"Selamat Hari Gawai 2008"
Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai
To ALL!!
The month of May is coming to the end, and Gawai celebration is just around the corner. Everyone is counting for the days to finally come. The most waited month in the Dayak calendar soon to be arriving, where families and relatives gather around to greet each other a wealth and properous year. As for me, im not counting the days for it to arrived since i have missed out too much of gawai celebration in the previous year.. to be exact, its almost 15 years that we, family didnt get to celebrate it. Not that we are trying to ignored or forget our culture but it seems thing have change alot nowadays. No more experiencing the long hours of boat ride to the longhouse, watching people along the town area doing their last minute gawai shopping,meeting all the relatives..gosh how much i miss all those moments back then. But most of all im missing the breezy wind, riding on the long boat back to the longhouse, those wonderful green natures along the narrow river..wonder when can i get the chance to be back to the longhouse again. erm....
Celebrating gawai in town is not as merrier as the one back in the Kampong, where you can get to meet up and greet each other. You can just wonder around the long corridor which is basically known to us as the "ruai", to greet and enjoy the nature of being in a longhouse. Mostly, u can see the mens laying down along the ruai, relaxing and enjoying their Nipah leaves cigar.. watching others passing by their ruai. Whereas the ladies, are busy preparing the well-known cakes or kuih which they called it, to name a few, mostly u can find the penjaram (a.k.a "Mexican Hats), Kuih sepit (a.K.a "Love Letter"), Sarang Semut (a.K.a "Net like"), Kuih Chap (a.k.a "flower like shapes") etc... i missed all those traditional cuisines as well, especially the pansuh (chicken or wild boar or even fish cooked in bamboos) salai (smoked fish/frog/wild boar) kasam , the most horrible but yet "i like" specialities i would never missed hehe..., its actually make of fish or wild boar where you stored in a jar or biscuit tin which is mixed with salt and rice. erm...cant really describe how horrible the smell is, but when its cooked you just cant resist the taste of it especially when its "Kasam Ikan Tapah" wow.... hahaha.. mom owes consider me as a native person, who never resist in trying something oddful..I'm not that choosy when comes to this traditional food.. perhaps im a nature kind of person. My mom, even describe me as an evil to the wild life hahaha... i even eat all sort of wild animal, to name a few... i do eat snake, those wild monkeys, those lizard (a.k.a Bayak), bats..haha.. oppsss.... dont dislike me for being too cruel on wild life.. its not my fault they taste so...god damn good! :)
Well... ill be celebrating a simple gawai here, though its far too different then the one you see in most longhouses. But then, what can i say... things change alot nowadays. Even our great grandmom is migrating to the city. No more seeing the longhouse, no more seeing the other people enjoying the night eve of gawai. Guess, this year would still be the same as the other years back then. Before, im signing off this blog , To all friends, families and relatives.. i would like to greet you all a " Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" nyangkong ngirup , hehehe.. enjoy this festive season!!
Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai
To ALL!!
The month of May is coming to the end, and Gawai celebration is just around the corner. Everyone is counting for the days to finally come. The most waited month in the Dayak calendar soon to be arriving, where families and relatives gather around to greet each other a wealth and properous year. As for me, im not counting the days for it to arrived since i have missed out too much of gawai celebration in the previous year.. to be exact, its almost 15 years that we, family didnt get to celebrate it. Not that we are trying to ignored or forget our culture but it seems thing have change alot nowadays. No more experiencing the long hours of boat ride to the longhouse, watching people along the town area doing their last minute gawai shopping,meeting all the relatives..gosh how much i miss all those moments back then. But most of all im missing the breezy wind, riding on the long boat back to the longhouse, those wonderful green natures along the narrow river..wonder when can i get the chance to be back to the longhouse again. erm....
Celebrating gawai in town is not as merrier as the one back in the Kampong, where you can get to meet up and greet each other. You can just wonder around the long corridor which is basically known to us as the "ruai", to greet and enjoy the nature of being in a longhouse. Mostly, u can see the mens laying down along the ruai, relaxing and enjoying their Nipah leaves cigar.. watching others passing by their ruai. Whereas the ladies, are busy preparing the well-known cakes or kuih which they called it, to name a few, mostly u can find the penjaram (a.k.a "Mexican Hats), Kuih sepit (a.K.a "Love Letter"), Sarang Semut (a.K.a "Net like"), Kuih Chap (a.k.a "flower like shapes") etc... i missed all those traditional cuisines as well, especially the pansuh (chicken or wild boar or even fish cooked in bamboos) salai (smoked fish/frog/wild boar) kasam , the most horrible but yet "i like" specialities i would never missed hehe..., its actually make of fish or wild boar where you stored in a jar or biscuit tin which is mixed with salt and rice. erm...cant really describe how horrible the smell is, but when its cooked you just cant resist the taste of it especially when its "Kasam Ikan Tapah" wow.... hahaha.. mom owes consider me as a native person, who never resist in trying something oddful..I'm not that choosy when comes to this traditional food.. perhaps im a nature kind of person. My mom, even describe me as an evil to the wild life hahaha... i even eat all sort of wild animal, to name a few... i do eat snake, those wild monkeys, those lizard (a.k.a Bayak), bats..haha.. oppsss.... dont dislike me for being too cruel on wild life.. its not my fault they taste so...god damn good! :)
Well... ill be celebrating a simple gawai here, though its far too different then the one you see in most longhouses. But then, what can i say... things change alot nowadays. Even our great grandmom is migrating to the city. No more seeing the longhouse, no more seeing the other people enjoying the night eve of gawai. Guess, this year would still be the same as the other years back then. Before, im signing off this blog , To all friends, families and relatives.. i would like to greet you all a " Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" nyangkong ngirup , hehehe.. enjoy this festive season!!
