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What I did during Gawai...back home


So the Gawai Dayak celebration is just around the corner. My family is heading back to the village for the big family gathering this weekend. It is the time of the year where you get to meet relatives and enjoy the 'new rice' in one's village. Gawai Dayak marks the end of the harvest season and is just one of the many Gawais the Ibans celebrate apart from Gawai Antu, Gawai Kenyalang etc. It also symbolizes the beginning of a new harvest year.



About a few weeks before Gawai, my family and I attend pre-Gawai dinner in our town's city hall. It is a pretty much a very formal occassion and one of the highlights of the event is the crowning of the beauty king and queen of the year's Gawai. The competitors are judged not only based on their appearance but also on their knowledge of the Iban culture and of course, the ability to dance the traditional dance called ngajat. The one dance that I am yet to master and thus, disqualifies me from competing.... *laugh*. Joking. Guess I first need to lose 30 kg before even think of joining.

In the eve of Gawai each family conduct a miring ceremony (see the First Picture). Offerings to the Dayak gods are arranged on plates and placed in certain places around the family's room. It is believed that the gods wil feast on the offerings and bring good luck to the family. Other than that we organize beauty queen contest in my village too. However, last year they only organize the juniour version of the contest. As you can see, this cute little girl is showing off her talent. Though she was not the winner that night, she is surely is in her way to stardom in the future.

When I was a little girl I join the juniour beauty contest too. Ah.. those days when you know nothing of the word SHY and LOW SELF-ESTEEM.



Gawai is pretty much equivalent to North America's Thanksgiving. However, the Dayaks have their own way to thank the gods. Usually it involves a sacrificial ceremony. In Sandau Ari, which is celebrated after the Gawai Eve, a pig is sacrificed and its heart is later given to a shaman who will predict the future by "reading" the heart of the pig.


At the end of the Sandau Ari, the host of the event will hang the kelingkang on the gutter of the roof. The kelingkang contents offerings to gods such as eggs, rice wine, pop rice and kuih made from tepung pulut. Later, the host will roll down egg from the rooftop so those who could catch the egg will have good luck.

Oh one more thing, going back to the Eve of Gawai, the most anticipated moment are the drinkng of ' Ai Pengayu'. Literally, ai pengayu means longevity drink. What's the drink you may ask.. .it is home-brewed rice wine or tuak. My grandma usually brewed them a month before Gawai. So drink this on the eve of Gawai at midnight and you will live a long life ;) Here is the video of last year's countdown to midnight. Let me know if you can spot a guest star in the video


So Selamat Hari Gawai to Everyone!!! Gayu guru gerai nyamai, lantang senang nguan menua...

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Long Distance Love, Anyone ?

I guess I have to face the fact that, I have problems with my hyper-active brain that just wont stop thinking about my life problems everytime I try to sleep. Everytime I start to doze off, that is when all the worries in life pop out of the blue to haunt me. Things that worry me range from the visa paperworks that I have to go through in a few weeks to what could possibly happen after I graduate. Should I buy a car or the house first ? What about him, should he follow me back to Malaysia right after graduation or in a few months after things settle down a bit... and the list just goes on till sunrise. Ah.... those dilemmas of a long distant relationship. They could only be solved once we are married. For now we have to go through all the pains and agonies of a long distant love.




This September will mark the 5th year of our relationship. How do we get through all the challenges is really a wonder. Often people prompted me with the question on how do I cope with fact that my other half is thousands of miles away? Yes, not being able to be with each other physically for a stretch of time is indeed the most challenging part of it all. But what normal couples experience in their relationship is assimilar to what those in a long distance relationship experience. Each relationship, regardless of the distance, needs to be constructed upon strong trust on each other. Then, you need to have the understandings and understanding is a result of active and effective communication. Even in a short distance relationhip, active communication is important between the couple as it helps to keep the relationship going. And most importantly, each relationship requires patience from both party to ensure its stability. One of the many reasons why me and him stay strong as a couple is we try not to exaggerate simple problems such as him signing in late into something that jeopardize the relationship that we have slowly build for long period of time. So as you can see, the only element that is missing in long distant relationship is the physical contact.



It does get really overwhelming at times, When you realize no matter how badly you want your partner to be right there in front of your eyes, he just never appears (not until someone invent a teleportation machine of some sort). When you look at the planes in the sky, wishing you are in the plane flying over to him... When you walk alone in street wishing he is by your side holding your hands.... When you realize you have been eating alone for months now.... When you see couples fight and wishing you can tell them to appreciate the presence of each other and realize how lucky they are....Yes it is never easy to deal with.



But smile, pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for being such a strong person to choose to be in a long distant relationship. The plus side of a long distance relationship is you learn to appreciate your partner . You appreciate the moments with your other half more than anyone else is. Knowing how harsh the distance used to be, you wouldn't take each other for granted when you finally be together. So cheers to my friends who are also in a long distance love...for love knows no boundaries or distance :).

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Me love to dance :)

Dance with me...Bailamos. Read my next post

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Bailamos ... Dance with me

A week has passed since the exam season was over. My last seven days were spent doing things that are deemed, "un-academic" in nature. These include hanging out with friends, partying, shopping, baking, exercising, dancing, cleaning, cooking, sleeping, doing research about the DPRK, Vladimir Putin's policies ( Wait, did I say "un-academic in nature" earlier on? Nevermind.) and the list goes on. Having done all that, I finally find myself going back to blogging. There is really nothing left to do *sigh. The last few days I have been I wishing my other half is here. At least with him around I could add "trying new food in Hamilton" into the list. He is my most favourite companion when it comes to eating and going out ...

Anyway, I am going to blog about my new found passion : Dancing. Last Monday and Wednesday, I attended my first Latin and Ballroom class. I must admit it is a pretty fun yet challenging class. It is fun in the sense that one gets to bring out one's artistic side when it comes to dancing. Moreover, you get to meet different people in the dance class. If you are looking to expand your social network, dance class might be a good venue to consider. Futhermore, my Latin dance class includes a trip to a local club. So do be jealous!

At the same time, joining a dance class is challenging as dancing requires one to gracefully move his or her body according to the music. It is really not easy for someone who never dance anything other than club dance like me. So, I have to allocate sometimes this weekend to review all the steps for salsa, merengue and rumba. It is a good way to exercise and to distract myself from the misery of boredom and loneliness (and sickness. I am down with flu for the time being. He is down with flu too the day i started mine. Talk about soul mates ). So who says dancing class doesn't have a homework :)

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