Sri Aman town, Sarawak

I was up in Sri Aman a year ago for some work-related matters, as usual. This town, no longer referred to as a small town by most, has grown quite a bit since my previous visit in 2002.

Sri Aman Division, formerly known as ‘Simanggang’ or Second Division, was established on the 1^st of June 1873. The name Sri Aman was taken from the historic event of the "Deklarasi Sri Aman" or Peace Declaration which was signed on the 21^st of October 1973 between the Government and the Communist members. The change of name was officiated in March 1974.

Sri Aman Division comprises 2 districts and 3 smaller districts, which are Sri Aman and Lubok Antu Districts whereas the smaller districts covers Engkilili, Lingga and Pantu.

I just found out that the population is around 90,000 people, which is quite substantial for a town which, on a first-time visit, would not impress you much in terms of urban development which seems to be rather scattered along the main road leading into town.

Sri Aman's main attraction would be the tidal bore or locally known as the "benak", which occurs everyday in the Batang Lupar River, with different wavelenghts and heights. If you don't know what a tidal bore is, it's a wave that runs in a river. The wave height can be very high depending on which time of year and tide season it is, high enough for a surfer to even ride on. From the estuary of Batang Lupar river, the wave or "benak" runs another 30km or so inland. There is an annual Pesta Benak celebrated in Sri Aman which further promotes the tidal bore phenomenon to tourists and locals alike.

The photos you see here show the extent and magnitude of the waves at certain times (photos courtesy of www.sriamanro.sarawak.gov.my). I've yet to get into a boat myself and confront one of these huge benaks face-to-face, so far I've only seen them from the comfort and safety of the Batang Lupar riverbank.

Sri Aman is a mere 3 hours drive from Kuching City; if you've got a car and half a day to spare, drive up to Sri Aman and try to catch a glimpse of the legendary benak for yourself.

Kapit, Sarawak

If you ever get the chance to go up the Rejang River, the longest river in Malaysia, take an express boat ride to Kapit town. A mere 3 hours' boat ride from the river town of Sibu, the most established town along Rejang River, Kapit is only currently reachable via river. I last visited this nice little town in 2005. I was there for a few days I think, work-related.

Kapit is one of those smalltowns located by the riverbank, typical of many river towns in Sarawak. If you're a fish-eating person, then Kapit would have some of the most sought-after freshwater fishes in the State. The fish dishes are not necessarily cheap, but once you've tasted some of those cooked in Kapit's best local restaurants, you wouldn't mind parting with your dosh to savour its deliciousness.

I like Kapit because it's notoriously small and compact; you can't find everything you need here but that's the absolute beauty of it. You do not want to find everything you need here. For that you go to Kuching City, or Kota Kinabalu, or Kuala Lumpur. Kapit is fast developing though, one of the development it has experienced in the last 4 years is the Kapit Waterfront, which further enhances Kapit as one of Rejang River's most frequently visited river towns.

A town like Kapit would not thrill a visitor looking for beautiful sights to photograph or document, or a traveler looking for nature walks or jungle trails and the likes. A town like Kapit would thrill a person like me, who constantly seeks the momentary solace for the soul, away from the, what shall I call it, hustle-and-bustle of urban life, in the hopes of bumping into clouds of inspiration to evoke the creative side in me, to write songs or poetry or anything along those lines. And all poets talk of unrequited love they say.

Kapit. A definite venue for solace of the soul.

(Photo of Kapit: Courtesy of rowlandom.wordpress.com)

Mukah, Sarawak

I was in Mukah earlier this week for a few days. It was my first trip ever to that rather tranquil town located somewhere central of Sarawak. If you Google Earth it, you'd find that it's located not far off the western coast of Borneo. Mukah is well-known for its rather tasty and reasonably cheap sea food, of which I had the opportunity to sample while I was there.

A local delicacy which perhaps might not come as one which pops out of Martha Stewart's culinary shows as "most recommended appetizer" is the sago plant worm. Basically it's a worm that lives off sago palm and finds its way through the soft inner sago trunk by burrowing quietly and contently through it.

The locals in Mukah cook these for dinner. I've tried it before, but it seems to taste better in Mukah.

It taste very much like potato, only slightly more spongy. Have at it, folks!

Gawai Celebration: Part II

The first photo is my son (yellow shirt far right) and his new-found friends. This was taken during 3rd day of Gawai at my Auntie's house in Kampung Ampungan. The second is a photo of mums, dads, wife & kid and other family members having a rather late lunch on the same day.

Good food, lots of drinks and pretty nice cool weather, the day ended well for all of us.

Gawai Celebration for the Dayak Community of Sarawak

svajtcoIt has been 6 months since I last wrote. Man, so much has happened.

Ok I'll start with the recent Gawai Dayak celebration that's just passed. Gawai festival is celebrated by the dayak community of Sarawak every 1st of June. It's done to acknowledge the end of the harvesting season (harvesting of paddy that is) and is the most celebrated event of the dayak community of Sarawak Traditionally in tle old days, you'd have lots of events going on, such as cultural shows, longboat races, telematch competitions (for some dayak communities), and of course the inevitable "drinking of rice wine and merry-making". Rice wine has now become a bit scarce due to the considerable effort needed to produce it in time for the celebration, so the dayaks (including myself) have resorted to more convenient sources of intoxication, i.e. white man's brew in the likes of beer or the more formidable whisky. Yes, folks, Gawai is a great way to meet new friends and see / visit new communities especially in the rural areas. Don't just focus on the drinking, lads. Gawai is more of a time to get families and friends together as well as inviting new friends over for a cuppa to share joy and happiness and foster lasting friendship.

I'll post some of my Gawai pics in my next entry.

Selamat Ari Gawai ngagai bala-bala ti ngelala aku.

Welcoming the New Year

Well, Xmas has come and gone even before I can say "cheese!" The weather has been a sporadic mixture of wet and dry in Kuching, can't say it's the same for the rest of the state and Borneo island since Kuching region is known to be the wettest region of all. It was nice and warm in Kuching on Xmas day, so I guess it was a pretty good Xmas. But let's not forget those who were traumatised and made homeless by the floods in the state of Johore (south of Peninsular M'sia), about 90,000 people the last time I read the news, and the Taiwanese population affected by the very recent earthquake on Tue 26 Dec. And before that of course the landslides in the Philliphines and the quakes/tsunami in Sumatra. Ok plenty more across the world. My point is - be thankful for what you have, folks. I'm typing this right now in the comfort of my s.o.h.o. with semi-torrential rainfall serving as my background symphony for the evening, it's 6 minutes past 10pm and, yes, I'm pretty much thankful.

Happy New Year 2007 to all. May the new year provides a more positive outlook to life here in the Island and the rest of the Planet. Enjoy the photo, I took this November this year while the haze was still around. A nice, idyllic view of Sarawak River.

Christmas in Borneo

And what would Christmas be like in Borneo you might ask? Not any different from the rest of the world I would think. After all, it's about being around people who matter most to you. What people in general here love doing during a festive season such as this is to do house visits. Yep, to go to friends' houses for a Xmas visit, enjoy some food (rather sumptuous meals for some people), indulge in some small talk (mostly catching up with the entire 11 months in half an hour) and of course the inevitable question, what's your new year resolution? Even though it's still a good 5 days to the New Year.

Whatever it may be for you, let this Xmas be one of happiness and joy with your loved ones wherever you are.

Borneo Orang-Utans

I remember reading this news in the local papers earlier in the month and I found it in the net again, just occured to me whether all the campaign and promotion to help save the orang-utans of Borneo has actually bore any fruit or are all of us merely watching the annihilation from the comfort of our personal computers and LCD TV screens. Read on if you haven't done so:

1000 orangutans perished this year in forest fires that raged across Borneo and Sumatra according to a conservationist interviewed by Reuters. Willie Smits, an ecologist at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in Indonesia, told Reuters that the fires forced hungry orangutans into agricultural areas where they were killed as pests. Orangutans are known for feeding on fruit of oil palm and other crops in fields adjacent to forest areas. "Orangutans are starving. They are sick and many of those we are treating were injured after being attacked by machetes," Smits told Reuters. He added that many orangutans that came to conservation centers are suffering from respiratory problems caused by the haze.

Reuters said that there were an estimated 56,000 orangutans in the wild as of 2002 but that the population has dropped about 6,000 per year. This past August, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesia Program said that Indonesia's population of orangutans stands at 20,000, down from 35,000 in 1996. Environmental groups have warned that red ape could be extinct in the wild without urgent conservation measures. Recently WWF has launched the "Heart of Borneo" campaign to pressure Indonesia's government to protect orangutan habitat by establishing reserves and cracking down on illegal logging and oil palm plantations. Nevertheless, the outlook for Orangutans is not promising. Indonesia has an appallingly high deforestation rate and seems impotent in reigning im illegal forest clearing. In recent years neighboring countries have become increasingly vocal in criticizing Indonesia's lack of progress in addressing forest fires.

In Kuching, the Semenggok Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is home to several ex-captives orang-utan families that have been rescued from poachers and smugglers. Pay a visit to the Centre if you're in Kuching, it's a good 40 minutes drive from the city centre heading out through an area known as Kota Padawan or Mile 10.

Borneo Local Natives' Folklores

I'm currently looking for material on Borneo or Sarawak natives' folklore in the shops. I remember some of the stories my late grandmother (bless her soul) used to tell my sisters and I when we were young. Bedtime stories. Some of them involved a half-wit character called Amang Alui (in Bidayuh Sadong) or Apai Saloi (in Iban). Borneo's version of Mr. Bean. I have to type them down somehow.

Have you ever been to Electric Ladyland (or Batang Ai Hydroelectric Dam)?

This has nothing to do with Borneo or Sarawak, its just one of my favourites Hendrix tune. If you've not listened to it, download the song from the net. Well maybe it does actually since Sarawak can be electrifying if you land your backside at the right place at the right time. For a view of one of Sarawak's more interesting man-made structures, go visit Batang Ai resort which is in the middle of a hydroelectric dam. It's a 4-hour drive from Kuching City. The place to stay there if you're not much of an outback Joe is the Hilton Batang Ai. Good location for a weekend retreat I must say, and if you're into a huge basin of water where you can fish all day long. I was there in 2002 for about 3 days/2 nights. The resort is on an "island" so to get there from the mainland you take a boat-ferry for about 30-45 minutes. Bring a fishing rod, might come in handy. The place is also part of the Batang Ai National Park but I've not managed to venture forth. If you do, tell me about it.

National parks in Sarawak

I was talking about Mulu National Park the other day. If you want to know more, check this site http://www.geographia.com/malaysia/gunung.html to get further details of the place. So Deer Cave is THE largest cave passage known to man. Been there.

More photos of longhouses, Tatau River

These are photos taken of 2 longhouses that I visited. Note the modernised interior, i.e. aluminium-framed glass door and sliding windows with tint. Keeps out the sunlight in the early hours of the day I suppose. Most of the time in a longhouse, the "ruai" or verandah is where everyone gathers to socialise and to chill out. Boats with outboard engines are the main means of transportation here, other than speedboats and the express boat (express boats are like river buses which commute daily from one longhouse/village to another. You pay according to the distance you travel).

Bintulu & longhouses in Tatau River

I was in Bintulu recently for a couple of days for work. FYI, Bintulu is an up-and-coming town in the central northern region of Sarawak, mostly noted for the established industries and factories that has been operating there for a number of years now. I was visiting longhouses along Batang Tatau ("batang" is river in the local Iban dialect) upstream of a little cowboy-ish outpost called Kelebuk (after a small stream that flows through it). We drove from Bintulu to Kelebuk (via the junction to Samarakan/Sg. Emas Road) which took us only about 40 minutes followed by a boatride upstream from Kelebuk. With the boat we went as far up as the confluence of the two tributaries of Batang Tatau, i.e. Sungai Anap and Sungai Kakus ("sungai" is also river in the local Malay dialect) and made some pit-stops at several longhouses, among them Rumah Rinkai and Rumah Suran ("rumah" is house in Iban dialect). The photo you see here is that of Rumah Rinkai. In another set of photos that I will upload later on you will be able to see that - for those of you who have been to traditional Iban longhouses before - these longhouses no longer have hanging skulls from the ceiling or the traditional handmade wooden floorings of wide, canopyless "ruai" or verandah. Most of the longhouses along Batang Tatau have managed to modernise themselves in the past 5-7 years due to transportation and nearby developments. If you want to see traditional longhouses, pay a visit to Sarawak Cultural Village in Damai, Santubong (30 minutes drive from Kuching City) or to the longhouses in Batang Skrang; these are especially catered for tourists. My dad's longhouse somewhere in Jagoi, Kanowit would be a modern one as well since they've got roads built due to oil palm plantations growing like mushrooms in that region. For more info on longhouses and those you can visit, go to the "Useful for travellers" link I have put up in my list. More photos coming up soon.