in Malaysia.
4. Contribute to the Cancer research society.
5. Share..

Places I've Lived:
Only Malaysia.

Go to Margaret's blog at The Earthly Paradise to see her trip to COLOMBIA :)


Cheers and have a wonderful week ahead :D

KELABIT PEOPLE - ETHNIC SARAWAKIANS

I am currently researching on Kuching - Sarawak (East Malaysia), for my upcoming trip next month. The South China seas separate both West (where I am) and East Malaysia and the only way to go there is to fly. Though I have lived in Malaysia all my life, I have never been there nor know much about East Malaysia. There are 28 different ethnic groups in Sarawak alone, one of the richest rainforest in the world, the largest flower in the world - Rafflesia etc., famous for it's long houses, and used to be land of the headhunters. For more infor, go here to see my previous posts. I am so happy I found this blog Kucing Berjanggut which blogs about everything Sarawak. I am happier that the owner allow me to re-post some of the photos of ethnic Sarawakians. These are pictures of people of the ethnic group, the KELABIT people. I just love people's pictures, there's something about the face that says it all. Just like you, I am seeing the pictures of the Kelabit people for the first time!































Now that I have a fair idea of how the Kelabit people look like, I'll have to go find the other 27 ethnic groups :D

Love these sets of photos titled Retro Sarawak from one of Kucing Berjanggut post.




How lucky I am. A wonderful package arrived from my wonderful friend, Charmaine of High Desert Diva. When I opened it, the lavender handkerchief smells just divine, a nice Pomegranate & Honey soap and a very cool vintage soap box. Never seen such a beautiful and vintage soap box in my life, BTW, ours are mainly plastic here, so you can imagine how fantastic it is to receive this. My name was written beautifully by the very creative and talented Charmaine. Here's a peek into what came in :D


We are playing Shadow Shots Sunday or SSS with Hey Harriet again. I know it's not Sunday yet, but I'll have to post early as weekends are kinda busy cleaning rabbit poops. Here's Eli doing her Virabhadrasana or The Warrior pose in yoga.


I want to thank Lynn from theVintageNest for allowing me to re-post her picture here for the SSS. This picture was taken by Lynn during her flight to Midwest, USA and was her picture for the Skywatch Friday. Thanks a million Lynn, now this is an AWESOME shadow shot!!!


Took these pictures of lotuses when I was in Bangkok earlier this year. I am still waiting for mine to bloom :)



Have a fantastic and wonderful weekend :D

CHINESE PAPER CUTS or JIAN ZHI

Chinese paper cutting was introduced since the invention of peper by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty - 6th Century. We find them plenty here especially during Chinese New Year, mostly in black and red, sometimes in many colours. Below are my favourite cuttings, courtesy from Chinese Paper Cutting.


Flowers and goldfishes. Fishes are always auspicious symbols for the chinese signifying abundance of everything.


A pair of lions or sometimes they are called 'Fu Dogs' and you see them in most entrance into Chinese restaurant, shops etc., acting as guardian.


A Chinese girl with traditional costume.


The Su Zhou garden.


The Chinese character 'FOOK' meaning wealth seen in almost every Chinese home during Chinese New year.


This my favourite, the Chinese character 'HEI' in Cantonese, meaning double happiness. Used widely in celebrations, especially for weddings.


Year 2008 - the year of the Rat in Chinese calendar.


I took this picture from one of our shopping mall in February during our Chinese New Year celebration. I have 2 nice paper cuttings but can't post them as they are on the way to someone somewhere, so can't spoil the fun ;D


Rewinding back to February 2008 this year, Rat sure is popular this year during Chinese New Year. I bought these from Ikea, 'Rat' shopping bags, a candle with the 'double happiness' word and our Rat napkin holders. You'll figure out now that Chinese have a strong liking for everything red during festivals, even the entire Ikea was in red then!


See you all during Shadow Shot Sunday :D

This blog have somehow evolved from the original purpose of blogging about my children and our rabbits to something else, but what a wonderful experience and journey. New found friends everywhere and I am truly grateful for every visit and comment. It really makes this world very small. I would like to thank Pat of Mille Fiori Favoriti for this award. Pat is also having her 100th Post Give Away, a wonderful pack of goodies from her latest trip from Ireland. So, hop over and leave a comment :D



..ahhh..the difficult part, reforwarding the award among so many wonderful friends, something I always have problem doing. I like to give the award to :

One of my first blog-friend, Tracy of Pink Purl in Norway. My introducer to HUGS and she was reading and commenting in this blog in those early days when I thought if I was blogging for myself. Truly, she's a great pal, AND Tracy has her 1st Etsyversary Gift Giveaway. A beautiful hand-made pink bag, so do visit her and drop a comment as she's drawing names on the 21st June 2008.

The wonderful Charmaine of High Desert Diva, everyone's favourite and classy Diva, the only person I know who's blogging at so early in the morning. Charmaine, you beat us all on this :D Both Charmaine and her husband, Mark, are very creative and have their own etsy shops.

The talented Jessica of zakka life. In my quest to get my children to be more involved in crafting, this is one of the blogs that provide wonderful tutorials of many beautiful things. This ribbon rossete was made by my daughter Eli, following the instructions from her blog.


Another beautiful painter, Tracy of Hey Harriet. whom also started the Shadow Shot Sunday and got everyone excited taking shadow pictures everywhere! So do join us for more fun as it's getting more challenging and better every week!! Of the 4 baby bunnies we have, we are only keeping one and she's called Harriet. I don't know anyone in this planet with a name Harriet, so we had lots of questions and laughter too when they found out the bunny's name. Hey Harriet, you can start sending food stock for our Harriet via post. In case you are wondering, she's the bunny with the belly up in the previous post.

To Lisa B of Lisa's RetroStyle for the beautiful vintage stuff she has in her blog. And guess what came in the post from her? A wonderful blue envelope with lots of goodies inside, a vintage 1930's or 40's hankerchief, a post card from Colorado where she used to live from the early 1900s (it states postage without message 1 cent, with message 2 cents...hahaha why is that so?), and a wonderful hand-written letter. Now Lisa, I finally have something that is 'vintage', the only items that are now older than my husband hahaha ;D


The rules for this award are:

1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.

2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver (Thanks a million Pat)

3) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news!


BTW, does any of the politicians in your country blogs? Social-political blogger, Rocky's Bru started his blog in November 2006, will have 5 million visitors very soon. Our ex Prime Minister,Dr Mahathir Mohamad shows a visit of 2,018,026 visitors (as I am typing now) and his blog was started on the 1st May 2008. Not even 2 months and having more than 2 millions visitors? I can't imagine the figure by end of this year.

See you all soon and happy blogging :D

SALOMA THEATRE RESTAURANT, KUALA LUMPUR

Friday nights are always a night for relaxation at home. That changed yesterday when some guests from Japan decided to make a detour from Singapore to KL for a business visit. Being a gracious hostess, I offered to send them to their hotel at KL...not the best place to go in a late evening because the traffic was killing. Anyway, we went to KL and had dinner at the Saloma Theatre Restaurant.

The Twin Tower from Saloma Restaurant in the evening. I did a post on THE SKY BAR/TWIN TOWER previously if you want to know more. One of my favourite restaurant, Seri Angkasais located at 282 m above ground at this tower, Menara Kuala Lumpur. It is the 4th highest revolving restaurant in South East Asia with a space of 9172 sqf. They serve local and continental cuisine, but most important it provide a 360 degree view of the entire Kuala Lumpur city. The total height of KL TOWER is 421 m above ground.

A traditional bullock cart outside the restaurant.
A traditional rickshaw, widely used in Penang and Malacca. Pretty Malay greeters dressed in traditional costumes.


















Dancers.


I had two video recordings, one Indian dance and another Borneo warrior dance....but uploading took forever! I'll do that next time.

The Twin Towers and KL Tower at night.









Our baby rabbits @ 3 weeks old, eyes opened, eating and drinking on their own. Shadow Shot Sunday with Hey Harriet. Aloe Vera plant @ home. At the rate our rabbits eat, I tried to get them to work / pose for SSS, but they would'nt co-operate.

Cheers always and have a fantastic weekend :D

CENTRAL MARKET - KUALA LUMPUR

Last week was the end of a 2 weeks school holidays, so I took the kids to Kuala Lumpur, our capital city. We went to the Central Market, a place which I have not been to for more than 10 years. Here's a peek into what's inside Central Market:

All explanation are clockwise.

Central Market-didn't know it was so old, a peacock tapestry, colourful Chinese kites and butterflies.


Masks from Borneo, shell lightings, teak and porcelein vases and bags in mengkuang (a local hardly leaves) with wooden handles.


Chinese vintage cabinet, laughing Buddha and teak carvings, typical Chinese paintings and vintage Chinese teasets.


Real pressed orchids souveniers, another beautiful pressed orchid arrangement, sea themed quilt and saw this interesting batik hanging on fruits.


Necklaces made from sea shells, coconut shells and assortments of different wood and materials, more mengkuang boxes and others, stone art (very interesting) and puppets from Indonesia.


An assortment of plants - love that coconut carving, close up of the coconut to put plants inside, Anklung - a traditional musical instruments made from bamboo.


Malaysians.


Feeling blue? Some wonderful bloggers WILLOWS COTTAGE and Gingerbread are participating in ANNA CARSON PHOTOGRAPHY's BLUE PROJECT , posting photos of everything blue. Join them if you like to participate. I didn't but am posting my favourite blue from my home.




...and take a trip to Ireland with Pat's Mille Fiori Favoriti.

Cheers always :D

BALINESE HOME

Through blog-land, I've got a good idea of how others live. I got the chance to look at their beautiful homes and decor too. I have been wanting to do a post on a Balinese theme house for the longest time, though there are many here, I could not find the right one or know anyone. Therefore, I was very happy when I read Mr Cheng Sim Fang and his wonderful wife, Pooi Har's beautiful weekend house feature in our daily paper, The Star. Mr Cheng is a resort builder himself and built their weekend house which can accomodate 40 people comfortably. He has incorporated all the true Balinese design into this beautiful home. For more information and pictures, please go to Low-key Bali style. Pictures are courtesy from The Star and used with permission from house owner.

Entrance to the house.

What a door! Look at the details.

Typical Balinese feature, a volcanic rock lamp with is used to hide the mosquito coil, what a brilliant idea!!

Walkway.

Entrance hall, love the settee - very fresh and happy colours too.

One of the guestrooms.

Mrs Cheng's ensuite bathroom - now you are the envy of many, including me!! I can stay here for a long time :)

Mr Cheng's study room which looks out to the garden..imagine blogging here :)

Outdoor dining.

The wonderful couple.

Bali fountain, I love that door!

My favourite picture, looking down at the sitting room ....look at that crystals hanging from the top, just awesome!!

Mr and Mrs Cheng, thank you for sharing your beautiful and classy house. You have inspired me in many ways in home decor now. If I have a house like that, wow..I can stay there forever not only for weekends :)

Here's my Shadow Shot Sunday with Hey Harriet again. My LOTUS plant @ home.

How's the weather at your place, (pic from my home) it sure is bright and sunny here :)



..and Lisa has a June giveaway at RetroStyle, good luck to all and me too :)

Cheers to all!

HOTEL DE LA PAIX, CAMBODIA and others

Hôtel de la Paix.

This is one of the hippest hotel in Siem Reap, I didn't stay there but I went over for a meal just to see what's inside. Tell me if you like it.

Have you ever seen a reception like this?

An artistic sculpture of Buddha.





Courtyard

Another view of the courtyard from the swing that seats 4 adults

Mosquito coils and covers for outdoor dining.

Loved this part of the toilet, a mini wooden pagoda filled with fresh jasmine flowers!!

I wanted to laugh when I saw this picture of me coming down the stairs at Pre Rup temple. I finally found out why those stairs were so steep. When the Kings built their temples, it was supposed to emulate mountains, therefore one has to practically crawl up or walk sideways to go to the top (the steps were really narrow, only about 4 inches in width) A trip to Cambodia anyone?

I am a lucky blogger. Guess what came in the post today? A box of goodies, a video on BARAKA, A World Beyond Words and I think everyone should see this excellent and mesmerising video! Everything came beautiful packed :) When I saw the Vegemite, I nearly fell off my chair laughing as Tracy and I were joking about Vegemites via email earlier, and Chocolate covered cocoa beans (first for me), wonderful jam and of course, the Bjork CDs, which I've never heard before. Now it's playing in my car and laptop as I've got 2 copies. A million thanks to Tracy of Hey Harriet, and I hope your little parcel and the rest that I've sent out too will arrive safely. I must say Malaysian Postal sucks :( because one package didn't arrive..sorry, Charmaine, I've got to lug those ugly styrofoam box for now). It took exactly one week for the postcards to reach most people from Cambodia and it takes 2 weeks to reach anyone when sent out of Malaysia. Now how can Cambodia postal better than us, afterall we have the Twin Tower, the second tallest building in the world and our postal aren't faster than them!!

And this photo is for Tracy and my bunny friends. Here's Ashley, our biggest rabbit and 'queen' of the house. She was taken away by my mom 2 months ago. My mom & my brother have 3 rabbits, 2 are males. Here's Ashley with her week old babies, they are all back at my home at the moment. Have you seen week old rabbits?

Now, don't you envy my weekends? We've got 9 rabbits in total, and cleaning 3 cages and lots of rabbit poop is really FUN!! Many thanks to Annie of Flower Garden, I figured out how to do collages...as you can see :)
..and I've got to finish my 3 tags and we are playing Shadow Shot Sunday with Hey Harriet again, so join in the fun if you like. See Tracy, now you've got me blogging 3 times a week :O

Cheers to everyone :)

THE SUMMER PALACE, BEIJING, CHINA

The above header feature the Summer Palace, Beijing, courtesy of my favourite photographer in China - Mr Dong Songtao of color inspiration, used with permission. Xie Xie, Mr Song and I will take you offer to be my guide when I am in Beijing.

I am suppose to go to Shanghai next month for a meeting. A month ago we read in the news that only those with proper accomodation will be issued visa in view of their Olympics celebration. Two weeks ago, the bad news came. The entire delegation for this meeting was not issued any visa, thus the venue had to be changed to Hong Kong. I assume this is all because of the Olympics and their strict control of visitors to China. However, a trip to China is for sure, maybe after the Olympics, but not to Shanghai, I am practically dying to go to Beijing to see the Great Wall of China and to see this!!

The Summer Palace in Beijing is the largest imperial garden in the world. It is a veritable museum of classical Chinese garden architecture. The initial construction of the Summer Palace began in 1750, commissioned by Emperor Qinglong as a gift for his mother's birthday. The construction took 15 years to complete. The plundering of foreign troops in 1860 destroyed most of the buildings, but they were renovated in 1888 by Empress Dowager Cixi.

The Summer Palace during summer.







The Summer Palace during winter.





As everyone know, an earthquake of 7.9 magnitude struck in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, China on the 12th May 2008. The latest statistics show more than 68,000 died, more than 18,000 missing and millions displaced. It reminded me on how mother nature strikes back, therefore, I light some candles for the unnecessary death, losses, pain and grievances suffered by the Chinese people during this difficult times.



..and I've finally done it! Locked up the children's gameboy and PSP and did something together, inspired by Gina's blog :), here's one of our rabbits with a lantern made by the Emi. BTW, one the rabbits, Ashley gave birth to 4 babies!!



So, Xie Xie (thank you in Mandarin) for coming to this blog again, your comments are much appreciated and your friendship is highly valued.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY

Shadow Shot Sunday with Hey Harriet