born in orang ulu tribe longhouse

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September 3, 2005, if i were to choose where my birthplace would be, defenitely Sarawak!
It was my first time to go and i did not expect it would be as beautiful as i have imagined. I went there for a research trip, independent research on Ethnomusicology and i had my series of palpitations as i view and imbibe what has been revealed in the so called " hidden rainforest of Borneo"

Day 1: sunday afternoon
after work, i went straight from Singapore to Johor Bahru, Malaysia and spent the night in a backpacker's inn called Footloose. Hakimi the owner, the only one attending the place is a very cool guy from Sabbah, so cool that he even tried fetching me in the town proper of JB when i lost track. Footloose is like a Yoga center for me, with that 70's feel, Desiderata poster in the bathroom, colorfully painted rooms, books, travel logs everywhere. In fact its the only Backpacker's inn you can find in that area. FOOTLOOSE Homestay ( 4H JL Ismail ) Telephone Hakimi (07-2242881) basic rate is 15 RM. For those who are poor with maps, from the Johor Bahru Checkpoint, take a bus and alight at Kota Raya. From there, exit behind the Senai Lounge Area and walk towards the Church, go down further if you have time walking, explore the streets and the landmark would be in between two gas stations or near the Girl's convent. Otherwise, you could just hail a cab to Jalan (JL) Ismail roughly for 5-10RM. I was lucky his friends came by and we had chicken BBQ, tiger beer and grilled sweet potato. It was Tantric! I would love to go back and see Hakimi again.

Day 2: monday
i was so early going back to Kota Raya Bus terminal that could bring me to Senai Airport. I booked a flight with Air Asia from JB to Kuching. It was another great experience catching the sunrise 30K feet above the ground, for about more than an hour i was there at the airport. Took a cab, costing me 50RM going to the Sarawak Cultural Village, the trip was magnificent, seeing the mountain which was called Mt. Santubong as you pass but long rice fields, it was a different sight being in SG for more than a year, it was magnificent and arrived at the village. Norleen, the manager welcomed me assisting me with the Berambeh (the homestay program) its about 150RM with four meals included and an overnight stay in one of the houses in the village. Sarawak still has the traditional longhouses wherein the whole tribal village stay in together, one room for one family, the largest would be for the tribal chief. However the one i stayed in was not entirely the concentration area of the tribespeople but i was so happy to have chosen the Orang Ulu longhouse. With me in the house were two uncles, Adan and Dungaw who were old tribesmen form the concentration area in Miri, Sarawak. Dungaw was in fact on the process of doing the Sape, a traditional boat lute, a musical instrument which i am researching for. I was able to play one by the way
My stay in the village was worthwhile, i was accompanied by the " walking-artifact" of the Sarawak Cultural Village, he was Leo, my tour guide. He is from the Iban Tribe and he speaks english so well, he plays the didjeridoo like as authentic tribal ozzy, he looks like a Mauritian and in fact speaks a lot of Fiji language. He is just amazing. Look for Leo if you go to SCV.
If you happen to know what Nayong Filipino is in the Philippines, it's much like that but this one is at the foot of the mountain. Don't miss out the cultural show, the meals and the souvenir shop. I was playing the Sape until the morning, (sigh)

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Photos

Footloose Homestay
Footloose Homestay is the coolest backpacker's inn you can find in Johor Bahru ( if you find any )look for Hakimi and Enu the dog

the BBQ session
Hakimi near the grill, with one backpacker Fro, and the friend who donated food, Enu the dog ( somewhere )

Orang ulu longhouse
berambeh ( homestay program ) is one good experience in Sarawak Cultural Village

the living artifact
this is the famous Leo, the living artifact in SCV

Penan hut
... is the Nomadic tribe Penan's dwelling, just right behind us is his workplace, his name is Tommy btw making xmas trees. They have been converted from being animists to xtians

skulls anyone?
taken in the Iban longhouse, they were the famous headhunting tribe in Sarawak