Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu-Guru, Gerai-Nyamai

Selamat Hari Gawai, "gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai". What does it means? It actually means long life, health and prosperity in Iban language

Snowy, Captain Haddock and Howie begins our Gawai visiting in Kampung Kuap (10th mile), at Dahlia’s place. Warming up… makai…. We had manok pansoh (bamboo chicken, beef rendang, mix vege, satay, curry and etc…. The bamboo chicken we tasted at Dahlia’s place is really yummy, it reminds me about the one we tested during the RTM Television shooting for the Christmas program in December 2006. Dahlia, the superstar, demonstrating how she celebrated Christmas with her family, how the bamboo chicken is cooked and of course….. We will never forget the joyous sounds of the St. James Quop choir, the harmony produced by this a capella choir is really fantastic!!!

After Dahlia place, we proceed to Rowena’s place at 13th mile... Ermm… I found the similarity between the two of them, they speaks the same dialect which is the Bidayuh Biatah. The curry cooked by Rowena is really delicious, yummy…!! We found something interesting in Rowena’s place. The branded China Beer, KINGWAY, manufactured by the Shenzhen Kingway Brewery Co. Ltd. It shows on the front part of the can, the KINGWAY brand slogan “With The Best Malt And Germany Technology”.

Ermm… after observing the physical outlook of the beer can, we found that the size of the can is a little taller. Then, we look at the net weight, its 355ml. Compared with the normal coca-cola canned drink, it’s only 350ml. Then we take a look of the ingredients in both languages. It’s good; I can say all the major ingredients of beer are translated into English which the source language is Chinese. Unfortunately, the translator miss out something in the translation. It says here in mandarin 過度飲酒，有害健康 which means “excessive drinking are harmful to health” , BUT….. This particular phrase is not translated into English. I was wondering why… perhaps the Europeans are better drinker? Or... It does not applicable to the Westerners??? I guess they are targeting the “Mat Salleh”, the “Ang Mo Lang” as their consumer.

We are curious, how does it taste like? After drinking, I can say the alcohol level is really low! It is a very mild beer if I were to compare with Calsberg, Heneiken and Tiger. It tastes like Shandy…..

After Rowena’s house, then we proceed to Clane’s house at Kampung Mambong, Penrisson (which is along Jalan Borneo Highland). After Clane, we proceed to Daina’s house at Jalan Stephen Yong. That’s where we meet Mr. Fabian Sigar, Ms. Annie and family. After the four houses, we went to Serian to meet Tintin in Grace Michael’s place.

Here’s the map given by Grace to her boss, Tintin.

By looking at the map, we totally have no idea, where exactly the place is. What I can recall is Serian Town, the road to Tebakang/Tebedu, that’s all. With our little knowledge of the roads in Serian, we started our journey. Good start, we manage to reach Serian town in 30mins then we take the exit at the roundabout to Tebakang/Tebedu.

We miss our first turning to Kampung Mongkos road. Well.. nevermind… we discover something new. Kampung Pinchin, that’s the Kampung that Donna Jarukan mentioned about the cottage industry which produced the local Bidayuh rattan handicraft. We found two YB’s house, YB Datuk Richard Riot Anak Jaem and Datuk Michael Manyin. That’s what we discovered about Kampung Pinchin. Turning back…. Back ,,, and turn in SMK Tebakang.

We drive… drive….drive… Looking for Kampung Terbat on our right hand side as shown in the map. We had passed by many villages, with different names…. can’t remember all of them well. But along the Serian - Mongkos mainroad, I had come across some familiar villages name which Sie Ai went before to carry out her Master’s Research. Among them, there are Kampung Payau-Achau, situated fourteen and a half miles away from the Serian town Center, Kampung Bidak Plaman and Kampung Mongkos. After driving for about 30mins, we were wondering…… are we taking the correct route? How long will it takes to the junction. So…Snowy decided to stop by the road side asking for directions. Thank GOD, we are on the right track, on the way to Grace’s house. Along the journey, we passed by the Mayang Tea Plantation, a new discovery for us!!!

After 15 mins, we reach the function, turn right to Kampung Terbat. A bumpy journey begins here…. After a while, we feel like we are in the middle of NO WAY, feel like we are taking the Amazing Race heading towards the ONE MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE!!! Going up and down the hills, turning left and right…. Kkeeee….. Where we are? How long does it takes to Grace’s place, Kampung Mapu Tragu? Was dreaming, hope I have a Four-Wheel drive vehicle for this Amazing Race journey. It looks like we are playing TREASURE HUNT!!!! But….. too bad…. we didn’t found any wild boar :( .

This is how the road look like.

After 25 mins drive, we reach a junction….. should we take the left route or.. the right route…. We took the right route… eer… looks weired, no houses at all, after 10mins drive we saw a few house, where is Grace’s house? So, we decided to ask for directions again. Thank GOD that we meet the right person, we were told that we should take the left route while at the junction. Reverse back… to the junction. We were accompanied by the couple on the motorbike, leading us towards Grace’s house.

Finally… after 2 and the half hours drive from Kuching, we finally reach the destination, Kampung Mapu Tragu. There are roughly about 80 houses, with the reconstructed house (previously was longhouse) with cement walls to prevent fire outbreak. The facilities available in Kampung Mapu Tragu are electricity, public phone and clean water from the mountain. To me, Kampung Mapu Tragu is a friendly village, beautiful girls around, clean water from the mountain, fresh air and a fresh environment. I believe there’s a cool mountain waterfall somewhere around. Grace, is there any waterfall? If so, you must show it to me where it is, we will make a trip up again someday!!!

We had curry, manok pansoh cooked with rice, mix vege and etc… We were so glad to see Tintin there. Tintin, thanks for your patience, waiting for us to arrive, it is such an adventurous journey. We enjoyed the scenery along the road very much! Grace, Thanks for the Pansoh, it is very delicious, this is the first time I tasted the Manok Pansoh cook with rice. Thanks for the Pulut too… It is really yummy!!! Your mum is such a great cook! Thanks for the wonderful dinner!

Here are some views taken from Grace's house window.

On the way back, I received a SMS from Tintin, it says :
“Good Flight? Ha… Ha… Rather turbulent… I will make a petrol stop at the next airport ya.”

We stopped by LCCT terminal in Serian. Snowy, Howie and Captain Haddock had a short rest, to stretch our legs after sitting in the car for 90mins.

After visited five houses, I just don’t believe that we had traveled around 3 different places, China, London and the Borneo Island. Cool ler…. What makes me said that? Drinking three different alcoholic beverages from three different continents, the Kingway Beer, the CHINA brand beer at Rowena’s place, WHISKY which represents LONDON at Diana’s place and ‘TUAK’, the rice wine, made by Grace’s mum. The ‘tuak’ we tasted at Grace’s place is a bit sour because it is made by the fermented rice, yeast and sugar. There are different types of ‘tuak’, the ‘tuak’ made from rice, sugar cane or ginger. The ‘tuak’ made from sugar cane usually taste sweet.

The journey from Kuching to Grace’s house can be divided into four different segment; Kuching – Serian, Serian town – SMK Tebakang, SMK Tebakang – Kampung Tekad and Kampung Tekad – Grace’s house. We see sunshine when we begin our journey, tar road, and bumpy road. While we are on our way back, it rains and the road is muddy, passing through hills, up and down, and… we see moonlight. This can be described as the river of life, going through different segment of our life journey.

What is the moral of the lesson of the day? What did we learned today?

I learn about perseverance, courage and determination. Life is all about making decisions, either we choose to move on or give up. We also learned about not to leave our friend behind (Tintin, Snowy is always with you, protecting you no matter where you go). We learned about setting our goals and target, we must aim higher, go for it. “Success is yours, embrace the challenge”. Last but not least, as a leader, when we are giving instruction to our team member, it has to be CLEAR and ACCURATE!!! Sometimes we may tend to prejudge our team members, we assume they know it already. Whenever we are in doubt, do not hesitate to seek for assistance.

I believe Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and Howie had a wonderful Gawai Celebration in Year 2007. What an adventurous day!